Matthew Dubé (born May 3, 1988) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 federal election to represent the electoral district of Chambly—Borduas in Quebec as a member of the New Democratic Party. He was re-elected in 2015 to the redistributed riding of Beloeil—Chambly but lost his seat in 2019.[1]

Matthew Dubé
Member of Parliament
for Beloeil—Chambly
(Chambly—Borduas; 2011–2015)
In office
May 2, 2011 – October 19, 2019
Preceded byYves Lessard
Succeeded byYves-François Blanchet
Personal details
Born (1988-05-03) May 3, 1988 (age 35)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Political partyNew Democratic
SpouseChantale Neapole
ProfessionCoach, student

Biography edit

Born in Montreal, Dubé was elected co-president of NDP McGill in September 2010 and was also elected president of the Quebec Young New Democrats in November 2010. At the time of his election to the House of Commons, he was a McGill University student completing his Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in political science with a minor in history.[2]

He married Chantale Neapole on June 30, 2018.[3]

Politics edit

Dubé defeated incumbent MP Yves Lessard of the Bloc Québécois by 15.1% or more than 10,000 votes in the 2011 election. Specifically, Dubé received 42.7% of the vote, Lessard received 27.6%, independent candidate Jean-François Mercier received 11.4%, Liberal Party candidate Bernard DeLorme received 8.9%, Conservative Party candidate Nathalie Ferland Drolet received 7.9%, and Green Party candidate Nicholas Lescarbeau received 1.5%.[1]

He was one of five current McGill University students, alongside fellow undergraduates Mylène Freeman, Laurin Liu, and Charmaine Borg, and graduate student Jamie Nicholls, elected to Parliament in the 2011 election following the New Democratic Party's unexpected mid-campaign surge in Quebec.[4]

Borg and Dubé were co-presidents of NDP McGill (the NDP student group at McGill University) at the time that they both won election to Parliament, and both had spent the campaign working to re-elect NDP Quebec lieutenant Tom Mulcair in the nearby riding of Outremont.[5][6][7]

At the time of his election, Dubé had coached junior-league soccer and hockey for several years.[2]

Dubé was the only one of the so-called "McGill 5" re-elected in the 2015 election.[8] Mulcair, by this time leader of the NDP, appointed Dubé to be the NDP critic for Infrastructure and Communities and Deputy House Leader in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.[9] Subsequently, under Mulcair's successor Jagmeet Singh, Dubé went on to become the party’s Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness critic as well as the NDP caucus chair.[10]

He lost his seat to Yves-François Blanchet, leader of the Bloc Québécois, in the 2019 Canadian federal election.

Electoral record edit

2019 Canadian federal election: Beloeil—Chambly
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Bloc Québécois Yves-François Blanchet 35,068 50.5 +22.82 $36,540.34
Liberal Marie-Chantal Hamel 16,059 23.1 -6.24 $62,823.63
New Democratic Matthew Dubé 10,086 14.5 -16.57 $20,636.78
Conservative Véronique Laprise 4,305 6.2 -3.09 $0.00
Green Pierre Carrier 3,255 4.7 +2.45 $18,235.50
People's Chloé Bernard 512 0.7 $5,931.38
Indépendence du Québec Michel Blondin 205 0.3 $768.82
Total valid votes/expense limit 69,490 100.0
Total rejected ballots 1,064
Turnout 70,554 73.7
Eligible voters 95,723
Bloc Québécois gain from New Democratic Swing +19.79
Source: Elections Canada[11][12]
2015 Canadian federal election: Beloeil—Chambly
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Matthew Dubé 20,641 31.07 -11.53
Liberal Karine Desjardins 19,494 29.34 +20.32
Bloc Québécois Yves Lessard 18,387 27.68 +0.27
Conservative Claude Chalhoub 6,173 9.29 +1.35
Green Fodé Kerfalla Yansané 1,498 2.25 +0.70
Libertarian Michael Maher 245 0.37
Total valid votes/Expense limit 100.00   $231,893.10
Total rejected ballots 950 1.41
Turnout 67,388 74.00
Eligible voters 91,068
New Democratic hold Swing -15.93
Source: Elections Canada[13][14]
2011 Canadian federal election: Chambly—Borduas
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Matthew Dubé 29,591 42.74 +28.56
Bloc Québécois Yves Lessard 19,147 27.65 -22.43
Independent Jean-François Mercier 7,843 11.33
Liberal Bernard DeLorme 6,165 8.90 -7.88
Conservative Nathalie Ferland Drolet 5,425 7.83 -7.24
Green Nicholas Lescarbeau 1,072 1.55 -2.33
Total valid votes/Expense limit 69,243 100.00
Rejected ballots 621 0.89 -0.36
Turnout 69,864 70.62 +2.21
New Democratic gain from Bloc Québécois Swing +25.5

References edit

  1. ^ a b Election 2011: Chambly—Borduas. The Globe and Mail, May 2, 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Matthew Dubé". New Democratic Party. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011. (password required)
  3. ^ Moss, Neil (August 8, 2018). "Dubé celebrates a wedding day - The Hill Times". The Hill Times. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  4. ^ "McGill 5 head off to House of Commons" Archived 2011-08-31 at the Wayback Machine. The Gazette, May 4, 2011.
  5. ^ Finestone, Nathaniel (April 5, 2011). "Political clubs gear up for election". The McGill Tribune. Montreal, Quebec. p. 3 – via Issuu.
  6. ^ Bill Curry (May 3, 2011). "Students, ex-Communist, a Cree leader and more join NDP's swollen Quebec ranks". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  7. ^ Tamsin McMahon (May 4, 2011). "The REALLY New Democrats". National Post.
  8. ^ Mas, Susana (October 21, 2015). "Matthew Dubé only member of NDP's 'McGill 4' re-elected in 2015". CBC News. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  9. ^ Kirkup, Kristy (November 12, 2015). "Tom Mulcair taps Nathan Cullen, Charlie Angus, Guy Caron for top critic roles". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
  10. ^ "Matthew Dubé elected new NDP Caucus Chair". Canada's NDP. Retrieved February 28, 2018.
  11. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  12. ^ "Election night results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  13. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Beloeil—Chambly, 30 September 2015
  14. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links edit