Émilie Thuillier is a politician in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She has served on the

Montreal city council The Montreal City Council (french: Conseil municipal de Montréal) is the governing body in the mayor–council government in the city of Montreal, Quebec. The head of the city government in Montreal is the mayor, who is first among equals in the ...

since 2009, representing Ahuntsic as a member of

Projet Montréal Projet Montréal (officially Projet Montréal - Équipe Valérie Plante) is a progressive, environmentalist municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is led by Valérie Plante, and holds a majority of seats on M ...

, and has been a member of the

Montreal executive committee The Montreal Executive Committee (french: Comité exécutif de Montréal) is the executive branch of the municipal government of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The committee reports directly to city hall and is responsible for generating documents such a ...

since November 2012.

Early political career

Thuillier holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Geography from the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in sciences and the environment from the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

. She became a founding member of Projet Montréal in 2004 while writing her

master's thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on urban

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. Not long thereafter, she was chosen as the party's vice-president. She first sought election to the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council in the

2005 Montreal municipal election The 2005 Montreal municipal election was held on November 6, 2005, to elect a city mayor, borough mayors, city councillors, and borough councillors in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the contest for mayor of Montreal, Gérald Tremblay was elected to ...

, running in the De Lorimier division. The returns office initially declared her elected by twelve votes, but the final scrutiny showed that she was defeated by nine. Had she won, she would have been only the second representative of her party elected anywhere in the city. After the campaign, she became a leading Projet Montréal spokesperson and press attaché to its leader,

Richard Bergeron Richard Bergeron (born 1955) is a Canadian politician and former Montreal city councillor. He founded Projet Montréal, a municipal political party, and was its leader until 2014. He was the party's mayoralty candidate in the 2005, 2009 and 201 ...

. Thuillier later ran for Montreal city council in a 2008

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Ahuntsic. She finished third against

Vision Montreal Vision Montreal (french: Vision Montréal or VM) was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1994 and dissolved in April 2014. Between 2001 and 2013 it formed the official opposition on Montreal City Council. O ...

's Hasmig Belleli.

City councillor

Thuillier ran in Ahuntsic again in the 2009 municipal election and was elected in a close three-way contest; one of her opponents was former provincial cabinet minister

Diane Lemieux Diane Lemieux (born September 22, 1961) is a politician, feminist and Quebec administrator. Her early activist experiences involved advocating for women's rights, first for sexual assault victims, then in her role as president of the Conseil d ...

Gérald Tremblay Gérald Tremblay (born September 20, 1942) is a former Canadian politician and businessman who served as mayor of Montreal from 2002 until his resignation in 2012. He also served as president of the Montreal Metropolitan Community. Before b ...

Union Montreal Union Montreal (french: Union Montréal) is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the governing party in the city from 2001, when it won its first election under mayor Gérald Tremblay, until 2012. The party rem ...

won a majority on council and served as the governing party for the next three years, initially with Vision Montreal and Projet Montréal as junior coalition partners and later on its own. Tremblay resigned as mayor in November 2012 amid the backdrop of a serious corruption scandal. He was replaced by Michael Applebaum, who formed a coalition government with representation from all parties on council and some independents. Applebaum announced his executive committee on November 22, 2012, appointing Thuillier to one of two vice-chair positions, with responsibility for social and community development, family, seniors, youth and the status of women. In June 2013, she helped organize a safety campaign for the benefit of seniors living in social housing. Applebaum, in turn, resigned as mayor in June 2013. His successor, Laurent Blanchard, re-appointed Thuillier to the same executive positions.See "Small Steps against Hunger - Children at the heart of mutual help and solidarity actions for needy Montreal families," ''Canada NewsWire'', 4 July 2013. By virtue of her position on city council, Thuillier is also a member of the

Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough council The Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough council is the local governing body of Ahuntsic-Cartierville, a borough in the City of Montreal. The council consists of five members: the borough mayor (who also serves as a Montreal city councillor) and the cit ...

. In the 2017 municipal election, Thuillier ran to replace Pierre Gagnier of Équipe Coderre, who was not seeking reelection. She ultimately defeated Équipe Coderre stalwart

Harout Chitilian Harout Chitilian (Armenian: Հարութ Շիթիլեան) (born in 1980 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a former city councillor from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, former chairman of the council, he held the position of vice president of the executive comm ...

to win the position.

Electoral record

References

External links

Municipal biography
(in French), City of Montreal {{DEFAULTSORT:Thuillier, Emilie Living people Montreal city councillors People from Ahuntsic-Cartierville Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Mayors of places in Quebec Year of birth missing (living people) Women mayors of places in Quebec