Christian Ouellet

Christian Ouellet
Christian Ouellet
Member of the House of Commons of Canada for Brome—Missisquoi
	In office; January 23, 2006 – May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Denis Paradis
Succeeded by	Pierre Jacob
Personal details
Born	April 22, 1934; Montreal, Quebec
Died	December 21, 2021 (aged 87)
Political party	Bloc Québécois
Spouse	Estelle Côté
Residence	Magog, Quebec
Profession	architect/professor

Christian Ouellet (April 22, 1934 – December 21, 2021) was a Canadian politician from the province of Quebec. He represented Brome—Missisquoi in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 to 2011 as a member of the Bloc Québécois.

He is not to be confused with another Christian Ouellet, who has worked as an organizer and policy strategist for the Quebec Liberal Party.^[1]

Early life and career

Ouellet was born in Montreal on April 22, 1934. An architect by profession, he joined the Ordre des architectes du Québec in 1969 and took a Master's Degree in building from the University of Manchester in England (1972–75).^[2] He has promoted ecological housing since 1973 and was a finalist for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Healthy Housing Design Competition in 1991.^[3]

Ouellet chaired the Solar Energy Society of Canada and the Parti Québécois's national committee on Environment and Sustainable Development.^[4] He taught architecture at the Université de Montréal and lectured at the Université du Québec à Montréal.^[5]

Political career

Ouellet was active with the Bloc Québécois and its provincial counterpart, the Parti Québécois, before running for office himself.^[6] He first sought election to the House of Commons in the 2004 federal election and finished a close second against incumbent Liberal cabinet minister Denis Paradis in Brome—Missisquoi. He challenged Paradis again in the 2006 election and won by over five thousand votes.^[7]

During the 2006 election, Ouellet said that he would downplay Quebec sovereigntism if elected and would instead focus on tackling economic issues and opposing corruption. Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe criticized this statement, saying that his party would promote sovereignty as well as defending Quebec's interests in other areas.^[8] After talking with Duceppe, Ouellet agreed to support the Bloc's full platform on sovereignty.

Ouellet was re-elected in the 2008 federal election, defeating Paradis by a reduced margin in a rematch from 2006.

In parliament, Ouellet served as the Bloc's critic for social housing and as an associate critic for natural resources and the environment.^[9] He has also promoted increased Via Rail access from Montreal to Sherbrooke via Quebec's Estrie.^[10] In 2009, he introduced a Private Member's Bill to remove waiting times for Employment Insurance benefits.^[11]

Ouellet was one of eight Canadian parliamentarians to meet with Chen Shui-bian, the president of Taiwan, in 2006.^[12]

On February 24, 2011, the Bloc announced that Ouellet would not be a candidate in the next federal election.^[13]

Personal life and death

Ouellet died on December 21, 2021, at the age of 87.^[14]

Electoral record

v t e 2008 Canadian federal election: Brome—Missisquoi
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Christian Ouellet	17,561	35.21	−3.12	$75,915
	Liberal	Denis Paradis	16,357	32.79	+4.82	$66,462
	Conservative	Mark Quinlan	9,309	18.66	−1.69	$78,614
	New Democratic	Christelle Bogosta	4,514	9.05	+3.20	$4,678
	Green	Pierre Brassard	1,784	3.58	+0.03	$126
	Independent	David Marler	354	0.71		$16,915
Total valid votes			49,879	100.00
Total rejected ballots			531
Turnout			50,410	65.78	−0.46
Electors on the lists			76,636

v t e 2006 Canadian federal election: Brome—Missisquoi
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Christian Ouellet	18,596	38.33	−1.33	$66,782
	Liberal	Denis Paradis	13,569	27.97	−14.11	$58,420
	Conservative	David Marler	9,874	20.35	+9.30	$69,104
	New Democratic	Josianne Jetté	2,839	5.85	+3.19	$2,722
	Progressive Canadian	Heward Grafftey	1,921	3.96		$60,081
	Green	Michel Champagne	1,721	3.55	−1.00	$2,460
Total valid votes			48,520	100.00
Total rejected ballots			554
Turnout			49,074	66.24	+3.61
Electors on the lists			74,088
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

v t e 2004 Canadian federal election: Brome—Missisquoi
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Denis Paradis	18,609	42.08	−7.50	$56,708
	Bloc Québécois	Christian Ouellet	17,537	39.66	+7.93	$29,014
	Conservative	Peter Stastny	4,888	11.05	−6.50	$14,318
	Green	Louise Martineau	2,011	4.55		none listed
	New Democratic	Piper Huggins	1,177	2.66		$5
Total valid votes			44,222	100.00
Total rejected ballots			790
Turnout			45,012	62.63
Electors on the lists			71,866
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

References

^ The other Christian Ouellet presented the Liberal Party's submission to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation practices in Quebec. See Amy Luft, "Quebec Liberals chart middle course on reasonable accommodation," 'Montreal Gazette, 10 December 2007, A11.
^ Christian Ouellet Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bloc Québécois, accessed 17 November 2010.
^ "FINALISTS SELECTED IN CMHC HEALTHY HOUSING DESIGN COMPETITION" [press release], 19 November 1991, 12:54.
^ "What's New," Canadian Architect, 1 March 2010.
^ Miro Cernetig, "Harper heads for the hills of Martin country in Quebec," Toronto Star, 18 June 2004, A07.
^ Christian Ouellet Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bloc Québécois, accessed 17 November 2010.
^ The seat was heavily targeted by the Bloc during the latter campaign. See Philip Authier, "Gnome from Brome fights on: Clouds tight race," Montreal Gazette, 9 January 2006, A11.
^ Rhéal Séguin, "Duceppe chastises Bloc candidate," Globe and Mail, 8 December 2005, A11.
^ Christian Ouellet Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine, Bloc Québécois, accessed 17 November 2010.
^ Andy Riga, "Railways studying train to Sherbrooke," Montreal Gazette, 27 February 2008, A1; "'That's the beauty of being in power,'" Montreal Gazette, 7 October 2008, A12.
^ "Rare speaker's vote gives EI bill second reading," Canadian Press, 29 April 2009, 16:06.
^ "TAIWAN: PRESIDENT CHEN MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF CANADIAN PARLIAMENT," US Fed News, 30 August 2006.
^ Le Bloc québécois annoncera un candidat surprise dans Brome-Missisquoi, La Presse, February 24, 2011
^ L'ancien député bloquiste Christian Ouellet est décédé (in French)