He grew up in Sept-Îles, Quebec, and studied at Laval University. A party member since age 17, he was appointed interim vice-president of the federal party in 2000, and was elected to the post at the NDP's convention in Winnipeg in November 2001.

In January 2003 he became the first Québécois to run for the federal leadership of the party. Although he placed fifth among the six candidates, his campaign was widely acclaimed for raising the profile of the NDP in Quebec and vice versa.

The campaign speech he gave to the leadership convention in Toronto was acclaimed as one of the most eloquent since the days of Tommy Douglas. It famously caused Ken Georgetti, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, to switch his vote.

Speculation was heard that if it were not for the party's new one-member-one-vote system, in which the majority of the party's membership had voted before the convention, he would have obtained a much greater proportion of the vote merely among the delegates who listened to him.

The speech also made his slogan a household phrase among New Democrats: Pour avoir les résultats que vous n'avez jamais eus, il faut faire ce que vous n'avez jamais fait (To get the results you have never had, you must do what you have never done.)

After the leadership race, new leader and fellow Quebec native Jack Layton nominated him his Quebec lieutenant and the party's official spokesperson in Quebec.

Ducasse was nominated to run in the 2004 Canadian federal election, in his home riding of Manicouagan.

External links