Benoît Labonté (born 28 December 1959) was a

city councillor 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 ...

with the Vision Montréal party 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 was the mayor of the borough of Ville-Marie until 2009. He was in favour of the merger of all

Montreal Island The Island of Montreal (, ) is an island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, which is the site of a number of municipalities, including most of the city of Montreal, and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main island of the Hochelag ...

municipalities into the megacity. Labonté, a former head of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, is a Canadian

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

,. He once worked as an aide to former

finance minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. Previously a member of the

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 ...

municipal party, he left and joined Vision Montréal following a dispute with Montreal mayor

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 ...

. Following this, Tremblay prevailed upon the Quebec government to abolish the position of Ville-Marie borough mayor as a separate elected position, merging it with the office of mayor of Montreal. Labonté remained leader of Montreal's opposition party,

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 ...

, until the municipal election of November 2009, when he resigned in favour of

Louise Harel Louise Harel ( ; born April 22, 1946) is a Quebec politician. In 2005 she served as interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of Bernard Landry. She was also interim leader of the opposition in the National Assembly ...

for mayor, running instead for city council in the district of Sainte-Marie. On October 17, 2009 he resigned as head of the official opposition after published reports of him taking $100,000 from Montreal developer

Tony Accurso Antonio Accurso (born November 8, 1951) is a Quebec businessman who specializes in the construction sector. He directly and indirectly controls several construction businesses as well as bars, restaurants, movie theatres, shopping centres, and th ...

to fund is bid.

References

External links

* (FR
Official website
* (FR
Profile page
Montreal city councillors 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec People from Lachute 1959 births Living people {{Quebec-mayor-stub