David Whissell
David Whissell, BEng (born September 1, 1967) is a Canadian politician, businessman, engineer and former Quebec cabinet minister.
David Whissell | |
|---|---|
| MNA for Argenteuil | |
| In office November 30, 1998 – December 16, 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Regent Beaudet |
| Succeeded by | Agnès Grondin |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 1, 1967 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Nationality | Canada |
| Political party | Quebec Liberal Party |
| Residence | Lachute, Quebec |
| Alma mater | École polytechnique de Montréal |
| Profession | Civil engineer, businessman |
Born in Montreal, Whissell received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the École polytechnique de Montréal in 1990. He worked as an engineer at Whissell Inc., in Lachute, and became the president and owner of Beton 344 Inc. in Saint-André-d'Argenteuil near Lachute, and the president and vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lachute.
Prior to his entry into provincial politics, he was the president of the Liberal Party of Canada association in the Argenteuil region. He was later the member for Argenteuil in the National Assembly of Quebec as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party. He was first elected in a by-election on June 1, 1998, and was re-elected in the general elections held on November 30, 1998 and April 14, 2003. When the Liberals regained power he was named the Parliamentary secretary to Jean Charest. In 2005, after a Cabinet shuffle, he would become the Chair of the Government Caucus and member responsible for the Laurentians.
Whissell was the only Liberal member to be re-elected in the Laurentides region in the 2007 elections. He was named Minister of Labour and the Minister responsible for the Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Laurentides and Lanaudière regions.
He resigned from the Cabinet on September 9, 2009 following a conflict of interest related to a company in which he owned shares. According to a local newspaper, the company, ABC Rive-Nord, specialized in asphalt making and received multiple contracts without call for bids from the Ministry of Transportation.[1]
He resigned his seat in the National Assembly on December 16, 2011, citing family reasons and a desire to focus on his business career.[2]
He lives with Francine Vaillancourt and is the father of two children, Justine and Philippe.
Electoral record
| 2008 Quebec general election: Argenteuil | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | David Whissell | 10,843 | 49.58 | +11.99 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | John Saywell | 7,353 | 33.62 | +7.78 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Michael Perzow | 2,457 | 11.24 | −18.41 | ||||
| Green | Claude Sabourin | 760 | 3.48 | −1.19 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Loïc Kauffeisen | 456 | 2.09 | −0.16 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 21,869 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 346 | |||||||
| Turnout | 22,215 | 54.17 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 41,006 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
| 2007 Quebec general election: Argenteuil | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | David Whissell | 10,025 | 37.59 | −15.74 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Georges Lapointe | 7,906 | 29.65 | +11.21 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | John Saywell | 6,891 | 25.84 | +0.93 | ||||
| Green | Claude Sabourin | 1,244 | 4.67 | +2.58 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Guy Dufresne | 600 | 2.25 | +1.02 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 26,666 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 248 | |||||||
| Turnout | 26,914 | 68.52 | +2.06 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 39,278 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
| 2003 Quebec general election: Argenteuil | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | David Whissell | 12,645 | 53.33 | +10.86 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Georges Lapointe | 5,906 | 24.91 | −17.18 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Sylvain Demers | 4,372 | 18.44 | +5.57 | ||||
| Green | Claude Sabourin | 496 | 2.09 | - | ||||
| Bloc Pot | Yannick Charpentier | 292 | 1.23 | +0.01 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 23,711 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 280 | |||||||
| Turnout | 23,991 | 66.46 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 36,101 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
References
- Un article compromettant aurait poussé Whissell à démissionner Archived July 17, 2012, at Archive.today TVA Nouvelles
- Quebec Liberal MNA David Whissell resigns The Gazette
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Laurent Lessard |
Minister of Labour 2007–2009 |
Succeeded by Lise Thériault |