Quebec Liberal Party candidates, 2007 Quebec provincial election

The Quebec Liberal Party fielded a full slate of 125 candidates in the 2007 Quebec provincial election, and elected forty-eight members to form a minority government after the election. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

Candidates

Nicolet-Yamaska: Yves Baril

Yves Baril was born in Sainte-Perpétue de Nicolet. He is a poultry and cereal producer and was president of the Fédération des producteurs de volaille du Québec (Federation of Quebec Poultry Producers) from 2000 to 2007, when he resigned to run for public office.^[1] He publicly supported a 2001 Superior Court of Quebec decision that upheld the legality of market quotas in the poultry sector and later endorsed an April 2005 Supreme Court of Canada decision that upheld the provincial court's ruling.^[2] He outlined his organization's approach to biosecurity in late 2005, during the period of an avian flu outbreak in North America.^[3]

Baril won the Nicolet-Yamaska Liberal nomination over Denis Vallée in late 2006.^[4] For the 2007 campaign, he stood with Premier Jean Charest to present the Liberal Party's agriculture platform.^[5] He received 6,770 votes (25.72%), finishing third against Action démocratique du Québec candidate Éric Dorion. On 13 February 2008, he was named as a member of the Commission de protection du territoire agricole du Québec.^[6]

Pointe-aux-Trembles: Daniel Fournier

Daniel Fournier was born and raised in Montreal East. He campaigned against his community's amalgamation into the City of Montreal in 2001; describing himself as a "blue-collar worker, citizen, and volunteer," he argued that Montreal East's budget surplus would ultimately pay for services in the city's more affluent areas.^[7] In 2004, he was a prominent activist for the "Oui" side in a successful de-merger referendum.^[8]

Fournier was once a member of the Parti Québécois, although he says that he tore up his party membership in 2000 because the PQ had moved away from its origins as a labour party.^[9] He subsequently ran for the Liberal Party in two elections. He also planned to run in a 2008 by-election, but was not chosen as his party's candidate.^[10]

He is not to be confused with the Montreal businessperson Daniel Fournier, who has run for the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative candidate.

Electoral record (since 2000)

Election	Division	Party	Votes	%	Place	Winner
2003 provincial	Pointe-aux-Trembles	Liberal	9,427	33.18	2/6	Nicole Léger, Parti Québécois
2007 provincial	Pointe-aux-Trembles	Liberal	5,316	18.24	3/8	André Boisclair, Parti Québécois

Richelieu: Gilles Salvas

Gilles Salvas was born in the Montérégie region of Quebec, where he has lived and worked for his entire life. He is a longtime municipal politician, having served as mayor of Saint-Robert since 1989. He is a federalist and supports a continued role for Quebec within Canada. In announcing his provincial candidacy in 2007, he accused past Parti Québécois (PQ) governments of having devolved provincial responsibilities to the municipalities without providing adequate funding.^[11] He endorsed Premier Jean Charest's health reforms and called for English-language training in francophone schools from the earliest grades.^[12] On election day, he finished third against PQ incumbent Sylvain Simard amid a provincial swing away from the Liberals.

Salvas was re-elected by a narrow margin in the 2009 municipal election. As of 2009, he is a member of the Centre local de développement (CLD) de Pierre-De Saurel.^[13]

Electoral record (since 2000)

Election	Division	Party	Votes	%	Place	Winner
2001 municipal	Mayor of Saint-Robert	n/a	accl.	n/a	1/1	himself
2005 municipal	Mayor of Saint-Robert	n/a	accl.	n/a	1/1	himself
2007 provincial	Richelieu	Liberal	7,275	24.24	3/6	Sylvain Simard, Parti Québécois
2009 municipal	Mayor of Saint-Robert	n/a	453	51.95	1/2	himself

References

1. Yves Baril remporte la victoire, Le Courrier Sud, 11 December 2006, accessed 19 November 2009; "Le président de la Fédération des producteurs de volailles du Québec quitte ses fonctions" [press release], Canada Newswire, 25 January 2007, 10:00am; "Unis pour réussir en agriculture - Jean Charest présente l'équipe et les priorités du Parti Libéral du Québec en agriculture" [press release], Canada Newswire, 24 February 2007, 12:12pm.
2. "Production hors quota - La Fédération des producteurs de volailles remporte une victoire majeure", Canada Newswire, 2 November 2001; Sylvain Larocque, "Le système de mise en marché du poulet est constitutionnel, dit la Cour", La Presse Canadienne, 21 April 2005, 05:19pm.
3. Andy Riga, "A game of chicken: Padlock is Quebec's first line of defence against avian flu", Montreal Gazette, 27 November 2005, D1.
4. Yves Baril remporte la victoire, Le Courrier Sud, 11 December 2006, accessed 19 November 2009. Baril was forty-six years old at the time.
5. "Jean Charest rencontre les membres du conseil général de l'UPA et présente les priorités du Parti libéral du Québec en agriculture" [press release], Canada Newswire, 20 March 2007, 12:16pm.
6. "NOMINATIONS DU CONSEIL DES MINISTRES" [press release], Canada Newswire, 13 February 2008, 5:22pm.
7. John MacFarlane, "Small town, big noise: Montreal East rallies against being swallowed," Montreal Gazette, 20 August 2001, A3.
8. Unnati Gandhi, "Demerger is a warm hug," Montreal Gazette, 22 June 2004, A7.
9. Sidhartha Banerjee, "Montreal East vows to fight on," Montreal Gazette, 21 August 2001, F6.
10. Vincent Lanctôt, "Daniel Fournier tentera de nouveau sa chance", Avenir de l'EST, 14 November 2007, accessed 8 April 2011.
11. Louise Grégoire-Racicot, "Gilles Salvas nommé candidat officiel du PLQ dans Richelieu, en présence de 800 partisans", MontérégieWeb, 16 January 2007, accessed 25 December 2009.
12. "«Le comté de Richelieu va devenir un comté libéral», clame le candidat Gilles Salvas", Portail officiel de la région de Sorel-Tracy, 26 February 2007, accessed 25 December 2009.
13. CLD Pierre-de Saurel, accessed 25 December 2009.