Marc Bellemare (born 3 May 1956) is a lawyer and politician from Canada.

Background

He was born in

Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec Saint-Hyacinthe ( , ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie r ...

, studied

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

and was admitted to the

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec () is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Canada (). History The begi ...

in 1979.

Provincial politics

Bellemare ran as a

star candidate A star candidate () is high-profile individual who is entering or re-entering elected politics. In Canada and the United Kingdom, the recruitment of a star candidate often includes a guaranteed nomination in a winnable seat. Star candidates com ...

with the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in the Quebec election of 2003. He was elected to the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

and represented the

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

electoral district of Vanier. He was appointed to

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

's Cabinet on April 29, 2003 and served as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

. Bellemare pushed for harsher sentences for

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

. He was criticized several times by Justice Fraser Martin for the way he handled a juvenile prostitution case which took place in Quebec City and involved talk show host Robert Gillet. For several years, Bellemare has been a strong advocate of abolishing Quebec's car insurance law. He tried to convince his colleagues to abolish the provincial no fault car insurance plan that had been established in 1978. The Liberals, who had made the proposed change part of their platform, soon abandoned the idea. Disappointed, Bellemare resigned from his cabinet post on April 27, 2004 and relinquished his seat the next day, lasting less than a year in office.

Mayoral candidate

After months of rumors, Bellemare announced that he would be candidate for Mayor of

. His announcement was made on March 11, 2004. He also founded a political party, ''Vision Quebec'', which was registered on February 22, 2005. Bellemare ended up finishing a distant third. (See

2005 Quebec municipal elections The Canadian province of Quebec held municipal elections in its municipalities on November 6, 2005. The municipalities in Quebec for the 2005 election were different from the previous 2001 election, as many municipalities had voted to de-amalgam ...

) Originally leading the 2004 polls with over 80% support in the City of Quebec his support disappeared because when asked about his party finances he stated “ I do not know where the funds are coming from I don't concern myself with questions of money.” This gave citizens concern and he was resoundingly rejected in the election. He also put forward proposals to save the Agora, an outdoor concert venue in the old port of Quebec city. An early mayoral election was called in 2007, after the death of incumbent Mayor Andrée Boucher. Bellemare ran and finished a distant third again. He resigned as party leader on December 26, 2007. In 2008, Bellemare unsuccessfully petitioned the Papal Nuncio to Canada for an eventual visit of

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, his resignation on 28 Februar ...

in Quebec City. Nonetheless, Bellemare was still listed as party leader on the Quebec Chief Election Officer's web site as of June 2008.

Footnotes

External links

*
CAA Quebec information about the No Fault and the former modification plans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellemare, Marc 1956 births 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec Marc Living people Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Ministers of justice of Quebec Lawyers in Quebec People from Saint-Hyacinthe Politicians from Montérégie Politicians from Quebec City