Richer Dompierre Explained

Richer Dompierre
Office1:Montreal City Councillor for Louis-Riel ward
Term Start1:2005
Term End1:2009
Predecessor1:Lyn Thériault
Successor1:Lyn Thériault
Office2:Montreal City Councillor for Maisonneuve ward
Term Start2:1998
Term End2:2005
Predecessor2:Nathalie Malépart
Successor2:position abolished

Richer Dompierre (born July 28, 1957) is a politician in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He served on the Montreal city council from 1998 to 2009, initially as a member of Vision Montreal (VM) and later for the rival Union Montreal (UM).

Early life and private career

Born in Montreal, Dompierre has worked in the printing sector in 1979. In 2010–11, he was the publisher of "Qui est qui du Québec" (English: "Who's who in Quebec").[1]

Councillor

Dompierre was first elected to the Montreal city council in 1998 as a Vision Montreal candidate in the east-end division of Maisonneuve. VM won a landslide majority in this election under Pierre Bourque's leadership; after the election, Bourque appointed Dompierre as an associate member of the Montreal executive committee (i.e., the municipal cabinet) with responsibility for economic development.[2]

Gérald Tremblay's Montreal Island Citizens Union (MICU) defeated Vision Montreal in the 2001 municipal election. Dompierre was re-elected in Maisonneuve and served as a member of the official opposition; he also became a member of the newly created Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough council. In 2003, he filed a police complaint alleging that fellow Vision Montreal councillor Ivon Le Duc had attacked him during a heated borough council debate over a proposed move of the Jean-Paul Riopelle sculpture La Joute.[3] The chief crown prosecutor confirmed there was enough evidence to charge Le Duc with assault, but ultimately no charges were laid. Le Duc instead took part in a program that allowed for the non-judicial treatment of certain infractions.[4]

Dompierre ran for the redistributed Louis-Riel division in the 2005 municipal election and was narrowly re-elected over fellow councillor Nicolas Tétrault. The electoral office initially showed Tétrault elected by twelve votes, but a more thorough scrutiny confirmed Dompierre as the winner.[5] The following year, Dompierre was the only VM councillor to support an unsuccessful plan to rename Montreal's Park Avenue and Bleury Street area after former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa.[6] He left Vision Montreal to join Tremblay's party (by this time renamed as Union Montreal) in June 2008. In the 2009 municipal election, he was defeated by VM candidate Lyn Thériault.[7]

Provincial politics

Dompierre ran as a Liberal Party candidate in the 2003 Quebec provincial election in the east-end Montreal division of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He finished second against Parti Québécois incumbent Louise Harel.

Electoral record

Municipal
  • Provincial
  • References

    1. http://www.macommunaute.ca/archives-get-document/s105-elus/u682 Carole Le Hirez, "Richer Dompierre candidat du PLQ dans Hochelaga-Maisonneuve"
    2. Aaron Derfel, "Mayor taps Fortier as chairman: Executive committee is experienced," Montreal Gazette, 13 November 1998, A3; "MemberWorks Inaugurates New Call Centre - An Investment of $6.7 million creating more than 150 new jobs," Canada NewsWire, 7 June 2000, p. 1.
    3. Graeme Hamilton, "Riopelle sculpture sparks Montreal council dust-up: Moving La Joute," National Post, 29 January 2003, A3.
    4. Linda Gyulai, "Veteran city councillor quits Vision Montreal," Montreal Gazette, 19 February 2003, A7.
    5. Andy Riga, "New winners declared in two boroughs," Montreal Gazette, 9 November 2005, A1.
    6. Linda Gyulai, "Party solidarity ends at Park Ave.", Montreal Gazette, 15 November 2006, A1; Linda Gyulai, "No Walk in the Park," Montreal Gazette, 29 November 2006, A1.
    7. Linda Gyulai, "Experts are divided on benefits to Montreal; Historic moment or contradiction?", Montreal Gazette, 17 March 2008, A3.