Stéphane Gendron (born December 22, 1967 in Saint-Rémi, Quebec) is the current mayor of Huntingdon, Quebec, Canada and a political analyst for several media outlets.
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He was born in Saint-Rémi, Quebec, Montérégie. Gendron is a graduate of Collège Jean de la Mennais in La Prairie and has a law degree from the Université de Montréal and master's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Prior to his political and media career, Gendron practiced law and taught at the CEGEP level. He was also a political aide to former Parti Québécois politician Jean Garon.
Gendron was elected Mayor of Huntingdon in November 2003[1] and was re-elected without opposition for a four-year term in November 2005,[2] and re-elected again in November 2009.
Gendron is viewed as right-leaning despite being in favour of same-sex marriage and legalized abortion.[3] He has gained attention across Quebec for his controversial statements.
Gendron first gained media attention by enacting a municipal curfew forcing minors to stay off the street after 10 p.m. in Huntingdon, in an attempt to reduce juvenile crime. Following threats of litigation, the municipal council eventually withdrew the proposed curfew. It was later discovered that the authors of the crime spree were, in fact, both adults.
In 2005, he claimed that Quebec premier Jean Charest was a "murderer" ("meurtrier") for his government's initial refusal to subsidize Herceptin, a new drug against breast cancer;[4] he later apologized for these comments after being served legal papers.[5]
Gendron has courted controversy due to his statements with regards to the state of Israel. During the Israel/Lebanon war of 2006, he stated in an interview with Le Soleil that Israelis are modern-day Nazis ("Les Israéliens, ce sont les nazis des temps modernes");[4] he later clarified that was referring to the current Government of Israel, but stated that it was not exaggerated to compare that government with the Nazis.[6]
In December 2007, Gendron wrote on his blog that "A modern and intellectually free society should submit all form of organized 'religion' to the dictates of the fundamental values of our society." After citing the example of Fred Phelps, Gendron concluded, "Why live in accordance with religious values prescribed millennia before us? Isn't life too short to confine yourself to dogmas written in a time when man was almost nothing."[7][8]
On January 12, 2009, Stéphane Gendron insulted Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a letter that he also posted on his blog. for his support of Israel during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict.[9]
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In January 2009, Stéphane Gendron was "accused" by Huntingdon town councilor Tonya Welburn of criminal and sexual harassment over an 18 month period. A complaint has been lodged with the Quebec Human Righst Commission. Same thing for criminal accusations. This chapter is directly related to a fight led by an Ex-MNA for Huntingdon. Tonya Welburn lost her seat during the general election of November 2009, as well as her father who was also a councillor but running for Mayor. Gendron got close to 66% of the total popular vote.[10] Gendron denied the accusation.[11]
Gendron hosted the current affairs TV show L'Avocat et le diable on the TQS network, but was later fired after the network received multiple complaints from the CRTC for several controversial comments. He later hosted a radio show on Montreal-based station 98,5 FM from March 2005 until March 2007, and now hosts the program Sans Compromis on XM Satellite Radio's Radio Parallèle.
Gendron is now a regular columnist with Journal de Montréal, a daily based in Montréal. He is also a TV cmmentator with the daily program Le Show du Matin on Channel V. He is also a regular radio commentator in Eastern Québec (La Pocatière, Rivière-d-Loup, Rimouski and St-Georges).
In February 2007, Gendron declined a bid to run for the Parti Québécois in his hometown riding of Huntingdon, claiming family reasons and the wish to complete his current mayor mandate. During the 2007 Quebec general election, he supported the Action démocratique du Québec party. In April 2008, however, Gendron called for Mario Dumont's resignation, claiming that he is especially disappointed with the way the ADQ leader has handled the immigration issue since becoming Leader of the Opposition.[12][13]
At once, Gendron was approached by the Conservative Party of Canada to be a candidate for the federal election of 2008.[4] He declined the offer, distanced himself from the party's foreign policy and endorsed the Bloc Québécois.[14]
Following the ADQ's disappointing results in the 2008 election, Gendron expressed an interest in running for the party leadership in the event of Dumont's resignation.[15]