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.
Martine Ouellet | |
|---|---|
 Ouellet in 2016 | |
| Leader of Climat Québec | |
| Assumed office May 14, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Leader of the Bloc Québécois | |
| In office March 14, 2017 – June 11, 2018 | |
| President | Mario Beaulieu |
| Preceded by | Rhéal Fortin (interim) |
| Succeeded by | Mario Beaulieu (interim) |
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Vachon | |
| In office July 5, 2010 – October 1, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Camil Bouchard |
| Succeeded by | Ian Lafrenière |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 8, 1969 Longueuil, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party |
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| Other political affiliations |
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| Alma mater | HEC Montreal McGill University |
| Profession |
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Ouellet was first elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in a by-election on July 5, 2010, representing the electoral district of Vachon, standing as a candidate for Parti Québécois.[1][2]
On May 14, 2021, Ouellet announced her return to politics by creating a new provincial party: Climat Québec.[3]
Early life and education
editOuellet is from the South Shore.[4] She graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from McGill University in 1992 and received an M.B.A from the HEC Montreal.[5][when?] Prior to her first election, Ouellet worked as an engineer for Hydro-Québec.[1]
Political career
editProvincial
editOuellet was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in a by-election on July 5, 2010, representing the electoral district of Vachon, standing as a candidate for Parti Québécois.[1][2]
After the Parti Québécois won the 2012 election, she was appointed as Minister of Natural Resources in the Marois government. She held the position until the government's defeat in the 2014 election. Ouellet contested the leadership of the Parti Québécois in 2015 and in 2016, placing third both times.
Federal
editOn February 5, 2017, Ouellet announced her candidacy in the 2017 Bloc Québécois leadership election.[6] At the same time, she resigned from the Parti Québécois and sat in the National Assembly of Quebec as an independent. She stated that she will not seek to enter the federal House of Commons via a by-election, saying that she wants to "have a foot" in both Quebec City and Ottawa.[6] After being the only candidate in the race at the end of the nomination period, she was officially acclaimed as leader on March 18, 2017.[7]
In June 2017, she faced a caucus revolt after her chief of staff, Louis-Philippe Dubois, leaked information to the media in an effort to discredit former interim leader Rhéal Fortin. Members of caucus suspected he had leaked the information on Ouellet's instructions. Ouellet resolved the conflict by firing Dubois and apologising to Fortin.[8]
On February 26, 2018, Gabriel Ste-Marie resigned as the Bloc's House Leader due to conflicts with Ouellet.[9] In a tumultuous caucus meeting, seven of the Bloc's 10 MPs voiced their opposition to Ouellet's leadership, accusing her of having an authoritarian style and boycotted Question Period in order to express their dissent.[10]
The previous week, Ouellet had given a speech to the Bloc's general council in which she complained that she had felt resistance to her leadership from caucus since becoming leader in 2017 and also argued that the Bloc needs to emphasize Quebec independence rather than soft-pedal it.[10]
Fortin criticised her speech saying: "A leader who opens a general council by posing as a victim, then saying that she is a victim of leaks and resistance. For me, it’s not a speech worthy of a leader."[10]
The party's general council also approved paying Ouellet a salary of $95,000 as, without a seat in the House of Commons, she was not eligible for a parliamentary leader's salary. It also approved a supplementary payment, which would have resulted in a total salary of $200,000 once her term as a member of the Quebec National Assembly ends with the 2018 provincial election.[11]
Opposition to Ouellet came to a breaking point on February 28, 2018 when seven MPs quit the caucus to sit as independents, citing Ouellet's alleged authoritarianism as their reason for leaving. The defections left the Bloc with a caucus of three MPs.[12] More than 20 ex-Bloc MPs, including former leader Gilles Duceppe, issued an open letter supporting the seven current MPs who had resigned from caucus and demanding Ouellet's resignation.[13] Nevertheless, after a lengthy meeting, the party's executive issued a statement supporting Ouellet's leadership but also stating that the seven rebels could keep their Bloc Québécois memberships and would not be expelled from the party for quitting the caucus, inviting them to return to the caucus in the future.[14] However, on May 1, the seven MPs announced that they were severing all ties with the BQ and considering founding a new political party: Québec debout.[15]
On June 3, 2018, Ouellet was defeated in a leadership review, with 32% of members voting in favour of her continued leadership and 67% opposed.[16] In a media conference held the day after the results were announced, Ouellet blamed party president and MP Mario Beaulieu, Gilles Duceppe, and the party's old guard for her defeat, accusing them of campaigning against her, and announced that she was resigning as party leader effective June 11, 2018.[17][18] By September 17, 2018, all seven members of Québec debout had rejoined the Bloc Québécois caucus.[19]
Return to provincial politics
editOn May 14, 2021, Ouellet announced her return to politics by creating a new provincial party: Climat Québec.[3] She was a candidate in the 2023 Jean-Talon provincial by-election but she came in sixth place with only 1% of the vote.[20]
Electoral record
edit| Quebec provincial by-election, October 2, 2023: Jean-Talon On the resignation of Joëlle Boutin | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Élise Avard-Bernier | |||||||
| Green | Kadidia Mahamane Bamba | |||||||
| Québec solidaire | Olivier Bolduc | |||||||
| Independent | Jean Duval | |||||||
| Climat Québec | Martine Ouellet | |||||||
| Parti Québécois | Pascal Paradis | |||||||
| Démocratie directe | Lucie Perreault | |||||||
| Conservative | Jesse Robitaille | |||||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Marie-Anik Shoiry | |||||||
| Équipe Autonomiste | Steve Therion | |||||||
| Total valid votes | – | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Electors on the lists | – | – | ||||||
| 2022 Quebec general election: Marie-Victorin | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Shirley Dorismond | 9,212 | 33.11 | -1.84 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Pierre Nantel | 6,913 | 24.85 | -5.22 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Shophika Vaithyanathasarma | 6,307 | 22.67 | +8.46 | ||||
| Liberal | Lyes Chekal | 2,793 | 10.04 | +3.11 | ||||
| Conservative | Lara Stillo | 1,952 | 7.02 | -3.38 | ||||
| Green | Vincent Aquin-Belleau | 308 | 1.11 | +0.24 | ||||
| Climat Québec | Martine Ouellet | 260 | 0.93 | -0.97 | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Pierre Chénier | 48 | 0.17 | – | ||||
| Équipe Autonomiste | Florent Portron | 27 | 0.10 | +0.03 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 27,820 | 98.52 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 418 | 1.48 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 28,238 | 61.64 | +25.51 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 48,810 | – | – | |||||
| Quebec provincial by-election, April 11, 2022: Marie-Victorin Resignation of Catherine Fournier | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Shirley Dorismond | 5,697 | 34.95 | +6.56 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Pierre Nantel | 4,902 | 30.07 | -0.74 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Shophika Vaithyanathasarma | 2,316 | 14.21 | -7.46 | ||||
| Conservative | Anne Casabonne | 1,696 | 10.40 | – | ||||
| Liberal | Émilie Nollet | 1,130 | 6.93 | -8.28 | ||||
| Climat Québec | Martine Ouellet | 310 | 1.90 | – | ||||
| Green | Alex Tyrrell | 142 | 0.87 | -1.28 | ||||
| Accès propriété et équité | Shawn Lalande McLean | 42 | 0.26 | – | ||||
| Indépendance du Québec | Michel Blondin | 21 | 0.13 | – | ||||
| Union Nationale | Michel Lebrun | 17 | 0.10 | – | ||||
| Independent | Philippe Tessier | 17 | 0.10 | – | ||||
| Équipe Autonomiste | Florent Portron | 11 | 0.07 | -0.09 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 16,301 | 98.86 | +0.70 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 188 | 1.14 | -0.70 | |||||
| Turnout | 16,489 | 36.13 | -26.78 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 45,636 | – | ||||||
| Source: Élections Québec[21][22] | ||||||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec gain from Parti Québécois | Swing | +3.65 | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parti Québécois | Martine Ouellet | 11,983 | 33.06 | -6.53 | |
| Liberal | Michel Bienvenu | 11,809 | 32.58 | +11.37 | |
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Stephane Robichaud | 9,164 | 25.28 | -4.38 | |
| Québec solidaire | Sebastien Robert | 2,644 | 7.29 | +2.24 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parti Québécois | Martine Ouellet | 14,723 | 39.59 | ||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Jean-François Roberge | 11,030 | 29.66 | ||
| Liberal | Linda Langlois Saulnier | 7,885 | 21.21 | ||
| Québec solidaire | Sebastien Robert | 1,878 | 5.05 | ||
| Quebec provincial by-election, July 5, 2010: Vachon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Martine Ouellet | 7,863 | 59.15 | +10.51 | ||||
| Liberal | Simon-Pierre Diamond | 3,236 | 24.34 | −7.94 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Alain Dépatie | 879 | 6.61 | −7.06 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Sébastien Robert | 727 | 5.47 | +3.23 | ||||
| Green | Yvon Rudolphe | 419 | 3.15 | −0.01 | ||||
| Independent | Denis Durand | 98 | 0.74 | −2.42 | ||||
| Independent | Régent Millette | 71 | 0.53 | - | ||||
| Total valid votes | 13,293 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 174 | |||||||
| Turnout | 13,467 | 29.25 | −32.23 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 46,046 | |||||||
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.
References
edit- ^ a b c "Parti Quebecois holds on to a Montreal-area riding in Quebec byelection". Winnipeg Free Press, July 5, 2010.
- ^ a b "PQ retains riding in Que. byelection". CBC News. July 6, 2010. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
- ^ a b "Martine Ouellet creates a new environmentalist-sovereignist party: 'Climat Quebec'". CTV News. May 14, 2021. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
- ^ "Monday's byelection in Marie-Victorin will be a test in many ways". The Canadian Press. 2022-04-10. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
- ^ Bloc Québécois' new leader: Who is Martine Ouellet? Montreal Gazette. Author - Andy Riga. Published 14 March 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
- ^ a b "Bloc québécois : Martine Ouellet se lance dans la course à la direction". Radio-Canada, February 5, 2017.
- ^ "Bloc Québécois' new leader: Who is Martine Ouellet?". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
- ^ "Bloc chief Martine Ouellet puts down revolt against her leadership". Montreal Gazette. June 8, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ "'Differences' with Martine Ouellet led Bloc MP to resign as house leader". montrealgazette.com. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "Bloc Québécois in turmoil as MPs question Martine Ouellet's leadership". Montreal Gazette. Canadian Press. February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ "Le controversé salaire de Martine Ouellet approuvé". Journal de Montreal. February 17, 2018. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
- ^ "Bloc Québécois hobbled as 7 of 10 MPs quit The MPs will form a separate parliamentary group". CBC News. February 28, 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
- ^ "More than 20 ex-Bloc Québécois MPs call on Martine Ouellet to quit". montrealgazette.com. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ "Bloc Québécois national office rallies behind Martine Ouellet". montrealgazette.com. 3 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
- ^ Crete, Mylene (May 1, 2018). "Seven ex-Bloc Quebecois MPs considering forming new party". The Globe and Mail. The Canadian Press. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
- ^ "Martine Ouellet loses Bloc Québécois confidence vote with 32% support | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 2018-06-03.
- ^ "Embattled Bloc Québécois leader Martine Ouellet resigns".
- ^ "Martine Ouellet quitte son poste de chef du Bloc québécois".
- ^ "5 Bloc Québécois MPs who quit party returning to the fold". CBC News. September 17, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- ^ Laberge, Thomas (2023-07-28). "Élection partielle dans Jean-Talon: Martine Ouellet tentera de faire son retour à l'Assemblée nationale". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2023-09-22.
- ^ "Electoral division information sheet - Élections Québec". Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "Results of the by-election in the Marie-Victorin electoral division - Élections Québec". 11 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
External links
edit
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
- Martine Ouellet (in French)