Alexandrine Latendresse (born April 30, 1984) was the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

Member of Parliament for

Louis-Saint-Laurent Louis-Saint-Laurent () is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It was created in 2003 from parts of Portneuf (electoral district), P ...

and was elected in the

2011 Canadian federal election The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on March ...

. She defeated former

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations wit ...

Josée Verner Josée Verner, (born December 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician. She represented the electoral district of Louis-Saint-Laurent in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 to 2011 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. She also served ...

of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. She had earlier run in Louis-Saint-Laurent in the 2008 federal election, but lost. Latendresse introduced Bill C-419, which would require future officers of Parliament to be able to function in both official languages without the help of an interpreter. Latendresse declined to run again in the 2015 election, saying the pace of parliamentary debate had lost its appeal for her. Daniel Caron, a former ambassador of Canada to Ukraine from 2008 to 2011, was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in the district shortly thereafter.

Early life and education

Latendresse was born 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 ...

and had a career as a child actor, starring in advertisements in the 1980s that promoted cheese in Quebec. She then had several roles in various television series, including ''

Watatatow ''Watatatow'' was a Canadian French-language children/youth television series, that aired from 1991 to 2005 on Radio-Canada. The first show aired on September 17, 1991. 104 half-hour episodes were filmed every year; they were shown four afternoo ...

'' and ''

Virginie ''Virginie'' was a French-language Canadian television series that aired Monday through Thursday on Radio-Canada (the French-language CBC television network). It debuted in 1996. The show examined the public and private lives of teachers, stud ...

''. She also participated in several films, including '' Montréal vu par...'', ''La fête des rois'', ''Soho'', ''Aline'' and ''Le Jardin d'Anna''. She received a Bachelor of Arts in linguistics at

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxemb ...

. Latendresse was to undertake graduate studies in May 2011, but she agreed to postpone this decision until after the election. In June 2011, leader

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

named Latendresse to a frontbench position in the NDP caucus, as deputy critic for democratic reform. She served in this capacity for the entirety of the

41st Canadian Parliament The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, 2 ...

References

External links

* * 1984 births Actresses from Montreal Actresses from Quebec City Canadian actor-politicians Canadian child actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Women members of the House of Commons of Canada French Quebecers Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Quebec City Université Laval alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians {{Quebec-MP-stub