GILLES DUCEPPE

'Gilles Duceppe', a MP (born July 22, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec nationalist and social democratic politician in Canada. He is a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons and the leader of the separatist ''Bloc Québécois'' party. He is the son of a well-known Québécois actor, Jean Duceppe, and Hélène Rowley. His maternal grandfather was John James Rowley, a Briton by birth. Duceppe's British roots had him once quip that "I’m a bloke who turned Bloc."[1]. Duceppe is also known at one time to have been a Marxist [2]

Contents

Early life

Election to Parliament

Leadership of the Bloc Québécois

Controversial issues

On immigration and reasonable accommodation

External links

Early life

A native of Montreal, Quebec, Duceppe's founding experience affecting his views on Quebec's place within Canada occurred at the age of 12. He tells a story that after he complained about differential treatment of francophone students on a school bus, an anglophone teacher slapped him [3] and Duceppe responded by slapping her back. He later stated in the ''Ottawa Citizen'' that: "If you're talking about social justice, that event marked me." He has also stated that he resented, as did most Quebecois, resented having to rise and sing ''God Save the Queen'' while attending Montreal Canadiens games at the Montreal Forum.
Duceppe studied political science at the Université de Montréal but did not complete his program of study. While attending Université de Montréal, he became the general manager of the school's newspaper, Quartier Libre. Duceppe later earned a "Bachelor of Arts" from the Collège Mont-Saint-Louis at essentially the CEGEP level. In his youth, he advocated communism, and held membership in the Worker's Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist). Duceppe later claimed that his three-year membership in the W.C.P. (M.L.) was a mistake brought on by a search for absolute answers [4]. However, during this period - which lasted well into his thirties - he subscribed to militant Maoist ideology and was fired from his job as a hospital orderly for belligerent activities [5]. Duceppe even went so far as to intentionally spoil his 1980 sovereignty-association referendum ballot arguing that Quebecois should instead focus their efforts on staying united to fight their common capitalist enemy[6]. Before becoming a member of the federal parliament of Canada, Duceppe worked as a hospital orderly and later became a trade union negotiator.

Election to Parliament

In 1990, Duceppe was elected to the Canadian House of Commons under the banner of the newly-formed ''Bloc Québécois'' in a by-election in Montreal's Laurier—Sainte-Marie riding. At the time, Duceppe ran as an independent because the Bloc had not been registered by Elections Canada as a political party. All of the Bloc's other Members of Parliament had crossed the floor from either the Progressive Conservative Party or the Liberal Party earlier that year. Duceppe's victory in a by-election demonstrated - for the first time - that the party had electoral support in Quebec and could win elections. Previously, many pundits (and members of other parties) predicted that the Bloc would not gain traction with ordinary voters in Quebec.

Leadership of the Bloc Québécois

In 1996, when Lucien Bouchard stepped down as Bloc leader to become leader of the Parti Québécois, Duceppe served as interim leader of the party. Michel Gauthier eventually became the official leader later that year. However, Gauthier's lack of visibility in both Quebec and English Canada coupled with his weak leadership resulted in the party forcing him out in 1997. Duceppe won the ensuing leadership contest and became the official leader of the Bloc Quebecois and Leader of the Opposition. As Leader of the Opposition, Duceppe was technically entitled for membership in the Queen's Privy Council for Canada but he rejected it.
In the 1997 general election, the Bloc lost official opposition status, slipping to third place in the House of Commons behind the Reform Party.
Of particular note during the campaign concerned a visit by Duceppe to a cheese factory where he was photographed wearing a hairnet resembling a shower cap. The photo became widely parodied on Canadian television. On election night, the Bloc's Commons caucus strength was reduced to 44 seats. This number further fell after the subsequent federal election (2000 election) to a mere 38 seats. Over this period, critics derided Duceppe as an ineffectual campaigner, but no serious challenge to his leadership emerged.
With the sponsorship scandal that erupted soon after Jean Chrétien's departure as Liberal party leader in 2003, the Bloc's fortunes improved markedly. In the 2004 election, Duceppe's Bloc won 54 seats in the Commons, returning the party to its all-time high water mark. During the election's national debates, Duceppe's lucid explanations of Bloc Quebecois policies and his chastising of the other national party leaders' promises, resulted in both the French and English media ruling him the best speaker. Despite the Bloc's 54-seat strength, the party did not form the leadership of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Instead, the new Conservative Party, formed in late 2003, held the role.
With Chrétien's departure, Duceppe became the longest-serving leader of a major party in Canada. With the recent success of the Bloc, and his increasingly well-received performance as leader, speculation mounted that Duceppe might seek the leadership of the Parti Québécois - particularly when Bernard Landry stepped down as party leader on June 4, 2005. On June 13, 2005, Duceppe announced that he would not run for the leadership of the PQ.
In the 2006 federal election, many Bloc insiders believed that Duceppe's popularity, combined with the unpopularity of the Liberal Party in Quebec, would push the Bloc Quebecois over the symbolic majority vote mark among Quebec voters. Many Quebec separatists felt that a strong performance by the Bloc in the 2006 federal election would boost the sovereignist movement and perhaps set the stage for a new referendum on secession after the anticipated Quebec provincial election expected in 2007. In actuality, a late surge in Conservative and federalist support kept the Bloc's share of the popular vote below 43% giving the Bloc only 51 seats. The unimpressive and lackluster results on election night has called into question the level of supposed separatist support in Quebec.
In the March 26, 2007 Quebec provincial election, the Parti Québécois found itself reduced to third place in the National Assembly of Quebec, behind both the governing Quebec Liberal Party and the opposition Action démocratique du Québec. Following this disappointing result, the PQ leader, André Boisclair, announced his resignation on May 8, 2007. Duceppe confirmed on May 11, 2007 that he would seek the PQ leadership yet [7] the next day he withdrew from the race.[8] After his withdrawal, Duceppe announced that he would support two time leadership hopeful Pauline Marois. [9]

Controversial issues

On immigration and reasonable accommodation

While Gilles Duceppe claims that he believes in the importance of immigration to Quebec, he has also stressed the need for greater immigrant integration into Quebec society. Some see this as contrary to the cosmopolitan nature of immigrant-rich Montreal. [10] [11] ''See also: Reasonable accommodation and Hérouxville.''

External links

★ Quebecers form a nation without conditions: Bloc motion

★ The man who would be king

★ Duceppe coy on separation details

★ Quebec 'nation' gambit called a 'dangerous, big mistake'

★ Bloc to support Tory motion declaring Quebecois nation within a united Canada

★ MPs to vote on recognizing Quebec as a nation

★ Leader: Gilles Duceppe, from CBC Canada Votes 2006

★ How'd they vote?: Gilles Duceppe's voting history and quotes