Pierre Ducasse

For the footballer, see Pierre Ducasse (footballer).
Pierre Ducasse

Pierre Ducasse at an NDP rally in Ottawa in January 2008
Leader of the New Democratic Party of Quebec
Assumed office
2014
Preceded by none (party refounded)
Associate President of the New Democratic Party
In office
2000 – June 25, 2002
Personal details
Born (1972-08-18) August 18, 1972
Political party New Democratic Party
Alma mater Université Laval
Website www.pierreducasse.ca

Pierre Ducasse (born August 18, 1972), a Canadian politician and New Democratic Party (NDP) activist.[1]

He grew up in Sept-Îles, Quebec, and studied at Université Laval.[1] A party member since age 17, he was appointed interim associate president of the federal party in 2000, and was elected to the post at the NDP convention in Winnipeg in November 2001.[1][2]

2003 NDP leadership election

In January 2003, he became the first francophone Quebecer to run for the federal leadership of the party.[2][3] Although he placed fifth among the six candidates, his campaign was widely acclaimed for raising the profile of the NDP in Quebec and vice versa. Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress,[4] endorsed him prior to the first ballot.

Jack Layton, the Quebec-born winner of the leadership election, appointed Ducasse to be the party's Quebec lieutenant and official spokesman in Quebec. Ducasse held the post of Quebec Lieutenant through two elections until the spring of 2007 when he was replaced by Thomas Mulcair, a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec and Quebec cabinet minister.

Federal elections

Ducasse was the NDP candidate for the riding of Manicouagan three times, first in the federal election of 1997, and then in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.[5] In 2008, Ducasse was the NDP candidate in the riding of Hull-Aylmer.[6]

In 2004, he finished third Manicouagan, in a race won by Gérard Asselin of the Bloc Québécois.[5] In 2006, again in Manicouagan, Ducasse placed fourth, but improved his overall result to 4,657 votes or 12.8%.[5] Ducasse received his best result to date in 2008 in Hull-Aylmer, where he placed third with 10,424 votes, for 19.83% of all votes cast in the riding.[6] Liberal Marcel Proulx won the riding with 19,747 votes, or 37.47%, while Bloc Québécois candidate Raphaël Déry finished in second with 11 635 votes, or 22.07%.[6]

In 2011, when he might have run again in Hull-Aylmer, when he and Nycole Turmel started having talks and he learned she might be interested in running, he decided not to run "because she is a fantastic person and candidate, and I just had a baby." [3]

On September 29, 2014 Ducasse declared his intention to seek the federal NDP nomination in Manicouagan a fourth time, challenging incumbent NDP MP Jonathan Genest-Jourdain. However he withdrew his candidacy a month later when the party confirmed that the nomination meeting would be held on November 6, 2014, declining Ducasse's request that the meeting be delayed to a later date. Ducasse stated that scheduled meeting date had not allowed him enough time to recruit support.[7]

2009 municipal election

Ducasse ran the Gatineau municipal election, 2009 on November 1 of that year. He ran for Gatineau City Council in the Hull–Val-Tétreau District. He lost however, to two-term incumbent Denise Laferrière. The district is centred in Downtown Hull.

Quebec provincial politics

Ducasse is currently the leader of record of the New Democratic Party of Quebec following its re-founding on January 30, 2014.[8]

Electoral record (partial)

Canadian federal election, 2008: Hull—Aylmer
Party Candidate Votes%Expenditures
LiberalMarcel Proulx 19,750 37.45 $79,057
Bloc QuébécoisRaphaël Déry 11,625 22.05 $69,097
New DemocraticPierre Ducasse 10,454 19.83 $45,531
ConservativePaul Fréchette 7,996 15.16 $56,752
GreenFrédéric Pouyot 2,784 5.28 $3,327
Marxist–LeninistGabriel Girard-Bernier 121 0.23 none listed
Total valid votes/Expenditure limit 52,730 100.00 $89,492
Total rejected ballots 359
Turnout 53,089 61.00
Electors on the lists 87,036
Canadian federal election, 2006: Manicouagan
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
Bloc QuébécoisGérard Asselin 18,601 51.10 −7.41 $57,481
ConservativePierre Paradis 6,910 18.98 +14.06 $10,185
LiberalRandy Jones 5,214 14.32 −10.56 $21,522
New DemocraticPierre Ducasse 4,657 12.79 +2.46 $19,632
GreenJacques Gélineau 824 2.26 +0.90 $373
     Independent Eric Vivier 195 0.54 none listed
Total valid votes 36,401 100.00
Total rejected ballots 388
Turnout 36,789 57.00 +6.14
Electors on the lists 64,537
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
Canadian federal election, 2004: Manicouagan
Party Candidate Votes%∆%Expenditures
Bloc QuébécoisGérard Asselin 19,040 58.51 +0.31 $55,674
LiberalAnthony Detroio 8,097 24.88 −5.00 $50,362
New DemocraticPierre Ducasse 3,361 10.33 +8.68 $22,691
ConservativePierre Paradis 1,601 4.92 −5.35 $4,449
GreenLes Parsons 444 1.36 $901
Total valid votes 32,543 100.00
Total rejected ballots 589
Turnout 33,132 50.86
Electors on the lists 65,142
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Biographie" [Biography]. Pierre Ducasse, candidat à la chefferie du NPD (in French). Pierre Ducasse. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Pierre Ducasse joins NDP leadership race". CTV News. June 25, 2002. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  3. 1 2 Pierre Ducasse Ponders NDP Leadership: Once A Future Star, Quebecer Weighs Family, New Job . Huffington Post, 9 September 2011.
  4. ↑ Fowler, Tim (June 2008). "A Crisis of Social Democracy: Organized Labour and the NDP in an Era of Neoliberalism" (PDF): 105. Pierre Ducasse, a member of the NDP's federal executive, was endorsed by Ken Georgetti, president of the CLC.
  5. 1 2 3 "MANICOUAGAN, Quebec (1966 - )". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved November 15, 2001.
  6. 1 2 3 "HULL--AYLMER, Quebec (1984 - )". History of Federal Ridings since 1867. Parliament of Canada. Retrieved November 15, 2001.
  7. ↑ "Investiture du NPD dans Manicouagan : Pierre Ducasse se retire." Radio-Canada, 22 October 2014.
  8. ↑ RAPEQ - Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec, Directeur général des élections du Québec (last visited 6 February 2014).
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