Gaëtan Primeau
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Gaëtan Primeau (born April 16, 1941) was a politician in
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada. He had served on the Montreal city council from 2005 until his defeat in 2013, representing the east-end district of Tétreaultville as a member of
Vision Montreal Vision Montreal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council. Origins Vision Montreal was e ...
.


Early life and career

Primeau was born in Montreal. He has a certificate in surveying from ''
Collège Ahuntsic Collège Ahuntsic is a French-language public college situated in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1967 as a merger of the Collège Saint-Ignace and the Institut de technologies Laval, and in 1970 ...
'' and a certificate in civil engineering from the ''
École Polytechnique de Montréal École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
''. Before entering political life, he worked for thirty years as an employee of the City of Montreal, including a term in the office of the chair of the
Montreal executive committee The Montreal Executive Committee () is the executive branch of the municipal government of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The committee reports directly to city hall and is responsible for generating documents such as budgets and by-laws, which are then ...
(i.e., the municipal cabinet).


City councillor

;First term Primeau was first elected to council in the 2005 municipal election.
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
Gérald Tremblay Gérald Tremblay (born September 20, 1942) is a former Canadian politician and businessman who served as mayor of Montreal from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. He also served as president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. Before ...
's
Montreal Island Citizens Union Union Montreal () is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to ...
(MICU) won a
majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...
in this election, and Primeau served as a member of the
official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...
. In late 2006, he spoke against a proposal to rename Montreal's Parc Avenue after former
Quebec premier The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following that ...
Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...
. In the same period, he joined with fellow councillor Laurent Blanchard in a "bathrobe protest," showing up to a 6 am budget meeting dressed in his bathrobe and arguing that the meeting had been scheduled too early for public participation. In 2008, he was appointed to the municipal committee on transportation, infrastructure management, and the environment. Primeau was chosen as Vision Montreal's caucus leader in December 2008. Two months later, he publicly defended party leader
Benoît Labonté Benoît Labonté (born 28 December 1959) was a city councillor with the Vision Montréal party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was the mayor of the borough of Ville-Marie until 2009. He was in favour of the merger of all Montreal Island municipali ...
against criticisms from former executive director
Robert Laramée Robert Laramée is a Canadian politician and was a Montreal City Council, city councillor in Montreal, Quebec. Background Laramée holds a Bachelor's degree in Recreation. According to ''Fugues (magazine), Fugues'' magazine, he is coming out, o ...
, who had called on Labonté to resign or be ousted in the face of weak polling numbers. Labonté ultimately resigned as Vision Montreal leader in June 2009 and was replaced by
Louise Harel Louise Harel ( ; born April 22, 1946) is a Quebec politician. In 2005 she served as interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of Bernard Landry. She was also interim leader of the opposition in the National Assembly ...
. After resigning as party leader, Labonté initially continued to serve as
leader of the opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
on council. He stood down from the latter position in October 2009, following rumours (which he strenuously denied) of involvement in a municipal corruption scandal. According to a report in the ''
Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'', Primeau succeeded to the position of opposition leader and served for a brief term in late 2009 before resigning in favour of
Louise Harel Louise Harel ( ; born April 22, 1946) is a Quebec politician. In 2005 she served as interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of Bernard Landry. She was also interim leader of the opposition in the National Assembly ...
. ;Second term Primeau was re-elected to a second council term in the 2009 municipal election. Tremblay's party, now renamed as
Union Montreal Union Montreal () is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the governing party in the city from 2001, when it won its first election under mayor Gérald Tremblay, until 2012. The party remained the largest singl ...
, was re-elected with another majority, and Primeau continued to serve in opposition. He was appointed to the city's finance committee in December 2009 and has also served as his party's sports and recreation critic. He stood down as caucus chair in 2012. Tremblay resigned as mayor against the backup of a serious corruption scandal in late 2012 and was replaced by
Michael Applebaum Michael Mark Applebaum (born February 10, 1963) is a former Canadian politician who served as interim mayor of Montreal between his appointment by the city council on November 16, 2012, and his resignation on June 18, 2013. On June 17, 2013, he ...
. In early 2013, Primeau was appointed to a committee empowered to examine municipal contracts."Création de l'EPIM - « Vision Montréal obtient gain de cause » - Gaétan Primeau," ''Canada Newswire'', 11 January 2013, 13:03. By virtue of holding his seat on city council, Primeau was also a member of the
Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve () is a borough of Montreal, Quebec, Canada located in the southeastern end of the island. History ''See Mercier and Hochelaga-Maisonneuve articles for a more detailed histories of respective areas'' Hochelaga wa ...
. He was defeated in 2013 by Richard Celzi of Équipe Denis Coderre.


Electoral record


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primeau, Gaetan 1941 births Living people Montreal city councillors People from Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Collège Ahuntsic alumni