View source for Yves Lévesque

{{short description|Canadian politician (born 1957)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Yves_Levesque_mayor.jpg
| name = Yves Lévesque
| caption =
| birth_date = 1957
| birth_place =
| death_date = 
| residence = 
| office = [[Mayor]] of [[Trois-Rivières]], [[Quebec]]
| term_start = November 4, 2001
| term_end = December 27, 2018
| predecessor = [[Guy Leblanc]]
| successor = [[Jean Lamarche]]
| party = [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] <small>(federal)</small><br />[[Conservative Party of Quebec|Conservative]] <small>(provincial; 2021–present)</small>
|otherparty = [[Coalition Avenir Québec|CAQ]] <small>(provincial; after 2003, before 2021)</small><br />[[Parti Québécois]] <small>(provincial; before 2003)</small>
| religion =
| occupation =
}}
'''Yves Lévesque''' ({{IPA|fr|iv levɛ(s)k}}; born 1957) is a Canadian politician who served as [[List of mayors of Trois-Rivières|Mayor of Trois-Rivières]] between 2001 and 2018.

==Career==
===City Councillor===
Lévesque won his first electoral victory in 1994, when he became city councillor in [[Trois-Rivières-Ouest]]. He was re-elected in 1998.

===Mayor of Trois-Rivières===
In the wake of the [[Municipal reorganization in Quebec|province-wide municipal merging of 2001]], he ran for Mayor of Trois-Rivières and won an [[Upset (competition)|upset victory]] against favourite candidate and [[Cap-de-la-Madeleine]] Mayor Alain Croteau. In the [[2003 Quebec general election|2003 provincial election]], he campaigned in favour of the re-election of [[Parti Québécois]] [[incumbent]] [[Guy Julien]], who lost.

In 2005, Julien ran against Lévesque for mayor, but the incumbent was easily re-elected with 70% of the vote.<ref>[http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/special/2005/11/06/021-EM-mcq_levesque.shtml Yves Lévesque l'emporte facilement, Radio-Canada, November 7, 2005]</ref>

Recently,{{when|date=May 2020}} Lévesque has been trying to get the ''[[Trois-Rivières Draveurs]]'', a franchise of the [[Quebec Major Junior Hockey League]], back in town.<ref>[http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/mauricie/2007/05/30/003-hockey_trois_rivieres.shtml Le retour des Draveurs ?, Radio-Canada, May 30, 2007]</ref>

On December 27, 2018, Lévesque announced he was retiring as mayor for medical reasons.<ref>[https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1143981/maire-trois-rivieres-demission-sante  Yves Lévesque quitte la mairie de Trois-Rivières, Radio-Canada]</ref>

===Federal politics===
[[File:Yves Lévesque with Andrew Scheer in Trois-Rivières (48913625078) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Lévesque with [[Andrew Scheer]] in 2019]]

Lévesque officially joined the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] in May 2018, taking out a party membership and speaking at the party's convention in [[Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec|Saint-Hyacinthe]]. He stated at the time that he was considering running for the party in the [[2019 Canadian federal election|43rd election]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marquis |first1=Melanie |title=Ex Bloc Quebecois leader Michel Gauthier joining Conservatives |url=https://ipolitics.ca/2018/05/12/ex-bloc-quebecois-leader-michel-gauthier-joining-conservatives/ |access-date=14 July 2019 |work=iPolitics |date=12 May 2018 |quote=One of those being courted by the party is the well-known mayor of Trois-Rivieres, Yves Levesque, who said Saturday that he was seriously considering whether to make the leap to federal politics.}}</ref> He joined the Conservative Party because of its stated goal of decentralizing power to the provinces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/10/23/yves-levesque-digere-deja-bien-sa-defaite|title=Yves Lévesque digère déjà bien sa "défaite"|last=Lepage|first=Caroline|website=Le Journal de Montréal|date=23 October 2019 |access-date=2019-11-17}}</ref>

On May 30, 2019, Lévesque was named the Conservative candidate for the riding of [[Trois-Rivières (electoral district)|Trois-Rivières]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Yves Lévesque devient candidat du Parti conservateur |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/201905/30/01-5228209-yves-levesque-devient-candidat-du-parti-conservateur.php |access-date=14 July 2019 |work=Le Nouvelliste Trois-Rivières |publisher=La Presse |date=30 May 2019}}</ref> During the race, he was expected to win; however, he lost the race, standing third. Lévesque blamed party leader [[Andrew Scheer]]'s first French-language debate, wherein Scheer's perceived inability to defend his personal views from the other leaders shifted support from the Conservatives in Quebec, which never recovered.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chroniclejournal.com/news/national/bittersweet-conservative-post-election-gathering-set-for-ottawa-wednesday/article_b205b077-c71d-53b0-b566-80dc2e7b27ff.html|title=Bittersweet Conservative post-election gathering set for Ottawa Wednesday|author=Stephanie Levitz|agency=The Canadian Press|website=The Chronicle-Journal|date=5 November 2019 |language=en|access-date=2019-11-17}}</ref>

Lévesque ran in Trois-Rivières again as a Conservative in [[2021 Canadian federal election|2021]] and gained 17,027 votes (an increase of 1,787) but came in second.

==Electoral record==
===Federal===
{{2025 Canadian federal election/Trois-Rivières}}
{{2021 Canadian federal election/Trois-Rivières}}
{{2019 Canadian federal election/Trois-Rivières}}

===Municipal (mayoral)===
====2017====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="200px" | Mayoral candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
| Yves Lévesque (X) || 26,503 || 51.37
|-
| Jean-François Aubin || 23,252 || 45.07
|-
| André Bertrand || 1,837 || 3.56
|}

====2013====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="230px" colspan="2" |  Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="200px" | Mayoral candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|MTL|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| Independent || Yves Lévesque (X) || 29,204 || 49.25
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|MTL|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| Independent || Sylvie Tardif || 18,491 || 31.18
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|MTL|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| Independent || Catherine Dufresne || 8,324 || 14.04
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|MTL|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| Independent || Marcelle Girard || 1,609 || 2.71
|-
| bgcolor=#002343  width="30px" | &nbsp;
| Force 3R || Richard St-Germain || 1,321 || 2.23
|-
| {{Canadian party colour|MTL|Independent|background}} | &nbsp;
| Independent || Pierre Benoit Fortin || 352 || 0.59
|}

====2009====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="200px" | Candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="200px" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|-
|Yves Lévesque (X) || Independent || 25,637 || 54.9
|-
|André Carle || Force 3R || 21,077 || 45.1
|}

====2005====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="200px" | Candidate
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|Yves Lévesque (inc.) || 34,298 || 70.3
|-
|[[Guy Julien]] || 13,741 || 28.2
|-
|Serge Simard || 754 || 1.5
|}

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levesque, Yves}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons]]
[[Category:Mayors of Trois-Rivières]]
[[Category:21st-century mayors of places in Quebec]]
[[Category:Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2019 Canadian federal election]]
[[Category:Candidates in the 2021 Canadian federal election]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada candidates in the 2025 Canadian federal election]]