Pierre Bourque (politician)
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Mayor Pierre Bourque GOQ |
|
|---|---|
| 40th Mayor of Montreal | |
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In office 1994–2001 |
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| 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 |
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.
An horticultural engineer, he was director of the Montreal Botanical Gardens from 1980 to 1994.
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.
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 what was until then the city of Montreal, protest votes against the very principle of the merger in the former suburbs ensured a solid victory to his rival Gérald Tremblay. Pierre Bourque still sat on the municipal council, taking his running mate Kettly Beauregard's spot.
He subsequently attempted to enter provincial politics, running as an Action démocratique du Québec candidate in the 2003 Quebec election, but was defeated. Bourque finished third, behind then minister Diane Lemieux (Parti Québécois) and the Liberal candidate. He then returned to municipal politics, but was unable to win re-election as mayor.
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