Carl Boileau

Boileau was born and raised in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal area ^[1] and was a Parti Québécois (PQ) youth representative in the early 2000s.

In 2001, he sought the PQ nomination for a by-election in the Montreal division of Mercier. This nomination contest was marked by significant divisions in the party, after early frontrunner Yves Michaud was forced to resign following a series of controversial remarks involving Quebec nationalism, immigration, and Quebec's Jewish community. Michaud's supporters, including Boileau, argued that his comments had been unfairly distorted to present him in an unflattering light. In his nomination speech, Boileau accused the PQ leadership of "dictatorial electoral machinations" and received applause for saying, "Mr. Michaud, you were never a racist in our eyes." He was defeated by Claudel Toussaint, a candidate of the party establishment.^[2]

In 2002, Boileau argued that right-wing members of Bernard Landry's government should leave the PQ and join the rival Action démocratique du Québec (ADQ).^[3] He helped to form the municipal party Projet Montréal in 2004.^[4]

In the 2005 municipal election, Boileau ran as a co-listed candidate with mayoral candidate Richard Bergeron for the De Lorimier ward on Montreal city council. (Under the rules governing Montreal municipal elections, mayoral candidates may also run for council seats, "co-listed" with other members of their party. If the co-listed candidate wins the council seat and the mayoral candidate is defeated for mayor, then the mayoral candidate may claim the council seat.)

Boileau was elected in a difficult contest for the De Lorimier ward and, as such, became the first Projet Montréal candidate to be elected anywhere in the city. Bergeron was able to claim the council seat, however, as he was defeated in the mayoral contest.^[5]