Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian 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.
Mario Dumont | |
|---|---|
 Dumont in 2007 | |
| Leader of the Opposition of Quebec | |
| In office March 26, 2007 – November 5, 2008 | |
| Preceded by | André Boisclair |
| Succeeded by | Pauline Marois |
| Leader of the ADQ | |
| In office May 11, 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 | May 19, 1970 Cacouna, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Liberal Party of Quebec (1985–1994) Action démocratique du Québec (1994-2009) |
| Spouse | Marie-Claude Barrette |
| Children |
|
| Alma mater | |
| Profession | Television presenter |
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. He left that network in 2012 to join the all-news channel LCN.[1]
Biography
editDumont was born in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna, Quebec. Dumont and his wife, Marie-Claude Barrette, have three children: Angela, Charles, and Juliette. Dumont obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Concordia University in 1993, and completed some graduate work at the Université de Montréal.
Political career
editQuebec Liberal Party
editDumont 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.[2] 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.
Dumont called himself and Michel Bissonnet, who preceded Dumont as leader of the Liberal youth wing, the first Liberal sovereigntists. This was the group that led the Liberal sovereigntist 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.
Action démocratique du Québec
editDumont and Liberal party insider Jean Allaire played a central role in the creation and development of the Action démocratique du Québec (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, 2007 and 2008 elections.
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.[3] Dumont revealed to Journalist Chantal Hébert and Jean Lapierre that they planned to use 1995 Quebec Referendum as a way to advocate for a new partnership between Quebec and Canada. However, Parizeau advocated for separation; so both Bouchard and Dumont followed his direction.[4] 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.
In the years that followed, the constitutional position of the ADQ changed to favour Quebec autonomism, supporting 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, and for most of his career was far more popular than the ADQ as a whole. In fact, for many years, the ADQ tried to capitalize 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
editIn 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. Despite becoming the Official Opposition, the ADQ was almost nonexistent in several of the province's major cities. It won almost no seats in Montreal, Gatineau, Saguenay, Longueuil, Laval and Sherbrooke. Tasha Kheiriddin argued that his result would have given right-of-centre currents swirling in Quebec politics.[5]
2008 Quebec election
editOn 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%.[6]
The ADQ won a meagre seven seats (17% of the vote) in the election. Following this poor showing, Dumont retired from politics on election night.[7]
Television career
edit
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.[8] The series launched in September 2009, shortly after the network was rebranded as V.
In 2012, Dumont moved to LCN and began a new show called Mario Dumont.[9]
Since 2018, he has also hosted his own radio show, Le retour de Mario Dumont, on QUB Radio.
Votes of confidence
edit| Date | Location | Result |
|---|---|---|
| April 2000 | Saint-Hyacinthe | 96.9% |
| September 2004 | Drummondville | 95.7%[10] |
| March 2008 | Laval | 94.8%[11][12] |
Bibliography
edit- Lessard, Denis (2007). L'Instinct Dumont (in French). Quebec: Voix Paralleles.
Electoral record
edit| 2008 Quebec general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Action démocratique | Mario Dumont | 11,115 | 51.77 | -6.70 | ||||
| Liberal | Jean-Pierre Rioux | 5,795 | 26.99 | -1.29 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Stephan Shields | 3,048 | 14.20 | +3.40 | ||||
| Independent | Victor-Lévy Beaulieu | 597 | 2.78 | – | ||||
| Green | Alain Gagnon | 513 | 2.39 | -0.06 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Stacy Larouche | 400 | 1.86 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 21,468 | 98.74 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 273 | 1.26 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 21,741 | 63.98 | -14.29 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 33,981 | – | – | |||||
| Action démocratique hold | Swing | -2.70 | ||||||
| 2007 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Action démocratique | Mario Dumont | 15,276 | 58.47 | +1.24 | ||||
| Liberal | Jean D'Amour | 7,390 | 28.29 | +4.53 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Hugues Belzile | 2,821 | 10.80 | -6.88 | ||||
| Green | Martin Poirier | 639 | 2.45 | +1.12 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 26,126 | 99.20 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 210 | 0.80 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 26,336 | 78.27 | +5.61 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 33,648 | – | – | |||||
| 2003 Quebec general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Action démocratique | Mario Dumont | 13,452 | 57.23 | +10.89 | ||||
| Liberal | Jacque Morin | 5,585 | 23.76 | -1.55 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Carol Gilbert | 4,155 | 17.68 | -9.15 | ||||
| Green | Julie Morin | 312 | 1.33 | – | ||||
| 1998 Quebec general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Action démocratique | Mario Dumont | 10,897 | 46.34 | -8.43 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Lise Chouinard | 6,308 | 26.83 | -0.37 | ||||
| Liberal | Jean Morin | 5,952 | 25.31 | +7.92 | ||||
| Bloc Pot | Léo Legault | 197 | 0.84 | – | ||||
| Independent | Daniel Morin | 98 | 0.42 | – | ||||
| Socialist Democracy | Louis Leroux | 61 | 0.26 | – | ||||
| 1994 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Action démocratique | Mario Dumont | 13,307 | 54.77 | – | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Harold LeBel | 6,608 | 27.20 | -14.85 | ||||
| Liberal | Jean D'Amour | 4,226 | 17.39 | -37.09 | ||||
| Independent | L. Richard Cimon | 99 | 0.41 | – | ||||
| Natural Law | Armand Pouliot | 55 | 0.23 | – | ||||
References
edit- ^ "Mario Dumont quitte V pour LCN". La Presse (in French). 18 May 2012.
- ^ a b "How the 'Nerd from Cacouna' fought back". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2020 – via Canada.com.
- ^ Picard, André (30 October 2015). "From the archives: Parizeau promises to 'exact revenge' for sovereigntist loss". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2020.
- ^ Hebert, Chantal (2015). The Morning After: The 1995 Quebec Referendum and the Day that Almost Was. with Jean Lapierre. Toronto: Vintage Canada. ISBN 9780345807632.
- ^ "The right place at the right time: the rise of Mario Dumont and the ADQ". Policy Options. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ^ Riga, Andy (20 November 2008). "Premier Widens Lead to Possible Majority". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012 – via Canada.com.
- ^ Lianne Elliott (9 December 2008). "Dumont to step down after ADQ defeat". CBC News. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
- ^ "TQS changera de nom" [TQS will change its name]. Le Soleil (in French). 3 June 2009. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016.
- ^ Mario Dumont (News), Mario Dumont, Marie-Anne Alepin, Germain Belzile, Groupe TVA, 4 September 2012, retrieved 25 June 2024
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "ADQ's Dumont pushes Quebec's autonomy within Canada, Rheal Seguin". The Agonist. 24 September 2004. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010.
- ^ Corbeil, Michel (16 March 2008). "Congrès de l'ADQ: le salaire du chef a été décidé à deux". Le Soleil. Archived from the original on 20 March 2008.
- ^ Lévesque, Kathleen (17 March 2008). "Mario Dumont obtient un vote de confiance massif malgré l'affaire du salaire". Le Devoir.
External links
edit- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
- Genealogy : Mario Dumont