Jean Doré

Jean Doré (1990)

Jean Doré (born December 12, 1944 in Montreal , † June 15, 2015 ibid) was a Canadian politician . From 1986 to 1994 he was mayor of Montreal.

biography

Doré studied law at the Université de Montréal , where he was president of the student council in 1967/68 . He then graduated from McGill University with a Masters in Political Science . In 1970 he worked for Radio Canada for a short time as a journalist and was then press attaché to René Lévesque , the chairman of the Parti Québécois . In 1972 he took over the post of general director of the Fédération des associations coopératives d'économie familiale , the consumer protection association of Québec , from 1975 he was its president. He also played an active role in the Québec Human Rights League.

In 1974 Doré was involved in founding the left-progressive local party Rassemblement des citoyens de Montréal (RCM). At first he was treasurer of the RCM. After becoming its chairman in 1982, he challenged incumbent Jean Drapeau in the mayoral election and received 48% of the vote. He also missed the election to the city council. He finally managed to do this in a by-election in 1984 , after which he was opposition leader. In the city council election on November 9, 1986, the RCM won an overwhelming victory with 55 out of 58 seats. Doré prevailed in the mayoral election held at the same time with a share of 66% of the vote.

Doré and the RCM started with the promise to overcome Drapeau's leadership style, which was perceived as authoritarian. The focus was on the democratization of political institutions and the decentralization of the city administration. District councils and citizens' offices were created. Further merits were the significant expansion of the cycle path network and the renovation of the old port . In 1990 Doré was re-elected with 59% of the vote. In his second term in office, he increasingly had to put up with the accusation that his administration was ineffective. Likewise, he was unwilling to lessen the debt burden his predecessor had accumulated.

In 1994 Doré received only 32% of the vote and had to resign as mayor, giving up his seat on the city council. In 1998 he tried a comeback and founded a new party, the Équipe Montréal , for this purpose . With a share of 10% of the vote, he was only fourth-placed candidate. He retired from politics and worked as director of business development at Caisses Desjardins .

literature

• Claude V. Marsolais et al .: Histoire des maires de Montréal . VLB, Montreal 1993, ISBN 2-89005-547-7 .

Web links

• Biography on the website of the city administration (French)