Jean Doré (12 December 1944 – 15 June 2015) was a Canadian politician and

mayor of the City of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all c ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

Background

Doré studied law at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) 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-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, where he was president of the

student union A students' union or student union, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, organizatio ...

from 1967 to 1968. He received a

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Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. In the early seventies Doré became a founding member of the progressive '' Montreal Citizens' Movement (MCM)'', also known as ''Rassemblement des citoyens et citoyennes de Montréal'' (RCM) in French, where he started as treasurer and eventually became party leader in 1982. From 1972 to 1975, Doré was director of the ''Fédération des associations d'économie familiale''. He hosted a consumer affairs show on the Radio-Québec public television network. He was briefly a press attaché for

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

who would later become

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...

. Prior to his mayoral tenure, Doré worked as a lawyer for the ''Confédération des syndicats nationaux'' (CSN) - the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CNTU).

Leader of the Opposition

In 1982 Doré was selected as the MCM candidate for

Mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...

. He finished second with 36% of the vote, against

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Jean Drapeau Jean Drapeau (; 18 February 1916 – 12 August 1999) was a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Montreal for 2 non-consecutive terms from 1954 to 1957 and from 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include ...

(48%), giving Drapeau his stiffest competition in years. Fifteen candidates of the MCM were elected to

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

. Doré won a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in 1984 and became city councillor for the district of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, as well as

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Mayor of Montreal

Drapeau retired in 1986. By this time, Drapeau's

Civic Party The Civic Party (CP) was a pro-democracy camp, pro-democracy liberalism in Hong Kong, liberal political party from March 2006 to May 2023 in Hong Kong. The party was formed in 2006 on the basis of the Article 45 Concern Group, Basic Law Ar ...

was increasingly seen as tired and unfocused after a quarter-century in power. The MCM took control of the city in a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...

. Doré won the mayoral race in a rout with 68% of the vote, defeating Drapeau's replacement as Civic Party leader, Claude Dupras, by a nearly 3-to-1 margin. The MCM also saw 55 candidates out of 58 were elected to council. Doré was re-elected in 1990 with 59% of the vote. City Councillor Marvin Rotrand said the Doré era was most notable for a more democratic approach to governance than that of Drapeau. As mayor, he oversaw the renewal of the Old Port and the parks and beaches of Île Ste-Hélène. He also inaugurated

Place Émilie-Gamelin Place Émilie-Gamelin (known informally as Berri Square, ) is a city square in central Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was created to mark the 350th anniversary of the city. Bordered by Berri Street, Saint Hubert Street, Sainte Catherine Street, an ...

(known informally as Berri Square), Place

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

and the archaeology museum at Pointe-à-Callière. Under Doré, 150 kilometres of bike paths were constructed, as well as several parks and public beaches, including on Île-Notre-Dame the Plage Jean-Doré. During his administration, the first public commissions of city council were established and the city's first master urban plan was adopted. However, Doré was also criticized for an ineffective style of government, including lax policies toward city employees, as well as an unwillingness to pay down the massive debt from Drapeau's megaprojects. As well, some left-wing members of the MCM, including councillors Sam Boskey and

Marvin Rotrand Marvin Rotrand (born 1951) is a former Canadian politician, last sitting as an independent. He previously served as a member of Montreal City Council, representing the district of Snowdon. Rotrand served on Montreal city council from 1982 until 2 ...

, quit his party after the

Overdale Overdale was a small residential district in downtown Montreal that became a famous symbol of the struggle between urban conservationists and land developers. In the mid-1980s, two developers, Robert Landau and Douglas Cohen, operating under an ...

scandal to form the '' Democratic Coalition of Montreal (DCM)'', also known as ''Coalition démocratique de Montréal (CDM)'' in French.

First political retirement

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Doré received only 32% of the vote and was defeated by

Vision Montreal Vision Montreal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council. Origins Vision Montreal was e ...

candidate Pierre Bourque (47%). He could have taken a seat on the

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

after winning his election in the district of

Plateau-Mont-Royal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a Montreal borough, borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mount Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal ...

with 46% of the ballots, but retired in favor of

running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a pre ...

Thérèse Daviau Thérèse Daviau, also known as Thérèse Daviau-Bergeron (1946–2002), was a Canadian politician, an attorney and a City Councillor in Montreal, Quebec. Career Daviau was born in 1946 and received a law degree from Université de Montréal. In ...

Attempt at a comeback

Doré tried to make a political comeback in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

. He founded ''Équipe Montréal'' (Team Montreal), a new party, and ran for mayor. However, he gathered only 10% of the vote and finished fourth. Two candidates of TM were elected to the city council, but they eventually sat as

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

s, and the party ceased to exist shortly before the 2001 election.Une opposition divisée, Radio-Canada, 6 January 2000

Post politics

Doré left public life and became senior director of business development for the central

Caisse Desjardins The Desjardins Group (, ) is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions () in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec, Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins (co-operator), Alphonse Desjar ...

Health

In 2014, Doré announced that he had been diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

.Former Montreal Mayor diagnosed with cancer
at the

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

; published 30 September 2014; retrieved 3 October 2014 He died on 15 June 2015.

References

External links

City of Montreal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dore, Jean 1944 births 2015 deaths 20th-century mayors of places in Quebec Lawyers from Montreal Mayors of Montreal McGill University alumni Deaths from cancer in Quebec Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Canada