Pierre A. Paquette (born June 1, 1955) is a Canadian economist, professor, union leader and politician. Born in Sorel,

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, ...

, Paquette was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as a member of the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

in the

2000 Canadian federal election The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 37th Canadian Parliament, 37th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal ...

in the riding of

Joliette Joliette () is a city in southwest Quebec, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Montreal, on the L'Assomption River and is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Joliette. It is considered to be a part of the North Shore of G ...

. He was re-elected in the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue ...

defeating the Liberal candidate by nearly 20,000 votes. He is the Bloc former critic of International Financial Institutions and Finance, and is the current critic of Globalization, Financial Institutions, and International Trade. After his promotion to House Leader in April 2007, many pundits claimed he was being groomed as

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...

's successor. Paquette made no attempt to dispel rumours that he was considering a run for BQ leadership, openly stating he was "considering" a run during the 24-hour period in which it seemed Duceppe would depart for the

2007 Parti Québécois leadership election The Parti Québécois leadership election of 2007 elected the seventh leader of the Parti Québécois, the main political party to promote Quebec independence in Quebec, Canada, and was won by Pauline Marois. Former PQ Minister Pauline Marois ...

. Paquette was the Bloc's House Leader until losing his seat in the May 2, 2011 federal election which reduced the Bloc to four seats in the House of Commons. On May 11, 2011, he announced his intention to stand for the leadership of the Bloc."Defeated Bloc Quebecois MP Pierre Paquette wants leader's job"
, Montreal Gazette, May 11, 2011 However, in August he announced he would not be a candidate and called for the leadership election to be delayed until late 2012. In the 2014 provincial election he ran for the

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 ...

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

, but was defeated by incumbent CAQ leader

François Legault François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A founding member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since it began in 2011. Legault sits as a Nationa ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paquette, Pierre 1955 births Living people Trade unionists from Quebec Bloc Québécois MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec People from Sorel-Tracy Politicians from Montérégie 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada