Rhéal Éloi Fortin () is a Canadian lawyer and politician, who is the member of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
for
Rivière-du-Nord.
A lawyer by profession, he is the president of Bissonnette Fortin Giroux, a law firm in
Saint-Jérôme
Saint-Jérôme () ( 2021 population 80,213) is a suburban city located about northwest of Montreal on the Rivière du Nord. It is part of the North Shore sector of Greater Montreal. It is a gateway to the Laurentian Mountains and its reso ...
. He studied law at University of Sherbrooke. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the
2015 election for
Rivière-du-Nord as a member of the
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...
,
Fortin was named
interim leader of the Bloc Québécois on October 22, 2015 following the resignation of
Gilles Duceppe
Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...
as leader after Duceppe was unable to win his seat in the election.
He served as interim leader of the party until the next leader,
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 t ...
was
named on March 18, 2017.
Fortin and six other Bloc MPs resigned from the Bloc's caucus to sit as independent MPs on February 28, 2018 citing conflicts with Ouellet's leadership.
Fortin then served as leader of the party formed by the dissidents,
Québec debout
Québec debout (), sometimes styled Québec Debout ( Stand Up, Quebec or Rise Up, Quebec), formerly the Groupe parlementaire québécois () was a Quebec-based parliamentary group in the House of Commons of Canada during the 42nd Canadian Parliam ...
. He rejoined the Bloc Québécois caucus on September 17, 2018.
Biography
Fortin was born in
Laval-des-Rapides, Quebec. He started working when he was 18. He completed a
CEGEP
A CEGEP ( or ; , ; also written CÉGEP and cegep) is a publicly funded college providing general, professional, academic or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it ori ...
electrician's diploma, equivalent to
junior college
A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...
. He was a worker in a factory in
Laval from 1977 to 1985, then left to attend university to study law. After completing his legal education, he began practising law in Saint-Jérôme in 1992.
Political career
He has been politically active ever since high school, when he volunteered to put up lawn signs for 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 establishi ...
. He ran for the Parti Québécois nomination for the election for the
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...
for
Prévost, but lost to
Gilles Robert
Gilles Robert (born March 5, 1955) is a Canadian politician and teacher. Robert represented the riding of Prévost in the National Assembly of Quebec from 2008 to 2012. He is a member of the Parti Québécois.
Born in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, R ...
. In 2015 he ran for the Bloc Québécois in the riding
Rivière-du-Nord and won. He became the interim leader of Bloc Québécois on October 22, 2015. On December 7, 2016, he announced that he would not be seeking the permanent leadership of the party at its
leadership election in 2017.
He served as the BQ's critic for intergovernmental affairs, human rights, justice, and access to information in the House of Commons until February 2018, when he and six other Bloc MPs quit the caucus and formed the
Groupe parlementaire québécois in protest of
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 t ...
's leadership style. Fortin was named the group's spokesperson on March 21, 2018.
Since 2021 he has served as the justice critic in the
Bloc Québécois Shadow Cabinet.
Electoral record
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortin, Rheal
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
Bloc Québécois leaders
Bloc Québécois MPs
Lawyers in Quebec
People from Saint-Jérôme
Politicians from Laval, Quebec
Université de Sherbrooke alumni
Québec debout MPs
Leaders of political parties in Canada
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada