Yves-François Blanchet

Yves-François Blanchet MP (French: [iv fʁɑ̃swa blɑ̃ʃɛt]; born April 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician who has led the Bloc Québécois (BQ) since 2019. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beloeil—Chambly since the 2019 federal election. Under his leadership, the BQ increased its number of seats from 10 in 2015 to 32 in 2019, overtaking the New Democratic Party (NDP) to become the House of Commons' third-largest party.

Yves-François Blanchet MP
Blanchet in 2023
Leader of the Bloc Québécois
Incumbent
Assumed office January 17, 2019
President	Yves Perron
Preceded by	Mario Beaulieu (interim)
Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks of Quebec
In office December 4, 2012 – April 23, 2014
Premier	Pauline Marois
Preceded by	Daniel Breton
Succeeded by	David Heurtel
Member of Parliament for Beloeil—Chambly
Incumbent
Assumed office October 21, 2019
Preceded by	Matthew Dubé
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Johnson (Drummond; 2008–2012)
In office December 8, 2008 – April 7, 2014
Preceded by	Sébastien Schneeberger
Succeeded by	André Lamontagne
Personal details
Born	(1965-04-16) April 16, 1965 (age 59) Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Bloc Québécois (federal)
Other political affiliations	Parti Québécois (provincial)
Spouse	Nancy Déziel
Residence(s)	Shawinigan, Quebec[1]
Alma mater	Université de Montréal (BA)

Before federal politics, Blanchet was in provincial politics, serving as a Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the Parti Québécois (PQ) from 2008 until his defeat in the 2014 election. He was Quebec's Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks from December 2012 to April 2014 under Premier Pauline Marois. Prior to his political career, Blanchet ran an artist management firm and was the president of ADISQ from 2003 to 2006.

Life and career

Blanchet was born April 16, 1965, in Drummondville, Quebec, to 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 in 2009

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. 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. He was defeated by Coalition Avenir Québec candidate André Lamontagne in the 2014 Quebec election.

Prior to becoming leader of the Bloc Québécois, he was a columnist with Le Nouvelliste,^[4] and appeared on the program Les Ex, on ICI RDI.^[5]

Bloc Québécois (2019–present)

On November 26, 2018, Blanchet announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Bloc Québécois. 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.^[6]

Ahead of the 2019 federal election, BQ polling numbers rose to alignment towards those of the popular François Legault-led Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) provincial government.^[7] Blanchet 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 overtaking the NDP to become the third-largest party in Canada and regaining official party status.^[8]

In the 2021 snap federal election, the Bloc Québécois led by Blanchet won 32 seats, unchanged from the prior election.^[9][10]

The Bloc Québécois held a leadership confidence vote in May 2023. Blanchet won 97% of the vote.^[11]

Personal life

Blanchet married and is now separated from Nancy Déziel.^[12]

In September 2020, Blanchet tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after his wife had tested positive earlier in the month, requiring him to self-isolate at his residence in Shawinigan during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec.^[13][14][12]

Electoral record

Federal results

v t e 2021 Canadian federal election: Beloeil—Chambly
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	34,678	53.1	+2.5	$44,405.09
	Liberal	Marie-Chantal Hamel	15,460	23.7	-0.1	$20,410.86
	Conservative	Stéphane Robichaud	5,622	8.6	+2.8	$1,228.76
	New Democratic	Marie-Josée Béliveau	5,525	8.5	-6.5	$1,187.30
	People's	Danila Ejov	1,344	2.1	+1.5	$5.00
	Green	Fabrice Gélinas Larrain	1,294	2.0	-2.7	$1,848.81
	Free	Mario Grimard	845	1.3	–	$1,113.55
	Marijuana	Benjamin Vachon	191	0.3	–	$0.00
	Rhinoceros	Thomas Thibault-Vincent	185	0.3	–	$0.00
	Indépendance du Québec	Michel Blondin	163	0.2	–	$0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			65,324	98.3	–	$124,082.82
Total rejected ballots			1,109	1.7
Turnout			66,433	68.7
Eligible voters			96,633
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		+1.3
Source: Elections Canada[15]

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Beloeil—Chambly
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	35,068	50.5	+22.82	$36,540.34
	Liberal	Marie-Chantal Hamel	16,059	23.1	-6.24	$62,823.63
	New Democratic	Matthew Dubé	10,086	14.5	-16.57	$20,636.78
	Conservative	Véronique Laprise	4,305	6.2	-3.09	$0.00
	Green	Pierre Carrier	3,255	4.7	+2.45	$18,235.50
	People's	Chloé Bernard	512	0.7	–	$5,931.38
	Indépendence du Québec	Michel Blondin	205	0.3	–	$768.82
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[16][17]

Provincial results

2014 Quebec general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%
	Coalition Avenir Québec	André Lamontagne	13,621	36.06
	Parti Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	11,768	31.16
	Liberal	Brigitte Mercier	8,946	23.69
	Québec solidaire	François Desrochers	2,365	6.26
	Parti nul	Sébastien Gauthier	502	1.33
	Option nationale	Magali Doucet	304	0.80
	Conservative	Benoit Lussier	262	0.69
Total valid votes			37,768	98.04
Total rejected ballots			755	1.96
Turnout			38,523	67.44
Electors on the lists			57,123	–

2012 Quebec general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	15,007	36.16	+1.34
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Stéphane Legault	14,804	35.67	+5.16
	Liberal	Nancy Boyce	8,434	20.32	-9.55
	Québec solidaire	Julie Dionne	1,887	4.55	+1.57
	Option nationale	Steve Lemay	889	2.14
	Conservative	Benoit Lussier	479	1.15

2008 Quebec general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Yves-François Blanchet	11,480	34.40
	Liberal	Jacques Sigouin	10,860	32.54
	Action démocratique	Sébastien Schneeberger	9,757	29.23
	Québec solidaire	Luce Daneau	1,279	3.83

References

1. "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
2. "Yves-François Blanchet - National Assembly of Québec". www.assnat.qc.ca. Archived from the original on February 2, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
3. "The Minister- Biography". Archived from the original on August 24, 2013. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
4. "Shame! Shame! Shame!". Le Nouvelliste (in French). November 9, 2018. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
5. "Le grand vent se fait attendre". Le Nouvelliste (in French). December 23, 2017. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
6. "Yves-François Blanchet becomes Bloc Québécois leader". CBC News. January 17, 2019. Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
7. "Surge in Bloc Quebecois popularity 'a little bit surprising,' says Maxime Bernier". Global News. Archived from the original on December 25, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
8. Montpetit ·, Jonathan (October 22, 2019). "Big gains for the Bloc Québécois, but what did it sacrifice in the process? Social Sharing". CBC News. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
9. Connolly, Amanda (September 20, 2021). "Liberals projected to form minority government". Global News. Archived from the original on December 29, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
10. Tasker, John Paul (September 20, 2021). "Canadians have re-elected a Liberal minority government". CBC. Archived from the original on January 20, 2022. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
11. Morris, Erika (May 20, 2023). "Blanchet maintains 97% support of Bloc Québécois members in vote of confidence". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
12. "Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet tests positive for COVID-19". CBC News. September 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
13. Breen, Kerri (September 18, 2020). "Bloc Québécois leader tests positive for coronavirus". Global News. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
14. "Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet tests positive for COVID-19". The Globe and Mail. September 18, 2020. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
15. "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
16. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
17. "Election night results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 22, 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^{[permanent dead link]} (in French)
• Yves-François Blanchet – Parliament of Canada biography