Christine Black is a politician in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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. She has served as borough mayor of

Montréal-Nord Montreal North (french: Montréal-Nord) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city of Montréal-Nord on Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. It was amalgamated into t ...

and as a member of Montreal City Council since winning a

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 April 2016. Black is a member of Ensemble Montréal.

Early career

Originally from Montreal's South Shore area, Black moved to Montréal-Nord at age twenty to work for the ''Centre des jeunes l'Escale'' (English: L'Escale Youth Centre). She became the organization's director in 2006 and held this position until the time of her election to public office. In 2008, she became a spokesperson for the ''Mouvement Solidarité Montréal-Nord'', a group that formed following the shooting death of Fredy Villanueva by a police officer. She argued in favour of

community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...

during this period and was quoted as saying, "Part of the problem is you have police officers who aren't known around here coming in and making arrests, harassing people, and then leaving. It's important to have a police presence here, but they also need to understand the flavour of the neighbourhood and the benefits of dialogue and prevention." She also noted that part of her centre's mandate was to provide basketball, soccer, singing, and dancing programs for at-risk youth in the community. Black's party biography indicates that she has a certificate in social work from the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal (2001) and a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree 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- ...

(2010), and that she is working toward the completion of 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 Public Administration from the School of Public Administration, with a focus on health services and social services.

Borough mayor and city councillor

Black was selected by Montreal mayor Denis Coderre to run as his party's candidate in a 2016 by-election for borough mayor in Montréal-Nord. She was 34 years old at the time of the election, and her campaign was focused on issues of economic renewal and lowering the poverty rate.John Meagher, "Black elected mayor in Montreal North," ''Montreal Gazette'', 25 April 2016, A2. The borough is considered a strong area of support for Coderre's party, and Black was elected without difficulty. By virtue of serving as borough mayor, Black is automatically a member of the Montreal City Council and the Montréal-Nord borough council.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Christine Living people Montreal city councillors People from Montréal-Nord 21st-century Canadian politicians Women municipal councillors in Canada Women mayors of places in Quebec Mayors of places in Quebec Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Canadian women politicians