André Bellavance, Canadian politician
André Bellavance (born June 3, 1964) is a Canadian politician, who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015 and was the mayor of Victoriaville, Quebec from 2016 to 2021.
Born in Victoriaville, Quebec, Bellavance was the Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament for Richmond—Arthabaska from 2004 until his resignation from the party on August 25, 2014, continuing in the House of Commons of Canada as an Independent until the 2015 election. representing the riding of Richmond—Arthabaska since 2004. Before being elected, he was the parliamentary assistant to Pierre Paquette.
Bellavance was interim parliamentary leader of the Bloc from December 16, 2013, to February 25, 2014. On February 25, 2014, Bellavance resigned from that position to become a candidate in the Bloc Québécois leadership election. Bellavance's candidacy for leadership was endorsed by the other three BQ MPs, however he was defeated in the leadership election by Mario Beaulieu, the former president of the sovereigntist Société-Saint-Jean-Baptiste, who was viewed as a "hardline" (pur et dur) sovereigntist in comparison to Bellavance who had campaigned on broadening the party so that it would become more than a coalition of sovereigntists.On his reasons for leaving the Bloc, Bellavance told a press conference: "[Beaulieu's] vision and orientation for the Bloc are diametrically opposed to mine. Mr. Beaulieu says he can unite the party; for me it's not the case." Bellavance also announced that he will not seek re-election as an MP.Bellavance was elected as mayor of Victoriaville on February 21, 2016, following the election of previous mayor Alain Rayes to the House of Commons.