Gilles Duceppe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gilles Duceppe
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Duceppe in 2011
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| Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office March 15, 1997 – June 1, 1997 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Jean Chrétien |
| Preceded by | Michel Gauthier |
| Succeeded by | Preston Manning |
| In office January 16, 1996 – February 17, 1996 |
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| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Jean Chrétien |
| Preceded by | Lucien Bouchard |
| Succeeded by | Michel Gauthier |
| Leader of the Bloc Québécois | |
| In office June 10, 2015 – October 22, 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Mario Beaulieu |
| Succeeded by | Rhéal Fortin (interim) |
| In office March 15, 1997 – May 2, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Michel Gauthier |
| Succeeded by | Vivian Barbot (interim) |
| In office January 16, 1996 – February 17, 1996 (interim) |
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| Preceded by | Lucien Bouchard |
| Succeeded by | Michel Gauthier |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Laurier—Sainte-Marie |
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| In office August 13, 1990 – May 2, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Jean-Claude Malépart |
| Succeeded by | Hélène Laverdière |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 22, 1947 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Bloc Québécois |
| Other political affiliations |
Workers' Communist Party of Canada (formerly) Independent (1990-1993) |
| Spouse | Yolande Brunelle |
| Children | Amélie, Alexis |
| Profession |
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| Signature |  |
Gilles Duceppe (born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian politician who is now retired. He is known for supporting the idea of Quebec becoming its own country. For many years, he was the leader of the Bloc Québécois, a political party that represents Quebec in the Canadian Parliament.
Duceppe was a Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada for over 20 years. He led the Bloc Québécois for about 15 years in different periods: in 1996, from 1997 to 2011, and again in 2015. He also served as the Leader of the Official Opposition in the Parliament of Canada for a short time in 1997. He stepped down as party leader after the 2011 election when he lost his own seat and his party faced a big defeat. However, he returned four years later to lead the party in the 2015 election, but resigned again after losing his seat.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Gilles Duceppe was born in Montreal, Quebec. His father, Jean Duceppe, was a well-known actor. His mother, Hélène, had British and Irish family roots. Duceppe once made a joke about his British background, saying he was "a bloke who turned Bloc" (meaning he joined the Bloc Québécois).
By the age of 20, Duceppe became a supporter of Quebec becoming an independent country. He was inspired by René Lévesque, a famous Quebec politician, and the start of the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association.
Duceppe finished high school at Collège Mont-Saint-Louis. He then studied political science at the Université de Montréal. While at university, he managed the school's newspaper, Quartier Latin. In his youth, he explored different political ideas and was part of a group called the Workers' Communist Party of Canada for three years. Duceppe later said that joining this group was a mistake he made while looking for clear answers.
Early Career
Before he became a Member of Parliament, Duceppe worked as a hospital orderly. Later, he became a negotiator for trade unions. In 1968, he became a vice-president for a student union in Quebec. In 1970, he managed the student newspaper at the Université de Montréal. From 1972, he worked in community and union settings. He became a union organizer in 1981 and a negotiator in 1986 for the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Confederation of National Trade Unions).
Parliament
Election to Parliament
In 1990, Duceppe was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a special election called a by-election. He won in the Montreal area called Laurier—Sainte-Marie. He beat Denis Coderre, who later became the Mayor of Montreal. Duceppe was easily re-elected in every election from 1993 to 2008 in the same area.
Time as an MP
When Duceppe was first elected, he sat as an independent Member of Parliament. This was because the Bloc Québécois party had not yet been officially registered. Other Bloc MPs had previously changed their political parties to join the Bloc. Duceppe's win was important because it showed for the first time that the Bloc Québécois had real support from voters in Quebec and could win elections. Before this, many experts thought the Bloc would not be popular with ordinary people in Quebec.
Leadership of the Bloc Québécois
In 1996, Lucien Bouchard stepped down as the Bloc leader to become the leader of the Parti Québécois (a provincial party in Quebec). Duceppe then served as the temporary leader of the Bloc. Later that year, Michel Gauthier became the official leader. However, Gauthier was not very well-known and his leadership was seen as weak. Because of this, the party asked him to step down in 1997. Duceppe then won the leadership race and became the official leader of the Bloc Québécois. He also became the Leader of the Official Opposition in Parliament.
In the 1997 election, the Bloc lost its status as the official opposition party. It fell to third place in the House of Commons, behind Preston Manning's Reform Party. During the election campaign, Duceppe visited a cheese factory and was photographed wearing a hairnet. This picture was often shown on Canadian television in a funny way.
The Bloc lost even more support in the 2000 election, winning only 38 seats. During this time, some critics said Duceppe was not a very effective campaigner. However, no one seriously tried to challenge his leadership.
When Jean Chrétien stepped down as Prime Minister and Paul Martin took over, the Bloc's popularity grew. This was especially true after a problem called the sponsorship scandal became public. Duceppe strongly criticized the Liberal government for misusing public money meant for advertising in Quebec. During the national debates for the election, Duceppe clearly explained the Bloc's policies. He also challenged the promises made by other party leaders. Both French and English media said he was the best speaker in the debates. In the 2004 election, Duceppe's Bloc won 54 seats, which was the same number they won when they first became popular in 1993. Paul Martin's Liberals, meanwhile, formed a minority government, meaning they didn't have enough seats to pass laws without support from other parties.
After Chrétien left, Duceppe became the leader who had served the longest among all major party leaders in Canada. With the Bloc's recent success and his strong performance as a leader, some people thought Duceppe might try to become the leader of the Parti Québécois. This idea grew stronger when Bernard Landry stepped down as the PQ leader in June 2005. However, on June 13, 2005, Duceppe announced that he would not run for the leadership of the PQ.
On November 28, 2005, Duceppe's Bloc, along with Stephen Harper's Conservatives and Jack Layton's NDP, worked together. They passed a motion that showed they had no confidence in Paul Martin's Liberal government. This happened after findings from the Sponsorship Scandal. In the 2006 election that followed, many people within the Bloc believed that Duceppe's popularity and the Liberal Party's unpopularity in Quebec would help the Bloc win more than half of the votes in Quebec. Some Quebec separatists hoped a strong performance by the Bloc would boost the idea of Quebec becoming independent. However, the Bloc's share of the popular vote stayed below 43%, and they won 51 seats. The Conservatives gained seats in Quebec and Ontario, allowing them to form a minority government with Stephen Harper as Prime Minister.
In the Quebec provincial election on March 26, 2007, the Parti Québécois ended up in third place in the National Assembly of Quebec. Following this disappointing result, the PQ leader, André Boisclair, announced he would resign. Duceppe first said he would seek the PQ leadership but then withdrew the next day. After withdrawing, Duceppe announced he would support Pauline Marois.
2008 Federal Election
In the 2008 federal election, Duceppe led the Bloc Québécois to win 49 seats, one more than before the election. However, the Bloc's share of the popular vote dropped again to 38%, which was its lowest result since 1997. After the election, the Liberals and NDP tried to form a coalition government with support from the Bloc Québécois. This would have removed the Conservative minority government. However, the Governor General decided to temporarily close Parliament before a vote could happen. After Parliament reopened, the Liberals changed leaders and decided not to support the coalition. They instead supported the Conservatives' budget. But Duceppe's Bloc and Jack Layton's NDP remained committed to voting against the Conservatives.
2011 Federal Election and Resignation
In 2011, the Bloc worked with the Liberals and NDP to find the Conservative government in contempt of Parliament. This happened after all three opposition parties said they would not accept the Conservatives' budget, which led Prime Minister Harper to ask for Parliament to be dissolved. The Bloc had asked for $5 billion for Quebec, including money for damages from a severe ice storm in 1998 and $175 million for a new hockey arena. The Conservatives refused these demands.
In the 2011 federal election that followed, the Bloc lost 43 of its 47 seats. Many of these seats had been held by the Bloc since 1993. The party was reduced to only four Members of Parliament and lost its official party status. Much of the support for the Bloc went to the NDP, who became the Official Opposition. The NDP won 59 seats in Quebec, including many areas that were strongholds for the Bloc. The NDP became very popular in the last weeks of the campaign, partly because of their leader Jack Layton's personality and his policies. Duceppe himself lost his seat to NDP candidate Hélène Laverdière.
Duceppe accepted responsibility for the Bloc's big defeat and announced he would resign as Bloc leader soon after the results were clear. He remained determined, saying he would not rest "until Quebec becomes a country."
Brief Return to Politics
After leaving Parliament, Duceppe worked as a political analyst. In 2015, after two more years of declining support for the Bloc and internal disagreements, it was announced that Duceppe would return to lead the Bloc for the upcoming election. The party decided to split the roles of party president and leader to make his return easier.
On August 1, 2015, it was reported that Duceppe would run again in his former riding of Laurier-Sainte-Marie. In the October 19, 2015 election, he led his party to win 10 seats, up from two. However, Duceppe personally lost his own seat again. He announced his resignation as leader a few days later.
Duceppe's son, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, was elected to Parliament in the 2019 federal election.
Images for kids
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Gilles Duceppe's signature
See also
In Spanish: Gilles Duceppe para niños
