Mario Dumont
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mario Dumont
B.A.Econ |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office March 26, 2007 |
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| Preceded by | André Boisclair |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Jean Allaire |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 12, 1994 |
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| Preceded by | Albert Côté |
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| Born | May 19, 1970 Cacouna, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Political party | Action démocratique du Québec |
| Spouse | Marie-Claude Barrette |
| Children | Angela Charles Juliette |
| Alma mater | Concordia University |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | adq.qc.ca |
Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970 in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna, Quebec) is a politician in the province of Quebec, Canada. He is a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) party. Based on the results of the 2007 Quebec election, Dumont is now the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
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[edit] Biography
Dumont and his wife, Marie-Claude Barrette, have three children: Angela, Charles, and Juliette.
[edit] Political profile
Dumont bought his first membership card in the provincial Liberal Party at age 15. He stated to his school friends that in the future he would be Quebec's premier.[1] Dumont was a former President of the Parti libéral du Québec's Youth Commission, but had a falling out with the party following the rejection of the Allaire Report proposing maximalist powers for Quebec after the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord.
The first Liberal sovereignists Dumont called himself and Michel Bissonnet, who preceded Dumont as leader of the Liberal youth wing. This was the group that led the Liberal sovereignist faction while Liberal premier Robert Bourassa remained unopposed.[2]
Dumont organized the "Liberals for the No side," in the 1992 referendum on the Charlottetown Accord.
He and Liberal party insider Jean Allaire played a central role in the creation and development of the ADQ in 1994. He succeeded Allaire as leader after the latter resigned for health reasons.
Dumont was elected as an ADQ member of the National Assembly for Rivière du Loup in the 1994, 1998, 2003, and 2007 elections. Dumont holds a Bachelor in Economics from Concordia University (1993) and completed some graduate work at the Université de Montréal.
In the 1995 Quebec Referendum, Dumont joined with Parti Québécois Premier Jacques Parizeau and Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard, who wooed him and with whom he remains close, in support of the sovereigntist campaign. In subsequent years, however he changed positions on the issue, arguing that the sovereignty question had been decided and that Quebecers had no desire to revisit it. The constitutional position of the ADQ has since been "Autonomist", favouring increased powers and responsibilities for Quebec while remaining within the Canadian federation. In practical terms, Dumont has supported the creation of a Quebec constitution, the change of the province's name to that of the "autonomous state of Québec", and the collection of all taxes by the provincial government, with the funds necessary for the federal government to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities being transferred to it by the province.
Since the 1998 provincial election, Dumont has distinguished himself primarily for his stances on economic issues, which are generally considered to be right of centre in the context of the predominantly social-democratic Quebec political scene. He advocates the payment of a cash allowance to parents who do not wish to make use of the province's 7 dollar a day daycare program, changes to the provincial health system that would allow private for profit health care and private health insurance alongside the public system, the abolition of school boards, the encouragement of private education, a tougher criminal justice system, reductions in the size of the provincial bureaucracy, and the repayment of the province's $127 billion government debt.
[edit] 2007 Quebec election
In the 2007 Quebec election, the ADQ won 41 seats with 31% of the popular vote, and forms the Official Opposition in the National Assembly. Prior to the dissolution of the National Assembly, the ADQ had held only five seats, and as a result did not have official party status. However, the ADQ failed to win seats in several major cities including Montreal, Gatineau, Saguenay, Longueuil, Laval, Sherbrooke.
However, after the election, the popular support for the party decreased gradually. A late-April 2008 Crop-La Presse poll showed the party in third position with 17%, more than 20% behind the PLQ. [3]
[edit] Reasonable accommodation
Montreal's Centre for Research Action on Race Relations asked Dumont to "clarify" comments about immigration made in an interview for Montreal's La Presse on 12 August 2007, which suggested Quebec had come to its limit for new immigrants. The Centre's Fo Niemi said Dumont should promote tolerance and not intolerance.
In the interview, Dumont said the number of immigrants accepted should not pass the capacity of the Québécois to accept and acculturate them, or ghettos will arise. Niemi calls such statements unfounded and adds those statements just help fuel inter-communal tension found in other societies [4].
[edit] Non-confidence motion
On November 6, 2007, Dumont tabled at the National Assembly a non-confidence motion against the government in the aftermath of the 2007 school board election in election the voter turnout reached only 8% across the province.
The motion was:
| “ | L'Assemblée nationale blâme sévèrement le gouvernement. Elle lui retire sa confiance pour sa défense des commissions scolaires, son approche bureaucratique et son incapacité à assurer aux écoles et aux enfants du Québec les services auxquels ils ont droit.[5]
English translation: The National Assembly severely condemns the government. It is withdrawing its confidence in the government's defense of school boards, its bureaucratic approach and its inability to offer schools and Quebec children the service to which they are entitled. |
” |
Dumont mentioned that the election was an indication that the Quebec population is against school boards. He mentionned that abolishing the school boards, as the ADQ suggest, would generate savings of about $100 million to $200 million for taxpayers. However, a study made by newspaper La Presse concluded that it would cost them an additional $65 million. [6]
The motion needed the support of Pauline Marois' Parti Québécois in order to defeat the government for a possible election on December 17. PQ House Leader François Gendron criticized Dumont's motion for not being serious, while Liberal House Leader Jean-Marc Fournier called it "a lack of judgment". On the following day, Marois announced that the PQ will reject the motion although the party would be open for a debate related to the structure of the school boards. It was officially defeated 72 to 39 on November 13.[7][8][9]
[edit] Immigration
During by-elections in the Spring of 2008, electoral posters from the ADQ created controversy. On some of the poster in the ridings of Bourget and Pointe-aux-Trembles, the ADQ mentions on them that the decline of the French language was associated with the arrival of immigrants. Dumont suggested a immigration freeze and a policy favoring a sharp increase of child births in Quebec. While a majority of the population, according to a Leger Marketing poll, mentioned that the province reached its immigration capacity, Dumont's freeze policy was met with criticism most notably from the Parti Quebecois candidate from Bourget, Maka Kotto and the Minister of Immigration Yolande James who've accused Dumont of being intolerant and irresponsible with Kotto even comparing the idea from those of the Front National in France. [10] [11]
[edit] Extraparliamentary salary
Dumont receives $50,000 a year from the ADQ on top of his salary as a member of the provincial legislature. This figure was disclosed during a debate about premier Jean Charest's own multiple source earnings.
[edit] Votes of confidence
| Date | Location | Result |
| April 2000 | Saint-Hyacinthe | 96.9% |
| September 2004 | Drummondville | 95.7% [12] |
| March 2008 | Laval | 94.8 % [13] [14] |
[edit] Bibliography
- L'Instinct Dumont, Denis Lessard (Quebec: Voix Paralleles, 2007)
[edit] See also
- Action démocratique du Québec
- Politics of Quebec
- Politician nicknaming in Quebec
- List of leaders of the Official Opposition (Quebec)
- List of third party leaders (Quebec)
[edit] References
- ^ Montreal Gazette
- ^ Montreal Gazette
- ^ Un gouvernement libéral majoritaire? - LCN - National
- ^ CJAD
- ^ Radio-Canada 6 November 2007
- ^ Canoe.ca 8 November 2007
- ^ Canoe.ca 6 November 2007
- ^ Canoe.ca 7 November 2007
- ^ CBC.ca 14 November 2007
- ^ Dumont défend ses positions - LCN - National
- ^ Dufour, Valerie (April 26, 2008). "L'ADQ sur la defensive", Le Journal de Montreal, p. 25.
- ^ ADQ's Dumont pushes Quebec's autonomy within Canada, Rheal Seguin, The Agonist, September 24, 2004
- ^ Congrès de l'ADQ: le salaire du chef a été décidé à deux, Michel Corbeil, Le Soleil, March 16, 2008
- ^ Mario Dumont obtient un vote de confiance massif malgré l'affaire du salaire, Kathleen Lévesque, Le Devoir, March 17, 2008
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Michel Bissonnet |
President of the Youth Commission of the Quebec Liberal Party 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Claude-Éric Gagné |
| Preceded by none |
President of Action démocratique du Québec 1994–1994 |
Succeeded by Moncef Guitouni |
| Preceded by Jean Allaire |
Leader of Action démocratique du Québec 1994–Current |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| National Assembly of Quebec | ||
| Preceded by Albert Côté (Liberal) |
Member of the National Assembly for Rivière-du-Loup 1994–Current |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by André Boisclair (PQ) |
Leader of the Opposition (Quebec) 2007–Current |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
