The photo landed like a ton of bricks in Alexandre Boulerice’s cell in June 2011: his youngest Sevan with his first birthday cake. A jubilee missed by the brand-new NDP MP for Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie after being held back by a filibuster in the Commons.
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“To get used to something!” (“Get used to it”), English-speaking colleagues told him.
“I was wondering what I was doing there! says the main prospect, who is raising four children thanks to the configuration of his blended family. “Come on, now you know why I never introduced myself to chiefdom [du Nouveau Parti démocratique – NPD]. I like cross country skiing. I like to have dinner at home with my family on Thursday nights. I have no ambitions to become prime minister. In government, yes, ministers, yes, but not prime minister,” said the man who is now the only elected member of the Quebec NDP in Ottawa but was my classmate at McGill University at another time.
We both did a Masters in Political Science there before we were both whisked away into the wonderful world of journalism.
Alexandre Boulerice was one of the journalists who launched LCN, TVA’s 24-hour news channel. I was called by La Presse on the day Lucien Bouchard, then Prime Minister of Quebec, announced his resignation in January 2001.
And here we are, 22 years later, at Café Pista on Rue Beaubien, to discuss the choices he’s made since we studied Canadian Politics and International Relations side by side.
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Alexandre Boulerice smiles as he talks about the four years he spent at LCN. The limits that were imposed on him and which quickly irritated him. “I didn’t have much leeway. I was furious sharing politician clips and not being able to say: what he says is wrong or wrong. unable to react. I was trying to tone my lyrics and people pointed that out to me,” he says.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Alexandre Boulerice
He quickly became involved in the union. “I liked the freedom of expression, to put pressure on me and my colleagues to improve the working conditions,” he says. When you have Pierre Karl Péladeau as your boss, you want to unionize! »
It also seems to make you want to go somewhere else. Editorial management quickly made it clear to him that his union role barred his access to permanent employment.
A year later, Alexandre Boulerice ended up in the union representing his colleagues at TVA, the Canadian Public Workers’ Union, but this time as a communications services worker, not an activist. It’s been nine years.
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It was around this time that he began getting his toes wet in politics. And that he had to make decisions. Raised by a father who loved Quebec literature, a friend of Gaston Miron, and a brother who was a fan of traditional music, Alexandre Boulerice has a sovereign chord that resonates within him, but also a heart that beats well left .
After the 1995 referendum, when the sovereignist-federalist political spectrum gradually gave way to the left-right axis, he knew exactly where he wanted to stay. The cause of social justice has prevailed over a sovereign project that is less and less socio-democratic and inclusive, he said.
From the early 2000s he was involved in the New Democratic Party. “We agree that we didn’t run for the NDP out of opportunism in those years,” he laughs.
In 2008 he wore the colors of Jack Layton’s party for the first time in the election.
There was the lure of left-wing Labor and the idea of fighting Stephen Harper, who had turned Canada onto a massive right wing and was destroying public services.
Alexandre Boulerice, deputy
Much of Quebec agreed with him. In 2011, Alexandre Boulerice was elected along with 58 other New Democrat candidates in Quebec.
Twelve years later he is the last survivor of the orange wave.
His party, of which he is vice-chairman, has a union agreement with Justin Trudeau’s government. An agreement that allows the New Democrats to take on some of their priorities, including creating a dental care program for low-income families, in exchange for some government stability. “The government will recognize dental care, but the important thing is that it gets done. It’s a shame if that doesn’t allow us to win more seats,” he said.
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Today, Alexandre Boulerice realizes that his political career would have been impossible without the unfailing support of his wife, Lisa Djevarhirdjian. Without a common will of the couple to defend ideals.
“When I was elected, the children were between 10 months and 10 years old. The pressure on my spouse was enormous. But she gave me energy to fight Stephen Harper. She hated him more than me! If I missed an important family event, she would tell me, “It’s good that you are where you are.” It’s very reassuring,” he says.
Every year he spends 160 days in Ottawa, far away from his tribe. “And Ottawa is only two hours from Montreal. Imagine my colleagues from British Columbia! »
However, he is pleased with the policy change.
[Le Parlement], it’s an institution created for white men at the end of their careers. Fortunately, COVID-19 has modernized the institution. We can now sit online and vote remotely. If we maintain a hybrid Parliament, we will attract more people, parents and carers who will find more flexibility.
Alexandre Boulerice, deputy
Well, that’s a conversation I could have had with Alexandre Boulerice 22 years ago in a windowless classroom in McGill or in one of the nearby pubs. Our paths have parted, but the desire to change the world still tastes as good as our latte.
Questionnaire without filters
coffee and me : Significant. I drink at least three a day before noon. It is an essential item at home.
I want to gather people around the table, dead or alive : Jean Jaurès, because he is a fascinating person. And the essayist Albert Jacquard.
I cried last time : I’m watching Avatar 2 with my boys. The subject of child protection is very central in the film.
A perfect Sunday morning : The children bake pancakes.
Who is Alexandre Boulerice?
- Alexandre Boulerice was born in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in 1973 and grew up there.
- After his college education, he moved to Montreal to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Montreal. He then studied political science at UQAM, then at McGill University, where he began a master’s degree.
- He then became a journalist at LCN, then at TVA, where he became involved in the union.
- Since 2011 he has been the federal representative for Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie in the heart of urban Montreal. He is currently the only elected member of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in Quebec. Since Jagmeet Singh was elected leader of the NDP, he has been the party’s deputy leader.