Bellemare was a member of the City Council in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada from 1994 to 2010.
He served as the acting as mayor of Ottawa, while mayor Larry O'Brien faced charges from May 2 to July 8, 2009 and represented Beacon Hill-Cyrville Ward in the east end of the city, formerly part of Gloucester.
A lawyer by training, Bellemare first ran for a seat on the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton council (RMOC) in 1994.
In council, he is one of the strongest proponents of official bilingualism and tax cuts.
He has also been a longtime opponent of Ottawa's O-Train light rail program and voted for the cancellation of the north-south line extension to Barrhaven which would have been completed and in operation starting in 2009.