Richer Dompierre

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).

Richer Dompierre
Montreal City Councillor for Louis-Riel ward
In office 2005–2009
Preceded by	Lyn Thériault
Succeeded by	Lyn Thériault
Montreal City Councillor for Maisonneuve ward
In office 1998–2005
Preceded by	Nathalie Malépart
Succeeded by	position abolished

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

2009 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Louis-Riel Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Lyn Thériault 3,784 39.95 Union Montreal Richer Dompierre (incumbent) 2,926 30.89 Projet Montréal Michel Bouchard 2,437 25.73 Independent Steve Lamer 255 2.69 Independent Kristian-Andrew Solarik 69 0.73 Total valid votes 9,471 100 Source: Municipal Election Results, 2009, City of Montreal.

2005 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Louis-Riel Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal (x)Richer Dompierre 3,805 45.36 Montreal Island Citizens Union (x)Nicolas Tétrault 3,755 44.76 Projet Montréal Daniel Archambault 829 9.88 Total valid votes 8,389 100 Source: Election results, 1833-2005 (in French), City of Montreal.

2001 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Maisonneuve Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal (x)Richer Dompierre 5,745 71.88 Montreal Island Citizens Union Nancy Boileau 2,248 28.12 Total valid votes 7,993 100 Source: Election results, 1833-2005 (in French), City of Montreal.

1998 Montreal municipal election results: Councillor, Maisonneuve Party Candidate Total votes % of total votes Vision Montreal Richer Dompierre 2,179 47.40 New Montreal Jean Baribeau 1,047 22.78 Montreal Citizens' Movement Jacynthe Simard 719 15.64 Team Montreal Jean Vianney Jutras 652 14.18 Total valid votes 4,597 100.00 Source: Municipal Election Results (1998), City of Montreal

Provincial

2003 Quebec general election: Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Louise Harel	13,138	55.77	−4.84
	Liberal	Richer Dompierre	6,210	26.36	+0.83
	Action démocratique	Louise Blackburn	2,449	10.40	−1.11
	UFP	Lise Alarie	788	3.34	–
	Bloc Pot	Alex Néron	476	2.02	–
	Green	Daniel Breton	367	1.56	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Christine Dandenault	79	0.34	−0.28
	Christian Democracy	Mario Richard	52	0.22	–
Total valid votes			23,559	98.40	–
Total rejected ballots			383	1.60	–
Turnout			23,942	60.09	−7.92
Electors on the lists			39,843	–	–
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

References

1. Carole Le Hirez, "Richer Dompierre candidat du PLQ dans Hochelaga-Maisonneuve", macommunaute.ca, accessed 7 November 2011; Biographie: Dompierre, Richer, Qui est qui du Québec, accessed 7 November 2011.
2. Aaron Derfel, "Mayor taps Fortier as chairman: Executive committee is experienced," Montreal Gazette, 13 November 1998, A3; "MemberWorks Inaugurates It's [sic] 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.