Mike Duggan (Canadian politician)

Mike Duggan
Duggan in 2019
Gatineau City Councillor
Incumbent
Assumed office
November 7, 2021
Preceded byGilles Carpentier
ConstituencyPointe-Gatineau District
In office
November 5, 2017 – November 7, 2021
Preceded byRichard M. Bégin
Succeeded byCaroline Murray
ConstituencyDeschênes District
In office
November 3, 2013 – November 5, 2017
Preceded byAndré Laframboise
Succeeded byGilles Chagnon
ConstituencyLucerne District
Personal details
Political partyIndependent (municipal)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (federal)
Conservative (provincial)
SpouseYuko Duggan
Residence(s)Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Waterloo (BSc, MSc)
OccupationTechnical support agent, teacher

Mike Duggan is a Canadian politician who has served as a city councillor in the city of Gatineau since 2013. He has been the city councillor for Pointe-Gatineau District since 2021, having been elected during the 2021 Gatineau municipal election.[1]

Education and career

Duggan holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a Master of Science in Environmental Sciences from the University of Waterloo and has received various certifications in database administration, network security, web design and project management.[1] Before entering politics, Duggan worked for 3 years as a bilingual technical support agent in Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, before moving to Japan for 3 years to participate in the JET Programme as an English-language teacher. He returned to Canada afterwards to work in computer network administration and in policy analysis within the federal government for over 12 years.[1]

Political career

Municipal politics

In 2013, Duggan entered politics for the first time, running as an Independent in the 2013 Gatineau municipal election, during which he was elected to city council for Lucerne District, defeating incumbent Action Gatineau city councillor André Laframboise with 38.69% of the vote.[2] He served in the position until the 2017 municipal election, when he was elected as the city councillor for Deschênes District, again defeating another incumbent Action Gatineau city councillor, Richard M. Bégin, with 53.14% of the vote. He was succeeded in Lucerne District by Gilles Chagnon.[3] Duggan changed districts for a third time for the 2021 municipal election, running in Pointe-Gatineau District. He was elected with 51.81% of the vote, and was succeeded in Deschênes District by Caroline Murray.[4] On May 13, 2025, Duggan announced that he would be retiring from municipal politics and will not run in the upcoming election.[5]

Political party ambitions

Since as early as 2019, rumours have circulated around city politics circles that Duggan had been planning to create a municipal political party in Gatineau.[6] In 2022, Duggan reserved the political party name Dans le milieu with Élections Québec, stating that he wanted to form a political party to go against then-Mayor of Gatineau France Bélisle's governance structure.[7]

In June 2024, Duggan announced alongside former city councillor for Bellevue District and 2017 mayoral candidate Sylvie Goneau that they were founding Évolution Gatineau, a new political party in Gatineau.[8] This announcement was considered historic, given that at that point, there had not been more than one political party in the city at any point in time; Équipe Mario Aubé would be registered in January 2025, before Évolution Gatineau.[9] Goneau stated that the goal of the party was to bring equal political weight to go against Action Gatineau, given that the current political situation in the city made it so that independent candidates are becoming increasingly disadvantaged in the face of a large, well-established and organized municipal political party. The party is expected to be to the right of Action Gatineau, and plans to be ready in time for the 2025 municipal election.[10] However, after he announced his retirement, Duggan announced that he was withdrawing his involvement with Évolution Gatineau and would instead support Équipe Mario Aubé in the upcoming municipal election.[11]

Federal politics

Duggan attempted to make a jump to federal politics, running as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Hull—Aylmer in the 2019 federal election.[6] He came in fourth with 9.05% of the vote, placing behind the NDP and Bloc Québécois candidates; incumbent Liberal Greg Fergus emerged victorious in the riding.[12]

Controversies

In 2013, Le Droit reported that Duggan, while serving as a member of the Executive Committee of Gatineau City Council, allegedly behaved inappropriately in public by giving a middle finger to a journalist from the media company, even though the councillor had just publicly apologized for having insulted a constituent by e-mail. He reportedly walked out, slamming the door behind him violently.[13] Duggan later admitted that the week wasn't going well for him and that he didn't appreciate Le Droit's coverage of the insulting e-mail, in which he says he doesn't want to be bothered with the constituent's statements. On the same day, then-Mayor Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin announced that Duggan was stepping down from the Executive Committee following the incident.[14][15]

In 2024, Duggan was accused of bringing electronic devices related to his work as a city councillor on a trip to Russia; Global Affairs Canada had warned that the Federal Security Service could engage in spying on foreigners from Western countries, particularly those belonging to the NATO against a backdrop of high tensions and espionage, especially between Canada and Russia amid the Russo-Ukrainian War.[16][17][18] Duggan later expressed regret about his trip and was ultimately not sanctioned.[19]

Electoral record

Municipal

2021 Gatineau municipal election: Pointe-Gatineau
Party Candidate Popular vote Expenditures
Votes % ±%
Independent 1,472 51.40 -1.75[a] $4,246.65
Action Gatineau Myriam Gilbert 1,134 39.59 -20.75 $4,667.51
Independent Leon Kambi Bushiri 258 9.01 – $2,032.99
Total valid votes 2,864 98.14
Total rejected, unmarked and declined votes 54 1.86 -2.71
Turnout 2,918 29.84 -2.23
Eligible voters 9,780
Note: Candidate campaign colours, unless a member of a party, may be based on the prominent colour used in campaign items
(signs, literature, etc.) or colours used in polling graphs and are used as a visual differentiation between candidates.
Sources: Office of the City Clerk of Gatineau[20][21]

Federal

2019 Canadian federal election: Hull—Aylmer
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Greg Fergus 29,732 54.1 +2.73 none listed
Bloc Québécois Joanie Riopel 8,011 14.6 +8.06 $2,949.94
New Democratic Nicolas Thibodeau 7,467 13.6 −17.92 $26,504.52
Conservative 4,979 9.1 +1.38 $18,923.80
Green Josée Poirier Defoy 3,869 7.0 +5.13 $9,958.48
People's Rowen Tanguay 638 1.2 – $638.31
Rhinoceros Sébastien Grenier 195 0.4 – $0.00
Marxist–Leninist Alexandre Deschênes 102 0.2 +0.02 $0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit 54,993 100.0
Total rejected ballots 692
Turnout 55,685 70.4
Eligible voters 79,072
Liberal hold Swing −2.67
Source: Elections Canada[22][23]

Notes

  1. ^ Percentage change taken from Duggan's previous election win in Deschênes District.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Mike Duggan – Conseiller municipal du district de Pointe-Gatineau (12)" (in Canadian French). Ville de Gatineau. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  2. ^ "Résultats de l'élection municipale du 3 novembre 2013" (in Canadian French). Ville de Gatineau. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  3. ^ "Résultats officieux de l'élection municipale du 5 novembre 2017" (in Canadian French). Ville de Gatineau. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  4. ^ "Résultats officieux de l'élection municipale du 7 novembre 2021" (in Canadian French). Ville de Gatineau. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  5. ^ Bélanger, Mathieu (May 13, 2025). "C'est la fin pour Mike Duggan en politique municipale" (in Canadian French). Le Droit. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Mike Duggan candidat conservateur dans Hull-Aylmer" (in Canadian French). CBC News. April 4, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  7. ^ Malouin, Étienne (March 23, 2022). "Mike Duggan veut former son parti d'ici l'été" (in Canadian French). TVA Gatineau/Ottawa. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  8. ^ Lagueux-Barthe, Étienne (June 10, 2024). "Après Action Gatineau, Évolution Gatineau?" (in Canadian French). CBC News. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  9. ^ "Fiche du parti municipal - Équipe Mario Aubé" (in Canadian French). Élections Québec. July 30, 2021. Retrieved March 13, 2025.
  10. ^ Boissonnault, Mélanye (June 18, 2024). "À quoi ressemblera le nouveau parti de Sylvie Goneau?" (in Canadian French). CBC News. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  11. ^ "« Une pause » de la politique pour Mike Duggan" (in Canadian French). TVA Gatineau. May 21, 2024. Retrieved May 22, 2025.
  12. ^ "2019 Canada election results: Hull—Aylmer". Global News. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  13. ^ Bélanger, Mathieu (December 4, 2013). "Duggan accueille un journaliste avec un doigt d'honneur" (in Canadian French). Le Droit. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  14. ^ "Le conseiller Mike Duggan quitte le comité exécutif de la Ville de Gatineau" (in Canadian French). CBC News. December 4, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  15. ^ "Le conseiller du district de Lucerne, Mike Duggan, explique son geste lors d'une mêlée de presse mercredi" (in Canadian French). CBC News. December 4, 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  16. ^ Lagacé, Patrick; Labelle, Frédéric (September 26, 2024). "Mike Duggan justifie son voyage en Russie" (in Canadian French). 98.5 Montréal. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  17. ^ Brulé, Louis-Philippe; St-Denis, Yanick (September 23, 2024). "Un mystérieux voyage de Mike Duggan qui inquiète la ville" (in Canadian French). 104.7 Outaouais. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  18. ^ Bélanger, Mathieu (September 23, 2024). "Mike Duggan provoque la stupéfaction en se rendant en Russie" (in Canadian French). Le Droit. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  19. ^ "Mike Duggan ne sera pas sanctionné pour son voyage en Russie" (in Canadian French). CBC News. October 3, 2024. Retrieved May 4, 2025.
  20. ^ "Élection du 7 novembre 2021 — Résultat du recensement des votes" (PDF) (in Canadian French). City of Gatineau. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  21. ^ "Rapports de dépenses électorales" (in Canadian French). City of Gatineau. Retrieved May 5, 2025.
  22. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  23. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
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