Alain Tassé is a politician in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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, ...

, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 2005 to 2013, initially as a member of the

Montreal Island Citizens Union Union Montreal () is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to ...

(MICU)/

Union Montreal Union Montreal () is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the governing party in the city from 2001, when it won its first election under mayor Gérald Tremblay, until 2012. The party remained the largest singl ...

(UM) party and later as an independent. From 2012 to 2013, he was a member of the

Montreal executive committee The Montreal Executive Committee () is the executive branch of the municipal government of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The committee reports directly to city hall and is responsible for generating documents such as budgets and by-laws, which are then ...

(i.e., the municipal cabinet). At an earlier time in his life, he held a leading position in the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

in Quebec and was a candidate for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

Private career

Tassé's 2013 campaign literature identified him as the owner of a property management firm specializing in the oversight of non-profit housing.

New Democratic Party activist

Tassé was a candidate for the Canadian House of Commons in the

1988 Canadian federal election The 1988 Canadian federal election was held on November 21, 1988, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 34th Canadian Parliament, 34th Parliament of Canada following the dissolution of the House on October 1. It was an electio ...

, running for the

Verdun—Saint-Paul Verdun (also known as Verdun—Saint-Paul, Verdun—Saint-Henri and Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe-Saint-Charles) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1935 ...

. He finished third against Progressive Conservative

Gilbert Chartrand Gilbert Chartrand (born 3 November 1954) was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was a businessman and trader by career. Born in Verdun, Quebec, Chartrand represented the Quebec riding of Verdun—Saint-Pa ...

. The New Democratic Party experienced serious internal divisions in 1989 over the nature and extent of its support for the proposed

Meech Lake Accord The Meech Lake Accord () was a series of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and all 10 Canadian provincial Premier (Canada), premiers. It was intended to ...

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

reform. In December 1989, delegates at the party's convention voted to seek improvements to the accord via a series of amendments. This decision was opposed by many Quebec delegates, particularly those who identified as Quebec nationalists and who opposed any changes to the original text. Tassé was among those opposing the decision; he was quoted as saying, "I'm a socialist before I'm a nationalist, but I remain a (Quebec) nationalist." Tassé was chosen as interim president of the federal wing of the New Democratic Party in Quebec in June 1990. He stood down from the position in early 1991 and became special assistant on Quebec issues to federal party leader

Audrey McLaughlin Audrey Marlene McLaughlin (name at birth, née Brown; born November 8, 1936) is a Canadian politician and former leader of the New Democratic Party (Canada), New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a politica ...

, a position he continued to hold through to the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 35th Canadian Parliament, 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it ...

. In June 1991, he was involved in developing a compromise resolution on constitutional reform intended to win support for the party in both Quebec and

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West, or Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a list of regions of Canada, Canadian region that includes the four western provinces and t ...

Municipal politician

Tassé unsuccessfully sought election to the

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

city council in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, running as a candidate of the ''Parti contre l'annexion de Verdun'' (Verdun Anti-Annexation Party), which opposed a proposed merger of Verdun with Montreal. He was elected in the 1993 municipal election as a member of Georges Bossé's ''Parti d'action municipale'' (Municipal Action Party) and served for the next four years. He sought re-election in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

but was defeated. Verdun was subsequently annexed to Montreal on January 1, 2002, and Tassé was elected to the Montreal city council in 2005, winning in the Desmarchais-Crawford division in that year's municipal election. The Montreal Island Citizens Union won a majority on council, and Tassé served as a backbench supporter of

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 ...

administration. He was re-elected in the 2009 election, which was won by Tremblay's renamed Union Montreal party. Following this election, Tassé served on the city's task force dealing with

bedbug Bed bugs are parasitic insects from the genus ''Cimex'', which are micropredators that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts, including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptom ...

infestations and oversaw the establishment of an open-data portal for municipal information. The Union Montreal party fell into crisis in late 2012, after serious allegations of corruption were made about the party at the

Charbonneau Commission The Commission of Inquiry on the Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry (, also known as the Charbonneau Commission) was a public inquiry in Quebec, Canada into potential corruption in the management of public con ...

. Tassé was one of the first councillors to resign from the party following these revelations, serving as an independent on council as of November 2012. Following Tremblay's resignation as mayor, city council voted to choose a replacement, and Tassé supported

Michael Applebaum Michael Mark Applebaum (born February 10, 1963) is a former Canadian politician who served as interim mayor of Montreal between his appointment by the city council on November 16, 2012, and his resignation on June 18, 2013. On June 17, 2013, he ...

's successful bid for the position. On November 22, 2012, Applebaum named Tassé to his executive committee with responsibility for economic development and urbanization. He retained these responsibilities when Laurent Blanchard succeeded Applebaum as mayor on June 25, 2013, and also gained responsibility for the oversight of water. In January 2013, Tassé announced the beginning of a long-term renewal plan for a derelict area in the northern section of Montreal's Parc Avenue. He indicated that the plan was to turn a former "no man's land" area into a mixed-use neighbourhood, with some continued industrial and commercial presence. He also defended the city's decision to authorize condominium towers in

Griffintown Griffintown is a historic neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, southwest of downtown. The area existed as a functional neighbourhood from the 1820s until the 1960s and was mainly populated by Irish immigrants and their descendants. Mostly depopulate ...

without public consultation, saying that the buildings would be an improvement over what had been there previously. Tassé speculated that he might contest the 2013 municipal election as part of a group of independents in Verdun, but he ultimately supported Marcel Côté's bid for mayor and joined the

Coalition Montréal Coalition Montréal (''Montreal Coalition'') was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 2013 to support the candidacy of Marcel Côté for mayor of Montreal. The party competed for the first time in the 2013 municipa ...

party.René Bruemmer, "Marcel Côté throws his hat in the ring; Vows to 'bring together all the elements' of city," ''Montreal Gazette'', 4 July 2013, A3. Under this party's banner, he ran for borough mayor of Verdun and finished fourth against Jean-François Parenteau of

Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal Equipe or Équipe may refer to: ''Équipe'' Équipe may refer to: * team, in French language * ''L'Équipe'', a French newspaper devoted to sports * ''L'Équipe'' (TV series), a television series broadcast in many versions and in many countries ...

. Tassé's term on the executive committee ended when Blanchard's administration stood down from office.

Electoral record

;Municipal (Montreal) ;Municipal (Verdun) ;Federal

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tasse, Alain Living people Montreal city councillors People from Verdun, Quebec Year of birth missing (living people)