Parti Québécois candidates, 2007 Quebec provincial election

The Parti Québécois fielded a full slate of 125 candidates in the 2007 Quebec provincial election, and won thirty-six seats to emerge as the third-largest party in the National Assembly. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

Candidates

Chapleau: Edith Gendron

Edith Gendron has a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Ottawa.^[1] She is a Canadian civil servant and is best known for having been involved in a labour controversy regarding her political views. She worked for Canadian Heritage from 2000 to 2004, and became a senior policy officer in charge of promoting official bilingualism in the Atlantic provinces.^[2] In 2004, she joined and was elected president of a new Quebec sovereigntist group named Le Quebec, un pays!. As a result, she was disciplined and eventually dismissed from her position.^[3] Department representatives said that they did not object to her membership in the group, but considered her position as president incompatible with employment in a department whose mandate is to foster Canadian unity.^[4] Gendron argued that there was no conflict of interest, saying that she would not make public comments about Heritage Canada as part of her private responsibilities.^[5] The Public Service Alliance of Canada and politicians such as Ed Broadbent and Scott Reid supported Gendron's case, arguing that it was a civil rights issue.^[6] Stephen Harper, who was then leader of the Official Opposition, also supported Gendron, saying that he did not believe it was appropriate to "hire and fire someone based on their political views."^[7] In 2006, the Public Service Labour Relations Board ruled that Gendron had been in an "apparent conflict of interest," but that her supervisors had not made a reasonable effort to resolve the situation. It ordered the federal government to re-hire her with retroactive pay and to put her on paid leave until she could find a job in a different department or with different responsibilities.^[8] She was subsequently re-hired by Canadian Heritage, working at the Canadian Conservation Institute.^[9]

Gendron is married to Richard Nadeau, who has been the Bloc Québécois member of the Canadian House of Commons for Gatineau since 2006. She received 7,137 votes (22.04%) in 2007, finishing third against Liberal incumbent Benoît Pelletier.

Nicolet-Yamaska: Donald Martel

Donald Martel has a Bachelor's Degree in administration and works as a public administrator in Quebec. He was selected as both secretary-treasurer and director general of the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality (MRC) in 1994, and continues to hold the first position as of 2009. He has also been the responsable administratif for the Centre local de développement (CLD) in Nicolet-Yamaska since 1998.^[10] Between 1999 and 2003, he was president of l’Association des directeurs généraux des MRC du Québec.^[11] He has also taken part in a local campaign against cannabis.^[12]

Martel received 7,455 votes (28.32%) in the 2007 election, finishing second against Action démocratique du Québec candidate Éric Dorion. He resigned as president of the local Parti Québécois association in April 2008, arguing that his civic duties were inconsistent with partisan political activity.^[13]

References

1. ^ CCI Newsletter, No. 38, 2007, Canadian Conservation Institute, Canadian Heritage, accessed 6 September 2010.
2. ^ "Her choice to make" [editorial], Ottawa Citizen, 27 March 2004, B6.
3. ^ Joanne Laucius, "Public servant disciplined for joining separatist group," Ottawa Citizen, 24 March 2004, B2.
4. ^ "Bloc blames Liberals for firing civil servant who heads sovereigntist group," Canadian Press Newswire, 30 April 2004.
5. ^ "Federal bureaucrat refuses to resign as head of Quebec sovereigntist group," Canadian Press Newswire, 23 April 2004.
6. ^ "Ottawa civil servant may lose job for being separatist," Global News Transcripts, 25 March 2004, p. 1.
7. ^ Tim Naumetz, "Government wrong to fire Quebec nationalist: Harper," Ottawa Citizen, 1 May 2004, A5.
8. ^ "Fired sovereigntist leader must be given federal job back, labour board rules," Canadian Press Newswire, 9 March 2006; Vito Pilieci, "Separatist must get back job at Canadian Heritage," Ottawa Citizen, 11 March 2006, A3; "An act of clarity" [editorial], Ottawa Citizen, 14 March 2006, A12. She was forty-five years old in March 2006. See Mike de Souza, "'Before being a sovereigntist, I'm a democrat': Gendron," The Hill Times, 20 March 2006, p. 1.
9. ^ Fred Ryan, "For the PQ, it's all in the family," Ottawa Citizen, 22 June 2006, C4.
10. ^ Mission-Palée, CLD Nicolet-Yamaska, accessed 19 November 2009.
11. ^ Donald Martel candidat du Parti Québécois dans Nicolet-Yamaska, Le Courrier Sud, 12 February 2007, accessed 19 November 2009.
12. ^ Lutte au cannabis: Nicolet-Yamaska fournira des informations à la SQ, Le Courrier Sud, 7 May 2008, accessed 19 November 2009; Mark Aubry, Six autres organismes joignent Stop Cannabis, Cyberpress.ca, 30 September 2009, accessed 19 November 2009.
13. ^ PQ: Donald Martel démissionne, La Nouvelle/L'Union, 7 April 2008, accessed 19 November 2009.