Gérard Asselin

Who was Gérard Asselin?

Gérard Asselin was a Canadian politician.

Asselin is a former Bloc Québécois member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Manicouagan from 2004 to 2011 and Charlevoix from 1993 to 2004. At the end of the 37th Canadian Parliament, Asselin was the Bloc's Forestry critic. He is also a former Natural Resources Critic.

In his first run for federal office, in 1993, Asselin won the riding of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in a landslide, finishing 16,500 votes ahead of his closest opponent. The Tory candidate finished a distant third, and nearly lost his deposit. Asselin was reelected almost as easily in every election until losing to NDP challenger Jonathan Genest-Jourdain in 2011.

Asselin is a former foreman, and was previously a city councillor in Baie-Comeau, Quebec from 1979 to 1993.

Asselin is one of the party's few more socially conservative members. In 2005, Asselin joined five other Bloc Québécois members opposing Bill C-38, which extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in Canada.