Pierre Bourque (born 29 May 1942) is a businessman and politician 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 ...

, Canada. He founded the Vision Montreal political party and served as

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 c ...

from 1994 to 2001.

Background

An horticultural engineer, he was director of the Montreal Botanical Gardens from 1980 to 1994.

Mayor of Montreal

Bourque was the

, Quebec from 1994 to 2001 (as the leader of the

Vision Montreal Vision Montreal (french: Vision Montréal or VM) 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. O ...

party). Bourque proved eccentric and sometimes controversial as mayor. Known as a greenspace aficionado, he supported the creation of parks, implemented tree-planting initiatives, as well as creating Eco-Centres (reusable materials) and Eco-Quartier program (

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

). He was also responsible for the revitalization of many important districts of Montreal (

Saint Catherine Street Sainte-Catherine Street (french: rue Sainte-Catherine) () is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de M ...

Old Montreal Old Montreal (French: ''Vieux-Montréal'') is a historic neighbourhood within the municipality of Montreal in the province of Quebec, Canada. Home to the Old Port of Montreal, the neighbourhood is bordered on the west by McGill Street, on th ...

and the Multimedia City) as well as the reopening of the

Lachine Canal The Lachine Canal ( in French (language), French) is a canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, running 14.5 kilometres (9 miles) from the Old Port of Montreal to Lake Saint-Louis, through the boroug ...

. In 1998, responding to critics who denounced him for not fighting poverty, he spent the night with a working-class family. He was also well known for his close ties to minority "cultural communities". Bourque directed the city's public service to make an intercultural calendar for meeting scheduling. At one time, Bourque was a moderate supporter of the sovereigntist

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 ...

. Bourque's successful attempt, with provincial support, at merging all of Montreal's 28 municipalities into a megacity of 1.8 million people and 27 boroughs cost him the election in 2001. Although he gathered a majority of votes in the old city of Montreal, protest votes against the very principle of the merger in the former suburbs gave the victory to his rival

Gérald Tremblay Gérald Tremblay (born September 20, 1942) is a former Canadian politician and businessman who served as mayor of Montreal from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. He also served as president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. Before b ...

. Pierre Bourque still sat on the municipal council, taking his running mate Kettly Beauregard's spot.

Provincial politics

He subsequently attempted to enter provincial politics, running as an

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

candidate in the 2003 Quebec election, but was defeated. In Bourget, Bourque finished third, behind then minister Diane Lemieux (Parti Québécois) and the Liberal candidate. He then returned to municipal politics.

Leader of the Opposition

Bourque lost for a second time to incumbent-mayor

to regain control of city hall in the Montreal municipal elections held on 6 November 2005, this time by a 74,646 vote margin. The voter turnout was less than 40%, among the lowest in Montreal's history. On 3 May 2006, he stepped down as

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

on Montreal's city council.

Retirement from public office

He co-founded a company, with former colleague Wen Qi, that was called Constellation Monde Inc. which operated in China in the agriculture field. Bourque wanted to develop further economic links between the country and the province. Years after, the company was left to Wen Qi and was renamed DXC Inc. This company now operates in the biotechnology department.

Honours

* 1992 – Professional Citation,

American Public Gardens Association The American Public Gardens Association, formerly the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, is an association of public-garden institutions and professionals primarily in the United States and Canada. Over the last six decades, ...

. * 1993 –

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

. * 2007 –

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Japan).

Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs The is an executive department of the Government of Japan, and is responsible for the country's foreign policy and international relations. The ministry was established by the second term of the third article of the National Government Organi ...

(MOFA)
2007 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals, p. 4
Canada Gazette
2007

Municipal election history

References

* Herland, Karen. (1993). ''People, Potholes, and City Politics.'' Montreal:

Black Rose Books Dimitrios I. Roussopoulos (born 1936) is a Canadian political activist and publisher. Early life Roussopoulos studied philosophy, politics, and economics at several Montreal and London universities. He has remained institutionally independent ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bourque, Pierre 1942 births Living people Businesspeople from Montreal Knights of the National Order of Quebec Mayors of Montreal Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 3rd class Action démocratique du Québec candidates in Quebec provincial elections