16 Facts About Maurice Bellemare

Maurice Bellemare, was a politician in Quebec, Canada.

Maurice Bellemare was known as Le Vieux Lion de la Politique Quebecoise because of his colourful style and his many years of public office.

Maurice Bellemare was a member of the Union nationale and first was elected in the 1944 provincial election at the age of 32, when Maurice Duplessis was put back in office as Premier of Quebec.

Maurice Bellemare served as the Deputy Government House Whip, from the 1948 provincial election to 1953, and as the Government House Whip, from 1953 to 1959.

Maurice Bellemare was the mayor of Saint-Jean-des-Piles, a small town in the Mauricie area, from 1954 to 1957.

Maurice Bellemare appointed Bellemare to the Cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.

The function is honorary for the most part, but indicates that Maurice Bellemare was gaining political clout.

Maurice Bellemare remained in the Cabinet until the Liberals won a majority in the 1960 election.

Maurice Bellemare served as Minister of Labour from the 1966 election to 1970, Minister of Industry and Commerce from 1966 to 1967 and Government House Leader from 1966 to 1969.

Maurice Bellemare served a second term as Mayor of Saint-Jean-des-Piles from 1968 to 1970.

Maurice Bellemare did not run for re-election in the 1970 election and temporarily retired from public office.

For more than two years, Maurice Bellemare was the only sitting Union Nationale member of the legislature.

From 1976 until he retired from provincial politics for good in 1979, Maurice Bellemare served as the House Leader of the Union Nationale.

Maurice Bellemare eventually joined the governing Parti Quebecois, a move of which Bellemare strongly disapproved.

Maurice Bellemare supported the new Progressive Conservative Party of Quebec but later announced that for the first time he would vote Liberal.

From 1981 to 1983, Maurice Bellemare was one of the Councillors of the Saint-Jean-des-Piles local government.