Jean-Guy Dagenais (born February 2, 1950) is a Canadian politician from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He was appointed to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

on January 17, 2012, by

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...

after losing in the

2011 Canadian federal election The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on March ...

running as a Conservative candidate in

Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot (formerly known as Saint-Hyacinthe and St. Hyacinthe—Bagot) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1935. It is located in Quebec, C ...

. He represents the Senate division of Victoria (Quebec). In 2019, he left the Conservative Senate caucus to sit with the

Canadian Senators Group The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group, two from the Conservative Pa ...

, and left the Conservative party in 2022 shortly after

Pierre Poilievre Pierre Marcel Poilievre ( ; born June 3, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and the leader of the Official Opposition since 2022. Poilievre has served as a member of Parliament (MP) ...

was elected as leader.

Political career

Dagenais ran for a seat to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

under the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

banner in the

. He was defeated finishing third place out of five candidates behind winner

Marie-Claude Morin Marie-Claude Morin (born January 25, 1985 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2011 Canadian federal election, 2011 election. She represented the electoral distr ...

and defeated incumbent

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac (born February 6, 1972) is a former Canadian politician. She served as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot from 2007 to 2011. She was th ...

. Prime Minister

advised Governor General

David Johnston David Lloyd Johnston (born June 28, 1941) is a Canadian academic, author, and statesman who served from 2010 to 2017 as Governor General of Canada, the 28th since Canadian Confederation. He is the commissioner of the Leaders' Debates Commis ...

to appoint Dagenais to the

on January 6, 2012, and he was subsequently appointed on January 17. In response to ongoing criticism of the Senate stemming from the

Mike Duffy Michael Dennis Duffy (born May 27, 1946) is a former Canadian senator and former Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel. In turning 75 on May 27, 2021, ...

scandal, Dagenais railed against NDP MP

Charmaine Borg Charmaine Borg is a Canadian politician who served as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the riding of Terrebonne—Blainville in Quebec from 2011 to 2015. Borg was born on 3 November 1990 in Oakville, Ontario as one of seven ...

, in a letter to the House of Commons accusing her of being a whiny, useless puppet who would not have won election if not for sympathy for

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

, and of ignorance of the constitution for her support of the NDP position on abolishing the Senate. Dagenais was unapologetic for his insults and for his incorrect claim that Borg was wrong to note that the NDP supports abolition, both despite the fact that he himself was appointed to Senate after losing an election, and was the one who was wrong about NDP policy. In response, Borg launched an official complaint against the Senator. On November 18, 2019, Dagenais announced that he was quitting the Conservative's Senate caucus to join the

due to disagreements with the leadership of

Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...

, concerns over the former's social views and the "low importance" attached to Quebec voters by party leadership as the reasons for his defection. However, he is keeping his individual membership to the Conservative Party itself. In January 2021, Dagenais was in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

overseeing "urgent work" on a property he owned, despite public health advice to avoid non-essential international travel during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

. In Senate, during debate on use of the ''Emergencies Act'' in response to the convoy protests, Dagenais suggested use of the ''Act'' was unjustified, claiming police didn't need its additional powers. The blockade lasted from January 29 to February 20. Dagenais endorsed former Quebec premier

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House of ...

in the

2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election The 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was a leadership election held by the Conservative Party of Canada to elect the successor to Erin O'Toole. He was removed on February 2, 2022, as leader by the party's caucus in the ...

. In September 2022, Dagenais left the Conservative party shortly after

was elected as leader, winning by huge margins, including in Quebec. Dagenais cited Poilievre's plan to fire

Tiff Macklem Richard Tiffany Macklem (born June 4, 1961), known as Tiff Macklem, is a Canadian banker and economist who serves as the 10th and current governor of the Bank of Canada. He was also the former dean of the Rotman School of Management and had pre ...

, the Governor of the

Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada (BoC; french: Banque du Canada) is a Crown corporation and Canada's central bank. Chartered in 1934 under the ''Bank of Canada Act'', it is responsible for formulating Canada's monetary policy,OECD. OECD Economic Surveys: Ca ...

as well as his support for the

Canada convoy protest A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (french: Convoi de la liberté, links=no) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created t ...

Electoral record

References

External links

Senate biography
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Jean-Guy Dagenais
home page Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Living people Conservative Party of Canada senators Canadian senators from Quebec 1950 births Canadian Senators Group {{Quebec-senator-stub