Maurice Richard (born September 22, 1946) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician in the province of

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, ...

. He was a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

member of 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 ...

from 1985 to 1994 and was the mayor of Bécancour, a position to which he was first elected in 1976.

Early life and career

Richard was born in

Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval, Quebec Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval () is a community of the city of Bécancour, Quebec. Bordering the Saint Lawrence River, Sainte-Angèle-de-Laval has a strong naval history; among other things, a Sea Cadet training centre, the CSTC HMCS Quebec, used to o ...

and received his early education there and in Nicolet. He attained certification from the Institut national des viandes in 1973 and later operated a food market in Bécancour. He has also been an artist and painter since 1976. Richard was a councillor in Bécancour from 1971 to 1976 and first served as the town's mayor from 1976 to 1985. He was interviewed by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' in 1983 as part of a feature piece on the community's industrial projects; in the course of the interview, he highlighted Bécancour's port on the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, its efficient road and rail system, and its low-cost electricity. Richard

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

in the 1970s. His sexual identity became an issue when he ran for provincial office in 1985 but did not hurt his standing with the electorate. In a 2011 interview, he said, "Les gens ne sont pas réticents à élire des homosexuels. ..L’homophobie existe bien sûr dans certains milieux, mais nous sommes reconnus comme une société progressiste."("People are not reluctant to elect homosexuals. ..Homophobia exists of course in some circles, but we are recognized as a progressive society.")

Provincial politician

Richard was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for Nicolet in the 1985 provincial election, defeating

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

(PQ) cabinet minister Yves Beaumier by a significant margin. The Liberals 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 Richard entered the legislature as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

supporter of

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 ...

's administration. In 1988, he chaired a task force that examined Quebec's

Sunday shopping Sunday shopping or Sunday trading refers to the ability of retailers to operate stores on Sunday, a day that Christian tradition typically recognises as a day of rest, though the rationale for Sunday trade bans often includes secular reasoning. ...

laws; its report recommended that large food stores remain closed on Sundays, but that weekday hours be extended from 62 to 71 hours per week to allow stores to stay open later. Richard also chaired the provincial agriculture, fisheries and food committee from 1987 to 1994. He was re-elected without difficulty in the

1989 election The following elections occurred in the year 1989. Africa * 1989 Beninese parliamentary election * 1989 Botswana general election * 1989 Equatorial Guinean presidential election * 1989 People's Republic of the Congo parliamentary election * 1 ...

but narrowly lost to Parti Québécois challenger

Michel Morin Michel Morin (born March 27, 1948) is a Canadian politician. He was a three-term member of the National Assembly of Quebec, a parliamentary assistant from 1999 to 2001, and whip of the Parti Québécois from 2001 to 2007. Background He was born ...

in the 1994 election as the Liberals were defeated provincially. After his defeat, Richard chaired an internal Liberal Party committee working on policy strategies for the "Non" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.

Return to municipal politics

Richard began his second tenure as mayor of Bécancour in 1995 and was re-elected in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2009. He has devoted significant attention to industrial issues; in 2004, he convened a meeting between local business and labour leaders in a bid to resolve a strike at an

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

aluminum plant. Richard took part in the ground-breaking ceremony for a solar silicon metal facility in 2007. He supported

Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...

's 2008 decision to refurbish Bécancour's

Candu The CANDU (CANada Deuterium Uranium) is a Canadian pressurized heavy-water reactor design used to generate electric power. The acronym refers to its deuterium oxide (heavy water) neutron moderator, moderator and its use of (originally, natural ...

Gentilly 2 nuclear generating station, saying that his region depends on jobs produced by the plant. In the aftermath of the

2011 Japanese nuclear accidents The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...

, he argued that there was no chance of a similar accident happening in his community. Richard said that Candu's cooling system is much different from that used at the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma, Fukushima, Ōkuma and Futaba, Fukushima, Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, suffered major damage from the 201 ...

and that the ground under Bécancour is very solid, adding "If people are worried about earthquakes, I strongly suggest they come and live in Bécancour."Katherine Wilton, "Becancour mayor stays cool; Gentilly-2; Quebec plant safe, he says," ''Montreal Gazette'', 15 March 2011, A4.

Electoral record

References

External links

*
Mayoral biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richard, Maurice 1946 births Canadian gay politicians Canadian LGBTQ people in provincial and territorial legislatures Living people Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Politicians from Centre-du-Québec LGBTQ mayors of places in Canada 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 20th-century mayors of places in Quebec 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century mayors of places in Quebec 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people