Mario Dumont

Mario Dumont (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian television personality and former politician in Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ), from 1994 to 2009. After the 2007 Quebec election, Dumont obtained the post of Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.

Mario Dumont

Mario Dumont in 2007
Leader of the Opposition of Quebec
In office
March 26, 2007  November 5, 2008
Preceded byAndré Boisclair
Succeeded byPauline Marois
Leader of the ADQ
In office
May 11, 1994  March 6, 2009
Preceded byJean Allaire
Succeeded bySylvie Roy (interim)
MNA for Rivière-du-Loup
In office
September 12, 1994  March 6, 2009
Preceded byAlbert Côté
Succeeded byJean D'Amour
Personal details
Born (1970-05-19) May 19, 1970
Cacouna, Quebec, Canada
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Liberal Party of Quebec (1985–1994)
Action démocratique du Québec (1994-2009)
Spouse(s)Marie-Claude Barrette
Children
  • Angela
  • Charles
  • Juliette
Alma mater
ProfessionTelevision presenter

Following his party's poor showing in the 2008 Quebec election, he announced his resignation as ADQ leader, and subsequently joined the television network V to host a daily news and talk show, Dumont, which began in 2009. He left that network in 2012 to join the all-news channel LCN.[1]

Biography

Dumont was born in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna, Quebec. Dumont and his wife, Marie-Claude Barrette, have three children: Angela, Charles, and Juliette. Dumont obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Concordia University in 1993, and completed some graduate work at the Université de Montréal.

Political career

Quebec Liberal Party

Dumont bought his first membership card in the Liberal Party of Quebec at age 15. He stated to his school friends that in the future he would be Quebec's premier.[2] Dumont was a former President of the Liberal Party's Youth Commission, but had a falling out with the party following the rejection of the Allaire Report proposing maximalist powers for Quebec after the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord.

Dumont called himself and Michel Bissonnet, who preceded Dumont as leader of the Liberal youth wing, the first Liberal sovereigntists. This was the group that led the Liberal sovereigntist faction while Liberal premier Robert Bourassa remained unopposed.[3]

Dumont organized the "Liberals for the No side," in the 1992 referendum on the Charlottetown Accord.

Action démocratique du Québec

Dumont and Liberal party insider Jean Allaire played a central role in the creation and development of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) in 1994. He succeeded Allaire as leader after the latter resigned for health reasons.

Dumont was elected as an ADQ member of the National Assembly for Rivière du Loup in the 1994, 1998, 2003, 2007 and 2008 elections.

In the 1995 Quebec Referendum, Dumont joined with Parti Québécois Premier Jacques Parizeau and Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard, who wooed him and with whom he remains close, in support of the sovereigntist campaign.[4] Dumont revealed to Journalist Chantel Herbert and Jean Lapierre that they planned to use 1995 Quebec Referendum as a way to advocate for a new partnership between Quebec and Canada. However, Bouchard advocated for separation; so both Parizeau and Dumont followed his direction.[5] In subsequent years, however he changed positions on the issue, arguing that the sovereignty question had been decided and that Quebecers had no desire to revisit it.

In the years that followed, the constitutional position of the ADQ changed to favour Quebec autonomism, supporting increased powers and responsibilities for Quebec while remaining within Canada. In practical terms, Dumont has supported the creation of a Quebec constitution, the change of the province's name to that of the "autonomous state of Québec", and the collection of all taxes by the provincial government, with the funds necessary for the federal government to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities being transferred to it by the province.

Since the 1998 provincial election, Dumont has distinguished himself primarily for his stances on economic issues, which are generally considered to be right of centre in the context of the predominantly social-democratic Quebec political scene. He advocates the payment of a cash allowance to parents who do not wish to make use of the province's $7 a day daycare program, changes to the provincial health system that would allow private for profit health care and private health insurance alongside the public system, the abolition of school boards, the encouragement of private education, a tougher criminal justice system, reductions in the size of the provincial bureaucracy, and the repayment of the province's $127 billion government debt.

Dumont was personally very popular, and for most of his career was far more popular than the ADQ as a whole. In fact, for many years, the ADQ tried to capitalize on Dumont's personal popularity by using the official name Action démocratique du Québec-Équipe Mario Dumont (Action démocratique du Québec-Team Mario Dumont). However, this didn't translate to support for his party; it never won much support in Montreal or the Outaouais.

2007 Quebec election

In the 2007 Quebec election, the ADQ won 41 seats with 31% of the popular vote, and formed the Official Opposition in the National Assembly. Prior to the dissolution of the National Assembly, the ADQ had held only five seats, and as a result did not have official party status. Despite becoming the Official Opposition, the ADQ was almost nonexistent in several of the province's major cities. It won almost no seats in Montreal, Gatineau, Saguenay, Longueuil, Laval and Sherbrooke. Tasha Kheiriddin argued that his result would have given right-of-centre currents swirling in Quebec politics.[6]

2008 Quebec election

On October 23, 2008, two ADQ MNAs, André Riedl and Pierre-Michel Auger, crossed the floor to the governing Liberal Party, embarrassing Dumont. Quebec premier Jean Charest subsequently called a snap election for December 8, 2008. A Léger Marketing poll conducted between Friday, November 14 and Monday, November 17, showed the Liberals with 44% support, the PQ with 33%, and the ADQ with 15%.[7]

The ADQ won a meagre seven seats (17% of the vote) in the election. Following this poor showing, Dumont retired from politics on election night.[8]

Television career

Mario Dumont at the launch party of his show Dumont 360 on V.

At TQS' 2009 upfronts presentation, it was announced that Dumont would join the network in the fall as host of a daily news and information series, Dumont 360.[9] The series launched in September 2009, shortly after the network was rebranded as V.

In 2012, Dumont moved to LCN and began a new show called Dumont.

Since 2018, he has also hosted his own radio show, Le retour de Mario Dumont, on QUB Radio.

Votes of confidence

Date Location Result
April 2000 Saint-Hyacinthe 96.9%
September 2004 Drummondville 95.7%[10]
March 2008 Laval 94.8%[11][12]

Bibliography

  • L'Instinct Dumont, Denis Lessard (Quebec: Voix Paralleles, 2007)

Electoral record

2008 Quebec general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Action démocratiqueMario Dumont11,11551.77-6.70
LiberalJean-Pierre Rioux5,79526.99-1.29
Parti QuébécoisStephan Shields3,04814.20+3.40
IndependentVictor-Lévy Beaulieu5972.78
GreenAlain Gagnon5132.39-0.06
Québec solidaireStacy Larouche4001.86
Total valid votes 21,46898.74
Total rejected ballots 2731.26
Turnout 21,74163.98-14.29
Electors on the lists 33,981
Action démocratique hold Swing -2.70
2007 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Action démocratiqueMario Dumont15,27658.47+1.24
LiberalJean D'Amour7,39028.29+4.53
Parti QuébécoisHugues Belzile2,82110.80-6.88
GreenMartin Poirier6392.45+1.12
Total valid votes 26,12699.20
Total rejected ballots 2100.80
Turnout 26,33678.27+5.61
Electors on the lists 33,648
2003 Quebec general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Action démocratiqueMario Dumont13,45257.23+10.89
     Liberal Jacque Morin 5,585 23.76 -1.55
Parti QuébécoisCarol Gilbert4,15517.68-9.15
GreenJulie Morin3121.33
1998 Quebec general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Action démocratiqueMario Dumont10,89746.34-8.43
Parti QuébécoisLise Chouinard6,30826.83-0.37
     Liberal Jean Morin 5,952 25.31 +7.92
Bloc PotLéo Legault1970.84
     Independent Daniel Morin 98 0.42
     Socialist Democracy Louis Leroux 61 0.26
1994 Quebec general election: Rivière-du-Loup
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Action démocratiqueMario Dumont13,30754.77
Parti QuébécoisHarold LeBel6,60827.20-14.85
LiberalJean D'Amour4,22617.39-37.09
IndependentL. Richard Cimon990.41
Natural LawArmand Pouliot550.23

References

  1. "Mario Dumont quitte V pour LCN". La Presse, May 18, 2012.
  2. "Montreal Gazette". Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2020-03-25.
  3. Montreal Gazette Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Picard, Andre (October 30, 2015). "From the archives: Parizeau promises to 'exact revenge' for sovereigntist loss". theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
  5. HEBERT, CHANTAL (2015). The Morning After THE 1995 QUEBEC REFERENDUM AND THE DAY THAT ALMOST WAS. Canada: Pengiun random house. ISBN 9780345807632.
  6. "The right place at the right time: the rise of Mario Dumont and the ADQ". Policy Options. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  7. Andy Riga, "Premier Widens Lead to Possible Majority," Archived 2012-11-05 at the Wayback Machine Montreal Gazette, November 20, 2008.
  8. Lianne Elliott (2008-12-09). "Dumont to step down after ADQ defeat". CBC News. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  9. (in French) "TQS changera de nom". Le Soleil, June 3, 2009.
  10. ADQ's Dumont pushes Quebec's autonomy within Canada, Rheal Seguin, The Agonist, September 24, 2004 Archived October 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  11. Congrès de l'ADQ: le salaire du chef a été décidé à deux, Michel Corbeil, Le Soleil, March 16, 2008
  12. Mario Dumont obtient un vote de confiance massif malgré l'affaire du salaire, Kathleen Lévesque, Le Devoir, March 17, 2008
Party political offices
Preceded by
Michel Bissonnet
President of the Youth Commission of the Quebec Liberal Party
1991–1992
Succeeded by
Claude-Éric Gagné
Preceded by
None
President of Action démocratique du Québec
1994
Succeeded by
Moncef Guitouni
Preceded by
Jean Allaire
Leader of the Action démocratique du Québec
1994–2009
Succeeded by
Sylvie Roy (Interim)
National Assembly of Quebec
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