Francis Dufour

Francis Dufour (March 28, 1929 – May 25, 2020) was a Canadian Quebec politician. He served as the member for Jonquière in the National Assembly of Quebec as a member of the Parti Québécois from 1985 until 1996, when he relinquished his seat to allow Lucien Bouchard, the Premier of Quebec, a seat in the assembly.

Francis Dufour
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Jonquière
In office December 2, 1985 – January 15, 1996
Preceded by	Aline St-Amand
Succeeded by	Lucien Bouchard
Personal details
Born	(1929-03-28)March 28, 1929 Kénogami, Quebec, Canada
Died	May 25, 2020(2020-05-25) (aged 91) Jonquière, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Parti Québécois
Profession	Politician

Biography

Dufour was a clerk at the Arvida Municipal Treasury in 1947. He worked for Alcan from 1948 to 1975, and served as the director of its employees' union from 1955 to 1963.

Political career

Dufour was elected a councillor of Arvida from 1960 until 1964. He was elected mayor in 1967 and served in that position until 1975.

During that time Dufour ran in the 1973 Quebec election for the Parti Québécois in Jonquière and lost to incumbent Gérald Harvey.

When Arvida was amalgamated into Jonquière, he ran for and was elected to the position of its mayor. Dufour served as President of the Union of Quebec Municipalities from 1982 until 1984.

Dufour ran again for Jonquière in 1985 and won. He was re-elected in 1989 and 1994.

He served primarily as a backbencher during his time in the legislature. He resigned on January 15, 1996 to let Lucien Bouchard, Premier of Quebec have a seat in the legislature.[1]

Electoral record

Provincial

1994 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Parti Québécois	Francis Dufour	22,598	69.64
	Liberal	Stéphane Dallaire	8,703	26.74
	Natural Law	Sylvie Francoeur	1,248	3.83
Total valid votes			32,549	97.01
Total rejected ballots			1,002	2.99
33,551			80.03
Electors on the lists			41,921	–

1989 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Parti Québécois	Francis Dufour	17,294	56.05
	Liberal	Aline St-Amand	11,789	38.21
	New Democratic	Maurice Bilodeau	1,774	5.75
Total valid votes			30,857	97.63
Total rejected ballots			750	2.37
31,607			76.16
Electors on the lists			41,502	–

1985 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Parti Québécois	Francis Dufour	17,741	52.51
	Liberal	Aline St-Amand	14,130	41.82
	New Democratic	Maurice Bilodeau	1,784	5.28
	Christian Socialist	Jean-Pierre Rannou	132	0.39
Total valid votes			33,787	98.70
Total rejected ballots			444	1.30
34,231			79.86
Electors on the lists			42,864	–

1973 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Gérald Harvey	16,985	53.71
	Parti Québécois	Francis Dufour	12,850	40.63
	Union Nationale	Lucien Audet	897	2.84
	Parti créditiste	Albert Bouchard	892	2.82
Total valid votes			31,624	98.42
Total rejected ballots			507	1.58
32,131			84.30
Electors on the lists			38,117	–

References

1. Francis Dufour Quebec National Assembly Biography