Gilles Taillon
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Gilles Taillon (born August 11, 1945) is the former leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ). A politician, teacher and businessman in Quebec, Canada; he was the ADQ Member of the
National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...
(MNA) for the district of Chauveau in the
Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
area from the 2007 to the
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
elections. He was not sitting as an MNA when he was selected as the party's new leader in the Action démocratique du Québec leadership election on October 18, 2009. However, he announced his resignation from that position less than a month later following a caucus revolt."Beleaguered ADQ chief wants out"
''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', November 10, 2009.


Background

Taillon was born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. He studied at the
Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...
from 1967 to 1974 and received a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in arts and literature and a diploma in
industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...
. Taillon was a teacher in secondary school for 5 years before being an adviser in working relations. He was a director for the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
. He was also the operations vice-president for the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité au travail. Taillon also worked as a lecturer at the
Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke (French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It i ...
.


Conseil du patronat du Québec

Taillon was the president of the Conseil du patronat du Québec from 1998 to 2006. The Conseil du Patronat is the main association for
businesspeople A businessperson, businessman, or businesswoman is an individual who has founded, owns, or holds shares in (including as an angel investor) a private-sector company. A businessperson undertakes activities (commercial or industrial) for the ...
across the province. Taillon was also heavily involved in the education sector, serving as general manager for the
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...
school board, the human resources director for the defunct Gamelin school board in Gatineau and vice-president of the Federation des commissions scolaires du Quebec.


Provincial politics

In 2005 Taillon, who had previously been a
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
supporter, joined the ADQ and served as president of the party from 2006 to 2007.


2007 election

In September 2006, Taillon decided to run for provincial politics in the 2007 election as one of the ADQ's star candidates. He was easily elected in the Quebec City area riding of Chauveau with 56% of the vote.
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
incumbent Sarah Perreault finished second with 22% of the vote. While Taillon focussed on issues sensitive to the education system, he was among several candidates in favor of abolishing school boards across the province and giving the responsibility to municipalities. On March 29, 2007, Taillon was appointed deputy leader of the Official Opposition. On April 19, 2007, he was selected to be the Official Opposition's Shadow Minister of Finance. On April 25, 2008,
Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...
leader
Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ ...
tabled a $900,000 lawsuit against Taillon after comments he made in which he linked Marois to the Norbourg financial scandal.


2008 election

On October 31, 2008, Taillon announced that he would vacate his Chauveau seat and run for the riding of Chapleau, in the
Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottaw ...
region. According to '' La Presse'', Taillon indicated that he was disappointed about politics and wanted to move to Outaouais for personal reasons. Initially, it was rumoured he would run in the riding of Papineau against Liberal Chief Whip Norman MacMillan, before he decided to run in Chapleau, where former provincial Liberal cabinet minister
Benoît Pelletier Benoît Pelletier (born 10 January 1960) is lawyer, academic, and politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He was a Liberal member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1998 to 2008 and was a prominent cabinet minister in the governmen ...
had announced that he did not intend to seek reelection. Taillon lost his bid for election in Chapleau, finishing in third place behind the victorious Liberal, Marc Carrière, and Parti Québécois candidate Yves Morin.


Leadership campaign

Following the resignation of ADQ leader Mario Dumont after the 2008 general election, Taillon announced his candidacy for the leadership. His campaign manager was MNA François Bonnardel. Taillon was elected leader by two votes cast, over rival
Éric Caire Éric Caire (born May 21, 1965) is a Canadian politician from Quebec, Canada, and the CAQ Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of La Peltrie. Early career Caire was born in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec. He was the owner of a l ...
. The election result was very controversial, as it was later reported that a television personality, in an on-air stunt, voted in the election under the name of recently deceased Gabonese strongman
Omar Bongo El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...
. Later reports also revealed that the party president, who was supposed to be neutral in the race, helped raise money and organize for Taillon. Following the narrow victory, Taillon named a new shadow cabinet that did not include a critic's role for his leadership rival, Caire. Caire later resigned from the party to sit as an independent MNA, joined by caucus colleague and supporter
Marc Picard Marc Picard (born April 25, 1955) is a politician in the province of Quebec, Canada. He currently represents the Chutes-de-la-Chaudière district at the National Assembly of Quebec as a member of the CAQ. Born in Saint-Raphaël (Bellechasse), ...
.https://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jcqRbqPASIe2Qc3BPmPv6UNuYD0g On November 10, 2009, just 23 days after his election as party leader, Taillon announced a new leadership race, citing the party infighting and alleging irregularities in the party's financial affairs, dating back to 2003, which he had called in the
Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. No official English name exists, but the agency's name is sometimes translated to 'Quebec Provincial Police' or QPP in English-language sources. The headquarters ...
to investigate.


References


External links

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Gilles Taillon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taillon, Gilles 1945 births Action démocratique du Québec MNAs Canadian businesspeople French Quebecers Living people People from Saint-Jérôme Université de Montréal alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians