Mario A. Beaulieu
(; born February 1, 1959) is a Canadian politician. An advocate for nationalism in
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 served as
leader
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
(2014–2015),
interim leader (2018–2019) and president (2014–2018) of the
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
(BQ); Beaulieu has been the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
La Pointe-de-l'Île
La Pointe-de-l'Île () is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 98,878.
The riding was created in 2003 from parts of Anjou—Rivière- ...
since the
2015 election.
He was the 80th president of the sovereignist
Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (french: Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste) is an institution in Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic assoc ...
of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
from 2009 to 2014 and has been a spokesman for the
Mouvement Québec français Mouvement Québec français (MQF) is an umbrella group of organisations in favour of the preservation and defence of the French language in Quebec, Canada.
History
The MFQ was founded in the beginning of March 1971,Turcotte, p. 10 when François- ...
, a coalition of organizations in favour of the preservation and defence of the
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...
in Quebec.
[http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://etats-generaux-quebec.org/le-conseil-dadministration/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMario%2BBeaulieu%2Bbiographie%26safe%3Doff%26biw%3D1093%26bih%3D480]
Early life and career
Mario Beaulieu was born on February 1, 1959, in
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 count ...
; at age four, his family moved to
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue () is an on-island suburb located at the western tip of the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is the second oldest community in Montreal's West Island, having been founded as a parish in 1703. The old ...
.
Bealieu was the president of the
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 ...
's
riding association
An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...
in Montreal Centre from 1997 to 2002 and was an unsuccessful Bloc Québécois candidate in the
1997 federal election, losing to federal cabinet minister
Pierre Pettigrew
Pierre Stewart Pettigrew (born April 18, 1951) is a Canadian politician and businessman.
Early life and career
Born in Quebec City, Pettigrew has a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (1972) ...
in
Papineau—Saint-Denis
Papineau (formerly Papineau—Saint-Denis and Papineau—Saint-Michel) is a federal electoral district in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1948. Its population in 2016 was 110,750. Jus ...
. He has been a long-time advocate for strengthening measures requiring the predominance of the French language in Quebec, as well as for
Quebec independence
The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision of ...
.
Bloc Québécois leader
In April 2014, he declared his candidacy for the
leadership of the Bloc Québécois and received the endorsement of the executive of the Bloc's youth wing,
former Parti Québécois legislative members
Bernard Landry
Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...
and
Pierre Curzi
Pierre Curzi (born February 11, 1946 in Montreal, Quebec) is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec. He is a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. ...
, and the former president of the
Mouvement Desjardins
The Desjardins Group (french: Mouvement Desjardins) is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions (french: caisses populaires) in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Des ...
, Claude Béland. Beaulieu, viewed as a "hardline" sovereigntist, promised to prioritize achieving Quebec independence above everything else. On June 14, 2014, he defeated BQ Member of Parliament
André Bellavance
André Bellavance (born June 3, 1964) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015 and was the mayor of Victoriaville, Quebec from 2016 to 2021.
Born in Victoriaville, Quebec, Bellavance w ...
for the Bloc leadership with 53.5% of the vote. Beaulieu took office as Bloc leader at the party's convention on June 25, 2014.
Shortly after his election, Beaulieu attracted controversy from within the party due to statements in his acceptance speech associated with the
Front de libération du Québec
The (FLQ) was a Marxist–Leninist and Quebec separatist guerrilla group. Founded in the early 1960s with the aim of establishing an independent and socialist Quebec through violent means, the FLQ was considered a terrorist group by the Canadia ...
and separate statements seemingly critical about the past leaders of the party, which drew criticism from former
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
leader
Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and ...
and resulted in two party members announcing their intentions to leave the party. In the weeks following his election, a number of riding executive members quit the party to protest Beaulieu's leadership and a number of individuals who had been considering running for the party in the next election removed themselves from consideration.
On August 12, 2014, the party's parliamentary caucus was reduced to 3 MPs after House Leader
Jean-François Fortin quit the party to sit as an Independent MP. Fortin accused Beaulieu of "pushing a unidimensional, intransigent agenda that lacks rigour has put an end to the credibility established by (former leaders) Gilles Duceppe and followed up by Daniel Paillé, two leaders who merit great respect."
[ On August 25, 2014, ]André Bellavance
André Bellavance (born June 3, 1964) is a Canadians, Canadian politician, who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015 and was the mayor of Victoriaville, Quebec from 2016 to 2021.
Born in Victoriaville, Quebec, Bellavance w ...
, who had lost to Beaulieu in the leadership vote also resigned, reducing the Bloc to two MPs. Bellavance told a press conference, in regards to Beaulieu: "His vision and orientation for the Bloc are diametrically opposed to mine. Mr. Beaulieu says he can unite the party; for me it’s not the case."
Return of Duceppe
With the party languishing as it was about to enter the 2015 federal election, Beaulieu entered into discussions with former party leader Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years and ...
in hopes of saving the Bloc from extinction. On June 10, 2015, Beaulieu and Duceppe jointly announced that Gilles Duceppe would be returning to lead the party into the election campaign while Beaulieu would relinquish the leadership but remain party president. The party executive agreed on June 9, 2015, to split the positions of president and party leader in order to facilitate Duceppe's return. The changes were ratified by the party's general council on July 1.
2015 election
In the 2015 election, Beaulieu was elected in the riding of La Pointe-de-l'Île
La Pointe-de-l'Île () is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Its population in 2001 was 98,878.
The riding was created in 2003 from parts of Anjou—Rivière- ...
, the only Bloc MP elected on the island of Montreal. The party returned 10 MPs, but fell short of official party status
Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...
.
Return to Bloc Québécois leadership
Beaulieu was one of three Bloc MPs who initially supported Martine Ouellet
Martine Ouellet (born April 8, 1969) is a Canadian politician who served as leader of the Bloc Québécois from 2017 to 2018. She was the Minister of Natural Resources in the Quebec government from 2012 to 2014.
Ouellet was first elected to the ...
's leadership during a caucus revolt
A caucus revolt occurs when enough members of a political party pressure its leadership to step down or to remove planned bills, legislation or policies from its platform. A caucus revolt generally concludes with the party leader resigning their ...
and remained with the Bloc caucus when seven MPs resigned on February 28, 2018, to sit as Independents. He later became critical of her leadership and campaigned for her removal for an upcoming leadership review, whilst staying in caucus. Beaulieu was named interim leader after Ouellet resigned over losing a party referendum on her leadership.
On August 22, 2018, he ceded the party presidency to Yves Perron as part of an agreement to reunite the party following the conflict over Martine Oulette's leadership. Beaulieu is to continue as interim leader, however, until a leadership election is held in 2019. On January 17, 2019, he was succeeded as party leader by Yves-François Blanchet
Yves-François Blanchet (; born April 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician who has served as leader of the Bloc Québécois (BQ) since 2019. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beloeil—Chambly since the 2019 election.
Before federal ...
.
Electoral record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaulieu, Mario
Living people
Politicians from Sherbrooke
People from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec
Bloc Québécois leaders
Canadian federal political party presidents
Parti Québécois politicians
Bloc Québécois MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
1959 births
French Quebecers
21st-century Canadian politicians