| Daniel Paillé | |
| Birth Date: | 1 April 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Montreal, Quebec |
| Party: | Parti Québécois (provincial) Bloc Québécois (federal) |
| Office1: | Leader of the Bloc Québécois |
| Term Start1: | December 11, 2011 |
| Term End1: | December 16, 2013 |
| Predecessor1: | Vivian Barbot (interim) |
| Successor1: | Mario Beaulieu |
| Office2: | Member of Parliament for Hochelaga |
| Term Start2: | November 9, 2009 |
| Term End2: | May 30, 2011 |
| Predecessor2: | Réal Ménard |
| Successor2: | Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet |
| Office3: | Member of the National Assembly for Prévost |
| Term Start3: | 1994 |
| Term End3: | November 19, 1996 |
| Predecessor3: | Paul-André Forget |
| Successor3: | Lucie Papineau |
Daniel Paillé (in French pronounced as /danjɛl paje/; born April 1, 1950) is a Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Prévost in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 1996 as a member of the Parti Québécois, and represented the district of Hochelaga in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the Bloc Québécois. He was elected leader of the Bloc Québécois with 62 percent of the vote on December 11, 2011. Paillé stepped down as leader on December 16, 2013 for health reasons.[1]
He was first elected in the 1994 election, and served as Industry minister in the government of Jacques Parizeau. He resigned as an MNA on November 19, 1996 to accept a job as vice-president of Quebec's Société générale de financement.
He was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2007 to investigate allegations that the Liberal Party had engaged in improper polling practices prior to the 2006 election, although his final report found evidence of substantial irregularities in Harper's own Conservative Party as well.[2]
Paillé ran as a Bloc Québécois candidate in the federal by-election in Hochelaga on November 9, 2009, and won election to the House of Commons.[3] His nephew, Pascal-Pierre Paillé, was elected as a Bloc Québécois MP for Louis-Hébert in the 2008 election.
Paillé lost his seat in the 2011 election which also resulted in the defeat and resignation of Gilles Duceppe (the previous BQ leader) and the reduction of the BQ to four seats. He was defeated by the NDP's Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet. Despite losing his seat, he succeeded Gilles Duceppe as Party Leader in the 2011 Bloc Québécois leadership election. Paillé defeated two sitting Bloc Québécois Members of Parliament to be elected BQ leader on December 11, 2011.[4] He resigned from the leadership on December 16, 2013 due to health issues caused by epilepsy.[5]
| Candidate | 1st ballot | 2nd ballot | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes cast | % | Votes cast | % | |||
| Daniel Paillé | 5,659 | 44.05% | 7,868 | 61.28% | ||
| Maria Mourani | 3,613 | 28.13% | 4,972 | 38.72% | ||
| Jean-François Fortin | 3,574 | 27.82% | Eliminated | |||
| Total | 12,846 | 100.0% | 12,840 | 100.0% | ||