Lionel Carmant
Lionel Carmant | |
|---|---|
 Carmant in 2023 | |
| Quebec Minister responsible for Social Services | |
| Assumed office April 21, 2026 | |
| Premier | Christine Fréchette |
| Preceded by | Sonia Bélanger |
| In office October 20, 2022 – October 30, 2025 | |
| Premier | François Legault |
| Preceded by | Christian Dubé |
| Succeeded by | Sonia Bélanger |
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Taillon | |
| In office October 1, 2018 – August 27, 2026 | |
| Preceded by | Diane Lamarre |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1965 (age 60–61) |
| Party | Coalition Avenir Québec (until 2025, 2026–present) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (2025–2026) |
| Profession | Physician |
Lionel Carmant is a Canadian politician who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election.[1] He represented the electoral district of Taillon and was elected as a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec.[2]
As Associate Minister for Health in October 2018, Carmant announced that the government would tighten the rules on cannabis consumption, including increasing the legal age to consume to 21 from 18.[3]
On October 30, 2025, Carmant resigned from his cabinet post and quit the party to sit as an independent MNA.[4] His daughter had published an editorial in Le Devoir that criticized the government's overhaul of health legislation (Bill 2), which linked physicians' compensation to performance targets and prohibited physicians from using labour pressure tactics that could interfere with access to care.[5] On 1 April 2026, Carmant rejoined the CAQ caucus after endorsing Christine Fréchette in the 2026 Coalition Avenir Québec leadership election.[6] He returned to cabinet that month. He did not seek re-election in the 2026 general election.
Electoral record
| 2022 Quebec general election: Taillon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Lionel Carmant | 14,635 | 41.5 | +7.7 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot | 7,160 | 20.3 | -7.8 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Manon Blanchard | 6,663 | 18.9 | +1.2 | ||||
| Liberal | Omar Cissé | 4,096 | 11.6 | -5.1 | ||||
| Conservative | Pierre-Marc Boyer | 2,280 | 6.5 | +5.9 | ||||
| Climat Québec | Frédéric Ouellet | 336 | 1.0 | – | ||||
| L'Union fait la force | Pierre Savignac | 86 | 0.2 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | – | |||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | ||||||||
| Electors on the lists | – | – | ||||||
| 2018 Quebec general election: Taillon | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Lionel Carmant | 12,186 | 33.76 | +9.54 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Diane Lamarre | 10,138 | 28.08 | -5.72 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Manon Blanchard | 6,382 | 17.68 | +6.57 | ||||
| Liberal | Mohammed Barhone | 6,042 | 16.74 | -13.24 | ||||
| Green | Mel-Lyna Cadieux Walker | 766 | 2.12 | |||||
| New Democratic | Jonathan Leduc | 349 | 0.97 | |||||
| Conservative | Gerardin Verty | 235 | 0.65 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 36,098 | 98.38 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 595 | 1.62 | ||||||
| Turnout | 36,693 | 69.12 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 53,083 | |||||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec gain from Parti Québécois | Swing | +7.63 | ||||||
References
- ↑ "Ian Lafrenière, Lionel Carmant, Gaétan Barrette, Nicole Ménard et Catherine Fournier élus". Le Courrier du Sud, October 2, 2018.
- ↑ "Lionel Carmant - National Assembly of Québec". www.assnat.qc.ca. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
- ↑ "CAQ wants to hike legal age for cannabis to 21 by March, minister says". Montreal Gazette, October 24, 2018.
- ↑ "Longtime Quebec minister Lionel Carmant steps down". CBC News, October 30, 2025.
- ↑ Drimonis, Toula. "Quebec's New Health Care Law Sparks Province-Wide Clash with Doctors". The Walrus. Retrieved November 21, 2025.
- ↑ "Lionel Carmant returns to CAQ caucus". CTV News. The Canadian Press. April 1, 2026. Retrieved May 10, 2026.