Québec solidaire candidates, 2008 Quebec provincial election

Québec Solidaire fielded 122 candidates in the 2008 Quebec provincial election. One candidate, Amir Khadir, was elected. Some of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

Candidates

Argenteuil: Loïc Kauffeisen

Loïc Kauffeisen was born in Roubaix in northern France.^[1] He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Buffalo (1993), lived in Gore, Quebec from 2001 to 2008 and later moved to Saint-Jerome.^[2] Kauffeisen is the sole owner of a bakery called La Faluche. He received 456 votes (2.09%) in 2008, finishing fifth against Liberal incumbent David Whissell.^[3]

Borduas: Éric Noël

Éric Noël is a graduate of Cégep de Sorel-Tracy in electrodynamics. He lived in McMasterville at the time of the 2008 election and was the production coordinator at an energy technology company. An avid sportsperson and amateur musician, he is also involved in campaigns for the environment and social justice.^[4] Twenty-three years old in his first campaign, he has run for Québec Solidaire in two elections.^[5]

Bourget: Gaëtan Legault

Gaëtan Legault was the founder of the Coalition to Humanize Notre Dame Street, a coalition that fought the expansion of Montreal's Notre Dame Street East in 2008.^[6] He has been a Québec solidaire candidate in two elections.

Brome—Missisquoi: Diane Cormier

Diane Cormier has a background as a teacher, psychologist and administrator. In the 2008 election, she identified as an entrepreneur. A longtime supporter of Québec Solidaire, he became a party member shortly before the election. Her campaign was centred on environmental issues.^[9] She received 884 votes (2.90%), finishing fifth against Liberal Party incumbent Pierre Paradis.

Nicolet-Yamaska: Marianne Mathis

Marianne Mathis was born and raised in Saint-Sylvère, Quebec. She was a founding member of Québec Solidaire, having previously been involved in the feminist movement and Option citoyenne, and she has been a party candidate in two provincial elections.^[10] Mathis was 21 years old in 2008, and was studying for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography at the Université Laval.^[11] She focused her 2008 campaign on agriculture, economic development, and stemming the flow of young people from the area.^[12]

In March 2009, Parti Québécois legislator Jean-Martin Aussant announced that Mathis had become a member of his office.^[13]

Orford: Patricia Tremblay

Patricia Tremblay is a mental health nurse. Originally from the Saguenay area,^[14] she worked for a CLSC in Coaticook at the time of the 2008 election.^[15] She is also an environmental activist who has served as president of the Societe pour la conservation du Lac Lovering.^[16] In 2007, she organized a public campaign against the presence of a landfill near the head of Lake Memphremagog.^[17] She has also opposed the provincial government's decision to privatize part of Mont-Orford National Park.^[15]

Tremblay has run for Québec solidaire in two provincial elections. In 2009, she was nearly elected to a city council seat in Magog.

Richelieu: Paul Martin

Paul Martin is a lifelong resident of Sorel (now Sorel-Tracy), Quebec, with over thirty years of teaching experience at the Cégep de SorelTracy. In 2003-04, he served as secretary-general of the Commission scolaire de SorelTracy. An engineer by background, he received a Ph.D in educational science in 2007.

Martin joined Québec Solidaire shortly after its formation in 2006.^[18] He received 705 votes (2.86%) in 2008, finishing fourth against Parti Québécois incumbent Sylvain Simard.

References

1. ↑ Philippe Mollé, "Bienvenue chez le Ch'ti des Laurentides", Le Devoir, 14 March 2009, accessed 21 January 2011.
2. ↑ Mychel Lapointe, "Loïc Kauffeisen avec Québec solidaire," Journal Le Nord, 18 November 2008, accessed 21 January 2011.
3. ↑ Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec, accessed 21 January 2011.
4. ↑ Eric Noël, votre candidat de Québec solidaire dans Borduas!, Québec Solidaire press release, 2008, accessed 18 December 2009.
5. ↑ Eric Noël candidate dans Richelieu, Québec Solidaire press release, 2007, accessed 18 December 2009.
6. ↑ Michelle Lalonde, "Key changes readied for road project; Notre Dame St. facelift set for fall," Montreal Gazette, 9 May 2008, A7; Jan Ravensbergen, "Notre Dame St. expansion on wrong track, hearings told," Montreal Gazette, 7 February 2008, A6.
7. ↑ Official results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec (Bourget, 12 May 2008), accessed 19 November 2012.
8. ↑ Official results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec (Bourget, 2008), accessed 19 November 2012.
9. ↑ "Diane Cormier: Why I wish to be your Brome-Missisquoi representative with Quebec solidaire," Québec solidaire, 28 November 2008, accessed 11 December 2010.
10. ↑ Marianne Mathis s'illustre à l'édition 2008 de Laurier 17 [press release], Québec Solidaire, 14 November 2008, accessed 30 August 2009.
11. ↑ Marianne Mathis sera la candidate de Québec Solidaire dans Nicolet-Yamaska Nicolet [press release], Québec Solidaire, 6 November 2008, accessed 30 August 2009.
12. ↑ Marianne Mathis dévoile sa plate-forme électorale [press release], Québec Solidaire, 20 November 2008, accessed 30 August 2009.
13. ↑ Marianne Mathis se joint à l'équipe de Jean-Martin Aussant, La Nouvelle/L'Union, 15 March 2009, accessed 30 August 2009.
14. ↑ Vincent Cliche, "Patricia Tremblay élue candidate de Québec solidaire", Le reflet du lac, 13 December 2006, accessed 4 February 2011.
15. 1 2 Rita Legault, "Sovereigntists don't expect to win seats," Sherbrooke Record, 18 November 2008, p. 1.
16. ↑ Rita Legault, "Plans to dump waste in watershed," Sherbrooke Record, 5 March 2007, p. 5; "Reid holds on in Orford," Sherbrooke Record, 27 March 2007, p. 4.
17. ↑ "Magog, regional government oppose waste plan," Sherbrooke Record, 18 May 2007, p. 5. La Lovering is located at the head of Lac Memphremagog.
18. ↑ Paul Martin, Candiddat Québec Solidaire, Portail officiel de la région de Sorel-Tracy, 2008, accessed 18 December 2009.