He was an Action démocratique du Québec Member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Saint-Maurice from 2007 to 2008.
Deschamps, who has a background in education, was a teacher for 24 years after obtaining a degree at the Université de Montréal and completing additional studies at St. Dunstan's University in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he played for the university's hockey club.
Parti Québécois incumbent Claude Pinard, who was running for a fourth consecutive term, finished second with 33% of the vote.
[2] In the minutes that followed his inauguration, Deschamps confirmed his intention to relocate the Aréna Jacques Plante away from the downtown area, near the École Secondaire des Chutes.
[4] In 2009, Robert Deschamps ran for Mayor in Shawinigan,[5] but later dropped from the race for health reasons.