Guy Caron (born May 13, 1968) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, who was elected the mayor of

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

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in the

2021 Quebec municipal elections The Canada, Canadian province of Quebec held municipal elections in its municipalities on November 7, 2021. Results by region: Note: (X) refers to being an incumbent Bas-Saint-Laurent Amqui Matane Mont-Joli Rimouski Mayor Rimouski City ...

. He was previously a member of the

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from 2011 to 2019, and served as the federal House leader of 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 ...

from 2017 to 2019, substituting for party leader

Jagmeet Singh Jagmeet Singh Jimmy Dhaliwal (born January 2, 1979) is a Canadian former politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2017 to 2025 and as the Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) for Burnaby Sou ...

who during this time did not hold a seat. Caron was elected to the

in the 2011 election. He represented the electoral district of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques as a member of the

(NDP). He was the NDP's critic for

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and the

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, but resigned from the NDP's shadow cabinet in February 2017 to pursue leadership of the New Democratic Party of Canada. On October 4, 2017, Jagmeet Singh, the newly elected NDP leader, appointed Caron to serve as the NDP's parliamentary leader. He relinquished this position on February 25, 2019, upon Singh's election to parliament from the riding of

Burnaby South Burnaby South () was a federal electoral district in British Columbia. It encompasses a portion of British Columbia previously included in the electoral districts of Burnaby—Douglas and Burnaby—New Westminster. Burnaby South was created b ...

. Caron lost his seat in the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...

Early life and career

Caron was born in Rimouski, Quebec. He has a bachelor's degree in communications from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1992, and served two terms as president of their

student federation 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, organization ...

in 1992–1994. He was vice-president of the board of directors of Voyages Campus/Travel Cuts, 1994. He was national president of the

Canadian Federation of Students The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is a student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian students a ...

for two terms in 1994–1996. He also has a master's degree in economics from

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

in 2001. Prior to being elected, Caron was a researcher and economist with the

Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP; []) was a largely private sector, private-sector trade union, labour union with 150,000 members, active from 1992 to 2013. It was created in 1992 through the merger of three unions: th ...

, most recently as Director of Special Projects. He previously worked for the Council of Canadians where he was a media relations officer, then the Campaigner on Canada-U.S. Relations, and then the Healthcare Campaigner. He has also worked for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. He is also a former journalist: he worked with radio stations CKLE and CKMN-FM, and with the newspapers Progrès-Écho and Rimouskois while studying science at the

Cégep de Rimouski The Cégep de Rimouski () is a post-secondary education institution ( cégep: College of General and Professional Education) located in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada. History The college traces its origins to the merger of several institutions which ...

. He is the author of ''Crossing the Line: A Citizens’ Inquiry on Canada-U.S. Relations''.

Political career

Caron ran in Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques as the NDP candidate in 2004, 2006 and 2008, each time finishing a distant fourth. In 2011, however, he defeated Bloc Québecois incumbent Claude Guimond as part of the large NDP wave that swept through Quebec. He was appointed chairperson of the NDP's Quebec caucus following the election. After the 2015 election, Caron was appointed the NDP critic for

, the

, as well as deputy critic for Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard in the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

. Caron resigned from the NDP shadow cabinet in February 2017 to stand for the leadership of the New Democratic Party to succeed

Tom Mulcair Thomas Joseph Mulcair (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2012 to 2017 and Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada), leader of the Official Oppos ...

. Caron stated that the two major challenges confronting Canadians are income inequality and climate change. His leadership platform included a guaranteed basic income. In the October 1, 2017, election, Caron placed fourth with 9.4% of the vote, with

winning on the first ballot. The other two contestants in the leadership election, MPs

Charlie Angus Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus served as the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...

and

Niki Ashton Niki Christina Ashton (born September 9, 1982) is a Canadian politician. She served as the Member of Parliament (Canada), Member of Parliament for the federal electoral district of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba from 2008 to 2025 as a m ...

, came second and third respectively. Caron lost his seat in the

. In November 2020, Caron announced his campaign for Mayor of

in the following year's municipal election, hoping to succeed retiring Mayor Marc Parent. He won the election on November 7, 2021.

Political positions

Tax policy

Caron released a tax plan called ''Making Taxes Work for Canadians'' as part of his ongoing NDP leadership bid. The plan proposes the creation of a Tax Crimes Division within the Department of Justice Canada, in order to provide a more robust method of preventing tax evasion. In addition, the tax plan proposes a Financial Activities Tax to tax the profits of financial institutions and the remuneration packages of banking executives. Caron's plan also proposes the elimination of the "CEO stock option loophole," a promise made by 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, ...

in the 2015 federal election.

Basic income

Caron's bid for the NDP leadership also included a plan for

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

for individuals or families who spend at least 20% more of their income than the average on necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing (designated as the low-income cut-off line). The basic income program would be joined with the Canada Childcare Benefit and the Guaranteed Income Supplement, without affecting other programs.

Trade

Caron's NDP leadership website states that Caron will work for "trade deals that work for Canadians". The website also states that "trade is good, when the deals are done right".

Electoral record

Federal elections

Municipal elections

Personal life

Caron has been married to Valerie Stansfield since 2006. They have two children. At the time of his 2011 election they lived in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

, Quebec; following the election they purchased a property in

, within Caron's riding, though stayed in Aylmer while Parliament was in session.

References

External links

Basic Income: an explainer by Guy Caron
on the Broadbent Institute's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Guy 1968 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec New Democratic Party MPs Mayors of Rimouski Universal basic income activists University of Ottawa alumni Université du Québec à Montréal alumni 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec