Joël Arseneau

Joël Arseneau MNA
Arseneau in 2023
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Incumbent
Assumed office October 1, 2018
Preceded by	Germain Chevarie
Personal details
Political party	Parti Québecois

Joël Arseneau is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election.^[1] He represents the electoral district of Îles-de-la-Madeleine as a member of the Parti Québécois.

As of September 8, 2024, he serves as the parliamentary leader of the Parti Québécois and the party's spokesperson on Health, Transport, International Relations and Francophonie, Mental Health, Loneliness, Fisheries and Mariculture, and for the Maritime Strategy.

Arseneau previously served as mayor of Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine from 2005 to 2013.^[2] He was removed from office on fraud charges resulting from delayed expense claim payments.^[3] Although he was acquitted of the charges on the grounds that the issue was a personal accounting error rather than a deliberate attempt to defraud the municipality, he was barred in 2015 from running for municipal office for five years,^[4] leading to some controversy when his selection as a Parti Québécois candidate for the provincial legislature was announced.^[5]

Electoral record

Provincial

v t e 2022 Quebec general election: Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Joël Arseneau	3,877	46.35	+7.70
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Jonathan Lapierre	3,338	39.91	+30.57
	Liberal	Gil Thériault	606	7.25	–31.21
	Québec solidaire	Jean-Philippe Déraspe	450	5.38	–8.17
	Conservative	Evan Leblanc	93	1.11	New
Total valid votes			8,364	98.96
Total rejected ballots			88	1.04	–0.90
Turnout			8,452	75.74	+3.08
Electors on the lists			11,159
	Parti Québécois hold		Swing		–11.44
Source: Élections Québec[6]

v t e 2018 Quebec general election: Îles-de-la-Madeleine
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Joël Arseneau	2,955	38.65	-1.48
	Liberal	Maryse Lapierre	2,940	38.46	-11.66
	Québec solidaire	Robert Boudreau-Welsh	1,036	13.55	+7.52
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Yves Renaud	714	9.34	+6.17
Total valid votes			7,645	98.06
Total rejected ballots			151	1.94
Turnout			7,796	72.66
Eligible voters			10,729
	Parti Québécois gain from Liberal		Swing		+5.09
Source(s) "Rapport des résultats officiels du scrutin". Élections Québec.

References

1. "Quebec 2018 election: Final results and winners by riding". CTV Montreal, October 2, 2018.
2. "Magdalen mayor says land erosion threatens island links". Edmonton Journal, December 2, 2007.
3. "Le maire des Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Joël Arseneau, comparaît en cour lundi: Le maire des Îles-de-la-Madeleine en cour". Canadian Press, March 5, 2012.
4. "Joël Arseneau devra patienter". Ici Radio-Canada, January 27, 2015.
5. "Quebec election: Man barred from municipal posts fit to be MNA, PQ says". Montreal Gazette, September 19, 2018.
6. "Résultats des élections générales du 3 octobre 2022". Élections Québec. Retrieved 19 October 2022.