Pierre Ducasse (politician)

For the footballer, see Pierre Ducasse (footballer).

Pierre Ducasse
Leader of the New Democratic Party of Quebec (interim)
In office 2014–2018
Preceded by	none (party refounded)
Succeeded by	Raphaël Fortin
Associate President of the New Democratic Party
In office 2000 – June 25, 2002
Personal details
Born	(1972-08-18) August 18, 1972
Political party	New Democratic Party
Alma mater	Université Laval
Website	pierreducasse.ca

Pierre Ducasse (born August 18, 1972) is a Canadian politician and New Democratic Party (NDP) activist.

He grew up in Sept-Îles, Quebec, and studied at Université Laval. A party member since age 17, he was appointed interim associate president of the federal party in 2000, and was elected to the post at the NDP convention in Winnipeg in November 2001.

2003 NDP leadership election

Further information: New Democratic Party leadership election, 2003

In January 2003, he became the first francophone Quebecer to run for the federal leadership of the party. Although he placed fifth among the six candidates, his campaign was widely acclaimed for raising the profile of the NDP in Quebec and vice versa. Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, endorsed him prior to the first ballot.

Jack Layton, the Quebec-born winner of the leadership election, appointed Ducasse to be the party's Quebec lieutenant and official spokesman in Quebec. Ducasse held the post of Quebec lieutenant through two elections until the spring of 2007 when he was replaced by Thomas Mulcair, a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec and Quebec cabinet minister.

Federal elections

Ducasse was the NDP candidate for the riding of Manicouagan three times, first in the federal election of 1997, and then in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections. In 2008, Ducasse was the NDP candidate in the riding of Hull-Aylmer.

In 2004, Ducasse finished third in Manicouagan, in a race won by Gérard Asselin of the Bloc Québécois. In 2006, again in Manicouagan, Ducasse placed fourth, but improved his overall result to 4,657 votes or 12.8%. Ducasse received his best result to date in 2008 in Hull-Aylmer, where he placed third with 10,424 votes, for 19.83% of all votes cast in the riding. Liberal Marcel Proulx won the riding with 19,747 votes, or 37.47%, while Bloc Québécois candidate Raphaël Déry finished in second with 11 635 votes, or 22.07%.

In 2011, when he might have run again in Hull-Aylmer, Ducasse and Nycole Turmel started having discussions where he learned Turmel might be interested in running. Ducasse ultimately decided not to run "because she is a fantastic person and candidate, and I just had a baby."

On September 29, 2014 Ducasse declared his intention to seek the federal NDP nomination in Manicouagan a fourth time, challenging incumbent NDP MP Jonathan Genest-Jourdain. He withdrew his candidacy a month later when the party confirmed that the nomination meeting would be held on November 6, 2014, declining Ducasse's request that the meeting be delayed to a later date. Ducasse stated that scheduled meeting date had not allowed him enough time to recruit support.

2009 municipal election

Ducasse ran the 2009 Gatineau municipal election on November 1 of that year. He ran for Gatineau City Council in the Hull–Val-Tétreau District. He lost however, to two-term incumbent Denise Laferrière. The district is centred in Downtown Hull.

Quebec provincial politics

Ducasse became the leader of record of the New Democratic Party of Quebec following its re-founding on January 30, 2014. He announced that he would not be a candidate in the leadership election to be held in January 2018.

Electoral record (partial)

2008 Canadian federal election: Hull—Aylmer
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Marcel Proulx	19,750	37.45	$79,057
	Bloc Québécois	Raphaël Déry	11,625	22.05	$69,097
	New Democratic	Pierre Ducasse	10,454	19.83	$45,531
	Conservative	Paul Fréchette	7,996	15.16	$56,752
	Green	Frédéric Pouyot	2,784	5.28	$3,327
	Marxist–Leninist	Gabriel Girard-Bernier	121	0.23	none listed
Total valid votes/expenditure limit			52,730	100.00	$89,492
Total rejected ballots			359
Turnout			53,089	61.00
Electors on the lists			87,036

2006 Canadian federal election: Manicouagan
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Gérard Asselin	18,601	51.10	−7.41	$57,481
	Conservative	Pierre Paradis	6,910	18.98	+14.06	$10,185
	Liberal	Randy Jones	5,214	14.32	−10.56	$21,522
	New Democratic	Pierre Ducasse	4,657	12.79	+2.46	$19,632
	Green	Jacques Gélineau	824	2.26	+0.90	$373
	Independent	Eric Vivier	195	0.54		none listed
Total valid votes			36,401	100.00
Total rejected ballots			388
Turnout			36,789	57.00	+6.14
Electors on the lists			64,537
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

2004 Canadian federal election: Manicouagan
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Gérard Asselin	19,040	58.51	+0.31	$55,674
	Liberal	Anthony Detroio	8,097	24.88	−5.00	$50,362
	New Democratic	Pierre Ducasse	3,361	10.33	+8.68	$22,691
	Conservative	Pierre Paradis	1,601	4.92	−5.35	$4,449
	Green	Les Parsons	444	1.36		$901
Total valid votes			32,543	100.00
Total rejected ballots			589
Turnout			33,132	50.86
Electors on the lists			65,142
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

External links

• Official website
• Ducasse's speech to the leadership convention
• Ducasse's Ecodema website