Jean Tremblay (born November 29, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and politician who was mayor of Saguenay, Quebec, Canada, from 2002 to 2017. Before that he was mayor of Chicoutimi since 1996.Catherine Delisle, "Jean Tremblay élu maire : Le règne d'Ulric Blackburn prend fin après seize ans", Le Quotidien, 3 November 1997, p. 3Denis Bouchard, "Une victoire de tous les citoyens", Le Quotidien, 26 November 2001, p. 4
Tremblay received international attention from his fight to maintain the saying of Catholic prayers before city council meeting. The Canadian Supreme Court. In Mouvement laïque québécois v Saguenay (City) (2015) ruled against the city.
Tremblay was born in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. He is a notary by profession and a businessman. After the municipal reorganizations in Quebec, on 1 January 2002 he became the first magistrate of the new city of Saguenay. Tremblay was reelected in November 2005,"Jean Tremblay vainqueur", Le Quotidien, 7 November 2005, p. 1 receiving 72% of the vote, and again in November 2009 with 78% support, described as a "dazzling victory."Sylvain Dufour, "Victoire éclatante pour Jean Tremblay", Le Quotidien, 1 November 2009. In 2013, Tremblay received 63% of the vote.Politique Municipale
Tremblay worked to attract more cruise ships to the region. He also attempted to recover taxes owed by private hydroelectric plants within the city. In 2008 Tremblay was the first mayor in Quebec to implement « Gestion par activités » (City Stat Performance Strategy).
Tremblay established the position of city ombudsman and initiated the city's first website. He also started use of social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
Biography Jean Tremblay was born in 1948 in Chicoutimi and attended local schools. He obtained a law degree from Université Laval in 1974. He received his diploma in notary law from the same university and became a member of the Chamber of Notaries of Quebec in 1975.
Tremblay became a practicing notary in Chicoutimi in 1975. In 1979, he became partner in a St-Hubert restaurant in Chicoutimi. He was also the majority shareholder in a real estate company from 1979 to 1997. He taught in the Department of Administrative Sciences University of Quebec at Chicoutimi during the 1980–1981 school year.
Municipal mayor In 1996, Tremblay was elected mayor of Chicoutimi, serving from 1997 to 2001. Tremblay supported the 21st-century merger of seven municipalities (Chicoutimi, Jonquière, La Baie, Laterrière, a portion of the territory of Canton-Tremblay, Lac Kénogami and Shipshaw) into a new city, later named Saguenay. His office issued the document entitled Le courage de changer les choses (The Courage to Change Things), to promote the consolidation.
On November 25, 2001, Tremblay was elected mayor of Saguenay. In 2002, Trembly founded Promotion Saguenay, to help develop the regional economy. That same year he became a member of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ). He has sat on the executive committee from 2004.
In early 2002, Tremblay held a referendum on the name of the new city. On April 12, 13 and 14, votes chose Saguenay, which received 35,810 votes (52.23%) to Chicoutimi's 32,399 votes (47.26%).Isabelle Labrie, "Nom de la future ville: Saguenay l'emporte de justesse", Le Quotidien, 15 April 2002, p. 3
In 2004, Tremblay established the city ombudsman position. In 2005, he launched a case against multinationals to recover payment of taxes on private hydroelectric dams on the territory of the city. In 2006, Tremblay reaffirmed his support for reciting a Catholic prayer before City Council meetings."Saguenay mayor defends Catholicism at accommodation hearings", CBC, 21 September 2007 In 2007, Tremblay began promoting a port of call for cruise ships in the borough of La Baie. This has led to an increase of cruise ships and associated tourist business. [archive]
In April 2009, the polling firm Influence Communication, hired by Le Journal de Québec, published a study on the media weight of 11 mayors in Quebec. On this list, Jean Tremblay ranked third after Régis Labeaume, Mayor of Quebec City; and Gérald Tremblay, Mayor of Montreal.
Tremblay implemented the Gestion par activités » (City Stat Performance Strategy).François Bourque, « Le modèle de Saguenay », Le Soleil, 29 mars 2008, p. 2 This new model allegedly saved money and improved the efficiency of municipal services. He has presented this strategy to other municipalities.Stéphane Bégin, « Des sourires approbateurs de ses pairs », dans Le Quotidien, 26 avril 2008, p. 3
In November 2009, Tremblay and the City of Saguenay were fined over half a million dollars by the Superior Court of Quebec, to be paid to Bertrand Girard, the former general manager of the city, for 'wrongful dismissal' by Tremblay. Judge Yves Alain criticized Tremblay and said his testimony was rife with "hesitations and contradictions;" he said certain parts were "pure science fiction". Judge Alain said none of the reasons given by the mayor for his decision to fire Girard was valid; in his opinion the mayor was trying to hide a personal animosity toward Girard.
In October 2010, the regional Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean of the Federation of Professional Journalists of Québec published a black fileSection régionale de la FPJQ, « Dossier noir de l'information municipale au Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean [archive] », Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec, 14 octobre 2010 on the municipal information in Saguenay. The eight journalists from different media reported intimidation in their trying to collect data and alleged that records were altered; they said that the city administration and Tremblay threatened the freedom of the press."Information municipale — Un dossier noir dénonce Jean Tremblay" [archive] sur [archive], Société Radio-Canada, 15 October 2010 The next day, the mayor said, "The black file, it does not bother me too much. I think it's ridiculous. They would do it on any mayor, anyone. [...] My job is not to satisfy the journalists it is to satisfy the citizens."a et b "Jean Tremblay répond au dossier noir" [archive] sur [archive], 15 Octobre 2010
The same year, Tremblay's administration established the interactive site 'Villeenaction.com."Des vidéos du maire. Saguenay se lance sur Youtube", Le Quotidien, 6 October 2010, p. 18. Since October 2012 Mayor Tremblay has been on Twitter.Twitter message
Prayer of the City Council In September 2006, Christian Joncas and Alain Simoneau, activists from the Mouvement laïque québécois (MLQ) and the Coalition of Citizens of Saguenay, filed a complaint with the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights (CDPDJ) against Tremblay for reciting a short prayer at the beginning of each Saguenay City Council meeting. Tremblay had practiced this tradition as mayor of Chicoutimi.
The municipal prayer reads: "Almighty God, we thank you for the great blessings which You have given to Saguenay and its citizens, including freedom, opportunities for development and peace. Guide us in our deliberations as members of City Council and help us to be well aware of our duties and responsibilities. Grant us wisdom, knowledge and understanding that will preserve the benefits enjoyed by our city for all to enjoy and enable us to make wise decisions. Amen."Serge Lemelin. "Prière au conseil: la parole à Simoneau", Le Quotidien, 2 April 2009, p. 2.Despite the complaint, the City Council voted to retain this practice."Le maire Tremblay tient à sa prière", Le Quotidien, 27 September 2006, p. 12. In October of that year, following an investigation by the Commission on Human Rights, a mediation session was held between the parties to seek a resolution."Joncas propose au maire une séance de médiation", Le Quotidien, 4 October 2006, p. 12. Joncas withdrew his complaint.
In September 2007, Tremblay presented a paper about the issue, "Memoir of reasonable accommodation, Ville Saguenay"Jean Tremblay, "Mémoire sur les accommodements raisonnables, Ville Saguenay" (numérisé par Les Classiques des sciences sociales), 20 Septembre 2007 lire en ligne [archive] présentation en ligne [archive] to the Bouchard-Taylor Commission during its hearings. It was gathering information on how cultural, ethnic and religious minorities are and should be accommodated in the province under existing law. His paper defended the traditional place of the Catholic religion in public life in Quebec, where 95% of the people identify as Catholic. Community participation in church life has declined. This paper, published online in Les Classiques des sciences sociales, generated controversy.François St-Gelais, "Les gens s'arrachent le mémoire!: Jean Tremblay à la commission Bouchard-Taylor", Le Quotidien, 26 September 2007 texte intégral [archive]
On May 15, 2008, the CDPDJ ruled that the prayers at Saguenay City Council meetings violated provisions for freedom of conscience and religion in Quebec and Canadian society. With the support of the City Council, Tremblay continued his practice. In August 2008, supported by the MLQ, Alain Simoneau filed a civil suit, claiming $100,000 in damages and fees for extrajudicial rights abuses and violation of freedom of religion and conscience. Simoneau asked that the city stop the practice of prayers at city meetings, and that it remove religious symbols in municipal spaces: a statue of the Sacred Heart in a public room used by the Chicoutimi district, and a crucifix from the boardroom of the Bay district."Avis au Procureur général du Québec" [archive] sur http://www.alarielegault.ca [archive], 27 novembre 2008
In February 2011, the Court of Human Rights ordered Tremblay and city of Saguenay to stop the prayer, to remove the religious symbols from the public rooms, and to pay 30 000 CAD as damages to Simoneau."Droits de la personne -Plus de prière au conseil municipal de Saguenay" [archive] sur http://www.radio-canada.ca [archive], Société Radio-Canada, 14 février 2011 Tremblay said he intended to appeal the ruling, and with the city council launched a fundraising campaign for donations to take the case to the Canadian Supreme Court."Vous voulez faire un don dans le dossier du procès de la prière à Saguenay" [archive] sur http://www.ville.saguenay.qc.ca [archive], 2011Jeanne Corriveau, « Prière au conseil municipal — Saguenay en appel [archive] », Le Devoir, 23 février 2011
A Léger poll, found that 61% of the population of Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, disagreed with the decision of the Human Rights Tribunal, only 34% of respondents agree with the judgment.
This case was covered nationally, and Tremblay attracted wide media coverage.Anne-Marie Gravel, "Les convictions du maire [archive]", Le Quotidien, 13 June 2011 In late March 2011, the appellate court authorized the Mayor and City Saguenay to appeal the decision.Richard Hénault, « Prière à Saguenay: le maire pourra faire appel [archive] » sur http://www.cyberpresse.ca [archive], Le Soleil, 30 mars 2011 Tremblay said, "[...] This battle, I do it because I love Christ. When I reach the other side, I can be a little proud. I will say, "I fought for you, I even went on trial for you."Laurent Busseau, "De Saguenay à Saint-Césaire : un Fondamentaliste catholique renaissant... [archive]", La Voix de l'Est (The Voice of the East), 26 March 2011 On July 12, 2011, Canadian Press said the Tremblay 's fundraising campaign had raised $181,000, compared to the MLQ, which had received $25,000 in that period.Patrice Bergeron, « Prière à Saguenay: Jean Tremblay a recueilli 181 000 $ [archive] » sur http://www.cyberpresse.ca [archive], La Presse canadienne, Quebec, 12 July 2011 The hearing was scheduled for Monday, November 26, 2012, in Quebec before Judge France Thibault. [archive] Tremblay argued that the prayer was part of the Catholic heritage of Quebec.