René Matte (February 11, 1935 – February 2016) was 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 and professor who served as a member of the House of Commons.

Political career

Before entering electoral politics, Matte was a member of organizations that supported the independence of Quebec: the

Ralliement national Ralliement national (RN) (in English: "National Rally") was a separatist and right-wing populist provincial political party that advocated the political independence of Quebec from Canada in the 1960s. The party was led by former '' créditiste ...

, the Mouvement Souveraineté-Association, Alliance laurentienne. At the beginning of the 1960s, for a short time, Matte was active in la Phalange, a minor group of right-wing nationalists. Because of his links to this group, he was arrested in 1963 by the

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the State police, provincial police service for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. There is no official English name, though the agency's name is sometimes translated as Quebec Provincial Police ...

, who suspected him and his brother, Jean-Paul, of being involved in the dismantling of the statue of General Wolfe on the plains of Abraham, Quebec. The two men were released, for lack of evidence. Matte ran as a

Ralliement Créditiste There were a few political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement in Quebec. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the social credit philosophy; th ...

candidate in the federal district of Champlain in the 1968 election and won. His party rejoined the national

Social Credit Party of Canada The Social Credit Party of Canada (), colloquially known as the Socreds, was a populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. It was the federal wing of the Canadian social credit movement. Origins ...

in 1971. He was re-elected in the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

and 1974 elections. He ran for the leadership of the Social Credit Party in 1976 advocating that Canada be divided into five sovereign regions in a loose confederation He placed second to

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters call themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of deep ...

André-Gilles Fortin André-Gilles Fortin (; November 13, 1943 – June 24, 1977) was a Canadian politician. Fortin was a member of the House of Commons of Canada for Lotbinière. He was first elected in the 1968 federal election for the Ralliement Créditist ...

after several Social Credit MPs threatened to leave the party if Matte won. Matte ran for the leadership again in 1978 but abruptly resigned from the party to sit as an independent when its national executive decided to hold the

leadership convention {{Politics of Canada In Politics of Canada, Canadian politics, a leadership convention is held by a political party when the party needs to choose a leadership, leader due to a vacancy or a challenge to the incumbent leader. Overview In Canada, ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. Interim leader

Charles-Arthur Gauthier Charles-Arthur Gauthier (; May 12, 1913 – May 12, 1997) was a Canadian undertaker and long-time politician. He was a member of Parliament (MP) for the Social Credit Party and ''Ralliement Créditiste''. Gauthier was first elected to the Hou ...

stated that Matte was expelled after refusing to follow

party discipline The term party discipline is used in politics in two closely related, yet distinct, meanings. In a broad sense (also known as party cohesion), the discipline is adherence of the party members at large to an agreed system of political norms and ru ...

for 18 months. He ran as an independent candidate in the 1979 federal election and was defeated by Liberal candidate Michel Veillette. Matte ran again in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate, but finished second. He died in February 2016 from a serious liver illness in the home of his son, Michel, in Chambly, Quebec.''Le Journal de Québec'', 2 March 2016 "Décès de l’ancien député créditiste René Matte" by Louis Gagné
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Electoral record

References

1935 births 2016 deaths Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Social Credit Party of Canada MPs 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Quebec-MP-stub