Jacques Rivard is a Canadian environmentalist

Environmentalist

An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...

 and former male deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada

Green Party of Canada

The Green Party of Canada is a Canadian federal political party founded in 1983 with 10,000–12,000 registered members as of October 2008. The Greens advance a broad multi-issue political platform that reflects its core values of ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy and...

. In July 2010, he left the Green party and resigned as deputy leader after serving only seven months and defected to the Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

. Rivard is originally from Rivière-du-Loup, and received his formal education in La Pocatière, Quebec

La Pocatière, Quebec

La Pocatière is a town in the Kamouraska Regional County Municipality within the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec.A Bombardier plant which manufactures subway and railway cars is located there. Educational institutions include the Collège de Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière and the Cégep de La Pocatière...

.

Politics

On November 24, 2009, Green Party leader Elizabeth May

Elizabeth May

Elizabeth Evans May, OC, MP is an American-born Canadian Member of Parliament, environmentalist, writer, activist, lawyer, and the leader of the Green Party of Canada. She was the executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada from 1989 to 2006. She became a Canadian citizen in 1978.May's...

 announced she had chosen Rivard, a former journalist at Télévision de Radio-Canada

Télévision de Radio-Canada

Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...

, as her new deputy leader. Rivard served alongside Adriane Carr

Adriane Carr

Adriane Carr is a Canadian academic, activist and politician with the Green Party in British Columbia and Canada. She is also a Councillor-elect on Vancouver City Council. She was a founding member and the Green Party of British Columbia's first leader from 1983 to 1985, whereafter the party...

, the other deputy leader of the federal Greens. However in July 2010, he resigned as deputy leader and defected to the Bloc Québécois.