Stéphane Gendron
Encyclopedia
Stéphane Gendron is the current mayor of Huntingdon, Quebec
, Canada and a political analyst for several media outlets.
, Montérégie
. Gendron is a graduate of Collège Jean de la Mennais
in La Prairie
and has a law degree from the Université de Montréal
and master's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Lowell
. Prior to his political and media career, Gendron practiced law and taught at the CEGEP
level. He was also a political aide to former Parti Québécois
politician Jean Garon
.
and legalized abortion
. He has gained attention across Quebec for his controversial statements.
forcing minors to stay off the street after 10 p.m. in Huntingdon, in an attempt to reduce juvenile crime. Following threats of litigation, the municipal council eventually withdrew the proposed curfew. It was later discovered that the authors of the crime spree were, in fact, both adults.
was a "murderer" ("meurtrier") for his government's initial refusal to subsidize Herceptin, a new drug against breast cancer
; he later apologized for these comments after being served legal papers.
due to his statements with regards to the state of Israel. During the Israel/Lebanon war of 2006, he stated in an interview with Le Soleil
that Israelis are modern-day Nazis ("Les Israéliens, ce sont les nazis des temps modernes"); he later clarified that was referring to the current Government of Israel, but stated that it was not exaggerated to compare that government with the Nazis.
, Gendron concluded, "Why live in accordance with religious values prescribed millennia before us? Isn't life too short to confine yourself to dogmas written in a time when man was almost nothing."
Stephen Harper
in a letter that he also posted on his blog
. for his support of Israel
during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
.
over an 18 month period. A complaint has been lodged with the Quebec Human Righst Commission. Same thing for criminal accusations. This chapter is directly related to a fight led by an Ex-MNA for Huntingdon. Tonya Welburn lost her seat during the general election of November 2009, as well as her father who was also a councillor but running for Mayor. Gendron got close to 66% of the total popular vote. Gendron denied the accusation.
network, but was later fired after the network received multiple complaints from the CRTC for several controversial comments. He later hosted a radio show on Montreal
-based station 98,5 FM
from March 2005 until March 2007, and now hosts the program Sans Compromis on XM Satellite Radio
's Radio Parallèle.
Gendron is now a regular columnist with Journal de Montréal, a daily based in Montréal. He is also a TV cmmentator with the daily program Le Show du Matin on Channel V. He is also a regular radio commentator in Eastern Québec (La Pocatière, Rivière-d-Loup, Rimouski and St-Georges).
party. In April 2008, however, Gendron called for Mario Dumont
's resignation, claiming that he is especially disappointed with the way the ADQ leader has handled the immigration issue since becoming Leader of the Opposition.
At once, Gendron was approached by the Conservative Party of Canada
to be a candidate for the federal election of 2008
. He declined the offer, distanced himself from the party's foreign policy and endorsed the Bloc Québécois
.
Following the ADQ's disappointing results in the 2008 election, Gendron expressed an interest in running for the party leadership in the event of Dumont's resignation.
Huntingdon, Quebec
Huntingdon is a small town in Huntingdon County in the Haut-Saint-Laurent Regional County Municipality and the Montérégie region of the province of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,587...
, Canada and a political analyst for several media outlets.
Background
He was born in Saint-Rémi, QuebecSaint-Rémi, Quebec
Saint-Remi is a city in the municipality of Les Jardins-de-Napierville in Quebec, Canada, situated in the Montérégie administrative region. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was around 7000.-Population:Population trend -Population:...
, Montérégie
Montérégie
Montérégie is an administrative region in southwest Québec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Granby, Longueuil, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Hyacinthe, Sorel-Tracy, and Vaudreuil-Dorion....
. Gendron is a graduate of Collège Jean de la Mennais
Collège Jean de la Mennais
Collège Jean de la Mennais is a French, private mixed secondary school on the South Shore of Montreal, Québec, Canada at 870 Chemin de Saint-Jean in the municipality of La Prairie. As of 2007, the school had about 1450 elementary and high school students. Collège Jean de la Mennais was once...
in La Prairie
La Prairie, Quebec
La Prairie is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada at the confluence of the Saint-Jacques River and the Saint Lawrence River in the Regional County Municipality of Roussillon...
and has a law degree from the Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
and master's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Lowell
University of Massachusetts Lowell
The University of Massachusetts Lowell is a public university in Lowell, Massachusetts, and part of the University of Massachusetts system...
. Prior to his political and media career, Gendron practiced law and taught at the CEGEP
Cégep
CEGEP is an acronym for , which is literally translated as "College of General and Vocational Education" but commonly called "General and Vocational College" in circles not influenced by Quebec English. It refers to the public post-secondary education collegiate institutions exclusive to the...
level. He was also a political aide to former Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...
politician Jean Garon
Jean Garon
Jean Garon is a politician, academic and economist in Quebec, Canada.He was born in Saint-Michel, Quebec, and graduated from Université Laval with a bachelor's degree in 1960 and a master's in economics two years later...
.
Mayor of Huntingdon
Gendron was elected Mayor of Huntingdon in November 2003 and was re-elected without opposition for a four-year term in November 2005, and re-elected again in November 2009.Controversy
Gendron is viewed as right-leaning despite being in favour of same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
and legalized abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
. He has gained attention across Quebec for his controversial statements.
Youth curfew
Gendron first gained media attention by enacting a municipal curfewCurfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
forcing minors to stay off the street after 10 p.m. in Huntingdon, in an attempt to reduce juvenile crime. Following threats of litigation, the municipal council eventually withdrew the proposed curfew. It was later discovered that the authors of the crime spree were, in fact, both adults.
Jean Charest
In 2005, he claimed that Quebec premier Jean CharestJean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....
was a "murderer" ("meurtrier") for his government's initial refusal to subsidize Herceptin, a new drug against breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
; he later apologized for these comments after being served legal papers.
Israel/Nazi Analogy
Gendron has courted controversyControversy
Controversy is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of opinion. The word was coined from the Latin controversia, as a composite of controversus – "turned in an opposite direction," from contra – "against" – and vertere – to turn, or versus , hence, "to turn...
due to his statements with regards to the state of Israel. During the Israel/Lebanon war of 2006, he stated in an interview with Le Soleil
Le Soleil
Le Soleil is a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec. It was founded on December 28, 1896 and is published in compact format since April 2006...
that Israelis are modern-day Nazis ("Les Israéliens, ce sont les nazis des temps modernes"); he later clarified that was referring to the current Government of Israel, but stated that it was not exaggerated to compare that government with the Nazis.
Religion
In December 2007, Gendron wrote on his blog that "A modern and intellectually free society should submit all form of organized 'religion' to the dictates of the fundamental values of our society." After citing the example of Fred PhelpsFred Phelps
Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. is an American pastor heading the Westboro Baptist Church , an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas...
, Gendron concluded, "Why live in accordance with religious values prescribed millennia before us? Isn't life too short to confine yourself to dogmas written in a time when man was almost nothing."
Stephen Harper
On January 12, 2009, Stéphane Gendron insulted Canadian Prime MinisterPrime 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...
Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
in a letter that he also posted on his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
. for his support of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict
The Gaza War, known as Operation Cast Lead in Israel and as the Gaza Massacre in the Arab world, was a three-week bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip by Israel, and hundreds of rocket attacks on south of Israel which...
.
Allegations of harassment
In January 2009, Stéphane Gendron was "accused" by Huntingdon town councilor Tonya Welburn of criminal and sexual harassmentSexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
over an 18 month period. A complaint has been lodged with the Quebec Human Righst Commission. Same thing for criminal accusations. This chapter is directly related to a fight led by an Ex-MNA for Huntingdon. Tonya Welburn lost her seat during the general election of November 2009, as well as her father who was also a councillor but running for Mayor. Gendron got close to 66% of the total popular vote. Gendron denied the accusation.
Career in the Media
Gendron hosted the current affairs TV show L'Avocat et le diable on the TQSTqs
V is a Canadian privately-owned French-language television network. The network has owned-and-operated and affiliated stations existing throughout Quebec, although it can also be seen over-the-air in some bordering markets in the provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick...
network, but was later fired after the network received multiple complaints from the CRTC for several controversial comments. He later hosted a radio show on Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
-based station 98,5 FM
CHMP-FM
CHMP-FM is a French language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by Cogeco, it broadcasts on 98.5 MHz with an effective radiated power of 40,800 watts using an omnidirectional antenna....
from March 2005 until March 2007, and now hosts the program Sans Compromis on XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
's Radio Parallèle.
Gendron is now a regular columnist with Journal de Montréal, a daily based in Montréal. He is also a TV cmmentator with the daily program Le Show du Matin on Channel V. He is also a regular radio commentator in Eastern Québec (La Pocatière, Rivière-d-Loup, Rimouski and St-Georges).
Provincial and federal politics
In February 2007, Gendron declined a bid to run for the Parti Québécois in his hometown riding of Huntingdon, claiming family reasons and the wish to complete his current mayor mandate. During the 2007 Quebec general election, he supported the Action démocratique du QuébecAction démocratique du Québec
The Action démocratique du Québec, commonly referred to as the ADQ is a centre-right political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defines itself as autonomist, and has support from both soft nationalists and federalists....
party. In April 2008, however, Gendron called for Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont
Mario Dumont is a television personality and former politician in the province of Quebec. He was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec , and the leader of the Action démocratique du Québec , from 1994 to 2009...
's resignation, claiming that he is especially disappointed with the way the ADQ leader has handled the immigration issue since becoming Leader of the Opposition.
At once, Gendron was approached by the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
to be a candidate for the federal election of 2008
40th Canadian federal election
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
. He declined the offer, distanced himself from the party's foreign policy and endorsed 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...
.
Following the ADQ's disappointing results in the 2008 election, Gendron expressed an interest in running for the party leadership in the event of Dumont's resignation.