Claude Sabourin

Claude Sabourin (born October 9, 1961) is a Canadian politician, educator, and author. He was elected as leader of the Green Party of Quebec in November 2010.

Sabourin has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the Université du Québec à Montréal.^[1] He joined the Green Party in 2002 and has been a party candidate in two federal and three provincial elections. The provincial party's president from 2004 to 2006, he has also written a book entitled, Le Parti Vert: Pour une politique du 21e siècle.^[2] Sabourin was a party worker and part-time school teacher when he sought the party's leadership.^[3]

Sabourin was elected as leader of the Quebec Green Party on November 20, 2010, narrowly defeating rival candidate Paul-André Martineau on the second ballot.^[4] In January 2011, he called for a moratorium on the harvesting of shale gas.^[5]

Electoral record

Provincial

Quebec general election, 2008: Argenteuil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	David Whissell	10,843	49.58	+11.99
	Parti Québécois	John Saywell	7,353	33.62	+7.78
	Action démocratique	Michael Perzow	2,457	11.24	−18.41
	Green	Claude Sabourin	760	3.48	−1.19
	Québec solidaire	Loïc Kauffeisen	456	2.09	−0.16
Total valid votes			21,869	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			346
Turnout			22,215	54.17
Electors on the lists			41,006
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Quebec general election, 2007: Argenteuil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	David Whissell	10,025	37.59	−15.74
	Action démocratique	Georges Lapointe	7,906	29.65	+11.21
	Parti Québécois	John Saywell	6,891	25.84	+0.93
	Green	Claude Sabourin	1,244	4.67	+2.58
	Québec solidaire	Guy Dufresne	600	2.25	+1.02
Total valid votes			26,666	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			248
Turnout			26,914	68.52	+2.06
Electors on the lists			39,278
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Quebec general election, 2003: Argenteuil
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	David Whissell	12,645	53.33	+10.86
	Parti Québécois	Georges Lapointe	5,906	24.91	−17.18
	Action démocratique	Sylvain Demers	4,372	18.44	+5.57
	Green	Claude Sabourin	496	2.09	-
	Bloc Pot	Yannick Charpentier	292	1.23	+0.01
Total valid votes			23,711	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			280
Turnout			23,991	66.46
Electors on the lists			36,101
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Federal

Canadian federal election, 2006: Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Mario Laframboise	27,855	52.13	−5.27	$55,659
	Conservative	Suzanne Courville	12,461	23.32	+16.28	$41,061
	Liberal	François-Hugues Liberge	7,171	13.42	−13.45	$12,534
	New Democratic	Alain Senécal	3,466	6.49	+3.45	$1,480
	Green	Claude Sabourin	2,480	4.64	−0.46	$1,166
Total valid votes			53,433	100.00
Total rejected ballots			846	1.56
Turnout			54,279	62.66	+2.33
Electors on the lists			86,627
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		−10.8
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

Canadian federal election, 2004: Argenteuil—Mirabel
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Mario Laframboise	28,228	57.40	+14.41	$60,403
	Liberal	Yves Sabourin	13,214	26.87	−15.55	$39,904
	Conservative	David H. McArthur	3,460	7.04	−2.36	$7,918
	Green	Claude Sabourin	2,510	5.10		$1,090
	New Democratic	Elisabeth Clark	1,493	3.04	+2.00	none listed
	Christian Heritage	Laurent Filion	202	0.41		none listed
	Marxist–Leninist	Michael O'Grady	69	0.14		none listed
Total valid votes			49,176	100.00
Total rejected ballots			1,119
Turnout			50,295	60.33	−1.31
Electors on the lists			83,364
Sources: Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000. Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

Leadership contests

Candidate	Place
Quebec Green Party leadership convention
November 20, 2010
Claude Sabourin	1st
Paul-André Martineau	2nd
Louise Martineau	3rd
Note: Sabourin defeated Paul-André Martineau by 50.5% to 49.5% on the second ballot.

Source: Claude Sabourin narrowly wins Quebec Green Party leadership race, Montreal Gazette, 20 November 2010.

References

1. Canada Votes 2006: Argenteuil-Papineau-Mirabel, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, accessed 4 December 2010.
2. Claude Sabourin narrowly wins Quebec Green Party leadership race, Montreal Gazette, 20 November 2010, accessed 4 December 2010.
3. Isabelle Houle, "Claude Sabourin se présente à la chefferie du Parti vert," fr.canoe.ca, 14 September 2010, accessed 4 December 2010.
4. Claude Sabourin narrowly wins Quebec Green Party leadership race, Montreal Gazette, 20 November 2010, accessed 4 December 2010.
5. Michel Moyneur, "Gaz de schiste: le Parti Vert du Québec demande un moratoire", La Revue, 4 January 2011, accessed 20 January 2011.