Yves-François Blanchet

Yves-François Blanchet MP (born April 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician serving as Leader of the Bloc Québécois since 2019. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beloeil—Chambly since the 2019 election.[1]

Yves-François Blanchet MP
Blanchet in October 2009
Leader of the Bloc Québécois
Incumbent
Assumed office January 17, 2019
President	Yves Perron
Preceded by	Mario Beaulieu (interim)
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Beloeil—Chambly
Incumbent
Assumed office October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Matthew Dubé
Quebec Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks
In office December 4, 2012 – April 23, 2014
Preceded by	Daniel Breton
Succeeded by	David Heurtel
Member of the Quebec National Assembly for Johnson
In office September 4, 2012 – April 7, 2014
Preceded by	Étienne-Alexis Boucher
Succeeded by	André Lamontagne
Member of the Quebec National Assembly for Drummond
In office December 8, 2008 – September 4, 2012
Preceded by	Sébastien Schneeberger
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Personal details
Born	(1965-04-16) April 16, 1965 Drummondville, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Parti Québécois Bloc Québécois

Life and career

Blanchet was born in Drummondville, Quebec, the son of Pierrette Bédard, a nurse, and Raymond Blanchet, a technician and lineman.[2] He is a graduate from the Université de Montréal where he obtained a bachelor's degree in history and anthropology in 1987. He later worked as a teacher and was a founder of an artist, disc and concert management firm, YFB Inc. while being the president of the ADISQ from 2003 to 2006. He was named the local business personality of the year by the Drummondville Chamber of Commerce, while he and associated artists received 10 Félix Awards.

Blanchet was elected to represent the riding of Drummond in the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2008 provincial election. In the 2012 election, he was reelected, this time in Johnson electoral district. He was defeated by Coalition Avenir Québec candidate André Lamontagne in the 2014 Quebec election. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), Blanchet was Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks from 2012 until 2014.[3] He was also a member of the Youth National Committee of the Parti Québécois in 1988 as well as a regional director of the PQ.

On November 26, 2018, Blanchet announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Bloc Québécois (BQ). As no other candidate had entered the race by the time nominations closed on January 15, 2019, Blanchet was officially acclaimed leader on January 17, 2019.[1]

In the 2019 election, the Bloc polling number rose to his alignment towards the popular Francois Legault's CAQ government.[4] S.E Fortin in the Journal de Montreal noted an article from Don Braid from the Calgary Herald when arguing that people from the prairies province were more worried about Blanchet than environmentalists Dominic Champagne or Steven Guilbeault. He won his seat of Beloeil—Chambly. Under Blanchet's leadership, the BQ increased its number of seats from 10 in 2015, to 32 seats in 2019, both over taking the NDP to become the third largest party in Canada and regaining official party status.[5]

Sexual misconduct allegations

On July 14, 2020, allegations by an anonymous woman were posted on Twitter describing that she was a victim of sexual assault by Blanchet at a Montreal bar in 1999. Blanchet denied the allegations.[6][7]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Beloeil—Chambly
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	35,068	50.5	+22.82
	Liberal	Marie-Chantal Hamel	16,059	23.1	-6.24
	New Democratic	Matthew Dubé	10,086	14.5	-16.57
	Conservative	Véronique Laprise	4,305	6.2	-3.09
	Green	Pierre Carrier	3,255	4.7	+2.45
	People's	Chloé Bernard	512	0.7	–
	Indépendence du Québec	Michel Blondin	205	0.3	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			69,490	100.0
Total rejected ballots			1,064
Turnout			70,554	73.7
Eligible voters			95,723
	Bloc Québécois gain from New Democratic		Swing		+19.79
Source: Elections Canada[8][9]

References

1. "Yves-François Blanchet becomes Bloc Québécois leader". CBC News. January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
2. "Yves-François Blanchet - National Assembly of Québec". www.assnat.qc.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. "Surge in Bloc Quebecois popularity 'a little bit surprising,' says Maxime Bernier". Global News. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
5. Montpetit ·, Jonathan (October 22, 2019). "Big gains for the Bloc Québécois, but what did it sacrifice in the process? Social Sharing". CBC News. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
6. Wyld, Adrian (July 15, 2020). "Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet denies sexual misconduct allegations". CBC News. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
7. "Envoyé anonymement: Éric Lapointe (Abuseur présumé / Presumed abuser)". Instagram. July 24, 2020. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
8. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
9. "Election night results". Elections Canada. Retrieved 22 October 2019.

External links

Media related to Yves-François Blanchet at Wikimedia Commons

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• Parti Quebecois biopage (in French)