Pierre Bourque (politician)

Pierre Bourque, CQ (born 29 May 1942) is a businessman and politician in Quebec, Canada. He founded the Vision Montreal political party and served as mayor of Montreal from 1994 to 2001.[1]

Mayor Pierre Bourque GOQ
40th Mayor of Montreal
In office 1994–2001
Preceded by	Jean Doré
Succeeded by	Gérald Tremblay
Constituency	Marie-Victorin
Personal details
Born	29 May 1942 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Vision Montreal
Other political affiliations	Action démocratique du Québec (2003)
Profession	Businessman

Background

An horticultural engineer, he was director of the Montreal Botanical Gardens from 1980 to 1994.

Mayor of Montreal

Bourque was the mayor of Montreal, Quebec from 1994 to 2001 (as the leader of the Vision Montreal party).

Bourque proved eccentric and sometimes controversial as mayor. Known as a greenspace aficionado, he supported the creation of parks, implemented tree-planting initiatives, as well as creating Eco-Centres (reusable materials) and Eco-Quartier program (recycling). He was also responsible for the revitalization of many important districts of Montreal (Saint Catherine Street, Old Montreal and the Multimedia City) as well as the reopening of the Lachine Canal.

In 1998, responding to critics who denounced him for not fighting poverty, he spent the night with a working-class family. He was also well known for his close ties to minority "cultural communities". Bourque directed the city's public service to make an intercultural calendar for meeting scheduling.[2]

At one time, Bourque was a moderate supporter of the sovereigntist Parti Québécois. Bourque's successful attempt, with provincial support, at merging all of Montreal's 28 municipalities into a megacity of 1.8 million people and 27 boroughs cost him the election in 2001. Although he gathered a majority of votes in the old city of Montreal, protest votes against the very principle of the merger in the former suburbs gave the victory to his rival Gérald Tremblay.[3] Pierre Bourque still sat on the municipal council, taking his running mate Kettly Beauregard's spot.[4]

Provincial politics

He subsequently attempted to enter provincial politics, running as an Action démocratique du Québec candidate in the 2003 Quebec election,[5] but was defeated.[6] In Bourget, Bourque finished third, behind then minister Diane Lemieux (Parti Québécois) and the Liberal candidate.[7] He then returned to municipal politics.

Leader of the Opposition

Bourque lost for a second time to incumbent-mayor Gérald Tremblay to regain control of city hall in the Montreal municipal elections held on 6 November 2005, this time by a 74,646 vote margin.[8][9] The voter turnout was less than 40%, among the lowest in Montreal's history.[10]

On 3 May 2006, he stepped down as Leader of the Opposition on Montreal's city council.[11]

Retirement from public office

He co-founded a company, with former colleague Wen Qi, that was called Constellation Monde Inc. which operated in China in the agriculture field. Bourque wanted to develop further economic links between the country and the province. Years after, the company was left to Wen Qi and was renamed DXC Inc. This company now operates in the biotechnology department.[12]

Honours

• 1992 – Professional Citation, American Public Gardens Association.[13]
• 1993 – National Order of Quebec.
• 2007 – Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon (Japan).[14]

Municipal election history

Montreal municipal elections, 2005

	Candidate	Party	Vote	%
	Gérald Tremblay (X)	Montreal Island Citizens Union	227,208	53.9
	Pierre Bourque	Vision Montreal	152,562	36.2
	Richard Bergeron	Projet Montreal	35,889	8.5
	Michel Bédard	White Elephant Party of Montreal	5,966	1.4

References

1. "Pierre Bourque (1994–2001)". Ville de Montréal. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
2. Editorial: Courtesy not an unreasonable accommodation
3. "Montreal mayor defeated in divisive election". The Globe and Mail. 5 November 2001. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
4. "Projet Montreal taps Beauregard". The Gazette. Montreal. 20 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
5. "Ex-mayor of Montreal to be ADQ candidate". The Globe and Mail. 1 February 2003. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
6. "Holding the fort for the ADQ". The Gazette. Montreal. 2 December 2008. Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
7. "Quebec Votes 2003 – Bourget". CBC News. 14 April 2003. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
8. "Tremblay wins re-election, teary Bourque concedes". The Globe and Mail. 7 November 2005. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
9. "Bourque wants new Montreal civic election". CBC News. 11 November 2005. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
10. "Record-low turnout for municipal elections". The Concordian. 9 November 2005. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
11. "Pierre Bourque quits Montreal politics". CBC News. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
12. L'ancien maire Pierre Bourque se confie
13. "Past Professional Citation Recipients". American Public Gardens Association. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2013.
14. Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA): 2007 Autumn Conferment of Decorations on Foreign Nationals, p. 4; Canada Gazette: 2007 Archived 9 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine

• Herland, Karen. (1993). People, Potholes, and City Politics. Montreal: Black Rose Books. ISBN 978-1-895431-52-0