Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux

Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux (born February 28, 1974) is a Canadian lawyer, manager and former politician in the province of Quebec. He served in the National Assembly of Quebec as a Liberal from 1998 until his resignation in 2001.

Early life and career

Lamoureux was born in Anjou on the east end of the Island of Montreal. He worked as an intern in the office of the Canadian minister of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 1995 and in the office of the leader of the official opposition of Quebec in 1996. Lamoureux received a law degree from the Université de Montréal in 1996, was called to the bar of Quebec the following year, and worked with the firm Leduc, Leblanc from 1997 to 1998. In 2001, he received a graduate degree in management from HEC Montréal.[1]

His father, Jacques Lamoureux, has served as president of the Quebec Liberal Party.[2]

Legislator

Lamoureux was nominated as the Liberal candidate for Anjou in the buildup to the 1998 provincial election. The governing Parti Québécois (PQ) had won the seat by a narrow margin in the previous election, and the contest was expected to be close.[3] Lamoureux focused his campaign on opposition to another referendum on Quebec sovereignty, in the aftermath of the Canadian federalist option's narrow victory in 1995.[4] On election day, he defeated incumbent PQ cabinet minister Pierre Bélanger by only 143 votes.[5]

The PQ won a second consecutive majority government in 1998, and Lamoureux served as a member of the official opposition. He was appointed as his party's immigration critic and supported a policy of encouraging increased settlement of new immigrants in Quebec's regions.[6] He also spoke against growing anti-Muslim prejudice in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11, 2001.[7]

Resignation

Reports surfaced in February 1999 that voter fraud had played a role in the outcome of the 1998 election in Anjou.[8] The PQ filed an official complaint with Quebec's chief returning officer, and defeated candidate Pierre Bélanger indicated that his party had identified forty confirmed instances of voting irregularities.[9] Lamoureux responded that he had no knowledge of voter fraud and had done nothing wrong.[10] This notwithstanding, Liberal leader Jean Charest indicated that he would welcome an investigation from the province's electoral office, so as to provide clarity in the matter.[11]

In August 1999, Quebec election officials charged four persons with electoral fraud in relation to the Anjou vote.[12] In May 2001, Claude Lavigne was convicted of paying poor people ten dollars every time they voted for the Liberals.[13] In September of the same year, former Liberal Party campaign worker Alberto Berardinucci was fined ten thousand dollars for hiring people to vote several times using false names.[14]

The province's chief electoral officer concluded that the Liberal Party had not orchestrated the vote-buying scheme, and Lamoureux was not personally implicated in the scandal.[15] He nonetheless resigned from the legislature on September 19, 2001, one day after Berardinucci's conviction, on the grounds that doubts had been cast on the validity of his election.[16] A Montreal Gazette columnist later noted that no-one was certain if enough fraudulent votes had been cast to affect the outcome of the vote.[17]

Lamoureux was not a candidate in the by-election that followed his resignation.

Subsequent career

Lamoureux returned to practicing law from 2001 to 2003, working with the firm of Osler, Hoskin and Harcourt. From 2003 to 2006, he was chief of staff to Quebec's Treasury Board president, Monique Jérôme-Forget. In 2006, he was appointed as vice-president of subsidiaries for Investissement Québec and chief executive officer of FIER Partenaires.

Lamoureux joined the board of directors of the École polytechnique de Montréal and the company Innovatech in March 2009.[1] The following year, he joined the Kirchner Private Capital Group and served on the board of Réseau capital.[18]

Electoral record
1998 Quebec general election: Anjou
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalJean-Sébastien Lamoureux12,09744.51
Parti QuébécoisPierre Bélanger11,95443.98
Action démocratiqueMichel Lalonde2,82510.39
Socialist DemocracyBernard Beaulieu1920.71
InnovatorRoberto Barba680.25
CommunistTeresa Vergara440.16
Total valid votes 27,18098.61
Total rejected ballots 3841.39
Turnout 27,56482.31
Electors 33,488
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.
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References
  1. "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
  2. Philip Authier, "Liberal suspended over Anjou fraud charge," Montreal Gazette, 7 October 1999, A10.
  3. Susan Semenak, "All quiet on the Westmount front: Like neighbouring Outremont, it's considered among the safest Liberal ridings in province," Montreal Gazette, 9 November 1998, A9.
  4. Mike King, "PQ wins not guaranteed in three east-end ridings," Montreal Gazette, 19 November 1998, A9.
  5. Paul Cherry, "Belanger loses in Anjou: Minister edged out as Liberals capture neighbouring ridings," Montreal Gazette, 1 December 1998, B8; Monique Beaudin, "Only minister to lose finally out of hot seat: Ice-storm fallout crushed Public Security Minister Belanger," Montreal Gazette, 2 December 1998, A13.
  6. "Quebec wants more immigrants to live in regions and integrate into society," Canadian Press, 26 October 2000.
  7. Jane Davenport, "Muslims wary of reprisals: 140 at mosque denounce terror attacks," Montreal Gazette, 16 September 2001, A3.
  8. "Parti Quebecois is crying fraud," The National-CBC Television, 24 February 1999 [transcript]; "Vote fraud alleged," Montreal Gazette, 24 February 1999, A10.
  9. Jack Branswell, "Defeated PQ complains about paid votes," Canadian Press, 24 February 1999.
  10. Ingrid Peritz, "Quebec seeks vote-buying inquiry," Globe and Mail, 25 February 1999, A6.
  11. Paul Cherry, "Vote probe welcomed: Charest says it's important to clear up allegations," Montreal Gazette, 26 February 1999, A13.
  12. Philip Authier, "Four accused of voter fraud," Montreal Gazette, 27 August 1999, A1.
  13. George Kalogerakis, "Montrealer found guilty of vote-buying," Montreal Gazette, 9 May 2001, A7.
  14. "Former Liberal party worker fined $10,000 for fraud in 1998 Quebec election," Canadian Press, 18 September 2001.
  15. Elizabeth Thompson, "Anjou vote: Liberals OK," Montreal Gazette, 23 March 2000, A10.
  16. "Liberal quits Quebec legislature after ex-campaign worker's fraud conviction," Canadian Press, 19 September 2001; Rhéal Séguin, "Quebec Liberal resigns post over fraud," Globe and Mail, 20 September 2001, A16.
  17. Don Macpherson, "Vote buying in Anjou," Montreal Gazette, 20 September 2001, B3.
  18. Kirchner Private Capital Group Increases Presence in Quebec Archived 2011-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Corporate News, 15 March 2010, accessed 11 August 2011; Membres du Conseil d'Administration, Réseau capital, accessed 11 August 2011.
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