Jacques Ferron (January 20, 1921 - April 22, 1985) was a Canadian physician and author.^[1][2]

Jacques Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf but was expelled in 1936. He continued his education at Collège Saint-Laurent and then was readmitted at Jean-de-Brébeuf, only to be expelled again. In September 1941, he was accepted at Université Laval where he studied medicine and on July 22, 1943 he married a fellow student, Magdeleine Thérien whom he divorced in 1949.

November 1943, he enrolled in the Canadian army as a medic and received the acceptance in June 1945. He trained in British Columbia and Ontario and after that was sent to Quebec and New Brunswick as a medic. When relieved of duty in 1946, he settled in Rivière-Madeleine, Quebec. His time in Gaspèsie was the inspiration for many of his stories written later.^[3] He may have had to leave Rivière-Madeleine because he was denounced from the pulpit as a communist by the local parish priest.^[4] In 1947, his father died.

In 1948, he returned to Montréal. In 1949, he moved to Longueuil, Quebec and his first book, L'ogre, was published. He lived among working class people that lived in Longueuil-annexe in those years, often offering his services for free-refusing to be paid, or omitting to ask. Not in the name of charity, but rather of solidarity- his giving was politically motivated, and he understood that his training as a doctor-his privilege- was paid for by the misery that the francophone working class was experiencing at that time.

In 1951, he began a 30-year collaboration with "L'Information médicale et paramédicale". On June 28, 1952, he married Madeleine Lavalée. In 1954 he became an important member of the "Congrès Canadien pour la Paix" (Canadian Peace Congress). In 1959 he helped in the foundation of the magazine Situations. In 1960, with the help of Raoul Roy, he created L'Action socialiste pour l'indépendance du Québec.

In 1962, he received the Governor General's Award for French fiction for his book Contes du pays incertain.

In 1963 he founded the Parti Rhinocéros, which he described as "an intellectual guerrilla party". He also began to write for the magazine Parti pris. In 1969, he became a member of the Parti Québécois.

In 1977, the Quebec government awarded him the Prix Athanase-David. He was named an honorary member of the Union des écrivains québécois in 1981.

He died of a heart attack 1985 at his home in St-Lambert, Quebec, aged 64.

References[link]

Ferron
Ferron, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Debby Foisy
Born	(1952-06-01) June 1, 1952 (age 60) Canada
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Years active	1975-present

Ferron, born Debby Foisy on (1952-06-01) June 1, 1952 (age 60), is a Canadian folk singer/songwriter and poet. In addition to being one of Canada's most famous folk musicians, she is one of the most influential writers and performers of women's music, and an important influence on later musicians such as Ani DiFranco, Mary Gauthier and the Indigo Girls.^{[citation needed]}

Early life[link]

She learned to play guitar at age 11,^[1] and left home at 15. Ferron attended Total Ed, an alternative high school in Vancouver, graduating in 1973 (Thomas 2002). Of her earliest musical memories, she wrote, "my mother’s French Canadian family played music. I heard guitars and banjo and accordion and scrub board and my grandfather clogging. I put it together...music meant fun, meant love and laughter. I started writing songs when I was 10, never saved them after some kids at school found them and teased me about it. I wrote songs and remembered them and when I forgot them I felt they were not important anymore. The next time I saved a song I was 18. It was 1970." It was with that first saved song that she made her professional debut in 1975, playing the song "Who Loses" at a benefit for the Women's Press Gang, a feminist publishing house.

In 1971, Foisy changed her name to Ferron when one of her friends had a dream in which she was called Ferron. ^[2] She is openly lesbian. ^[3]

1970s and 1980s[link]

Ferron subsequently established her own record label, Lucy Records, and released her debut album, Ferron in 1977. The album was recorded in a video studio on two-track equipment, and, as she stated, "the production quality was pretty poor". Nonetheless, all one thousand copies printed sold quickly.^[4]

1980's Testimony was her first professionally produced album, and brought her much interest in the United States, particularly in the women's music community.^[5]

Her 1984 album Shadows on a Dime received a rating of four stars (out of five) from Rolling Stone magazine, which called Ferron "a culture hero" and the album "cowgirl meets Yeats...a thing of beauty."

1990s and beyond[link]

Awarded a Canada Arts Council grant in 1985 to further develop her musicianship, she took several years off from touring, returning in 1990 with Phantom Center. The album featured backing vocals by a then unheard of Tori Amos, and consequently is highly sought after by collectors. It was re-released with a duet with The Indigo Girls on the first track.

Between 1992 and 1994, Ferron released three albums on her own Cherrywood Station label. Driver was then picked up by Earthbeat Records, and was highly acclaimed by critics as a masterwork and nominated for a Juno Award in 1995. Warner Bros. Records signed Ferron which gave her great freedom in the studio to produce Still Riot with db Benedictson. She received an Outmusic Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Gay & Lesbian American Music Awards in 1996.

As a benefit for the Institute for Musical Arts (IMA), Ferron released Inside Out (1999), covering well-known tunes from the 1950s-1970s. She published a handmade book, THe (h)UNGeR POeMs, while she was teaching classes at IMA. She gathered some of her earlier, then out-of-print recordings to create Impressionistic (2000), a retrospective double album with a 24-page, autobiographical booklet. Her 57-page book, Catching Holy, Poems 2006-2008 is offered by Nemesis Publishing (2008) through www.lulu.com.

Ferron was featured in the documentary on women's music, Radical Harmonies 2002, and a filmography on the musician directed by Gerry Rogers, Ferron: Girl on a Road was released in 2009 at film festivals and in television broadcast.

In 2004 she returned to the very island where some of her earliest recorded songs were written to create Turning Into Beautiful produced by db Benedictson. In 2007 she began re-releasing a series of CDs as her Collected Works, and so far Testimony, Driver, Shadows on a Dime, and Turning Into Beautiful have appeared completely rejacketed with previously unreleased photographs. Ferron's CD, Boulder was produced by Bitch (with JD Samson for one song) on the Short Story Records label and released in 2008. Boulder includes guest appearances by Ani Difranco, Amy Ray and Emily Sailers (Indigo Girls), JD Samson (Le Tigre), Sam Parton (Be Good Tanyas), Tina G (God-des) and Julie Wolf. In 2009 to 2010, Ferron created commissioned textile art—wall hangings, quilts, and pillows—that features her lyrics and poetry. A new CD with live performances, Girl on a Road was released in 2011.

Ferron teaches master classes in writing (Bell 2001, Camlin 2010), and has opened an artist retreat for women in Three Rivers, Michigan, called "The Fen Peace and Poetry Camp for Women." For Ferron, "artistic expression is not only essential, it’s revolutionary." "Art is really the expression of the soul," Ferron says. "I'm asking women to remember that if we remember our soul, we keep our soul, and we can do it through artistic connections. Art is connected to the soul, and the soul is connected to God, and God is connected to humility, so if you want to take control of a person's soul, don't let them have art. To me it's a revolutionary act to continue keeping your artist soul alive" (Esters 2007).

Discography[link]

• Ferron (1977)
• Backed Up (1978)
• Testimony (1980)
• Shadows on a Dime (1984)
• Phantom Center (1990)
• Not a Still Life (1992, live)
• Resting With the Question (1992)
• Driver (1994)
• Still Riot (1996)
• Inside Out (1999)
• Impressionistic (2002)
• Turning Into Beautiful (2005)
• The Complete Works: Testimony, Driver, Shadows on a Dime, Turning Into Beautiful (2007–2008)
• Boulder (2008)
• Girl on a Road (2011)

Printed Works[link]

• Not A Still Life Songbook. (50 pp.; musical notation and lyrics; wire-bound to lay flat.) Nemesis Publishing, Vashon, WA. (1993)

• “Courting the Muse: Thoughts on the Art of Songwriting. Sentimental Education.” Sing Out!: The Folk Song Magazine 39(3):55-57. (1994)

• THe (h)UNGeR POeMs. (Printed in two formats: a “bound card” version, and an unbound version consisting of 10 leaves on linen held inside an artisanal envelope of handmade paper; autographed.) Big Universe Productions, Bodega, CA. (1997) (Third edition (2000) )

• Catching Holy. Poems 2006-2008. (57 pp.; perfect binding.) Nemesis Publishing, Three Rivers, MI. (2008)

References[link]

Citations[link]

• Ferron 2004 "Biography."
• Scott Alarik 2003 Deep Community: Adventures in the Modern Folk Underground, pp. 207–208. Black Wolf Press: Cambridge, MA.
• Ed Bell 2001 "A Provincetown Writing Workshop with Ferron" Provincetown Magazine 24 (27): 36, 38-39.
• Camlin 2010 "Notes from The Fen" Our Big Gayborhood (April 11) http://www.ourbiggayborhood.com/2010/04/notes-from-the-fen/
• Roddy Campbell 2004 "Too Long In Exile." Penguin Eggs 24: 30-32.
• Mina Carson, Tisa Lewis, and Susan M.Shaw 2004 Girls Rock! Fifty Years of Women Making Music. University of Kentucky Press: Lexington.
• Stephanie Esters 2007 "Ferron to open women's retreat near Three Rivers." Kalamazoo Gazette (March 18, 2007 via Mlive.com).
• Douglas Heselgrave 2008 "Boulder: the best album of the year so far." Restless and Real - words and sounds from a shrinking world (June 17, 2008).
• Stephen Holden 1994 "Dylan’s Children, Without the Sanctimony." The New York Times (November 20) Section II: 1, 34.
• Al Kaufman 2008 "Ferron, Bitch, Sage Play Eddie's." Atlanta Music Guide 658 (May 11).
• Mark Miller 2001 Ferron. Encyclopedia of Music in Canada. Electronic Version. National Library of Canada: Ottawa.
• Dee Mosbacher (Director) 2002 Radical Harmonies. Motion Picture. Woman Vision, San Francisco.
• Laura Post 1997 "Ferron: Taking a New Step in an Old Direction." Backstage Pass: Interviews with Women in Music, pp. 52–59. New Victoria Publishers, Norwich, Vermont.
• Sandra Thomas 2002 "Totally Cool School." Vancouver Courier (21 May).
• Bett Williams 2000 "Dancer in the Dark." Surfin' Bett (October 27). Posted on the Lesbianation website. Accessed August 29, 2002.

External links[link]

• Ferron's Newest Website
• Ferron Online
• Short Story Records: Ferron
• The Fen Peace & Poetry Camp
• Silver Leaf Booking
• Ferron: Girl on a Road Documentary

René Boulanger (April 22, 1895 – August 12, 1945) was a French gymnast who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

He was part of the French team, which won the bronze medal in the gymnastics men's team, European system event in 1920.

External links[link]

• René Boulanger's profile at databaseOlympics
• René Boulanger's profile at Sports Reference.com

This article about a French Olympic medalist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Jacques Parizeau GOQ PhD
Jacques Parizeau, 2007
26th Premier of Quebec
In office September 26, 1994 – January 26, 1996
Lieutenant Governor	Martial Asselin
Preceded by	Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Succeeded by	Lucien Bouchard
Personal details
Born	(1930-08-09) August 9, 1930 (age 81) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Parti Québécois
Spouse(s)	Alice Poznanska (deceased) Lisette Lapointe
Profession	Economist
Religion	Roman Catholic

Jacques Parizeau, GOQ (French pronunciation: [ʒɑk parizo]; born August 9, 1930) is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was the 26th Premier of the Canadian province of Quebec from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.

Early life and career[link]

Parizeau was born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Germaine (née Biron) and Gérard Parizeau. He attended Collège Stanislas, a Roman Catholic private school. He went on to graduate with a PhD from the London School of Economics in London, England. A believer in economic interventionism, he was one of the most important advisors to the provincial government during the 1960s, playing an important behind-the-scenes role in the Quiet Revolution. He was especially instrumental in the nationalization of Hydro-Québec (a hydro-electric utility), the nationalization of the Asbestos Corporation Limited mines, and worked with Eric Kierans to create the Quebec Pension Plan.^[1]

Parizeau gradually became a committed sovereigntist, and officially joined the Parti Québécois (PQ) on September 19, 1969.

After the PQ was elected to office in the 1976 provincial election, the new premier, René Lévesque, appointed Parizeau as Minister of Finance. Parizeau played an important role in the 1980 Quebec referendum campaign in favour of the government's proposals for sovereignty-association.

As Minister of Finance in Quebec, he was responsible for a number of innovative economic proposals, including the Quebec Stock Savings Plan ("QSSP").

Married to Polish immigrant Alice Poznanska (1930–1990), Jacques Parizeau was criticized for supporting the Charter of the French Language. This law limits access to English-language public schools to children whose parents didn't receive their education in English in Canada, and was generally opposed by the English-speaking minority.

In 1984, he had a falling out with Lévesque. Lévesque had moved away from pursuing sovereignty to accept a negotiation with the Federal Government, called Beau Risque. Parizeau opposed this shift, resigned from Cabinet among with many other members, and temporarily retired from politics. Lévesque was taken by surprise with all these retirements and retired soon after. He was replaced by Pierre-Marc Johnson.

In 1987, Johnson also left the PQ leadership after losing the 1985 election. Parizeau, still a widely liked figure, was elected to replace him as party leader on March 19, 1988.

Elections, 1995 referendum and aftermath[link]

In the 1989 election, Parizeau's first as PQ leader, his party did not fare well. But five years later, in the 1994 election, they won a majority government. Parizeau promised to hold a referendum on Quebec sovereignty within a year of his election, and despite many objections, he followed through on this promise. In the beginning, support for sovereignty was only about 40% in the public opinion polls. As the campaign wore on, however, support for the "Yes" side grew larger. This growth halted, however, and Parizeau came under pressure to hand more of the campaign over to the more moderate and conservative Lucien Bouchard, the popular leader of the federal Bloc Québécois party. Parizeau agreed and as the campaign progressed he lost his leadership role to Bouchard.

During the 1995 referendum he caused an uproar when it was reported by columnist Chantal Hébert in the La Presse newspaper that despite the guarantee of an offer of partnership with the rest of Canada before declaring sovereignty following a "Yes" vote, Parizeau had told a group of foreign diplomats that what mattered most was to get a majority vote from Quebec citizens for the proposal to secede from Canada because with that, Quebecers would be trapped "lobsters thrown into boiling water".^[2] On the night of the referendum, Quebec came within only a few thousands of votes of separation, but the Yes side still lost. In his concession speech, Parizeau said sovereignty had been defeated by "money and the ethnic vote", and referred to the Francophones who voted Yes in the referendum as "nous" (us) when he said that this majority group was, for the first time, no longer afraid of political independence. 60% of Quebec Francophones voted Yes. However, the sovereigntist side accepted the results of the vote which they had initiated.

Parizeau was widely criticized for the remarks, which he later characterized as unfortunate and as meriting the disapproval they received. Many suspected he may have been drinking. He resigned as PQ leader and Quebec premier the next day. The English-language media, as well as non-sovereignist newspapers such as La Presse and Le Soleil, associated Parizeau's resignation only with these remarks. As against which, the sovereignist-friendly media (notably Le Devoir newspaper) argued that he had made the decision beforehand, drawing attention to a television interview conducted on the eve of the vote with the Groupe TVA channel in which Parizeau spoke of his intentions to step down in the event of defeat. (This interview had previously been held under "embargo", which is to say that the station agreed not to broadcast it until the referendum was over.)

Parizeau was replaced by Lucien Bouchard as PQ leader and Quebec premier on January 29, 1996.

Parizeau retired to private life, but continued to make comments critical of Bouchard's new government and its failure to press the cause of Quebec independence. He owns an estate at his vineyard in France, a farm in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and a home in Montreal. His biographer is Pierre Duchesne.

His wife and former secretary during his premiership, Lisette Lapointe won a seat in the National Assembly as a candidate for the PQ in the provincial riding of Crémazie in the 2007 Quebec general election.

In June 2008, along with the other four living former Premiers of Quebec, Parizeau was named a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec by Premier Jean Charest.^[3]

Writings[link]

Collaboration[link]

• "Les post-keynésiens et la politique économique contemporaine", in Angers, François-Albert (ed.) Essai sur la centralisation. Analyse des principes et perspectives canadiennes, 1960 (online)
• La solution. Le programme du Parti québécois présenté par René Lévesque, 1970 (online)
• Cours initiation à l'économie du Québec, 2 volumes, 1975

Essays[link]

• Pour un Québec souverain, 1997 (online)
• Le Québec et la mondialisation. Une bouteille à la mer?, 1998
• La souveraineté du Québec. Hier, aujourd'hui et demain, 2009

Letters, articles[link]

• "Qui sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?", in Le Devoir, October 30, 1996
• "Lettre ouverte aux souverainistes", in Le Devoir, December 19, 1996
• "La déclaration unilatérale est indispensable", in Le Devoir, September 16, 1997
• "Lettre ouverte aux juges de la Cour suprême", in Le Devoir, September 4 and 5, 1998
• "L'AMI menace-t-il à la souveraineté des États?", in L'Action nationale, November 4, 1998
• "Le libre-échange, les droits des multinationales et le dilemme de l'État", in L'Action nationale, May 5, 2001 (en)

Other[link]

• Report of the Study Committee on Financial Institutions, 1969
• Brief submitted to the Committee on Institutions, responsible for conducting a broad consultation on Bill 99, 2000(online)
• Entre l'innovation et le déclin : l'économie québécoise à la croisée des chemins, 2007 (conference at HEC)

Quotes[link]

• Well, in a case like this, what do we do? We spit in our hands and we start over!
  • "Bon, ben, dans un cas comme ça, qu'est-ce qu'on fait? On se crache dans les mains et on recommence!"
  • 1995 referendum concession speech.
• "It is true, it is true that we were beaten, but in the end, by what? By money and ethnic votes, essentially."
  • "C'est vrai, c'est vrai qu'on a été battus, au fond, par quoi? Par l'argent pis des votes ethniques, essentiellement."
  • 1995 referendum concession speech.
• Question of the 1995 referendum on independence. (read) ([[Media:)
• May 15, 2005 -interview on CTV news with reporter/anchorwoman Lisa LaFlamme, Parizeau said the Clarity Act "meant nothing" and would be ignored. "Can you imagine feds saying we don't like your answers," Parizeau told the interviewer, calling such suggestions a "political stunt."

Definition of a Québécois: "Il vit ici, et il veut participer!"

Elections as party leader[link]

He lost the 1989 election, and won the 1994 election. He announced his resignation the day after the "Yes" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum was defeated.

See also[link]

• Parti Québécois Crisis, 1984
• Politics of Quebec
• List of Quebec premiers
• List of Quebec general elections
• Timeline of Quebec history
• Sovereignty Association
• History of the Quebec sovereignist movement
• Politician and personality nicknaming in Quebec
• Pur et dur

Further reading[link]

In English[link]

• Gordon, Stanley. "Parizeau, Jacques", in The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation, 2008
• "Genealogy of Jacques Parizeau", in NosOrigines.qc.ca, 2008
• Pelletier, Francine. "Public Enemy Number One: The Life and Times of Jacques Parizeau", in Life and Times. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, February 24, 2004
• "Interview with Jacques Parizeau", in the site Perrizo - A Journey Throughout History. Perrizo Family History Committee, August 6, 1998

In French[link]

• Duchesne, Pierre (2004). Jacques Parizeau. Tome III: Le Régent - 1985-1995 Montréal: Éditions Québec Amérique, 578 p.
• Duchesne, Pierre (2002). Jacques Parizeau. Tome II: Le Baron - 1970-1985 Montréal: Éditions Québec Amérique, 544 p.
• Duchesne, Pierre (2001). Jacques Parizeau. Tome I: Le Croisé - 1930-1970 Montréal: Éditions Québec Amérique, 624 p.
• Richard, Laurence (1992). Jacques Parizeau, un bâtisseur, Montreal: Éditions de l'Homme, 249 p.
• "Jacques Parizeau", dossier at Vigile.net, 2008
• "Jacques Parizeau", dossier at L'Encyclopédie de l'Agora, updated May 25, 2006
• "Jacques Parizeau. « Je vous parle de l'homme »", interview by Michaëlle Jean, research by Florence Meny at Radio-Canada.ca, January 2003 (requires Flash)
• Pelletier, Francine (2003). Monsieur, Montreal : Macumba International, 52 min.
• McKenzie, Robert (1972). Comment se fera l'indépendance. Entrevues de: René Lévesque, Jacques Parizeau, Jacques-Yvan Morin et Camille Laurin, Montreal, : Editions du Parti québécois, 56 p.
• Lacombe, Pierre and Lacoursière, Jacques (2005). Jacques Parizeau, Montreal : CinéFête, 47 min.
• Lepage, Marquise (2005). Jacques Parizeau, l'homme derrière le complet trois pièces, Productions Pixcom, 120 min. (broadcasted on Société Radio-Canada and RDI)

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Biography" (in French). Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours. National Assembly of Quebec. http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/parizeau-jacques-4781/index.html. 
• Political blog (in French)

v t e Premiers of Quebec Chauveau Ouimet de Boucherville de Lotbinière Chapleau Mousseau Ross Taillon Mercier de Boucherville Taillon Flynn Marchand Parent Gouin Taschereau Godbout Duplessis Godbout Duplessis Sauvé Barrette Lesage D. Johnson Bertrand Bourassa Lévesque P. Johnson Bourassa D. Johnson, Jr. Parizeau Bouchard Landry Charest Book:Premiers of Quebec Category:Premiers of Quebec Portal: Quebec

Mario Dumont BA MNA
Leader of the Opposition (Quebec)
In office March 26, 2007 – November 5, 2008
Preceded by	André Boisclair
Succeeded by	Pauline Marois
Leader of the ADQ
In office 1994 – March 6, 2009
Preceded by	Jean Allaire
Succeeded by	Sylvie Roy (interim)
MNA for Rivière-du-Loup
In office September 12, 1994 – March 6, 2009
Preceded by	Albert Côté
Succeeded by	Jean D'Amour
Personal details
Born	(1970-05-19) May 19, 1970 (age 42) Cacouna, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Parti libéral du Québec (1985-1994) Action démocratique du Québec (1994-present)
Spouse(s)	Marie-Claude Barrette
Children	Angela Charles Juliette
Alma mater	Concordia University
Profession	Politician

Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970 in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna, Quebec) is a television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 2009. After the 2007 Quebec election, Dumont obtained the post of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

Following his party's poor showing in the 2008 Quebec election, he announced his resignation as ADQ leader, and subsequently joined the television network V to host a daily news and talk show, Dumont, which began in 2009.

Biography[link]

Dumont and his wife, Marie-Claude Barrette, have three children: Angela, Charles, and Juliette.

Political profile[link]

Dumont bought his first membership card in the Liberal Party of Quebec 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 Liberal Party'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 Canada. 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 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.

Dumont was personally very popular. In fact, for many years, the ADQ tried to capitialize on Dumont's personal popularity by using the official name Action démocratique du Québec-Équipe Mario Dumont (Action démocratique du Québec-Team Mario Dumont). However, this didn't translate to support for his party; it never won much support in Montreal or the Outaouais.

2007 Quebec election[link]

In the 2007 Quebec election, the ADQ won 41 seats with 31% of the popular vote, and formed 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 and 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]

2008 Quebec election[link]

On October 23, 2008, two ADQ MNAs, André Riedl and Pierre Michel Auger, crossed the floor to the governing Liberal Party, embarrassing Dumont. Quebec premier Jean Charest subsequently called a snap election for December 8, 2008. A Léger Marketing poll conducted between Friday, November 14 and Monday, November 17, showed the Liberals with 44% support, the PQ with 33%, and the ADQ with 15%.^[4]

Following ADQ's poor results in the general election, Dumont announced his political retirement after his party won a meagre seven seats (17% of the vote) on December 8, 2008.^[5]

Subsequent career[link]

Mario Dumont at the launch party of his show Dumont 360 on V.

At TQS' 2009 upfronts presentation, it was announced that Dumont would join the network in the fall as host of a daily news and information series, Dumont 360.^[6] The series launched in September 2009, shortly after the network was rebranded as V.

Votes of confidence[link]

Bibliography[link]

• L'Instinct Dumont, Denis Lessard (Quebec: Voix Paralleles, 2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

• "Biography" (in French). Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours. National Assembly of Quebec. http://www.assnat.qc.ca/en/deputes/dumont-mario-3041/index.html. 
• Genealogy : Mario Dumont