Yves Blais

Yves Blais (June 5, 1931 – November 22, 1998) was a politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He served in National Assembly of Quebec from 1981 to 1998 as a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ).

Blais was born in Saint-Placide, Quebec and raised in Rouyn-Noranda, in the Témiscamingue area. He took classical studies at College Mont-Laurier and received a bachelor's degree in literature in 1950.

Blais worked for Hydro-Québec from 1951 to 1966, initially in land surveying and later at the installations department of the company's main office. He also studied in journalism, communications, administration, and social work in Montreal during the 1960s and opened a series of nightclubs and coffee houses, including the Patriote de Montréal, the Théâtre de Saint-Sauveur, and the Comédie nationale.

He became a Quebec nationalist in his youth and joined the Rassemblement pour l'Indépendance Nationale (RIN) on the recommendation of party leader Pierre Bourgault in the 1960s. He also rented space in his Montreal nightclub to René Lévesque, who merged his own Mouvement Souveraineté-Association with the RIN and a third group to create the Parti Québécois in 1969.

Blais was elected to the Quebec legislature for the Terrebonne division in the 1981 provincial election. The Parti Québécois won a majority government in this election, and Blais entered the legislature as a backbench supporter of René Lévesque's government. He served on the party's executive during the mid-1980s.

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