Denis Lebel

Denis Lebel PC (born May 26, 1954) is a Canadian federal politician and who served as mayor of Roberval, Quebec and deputy leader of the Official Opposition. Lebel was born in Roberval, Quebec.

The Honourable Denis Lebel PC
Deputy Leader of the Opposition
In office November 19, 2015 – July 23, 2017
Leader	Rona Ambrose Andrew Scheer
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Lisa Raitt
Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party
In office November 18, 2015 – July 20, 2017
Leader	Rona Ambrose (interim) Andrew Scheer
Preceded by	Peter MacKay
Succeeded by	Lisa Raitt
Minister of Infrastructure, Communities and Intergovernmental Affairs
In office March 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Peter Penashue
Succeeded by	Justin Trudeau
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Lac-Saint-Jean
In office October 19, 2015 – August 9, 2017
Preceded by	Riding established
Succeeded by	Richard Hébert
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean
In office September 17, 2007 – October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Michel Gauthier
Succeeded by	Riding dissolved
Mayor of Roberval
In office 2000–2007
Preceded by	Claude Munger
Succeeded by	Michel Larouche
Personal details
Born	(1954-05-26) May 26, 1954 Roberval, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Conservative (2007–present)
Other political affiliations	Bloc Québécois (1993-2001)
Spouse(s)	Danielle Girard
Residence	Roberval, Quebec
Profession	hotel manager, restaurateur

Lebel was elected to the House of Commons of Canada on September 17, 2007, in the Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean by-election, as a member of the Conservative Party. Four years later, it emerged that he had been an active member of the Bloc Quebecois from 1993 to 2001. Lebel stated that he joined the Conservatives because Prime Minister Stephen Harper recognized the Québécois nation, and maintains that he has always been a Quebec nationalist.[1][2]

On October 30, 2008, he was appointed to Harper's cabinet as minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.[3] Following the 2011 election, Lebel was promoted to minister of transport.[4] He was shuffled out of the post in July 2013, shortly after the Lac-Megantic rail disaster.[5][6]

He was also the minister of infrastructure, communities and intergovernmental affairs and served as the Harper government's Quebec lieutenant.[7]

In the 2015 election, Lebel was re-elected in the new Lac-Saint-Jean riding.[8][9]

After the election, he and fellow member of Parliament (MP) Michelle Rempel proposed to become joint interim leaders of the party but ultimately lost to Rona Ambrose.[10]

On November 18, 2015 he was named deputy leader of the Conservative Party and thus deputy Opposition leader.[11]

Lebel announced on June 19, 2017 that he will be stepping down as an MP in the following weeks, before the House of Commons resumed sitting in the fall.[12]

The Montreal Gazette reported on June 20, 2017 that Lebel is to be appointed as the CEO of Québec Forest Industry Council.[13] It has also been reported that then-premier of Quebec, Philippe Couillard was interested in recruiting Lebel to run for the Quebec Liberals in the 2018 Quebec general election, but he did not run.[14]

Electoral history

2015 Canadian federal election: Lac-Saint-Jean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Denis Lebel	18,393	33.27	-8.99	–
	New Democratic	Gisèle Dallaire	15,735	28.46	-3.68	–
	Liberal	Sabin Simard	10,193	18.44	+15.19	–
	Bloc Québécois	Sabin Gaudreault	10,152	18.37	-2.63	–
	Green	Laurence Requilé	806	1.46	+0.12	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			55,279	100.0		$278,464.25
Total rejected ballots			925	–	–
Turnout			56,204	–	–
Eligible voters			85,337
Source: Elections Canada[15][16]

2011 Canadian federal election: Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Denis Lebel	18,438	45.68	+2.14	$99,662
	New Democratic	Yvon Guay	11,182	27.70	+22.99	$1,983
	Bloc Québécois	Claude Pilote	8,577	21.25	-18.40	$70,809
	Liberal	Bernard Garneau	1,615	4.00	-6.09	$5,913
	Green	Steeve Simard	553	1.37	-0.63	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			40,365	100.00		$102,172
Total rejected ballots			494	1.21	+0.04
Turnout			40,859	64.42	+5.43

2008 Canadian federal election: Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Denis Lebel	16,055	43.54	-16.14	$88,243
	Bloc Québécois	Claude Pilote	14,619	39.65	+12.89	$79,101
	Liberal	Bernard Garneau	3,721	10.09	+0.54	$9,041
	New Democratic	Catherine Forbes	1,738	4.71	+2.40	–
	Green	Jocelyn Tremblay	737	2.00	+0.29	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			36,870	100.00		$98,690
Total rejected ballots			437	1.17	–
Turnout			37,307	58.99	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		-14.18

Canadian federal by-election, September 17, 2007: Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Denis Lebel	17,463	59.68	+22.50	$95,449
	Bloc Québécois	Céline Houde	7,830	26.76	-18.44	$93,915
	Liberal	Louise Boulanger	2,795	9.55	+1.80	$51,293
	New Democratic	Éric Dubois	675	2.31	-3.22	$3,123
	Green	Jean-Luc Boily	499	1.71	-2.63	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			29,262	100.00		$95,677
Total rejected ballots			265	0.90
Turnout			29,527	46.83
	Conservative gain from Bloc Québécois		Swing		+20.23

References

1. "Tory minister Lebel explains past sovereigntist ties". CBC News. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
2. "Liberals shut out in Quebec byelections". CBC News. September 17, 2007. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
3. "Quebec gets lost in the shuffle". The Globe and Mail. October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
4. "New faces, but stability key in Harper cabinet shuffle". CBC News. May 18, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
5. "Harper cabinet shuffle: 8 new ministers named". Toronto Star. July 15, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
6. Martin, Pierre (July 18, 2013). "Lac-Mégantic disaster: Political winners and losers". Toronto Star. Retrieved November 5, 2015.
7. "Harper's Quebec hopes rooted in newly promoted duo". The Globe and Mail. July 16, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
8. "Conservative incumbent Denis Lebel keeps Lac-Saint-Jean". Global News. October 19, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
9. "Who's in and who's out: election night big wins and losses". CBC News. October 19, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015.
10. "Here's something new: Rempel and Lebel want to be co-leaders of the Tories". David Akin's On the Hill. October 31, 2015. Archived from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
11. "Denis Lebel devient chef adjoint du Parti conservateur". Radio-Canada. November 18, 2015. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
12. "Longtime Conservative MP Denis Lebel quitting politics - 570 NEWS". June 19, 2017.
13. June 20, Presse Canadienne Updated; 2017 (June 21, 2017). "Denis Lebel to head Quebec's Forest Industry Council | Montreal Gazette". Retrieved May 1, 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
14. "Departure of former Conservative minister Denis Lebel sets up intriguing Quebec byelection: Hébert - Toronto Star". thestar.com.
15. "Voter Information Service - Who are the candidates in my electoral district?". www.elections.ca.
16. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Denis Lebel official site
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Denis Lebel – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca

28th Ministry – Cabinet of Stephen Harper
Cabinet posts (3)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Chuck Strahl	Minister of Transport 2011–2013	Lisa Raitt
Peter Penashue	Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs 2013–2015	Justin Trudeau
Jean-Pierre Blackburn	Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec 2008–2015 styled as Minister of State (Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec)	Position Abolished