Daniel Breton

Daniel Breton
Daniel Breton in 2008
MNA for Sainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques
In office September 4, 2012 – April 7, 2014
Preceded by	Martin Lemay
Succeeded by	Manon Massé
Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks
In office September 19 – November 29, 2012
Preceded by	Pierre Arcand
Succeeded by	Yves-François Blanchet
Personal details
Born	June 18, 1962 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	Parti Québécois

Daniel Breton (born June 18, 1962) is an environmental activist and politician in the Canadian province of Quebec. He was the member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Sainte-Marie—Saint-Jacques between 2012 and 2014.

Early life and activism

Breton was born in Montreal and studied political science at the University of Montreal and the University of Quebec at Montreal.^[1] He was a principal organizer of a November 2001 march in Montreal against Canada's military intervention in Afghanistan. During the march, he was quoted as saying, "We held this demonstration because we are against a military solution to settle the conflict and the fight against terrorism. We are against terrorism, but war is not the solution."^[2]

Breton subsequently founded Québec-Vert-Kyoto (later known as QuébecKyoto), which advocated in favour of the Kyoto Accord on climate change. In 2004, he led an ultimately successful protest against Hydro-Quebec's plans to launch the Suroit natural gas power project near Beauharnois.^[3] The following year, he called for the Montreal Transit Corporation to invest in suburban commuter trains rather than building a new bridge between Laval and Montreal.^[4]

In June 2007, Breton called on Canadian environment minister John Baird to resign over the Stephen Harper government's handling of the Kyoto Accord. Breton described Baird as "neither competent nor willing to carry in a serious, non-partisan manner, the heavy burden of the environment portfolio."^[5]

Breton spoke against Quebec's plans for shale gas exploration in 2010.^[6]

On November 29, 2012, Daniel Breton resigned from his post as environment minister less than two months after taking office.

Political activism

Breton helped re-launch the dormant Green Party of Quebec for the 2003 Quebec general election and was the party's candidate in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. He finished sixth against Parti Québécois incumbent Louise Harel. Breton also worked for the Green Party of Canada. He supported the sovereigntist option in the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty and signed a joint statement in favour of Quebec independence in 2007.^[7]

In 2008, Breton left the Green Party to join the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP). In joining the NDP, he was quoted as saying, "what is at stake in 2008 is not the sovereignty of Quebec but the sovereignty of Canada. We are in the process of losing control over our natural resources, over our economy, of our big businesses and our political sovereignty."^[8] He ran as a star candidate for the party in the 2008 federal election and finished third in Jeanne-Le Ber.^[9] He was not a candidate in the 2011 federal election, in which the NDP made a historic breakthrough to become the dominant federal party in Quebec.

In 2012, Breton joined the Parti Québécois and ran successfully for the party in the 2012 election,^[10] retaining the riding of Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques for the PQ. He was the minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks from September 19 to November 29, 2012^[11] in the government of Pauline Marois. He was defeated in the 2014 election by Manon Massé of Québec Solidaire.

Electoral record

Quebec general election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Québec solidaire	Manon Massé	8,437	30.60	+5.17
	Liberal	Anna Klisko	8,346	30.27	+10.96
	Parti Québécois	Daniel Breton	7,612	27.61	-8.07
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Patrick Thauvette	2,364	8.57	-6.21
	Green	Stewart Wiseman	393	1.43	–
	Option nationale	Nic Payne	210	0.76	-2.33
	Bloc Pot	Marc Bissonnette	164	0.59	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Serge Lachapelle	47	0.17	-0.04
Total valid votes			27,573	98.86	–
Total rejected ballots			318	1.14	–
Turnout			27,891	65.96	-2.22
Electors on the lists			42,287	–	–
	Québec solidaire gain from Parti Québécois		Swing

Quebec general election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Daniel Breton	10,199	35.76	-10.86
	Québec solidaire	Manon Massé	7,253	25.43	+10.03
	Liberal	Étienne Collins	5,531	19.39	-8.83
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Cédrick Beauregard	4,216	14.78	+10.76*
	Option nationale	Denis Monière	880	3.09	–
	Middle Class	Louis Provencher	143	0.50	–
	Independent	Jean-Marc Labrèche	123	0.43	–
	Quebec Citizens' Union	Edson Emilio	87	0.31	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Serge Lachapelle	60	0.21	-0.17
	Independent	Dimitri Mourkes	31	0.11	–
Total valid votes			28,523	98.94	–
Total rejected ballots			305	1.06	–
Turnout			28,828	68.18	+20.94
Electors on the lists			42,283	–	–

* Result compared to Action démocratique

Canadian federal election, 2008: Jeanne-Le Ber
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Thierry St-Cyr	17,144	34.91		$88,605
	Liberal	Christian P. Feuillette	15,841	32.26	–	$58,773
	New Democratic	Daniel Breton	7,708	15.70		$28,413
	Conservative	Daniel Beaudin	5,494	11.19		$25,712
	Green	Véronik Sansoucy	2,345	4.78	–	$353
	Independent	Darryl Gray	577	1.17
Total valid votes			49,109	100.00
Total rejected ballots			595
Turnout			49,704	57.66
Electors on the lists			86,201
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

Quebec general election, 2003: 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. Canada Votes: 2008: Results, Ridings and Candidates: Jeanne-Le Ber, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 21 May 2012.
2. Paul Cherry, "Anti-war message on march: Downtown demo denounces violence, feds' terrorism bill," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 2001, A3.
3. Gary Francoeur, "Suroit foes plan protest demo: Power project hearings wrap up," Montreal Gazette, 21 May 2004, A9; Gary Francoeur, "Protesters march against natural-gas-powered plant," Montreal Gazette, 30 May 2004, A2; Catherine Solyom, "'Surprised it took so long': Opponents 'very happy'," Montreal Gazette, 18 November 2004, A4.
4. Monique Beaudin, "Transit holds its own, but car use still on rise," Montreal Gazette, 19 January 2005, A8.
5. "Baird should resign over Tory government's Kyoto approach: Quebec coalition," Canadian Press, 5 June 2007.
6. "D'autres voix disent que l'audience du BAPE sur le schiste est vouée à l'échec," La Presse Canadienne -- Le Fil Radio, 10 September 2010.
7. "Former Green Party organizer joins federal NDP," Postmedia News, 8 February 2008, p. 1.
8. "Green Party organizer to run for NDP," Montreal Gazette, 9 February 2008, A8.
9. "Montreal supremacy up for grabs; 18 precious seats," Montreal Gazette, 15 October 2008, B3.
10. http://pq.org/actualite/communiques/preparation_electorale_daniel_breton_sera_candidat_du_parti_quebecois_dans_sai
11. Daniel Breton, on the website of the National Assembly