Damien Hétu
Damien Hétu (October 24, 1926 – February 15, 2010) was a Canadian politician. Hétu served as mayor of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec on two separate occasions and was a Liberal member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1985 to 1989.
Early life and career
Hétu was born in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and received his early education in the town. He trained as an electrician and radio/television technician, and in 1952 he began working as an electrician and entrepreneur in his home community.[1] He successfully campaigned for a local sports center, which was opened in the 1970s.[2]
Hétu was a municipal councillor in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts from 1959 to 1965 and was the community's mayor from 1970 to 1974. In the same period, he was an organizer for both the Liberal Party of Canada and the Quebec Liberal Party. He ran for the Quebec legislature in the 1981 provincial election and lost to incumbent Parti Québécois cabinet minister Jacques Léonard in Labelle.[1]
Legislator
Hétu was elected to the national assembly on his second attempt in the 1985 provincial election. The Liberal Party won a majority government in this election under Robert Bourassa's leadership, and Hétu served for the next four years as a government backbencher. A 1988 newspaper report indicates that he had one of the best attendance records in the legislature, missing fewer than one per cent of recorded votes.[3]
He was defeated by Léonard a second time when seeking re-election in 1989.
Return to municipal politics
Hétu was re-elected as mayor of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts in 1990 and served until 1994. He presided over a water boil advisory for the community in 1992, due to concerns about contamination from lead pipes.[4]
Death
Hétu died in February 2010, after an extended illness.[2]
Electoral record
| Quebec general election, 1989: Labelle | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Jacques Léonard | 16,897 | 54.80 | |||||
| Liberal | Damien Hétu | 13,938 | 45.20 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 30,835 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 971 | |||||||
| Turnout | 31,806 | 74.07 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 42,938 | |||||||
| Quebec general election, 1985: Labelle | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Liberal | Damien Hétu | 15,197 | 50.36 | +11.60 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Yvon Cormier | 12,690 | 42.05 | −15.65 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Bernard Campeau | 1,546 | 5.12 | |||||
| Parti indépendantiste | Diane Cloutier | 603 | 2.00 | |||||
| Christian Socialist | Diane Chevrier | 143 | 0.47 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 30,179 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 347 | |||||||
| Turnout | 30,526 | 73.89 | −6.04 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 41,314 | |||||||
| Quebec general election, 1981: Labelle | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Jacques Léonard | 17,596 | 57.70 | |||||
| Liberal | Damien Hétu | 11,822 | 38.76 | |||||
| Union Nationale | Roger Labonté | 1,079 | 3.54 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 30,497 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 246 | |||||||
| Turnout | 30,743 | 79.93 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 38,460 | |||||||
References
- 1 2 "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
- 1 2 Daniel Deslauriers, "L’ex-maire Damien Hétu n’est plus", L'information du nord, 16 February 2010, accessed 27 April 2011.
- ↑ Nancy Wood, "Missing from action: MNAs absent for 22 of 135 votes," Montreal Gazette, 14 January 1988, A6.
- ↑ Ann McLaughlin, "High levels of lead found in Ste. Agathe water," Montreal Gazette, 14 July 1992, A5.