Courtesy
Eric Lefebvre

By Nick Fonda

Local Journalism Initiative

If there’s a candidate in the Richmond-Arthabaska riding who needs little introduction it’s Eric Lefebvre.  Running under the Conservative banner in the April 28 federal election, he has already held public office at both the municipal and provincial level.

He was first elected in 2001 when, having just turned 30, he began the first of his two terms as a city councillor in his native Victoriaville.  Then, at the end of 2016, he won a provincial byelection in the Arthabaska riding for the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ), and two years later was named party whip.  About a year ago, when he knew he would be running in the next federal election, he left the CAQ and the perks of a ministerial position (a significant boost in salary as well as a car and driver) to sit as an independent.

Athletically inclined, growing up he was particularly drawn to hockey and golf.  As a Phys-Ed major, he might have been expected to become a high school Phys-Ed teacher, but Eric Lefebvre’s career path has been an unusual one.

“A lot of the people I graduated with did become gym teachers,” he says.  “I know that quite a number of those have now moved into administrative positions.   I think it’s because people with a background in sports education have a talent for bringing people together.”

“I might have gone into teaching,” he continues, “but a different opportunity came up.  Fitness gyms were becoming very popular across Quebec in the mid-1990s and I got a job with Energie Cardio which had opened up a center here.”

Four years later, he opened a pub in Victoriaville, le Caméléon, and became involved with the city’s downtown merchants’ association.  Two years later, he became a city councillor.

Although he’s an urbanite, Eric Lefebvre is not unfamiliar with farm life.

“Until the age of ten,” he says, “I lived on a farm.  My father kept chickens and beef cattle, and also made maple syrup in the spring.  It was a small operation, and really more of a hobby farm.  My father was an entrepreneur and, at a certain point, his business interests made it impossible for him to give time to his animals.”

“I have a great deal of respect for farmers,” he says.  “Few people are aware of how much farmers contribute, and how much they sacrifice.  There are very few professions that require you to work seven days a week.”

He continues, “Each of us should be fully conscious of farmers three times every day, when we look at our plates at breakfast, lunch, and supper.  Along with the Conservative Party, I am entirely committed to our system of supply management.  It provides stability to both agricultural producers and the public at large because we all buy groceries.”

“One of the challenges facing farmers,” he says, “is a labour shortage.  Farming is hard, physical work, and farm hands are not easy to come by.  Temporary foreign workers are essential to the agricultural sector.”

“However,” he continues, “immigrants have to have proper accommodation.  They need health care, they need housing, they need education, or their children do,” Lefebvre points out. “While many of these are temporary workers, their needs also have to be met.  What the Conservative Party proposes is to balance the equation, so that our immigration numbers correspond to our available infrastructure and resources.”

“Another concern,” he adds, “is the next generation of farmers.  Land prices have soared; equipment is costly.  When farms are passed from father to son, or father to daughter it can be easier for a young farmer to make a go of it.  For someone starting from scratch, it’s a daunting challenge.  We need to have young people entering the agricultural sector, and we have to find a way to make that possible.”       

The federal Richmond-Arthabaska riding is predominantly rural geographically but primarily urban demographically, with a preponderance of voters residing in Victoriaville.

“The problems and challenges are different in a city,” he says.  “One big problem is housing.  The Conservative Party is going to work with municipalities to create new housing.  There may be ways to speed up the process of obtaining building permits.  The Conservative Party is also going to offer financial incentives to municipalities that encourage the construction of affordable housing.  Such programs already exist in certain places.”

Working for both rural and urban constituents won’t be a problem for Eric Lefebvre.

“The provincial riding of Arthabaska and the federal riding of Richmond – Arthabaska don’t cover the same territory, but they are very similar,” he says.  “Both share Victoriaville as a major urban center and both have an important farming community.  I’ve always seen my role as a politician to be the ears, eyes, and voice of my constituents.  I hope to do that federally just as I’ve done it in the past provincially and municipally.”

The 2025 election marks Eric Lefebvre’s second attempt to enter the federal arena.  In 2008 he ran in the same riding but lost to the incumbent, André Bellavance of the Bloc Québecois.

“Even though I didn’t win, my second-place finish was noted,” he says.  “Among the many Conservative candidates in Quebec who were not elected that year, I had the strongest showing.  I was asked by Denis Lebel, a minister in Stephen Harper’s cabinet, to work for him in Ottawa, which I did a period of time before returning to work in the private sector.”

Few candidates have been as ready for the 2025 federal election as Eric Lefebvre.  Just as he had been actively recruited by the CAQ to run in a provincial byelection in 2016, he was approached about running in this federal election a year before it was called.

“A Conservative Senator contacted me first to ask me if I was interested in coming back to the Conservative family,” Eric Lefebvre says.  “I’ve been a Conservative for more than 20 years and I was interested in running federally a second time.  I then got a call from Pierre Poilievre and we had a talk that lasted over an hour.  We had a second conversation a week later that lasted twice as long.  He was looking for strong voices from rural Quebec and I felt I could be one of those voices.  As soon as I decided that I would be the Conservative candidate, I quit the CAQ cabinet to avoid any possible conflict of interests.  I continued to sit as an Independent until the week before the April 28 election was called.”

It became evident just how ready Eric Lefebvre and his team were on the morning of March 23 when voters in Richmond–Arthabaska woke up to find his posters on telephone poles near important intersections which had been put up overnight by 110 volunteers.  Larger billboards were prepared for all the riding’s municipalities.   Each one announces, by including the municipality’s name on the billboard, that Eric Lefebvre of the Conservative Party is there to serve its citizens.

“We do want to help all Canadians who are struggling with higher costs,” he says.  “We will be giving all middle-class Canadians an annual $900 payment to offset some of those higher costs.  We will remove the federal sales tax on new homes bought by first-time buyers.  Retirees over 65 years old who return to work will pay no federal tax on any income under $37 000.  We also intend to cut the federal work force, which has grown considerably in recent years.”

Citizens in Richmond – Arthabaska, like all other Canadians, will be going to the polls on April 28.  All are encouraged to vote.