Pierre Bourque (politician)

Infobox Mayor


honorific-prefix= Mayor
name = Pierre Bourque
honorific-suffix = GOQ
caption =
order = 40th Mayor of Montreal
term_start = 1994
term_end = 2001
predecessor = Jean Doré
successor = Gérald Tremblay
birth_date = 29 May 1942
birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
death_date =
death_place =
constituency = Marie-Victorin
party = Vision Montreal
alma_mater =
spouse =
profession = Businessman
religion =


footnotes =

Pierre Bourque (born 29 May 1942) is a Quebec businessman and politician.

Background

He was director of the Montreal Botanical Gardens from 1980 to 1994.

Mayor of Montreal

Bourque was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec from 1994 to 2001 (as the leader of the Vision Montreal party).

Bourque proved eccentric and sometimes controversial as mayor. Known as a greenspace aficionado, he supported the creation of parks, implemented tree-planting initiatives, as well as creating Eco-Centres (reusable materials) and Eco-Quartier program (recycling). He was also responsible for the revitalization of many important districts of Montreal (Saint Catherine Street, Old Montreal and the Multimedia City) as well as the reopening of the Lachine Canal.

In 1998, responding to critics who denounced him for not fighting poverty, he spent the night with a working-class family. He was also well-known for his close ties to cultural communities.

Bourque's successful attempt at merging all of Montreal’s 28 municipalities into a megacity of 1.8 million people and 27 boroughs cost him the election in 2001. Although he gathered a majority of votes in what was until then the city of Montreal, protest votes against the very principle of the merger in the former suburbs ensured a solid victory to his rival Gérald Tremblay.

Provincial Politics

He subsequently attempted to enter provincial politics, running as an Action démocratique du Québec candidate in the 2003 Quebec election, but was defeated. He then returned to municipal politics, but was unable to win re-election as mayor.

Leader of the Opposition

Bourque lost for a second time to incumbent-mayor Gérald Tremblay in his fight to regain control of city hall in the Montreal municipal elections held on November 6, 2005, this time by a 74,646 vote margin. The voter turnout was estimated at 39.13%, the lowest ever in the history of Montreal municipal elections. (See Quebec municipal elections, 2005).

On 3 May 2006, Bourque stepped down as Leader of the Opposition on Montreal's city council.

Retirement from Public Office

He currently runs a company called Constellation Monde Inc. which operates in China. Bourque wants to develop further economic links between the country and the province. [http://lcn.canoe.com/lcn/infos/regional/archives/2007/01/20070110-171019.html]

In 1993, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.

In 2008 he was given the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the government of Japan [http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2007/20071124/pdf/g1-14147.pdf]