About Gilles

75 years old

Hometown: Montreal, Quebec

Gilles Duceppe was born in Montreal, Quebec to well-known French Canadian stage and television actor Jean Duceppe. Gilles worked as a hospital orderly, trade union negotiator, and was the general manager of the school newspaper while he attended Université de Montréal. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1990 and became the leader of the Bloc Québécois in 1997. On June 10, 2015 Duceppe announced his return as the party's leader four years after his resignation following the 2011 federal election.

Economy

The Bloc Québécois would protect and encourage growth within Quebec -based industries.^[1][2]

The Bloc Québécois stands against the formation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) unless adequate precautions are taken to protect Quebec's agricultural model, with the consultation of Quebec's farmers.^[3]

The Bloc Québécois would support sustainable economic projects.^[1]

The Bloc would implement a compensation fund that would reimburse previous efforts at reversing erosion along the banks of the St. Lawrence river from its use as a commercial waterway. This fund would also support projects that would reduce future erosion.^[6]

The Bloc Québécois believes that relations with First Nations need to take place on a nation-to-nation basis.^[7][8][9]

The Bloc Québécois is against the construction of the Energy East pipeline. The party does not have a set stance on pipelines. It considers each proposed project and evaluates its effect on furthering Quebec's interests.^[9][8][7]

Justice

The Bloc Québécois have favoured the decriminalization of marijuana.^[10]

The Bloc Québécois would back the right of Quebec to repatriate the Long Gun Registry. The Bloc would also decriminalize medically-assisted suicide.^[1]

The Bloc Québécois would demand that Ottawa reinstate indexed healthcare transfers.^[11]

The Bloc Québécois supports the opening of a safe injection clinic in Montreal, reaffirming its objective of Quebec residents deciding the issues that affect them, rather than the federal government under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.^[12]

The Bloc Québécois believes in the primacy of the rule of law and multilateralism. The Bloc opposes any aggressive unilateral action and is against conflicts that are preventable.^[13]

These principles guide the party's position on the international community's interventions in cases of conflict or in attempts to prevent conflict.^[12]

The Bloc Québécois supports the terms laid out in the Canada-Quebec Accord relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens of 1991. The Accord outlines how Quebec, and not the government of Canada, would manage settlement as well as linguistic and cultural integration of permanent residents.^[14]

Quebec has withdrawn from specialized economic integration services by the federal government. The Bloc would continue to uphold its decision to opt out in return for "reasonable compensation", as outlined in the Canada-Quebec Accord.

No specific policy has been suggested in the party's current platform.

The Bloc Québécois wants immediate investments made to affordable housing. In it's budgetary submission last April, the Bloc asked for $400 million in additional funding for social housing.^[15]

The Bloc Québécois opposes Bill C-51.^[16]

Government & Transparency

The Bloc Québécois supports reforming the financing of political parties, so that corporate donation limits would be lowered and contributions by the government would be raised.^[17]

The Bloc Québécois wants to reform the financing of political parties, so that the contribution limits of corporations is lowered and the contribution of the state increases.^[18]

Its objective is to prove that Québec, in order to truly flourish, has to be recognized as an independent nation. The Bloc seeks to have Québec gain the authority to make its own political decisions to reflect its particular values, interests and culture.^[1]

In particular, the Bloc would continue to defend French as the official language in the province, and would uphold the tenets of Bill 101 would hold the federal government accountable to providing a standard of bilingualism in Canada.