Bernard Dumont
Encyclopedia
Bernard Dumont was a politician in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada
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...

 and a Member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

.

Member of Parliament

He ran as a Social Credit
Social Credit Party of Canada
The Social Credit Party of Canada was a conservative-populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform...

 candidate in the district of Bellechasse
Bellechasse (electoral district)
Bellechasse was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 until the 1997 election, when it became Bellechasse—Etchemins—Montmagny—L'Islet. After redistribution prior to the 2004 election, that riding became...

 in the 1962 federeal election
Canadian federal election, 1962
The Canadian federal election of 1962 was held on June 18, 1962 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 25th Parliament of Canada...

. He was defeated by Liberal
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...

 candidate Herman Laverdière
Herman Laverdière
Herman E. Laverdière was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a teacher by career.He was first elected at the Bellechasse riding in the 1963 general election and re-elected there in 1965...

 in the 1963 election
Canadian federal election, 1963
The Canadian federal election of 1963 was held on April 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 26th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of the minority Progressive Conservative government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.-Overview:During the Tories' last year in...

, lost as an Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 in a 1964 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 in the district of Dorchester
Dorchester (electoral district)
Dorchester was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1968.It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which preserved the existing electoral districts in Lower Canada at the time...

 and in the 1965 election
Canadian federal election, 1965
The Canadian federal election of 1965 was held on November 8 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 27th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson was re-elected with a larger number of seats in the House...

 as a Ralliement créditiste
Ralliement créditiste
Historically in Quebec, Canada, there was a number of political parties that were part of the Canadian social credit movement. There were various parties at different times with different names at the provincial level, all broadly following the social credit philosophy; at various times they had...

 candidate in the district of Bellechasse.

Dumont was re-elected in the district of Frontenac
Frontenac (Quebec electoral district)
Frontenac was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1997.This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Lotbinière and Mégantic ridings...

 in the 1968 election
Canadian federal election, 1968
The Canadian federal election of 1968 was held on June 25, 1968, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 28th Parliament of Canada...

. He resigned on April 6, 1970 to switch to provincial politics.

Like many other in his party, Dumont was a vocal opponent of 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...

. During a 1969 debate on liberalizing Canada's abortion laws, he was quoted as saying, "As Christians we cannot accept the theory that life only begins at birth."

Provincial politics

Audet ran as a candidate of the provincial Ralliement créditiste
Ralliement créditiste du Québec
The Ralliement créditiste du Québec was a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada that operated from 1970 to 1978. It promoted social credit theories of monetary reform, and acted as an outlet for the expression of rural...

 in the 1970 election
Quebec general election, 1970
The Quebec general election of 1970 was held on April 29, 1970 to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The former Legislative Assembly had been renamed the "National Assembly" in 1968...

 and won, becoming the Member of the National Assembly
National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec is the legislative body of the Province of Quebec. The Lieutenant Governor and the National Assembly compose the Parliament of Quebec, which operates in a fashion similar to those of other British-style parliamentary systems.The National Assembly was formerly the...

 for the district of Mégantic
Mégantic (provincial electoral district)
Mégantic was a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Estrie region, it was created in 1867. After the 1970 elections, it was merged with Compton to create the new riding of Mégantic-Compton...

.

During his term of office, the party was plagued by internal divisions. While three MNAs, including Dumont, remained loyal to Leader Camil Samson
Camil Samson
Camil Samson was a politician in Quebec, Canada, Member of the National Assembly of Quebec , and leader of the Ralliement créditiste du Québec and other political parties.-Background:...

, the rest of the caucus withdrew its support and appointed Armand Bois
Armand Bois
Armand Bois was a politician in Quebec, Canada and a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec .-Background:He was born in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec on April 21, 1920 and served as a military officer during World War II...

 as temporary leader, until a leadership convention could determine a new leader.

Eventually, the Samson faction re-joined the party and Yvon Dupuis
Yvon Dupuis
Yvon Dupuis, PC is a former Canadian politician.-Political career:Born in Montreal, Dupuis was educated at Collège de Varennes in Longeuil, Quebec, and worked as an insurance agent and as the owner of two music stores prior to running for elected office.He was first elected to the National...

 was chosen as leader. Nonetheless, Dumont was defeated in the district of Frontenac
Frontenac (provincial electoral district)
Frontenac is a provincial electoral district in the province of Quebec, Canada. Located in the Chaudière-Appalaches region, the riding was created in 1972 after being part of the Mégantic district from 1867 to 1970. Previously, Frontenac was in the Estrie region from 1912 to 1973...

 in the 1973 election
Quebec general election, 1973
The Quebec general election of 1973 was held on October 29, 1973 to elect members to National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The incumbent Quebec Liberal Party, led by Robert Bourassa, won re-election, defeating the Parti Québécois, led by René Lévesque, and the Union Nationale .The Liberals won a...

.

Last attempt in federal politics

Dumont ran as an Independent
Independent (politician)
In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 candidate in the district of Rivière-du-Loup—Témiscouata
Témiscouata (electoral district)
Témiscouata was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1979....

 in the 1974 election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...

 and finished a distant fourth.

See also

  • History of Quebec
    History of Quebec
    Quebec has played a special role in Canadian history; it is the site where French settlers founded the colony of Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries.-Paleoindian Era :...

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