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'Mario Dumont' (born May 19 1970 in Saint-Georges-de-Cacouna, Quebec) is a politician in the province of Quebec, Canada. He is a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ) party. Based on the results of the 2007 Quebec election, Dumont is now the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly.
Dumont and his wife, Marie-Claude Barrette, have three children: Angela, Charles, and Juliette.

Contents

Profile

2007 Quebec election

Reasonable Accommodation

See also

References

Profile

Dumont was a former President of the Parti libéral du Québec's Youth Commission, but had a falling out with the party following the rejection of the Allaire Report after the collapse of the Meech Lake Accord. He and Liberal party insider Jean Allaire played a central role in the creation and development of the ADQ in 1994. He succeeded Allaire as leader after the latter resigned for health reasons.
Dumont was elected as an ADQ member of the National Assembly for Rivière du Loup in the 1994, 1998, 2003, and 2007 elections. Dumont holds a Bachelor in Economics from Concordia University (1993) and completed some graduate work at the Université de Montréal.
In the 1995 Quebec Referendum, Dumont joined with Parti Québécois Premier Jacques Parizeau and Bloc Québécois leader Lucien Bouchard in support of the sovereigntist campaign. In subsequent years, however he changed positions on the issue, arguing that the sovereignty question had been decided and that Quebecers had no desire to revisit it. The constitutional position of the ADQ has since been "Autonomist", favouring increased powers and responsibilities for Quebec while remaining within the Canadian federation. In practical terms, Dumont has supported the creation of a Quebec constitution, the change of the province's name to that of the "autonomous state of Québec", and the collection of all taxes by the provincial government, with the funds necessary for the federal government to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities being transferred to it by the province.
Since the 1998 provincial election, Dumont has distinguished himself primarily for his stances on economic issues, which are generally considered to be right of centre in the context of the predominantly social-democratic Quebec political scene. He advocates the payment of a cash allowance to parents who do not wish to make use of the province's 7 dollar a day daycare program, changes to the provincial health system that would allow private for profit health care and private health insurance alongside the public system, the abolition of school boards, the encouragment of private education, a tougher criminal justice system, reductions in the size of the provincial bureaucracy, and the repayment of the province's $127 billion government debt.

2007 Quebec election

In the 2007 Quebec election, the ADQ won 41 seats with 31% of the popular vote, and forms the Official Opposition in the National Assembly. Prior to the dissolution of the National Assembly, the ADQ had held only five seats, and as a result did not have official party status. While some gains in 2007 were anticipated, the strength of the ADQ vote and the overall seat count surprised political pundits.

Reasonable Accommodation

Montreal's Centre for Research Action on Race Relations asked Dumont to "clarify" comments about immigration made in a interview for Montreal's La Presse on 12 August 2007, which suggested Quebec had come to its limit for new immigrants. The Centre's Fo Niemi said Dumont should promote tolerance and not intolerance.
In the interview, Dumont said the number of immigrants accepted should not pass the capacity of the Quebecois to accept and acculturate them, or ghettos will arise. Niemi calls such statements unfounded and adds those statements just help fuel inter-communal tension found in other societies [1].

See also

★ Action démocratique du Québec

★ Politics of Quebec

★ Politician nicknaming in Quebec

★ List of leaders of the Official Opposition (Quebec)

★ List of third party leaders (Quebec)

References

★ Biography at National Assembly of Quebec