Gilles Duceppe (b. July 22, 1947 in Montreal) is a Quebec nationalist and social democratic politician in Canada. He occurs as Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons and the leader of the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois, also referred to as a Axis or even BQ. He is the boy of the easily-known Québécois actor, Jean Duceppe, and Hélène Rowley.

Duceppe occurs as indigene of Montreal, Québec. He exposed political science at a Université de Montréal. Inside his youth, he advocated communism, and was the card-carrying member of the Worker's Communist Person (Marxist-Leninist). Duceppe late said his trine-season membership in the W.C.P. (M.L.) was the mistake brought in by the lookup for fundamental vary [http://www.uni.ca/duceppe.html]. He late became the trade union treater.

Inside 1990, Duceppe was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the newly-formed Bloc Québécois in the by-election in Montreal's Laurier—Sainte-Marie riding. At a instance, he was forced to rerun as an independent because a Axis experienced non been registered by Elections Canada as a political party. Completely of the Axis's more Parliamentarian experienced crossed the floor from either the Progressive Conservative Party or the Liberal Party earlier that year. Duceppe's triumph within the by-election demonstrated, for a first time, that the person experienced electoral trend lines within Quebec and was capable of winning elections. Antecedently, numbers of initiate (& members of more parties) predicted that a Axis would non exist as take a breath to benefit a trend lines of the elector.

Within 1996, when Lucien Bouchard stepped down as Axis leader to get leader of the Parti Québécois, Duceppe served as interim leader of the party until Michel Gauthier was elected later that month. All a same, Gauthier was forced away from the person leadership within 1997, & Duceppe became person leader and Leader of the Opposition. Although when Leader of the Queen's Truehearted opposition he was technically entitled to become pledged into a Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Duceppe rejected it.

In the 1997 general election, the Bloc wasted official opposition status, slipping to third place in a House of Commons behind the Reform Party. A person's caucus in the Commons was reduced went from either 54 to 44 seats, & fell farther to 38 seats in the 2000 election. Duceppe was criticized for his ineffectual campaign skills inside each elections, however there are no good challenge to his leadership was mounted.

But, by using a sponsorship scandal that erupted soon when Jean Chrétien's departure as Liberal leader within 2003, the Axis's fortunes improved markedly. In the 2004 election, Duceppe's Bloc won 54 seats in the Commons, returning to the person's tons-instance high. In a period of the election's national debates, Duceppe's lucid explanations & chastising of a more national person leaders lead to him existence estimated to become a better speaker by two the French & English media. A unification of the Progressive Conservative & Canadian Alliance parties meant that a Axis did non form a Opposition while it did when it endure experienced when numerous seats.

Using Chrétien's departure, Duceppe became the longest-serving todays leader of a major person within Canada.

Sustaining recent profits of a Axis & his more and more easily-received performance when leader, speculation mounted that Duceppe can search the leadership of the Parti Québécois, particularly once Bernard Landry stepped down as persin leader on June 4, 2005. In June 13, 2005, however, Duceppe announced that he would non run the leadership of the PQ.

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