Jean D'Amour

Jean D'Amour
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata
Rivière-du-Loup (2009–2012)
In office
22 June 2009 – 29 August 2018
Preceded byMario Dumont
Succeeded byDenis Tardif
Personal details
Born (1963-09-09) 9 September 1963 (age 61)
Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec
Political partyLiberal
SpouseMaryse Bourgoin

Jean D'Amour (born 9 September 1963) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata in the National Assembly of Quebec. He won the riding in a by-election on 22 June 2009, and previously served as mayor of Rivière-du-Loup from 1999 to 2007.[1]

He was previously president of the Quebec Liberal Party,[1] and was also the party's candidate in Rivière-du-Loup for the 1994 and 2007 provincial elections.

He faced some controversy during the campaign, as he was arrested for impaired driving on 24 September 2008, and pleaded guilty on 19 December. His driver's license was suspended for one year.[2] He has also faced allegations that he violated provincial ethics laws by lobbying the municipal government of Rivière-du-Loup less than two years after leaving office.[3] Premier Jean Charest stood behind D'Amour, however, crediting him with being honest and forthcoming with the voters about his mistakes.[4]

D'Amour defeated the Parti Québécois candidate, former federal Member of Parliament Paul Crête, in the by-election. Crête had been considered the likely winner at the start of the by-election campaign, but was hurt by PQ leader Pauline Marois' public statements that she planned to create a favourable climate for Quebec sovereignty by intentionally seeking to inflame political tensions between Quebec and English Canada.[5]

He resigned the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent on 10 November 2009, following revelations that he was under investigation for allegedly accepting an envelope of money from a developer on behalf of Michel Morin, his successor as mayor of Rivière-du-Loup.[6][7] An investigation by the province's chief electoral officer cleared him of wrongdoing, and he was subsequently readmitted to the Liberal caucus on 24 December.[8]

Electoral record

1994 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Action démocratique Mario Dumont 13,307 54.77 –
Parti Québécois Harold LeBel 6,608 27.20 -14.85
Liberal Jean D'Amour 4,226 17.39 -37.09
Independent L. Richard Cimon 99 0.41 –
Natural Law Armand Pouliot 55 0.23 –
2007 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Action démocratique Mario Dumont 15,276 58.47 +1.24
Liberal Jean D'Amour 7,390 28.29 +4.53
Parti Québécois Hugues Belzile 2,821 10.80 -6.88
Green Martin Poirier 639 2.45 +1.12
Total valid votes 26,126 99.20 –
Total rejected ballots 210 0.80 –
Turnout 26,336 78.27 +5.61
Electors on the lists 33,648 – –
Quebec provincial by-election, June 22, 2009: Rivière-du-Loup
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jean D'Amour 9,959 47.49 +20.50
Parti Québécois Paul Crête 7,514 35.83 +21.63
Action démocratique Gilberte Côté 3,089 14.73 −37.04
Green Martin Poirier 151 0.72 −1.67
Independent Victor-Lévy Beaulieu 93 0.44 −2.34
Québec solidaire Benoît Renaud 89 0.42 −1.44
Finance Reform Denis Couture 40 0.19 –
Parti indépendantiste Éric Tremblay 37 0.18 –
Total valid votes 20,972 99.44
Total rejected ballots 119 0.56
Turnout 21,091 61.64 −2.34
Electors on the lists 34,219
Called upon the resignation of Mario Dumont.
2012 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jean D'Amour 15,317 40.91 -4.12
Parti Québécois Michel Lagacé 12,870 34.37 -2.03
Coalition Avenir Québec Gaétan Lavoie 6,949 18.56 +2.59
Québec solidaire Stacy Larouche 1,116 2.98 +1.93
Green Nadia Pelletier 647 1.73 +0.74
Option nationale Jonathan St-Pierre 410 1.09 –
Coalition pour la constituante Sylvain Potvin 135 0.36 –
Total valid votes 37,444 98.86 –
Total rejected ballots 430 1.14 –
Turnout 37,874 74.56  
Electors on the lists 50,795 – –
^ Change is from redistributed results. CAQ change is from ADQ.
Liberal hold Swing -1.04
2014 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup–Témiscouata
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jean D'Amour 18,086 51.69 +10.78
Parti Québécois Michel Lagacé 8,378 23.95 -10.42
Coalition Avenir Québec Charles Roy 5,794 16.56 -2.00
Québec solidaire Louis Gagnon 2,129 6.09 +3.11
Parti des sans Parti Frank Malenfant 354 1.01 +0.65*
Option nationale Étienne Massé 245 0.70 -0.39
Total valid votes 34,986 98.61 –
Total rejected ballots 494 1.39 –
Turnout 35,480 70.00 -4.56
Electors on the lists 50,688 – –
* Result compared to Coalition pour la constituante
  • "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.

References

  1. ^ a b Philip Authier, "Liberal Party chief's absence upstages Charest's speech". The Gazette, 23 May 2009.
  2. ^ (in French) "Jean D'Amour coupable de conduite avec facultés affaiblies". radiocanada.ca, 5 March 2009.
  3. ^ Don Macpherson, "About time: Charest has finally called by-elections to fill the seats vacated by Dumont and Jérôme-Forget" Archived 3 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine. The Gazette, 21 May 2009.
  4. ^ CJAD, 19 June 2009.
  5. ^ Chantal Hébert, "PQ plan to anger us hints at desperation". Toronto Star, 22 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Jean D'Amour leaves Liberal caucus". The Gazette, 10 November 2009.
  7. ^ "Liberal MNA to sit as independent". CBC News. 10 November 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Jean d'Amour rejoins Quebec Liberal caucus". CBC News. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2015.