Céline Signori (born February 11, 1938) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former politician. Signori was a two-term Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

Early life

Signori was born in

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu () is a city in eastern Montérégie in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec, about southeast of Montreal. It is situated on the west bank of the Richelieu River at the northernmost naviga ...

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 ...

in 1938 to Gustave Signori, a local teacher and principal, and Anne-Marie Pelchat. Signori studied nursing at l'École de puériculture de Notre-Dame-de-Liesse, a Church-owned school based at an orphanage in

Saint-Laurent, Quebec Saint-Laurent () is a borough of the city of Montreal, Canada, located in the northern part of the island. Although it is no longer an independent city, it is still commonly known as Ville Saint-Laurent (''City of Saint-Laurent'') or by its initi ...

. She served for fifteen years as a neonatal nurse at hospitals in her hometown of

, Hôpital Charles-LeMoyne in

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

, and the hospital in

Fort Smith, Northwest Territories Fort Smith ( chp, Thebacha "beside the rapids") is a town in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada. It is located in the southeastern portion of the Northwest Territories, on the Slave River and adjacent to the Albert ...

. Signori made a career change in the early 1980s, becoming a real estate agent with

Royal LePage Royal LePage is a Canadian real estate franchiser and owner-operator with more than 600 locations and over 18,000 Realtors in Canada. The company was founded on July 2, 1913 in Toronto, Canada by then 26-year-old Albert E. LePage, under the name ...

and becoming more involved in women's issues. She served as President of the Federation of Québec Associations of single parents from 1985-1992 and as President of the

Fédération des femmes du Québec The Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ; English: "Quebec Women's Federation") is a feminist organization binding individuals and groups in a common goal to "promote and defend the interests and the rights of women and to fight against all forms ...

from 1992-1994. As President of the Federation of Québec Associations of single parents, she campaigned relentlessly for automatic collection of child support.

Member of the National Assembly

Céline Signori was first elected to the National Assembly in the 1994 election, in which the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

formed the government. She was re-elected in 1998, but resigned in 2001 after being appointed to the

Commission municipale du Québec The ''Commission municipale du Québec'' (English: Quebec Municipal Commission) is a quasi-judicial body that oversees municipal matters in the Canadian province of Quebec. The commission was founded in 1932 by the government of Louis-Alexandre Tas ...

, where she served until her retirement in 2006.

Later life

In retirement, Signori remained involved in women's issues, speaking at the 20th anniversary celebration of the Centre Rayons de femmes in

Thérèse-De Blainville Thérèse-De Blainville is a federal electoral district in Quebec. Thérèse-De Blainville was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistribution and was legally defined in the 2013 representation order. It came into effect upo ...

, which she was instrumental in helping form as a MNA.http://www.vitalite-regionale.com/courage-des-20-ans-du-centre-rayons-de-femmes/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Signori, Celine 1938 births Living people Parti Québécois MNAs People from Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu 21st-century Canadian politicians