Robert Lanctôt is a former Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician.

A lawyer by profession, Lanctôt was elected as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for the Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

 in the 2000 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2000

The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....

 representing the riding of Châteauguay

Châteauguay (electoral district)

Châteauguay was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1917 and from 1979 to 2004.-History:It was created by the British North America Act of 1867...

. He served in the BQ Shadow Cabinet

Shadow Cabinet

The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...

 as Critic for Amateur Sport and
Children and Youth from 2000 to 2002, Critic for Scrutiny of Regulations from 2001 to 2002 and Critic for Public Works and Government Services from 2002 to 2003.

On December 11, 2003, following Paul Martin

Paul Martin

Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....

's election as leader of the governing Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 and the day before Martin's swearing in as Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Canada

The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...

, Lanctôt crossed the floor to join the Liberals. His defection occurred days after his riding association

Riding association

In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...

 passed a resolution stating it no longer wished to work with the MP and did not want him to run for the BQ in the next electionhttp://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1070393105790_65802305?s_name=.

Lanctôt ran as a Liberal in Châteauguay—Saint-Constant

Châteauguay—Saint-Constant

Châteauguay—Saint-Constant is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004...

 in the 2004 federal election

Canadian federal election, 2004

The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

 but was defeated by the BQ's Denise Poirier-Rivard

Denise Poirier-Rivard

Denise Poirier-Rivard is a Canadian politician. She was a Bloc Québécois member of the Canadian House of Commons representing the district of Châteauguay—Saint-Constant since the 2004 election. Before she was elected she was a cheese maker and farmer and was the Bloc's critic of the Agriculture...

.

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