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Rhéal Fortin
MP
Rhéal Fortin MP
Spokesperson of Québec debout; Groupe parlementaire québécois (March — June)
	In office; March 21, 2018 – September 17, 2018
Preceded by	Caucus founded
Succeeded by	Caucus dissolved
Interim Leader of the Bloc Québécois
	In office; October 22, 2015 – March 18, 2017
Preceded by	Gilles Duceppe
Succeeded by	Martine Ouellet
Member of Parliament; for Rivière-du-Nord
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Pierre Dionne Labelle
Personal details
Born	Rhéal Éloi Fortin; Laval-des-Rapides, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Bloc Québécois
Other political; affiliations	Québec debout (2018)
Residence	Saint-Sauveur-des-Monts, Quebec
Profession	Lawyer

Rhéal Éloi Fortin MP (French: [ʁeal fɔʁtɛ̃]) is a Canadian lawyer and politician, who is the member of the House of Commons for Rivière-du-Nord.

A lawyer by profession, he is the president of Bissonnette Fortin Giroux, a law firm in Saint-Jérôme. He studied law at University of Sherbrooke. He was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 election for Rivière-du-Nord as a member of the Bloc Québécois,^[2]

Fortin was named interim leader of the Bloc Québécois on October 22, 2015 following the resignation of Gilles Duceppe as leader after Duceppe was unable to win his seat in the election.^[3]

He served as interim leader of the party until the next leader, Martine Ouellet was named on March 18, 2017.

Fortin and six other Bloc MPs resigned from the Bloc's caucus to sit as independent MPs on February 28, 2018 citing conflicts with Ouellet's leadership.^[4] Fortin then served as leader of the party formed by the dissidents, Québec debout.^[5] He rejoined the Bloc Québécois caucus on September 17, 2018.^[6]

Biography

Fortin was born in Laval-des-Rapides, Quebec. He started working when he was 18. He completed a CEGEP electrician's diploma, equivalent to junior college. He was a worker in a factory in Laval from 1977 to 1985, then left to attend university to study law. After completing his legal education, he began practising law in Saint-Jérôme in 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Political career

He has been politically active ever since high school, when he volunteered to put up lawn signs for the Parti Québécois. He ran for the Parti Québécois nomination for the election for the National Assembly of Quebec for Prévost, but lost to Gilles Robert. In 2015 he ran for the Bloc Québécois in the riding Rivière-du-Nord and won. He became the interim leader of Bloc Québécois on October 22, 2015.^[7] On December 7, 2016, he announced that he would not be seeking the permanent leadership of the party at its leadership election in 2017.

He served as the BQ's critic for intergovernmental affairs, human rights, justice, and access to information in the House of Commons until February 2018, when he and six other Bloc MPs quit the caucus and formed the Groupe parlementaire québécois in protest of Martine Ouellet's leadership style. Fortin was named the group's spokesperson on March 21, 2018.^[8]

Since 2021 he has served as the justice critic in the Bloc Québécois Shadow Cabinet.^[9]

Electoral record

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Rivière-du-Nord
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Rhéal Fortin	29,943	52.2	+0.2	$17,137.18
	Liberal	Theodora Bajkin	12,767	22.3	±0.0	$5,481.12
	Conservative	Patricia Morrissette	6,803	11.9	+0.1	$17,935.40
	New Democratic	Marie-Helen Paspaliaris	3,958	6.9	-0.1	$703.54
	People's	Keeyan Ravanshid	2,164	3.8	+3.1	$1,391.38
	Free	Marie-Eve Damour	1,036	1.8	N/A	$733.88
	Rhinoceros	Jean-François René	373	0.7	N/A	$0.00
	Indépendance du Québec	Nicolas Riqueur-Lainé	285	0.5	+0.1	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			57,329	97.7	–	$126,251.14
Total rejected ballots			1,327	2.3
Turnout			58,656	59.1
Eligible voters			99,292
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		+0.1
Source: Elections Canada^[10]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Rivière-du-Nord
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Rhéal Fortin	31,281	52.0	+20.0	$14,299.86
	Liberal	Florence Gagnon	13,402	22.3	-4.1	$53,916.68
	Conservative	Sylvie Fréchette	7,120	11.8	+3.3	$28,363.50
	New Democratic	Myriam Ouellette	4,194	7.0	-23.1	none listed
	Green	Joey Leckman	3,345	5.6	+3.1	$7,366.15
	People's	Normand Michaud	407	0.7	–	$45.01
	Indépendence du Québec	Nicolas Riqueur-Lainé	225	0.4	–	$117.25
	Independent	Lucie St-Gelais	127	0.2	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			60,101	100.0
Total rejected ballots			1,206
Turnout			61,307	64.0
Eligible voters			95,813
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		+12.05
Source: Elections Canada^[11]^[12]

2015 Canadian federal election: Rivière-du-Nord
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Rhéal Fortin	18,157	32.05	+3.85	–
	New Democratic	Pierre Dionne Labelle	17,077	30.14	-24.98	–
	Liberal	Janice Bélair Rolland	14,933	26.36	+19.91	–
	Conservative	Romain Vignol	4,793	8.46	+0.03	–
	Green	Joey Leckman	1,436	2.53	+0.74	–
	Rhinoceros	Fobozof A. Côté	261	0.46	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			56,657	100.0		$229,198.01
Total rejected ballots			1,044	–	–
Turnout			57,701	65.13	–
Eligible voters			88,586
	Bloc Québécois gain from New Democratic		Swing		+14.42
Source: Elections Canada^[13]^[14]