Diane Barbeau (March 23, 1961 – November 6, 2021) was a Quebec politician. She represented Vanier in the National Assembly of Quebec from 1994 to 2003, as a member of 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 ...

(PQ). Barbeau worked as an aide to

François Beaulne François Beaulne (born November 28, 1946) is a Quebec politician, he is the son of diplomats Yvon Beaulne and Thérèse Pratte. Biography Beaulne earned two master's degree from the University of Ottawa, in political science and in business a ...

, the PQ member for

Bertrand Bertrand may refer to: Places * Bertrand, Missouri, US * Bertrand, Nebraska, US * Bertrand, New Brunswick, Canada * Bertrand Township, Michigan, US * Bertrand, Michigan * Bertrand, Virginia, US * Bertrand Creek, state of Washington * Saint-Bert ...

. She ran for the

in the open seat of Vanier in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, she easily won the seat by almost double the votes than her opponent and was re-elected in the 1998 election. Barbeau served in the government of

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the House ...

as a Deputy Whip and as a Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Social Solidarity from January 27, 1999 to March 8, 2001 when

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader o ...

took over as Premier. She served in his government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity, from 2001 until 2002, and then for the Minister of State for Human Resources until the end of the government. She abruptly ended her political career in 2003, a month before that year's elections were called, after she was diagnosed with kidney cancer while pregnant, forcing an early birth a month later and eventually leading to the loss of both kidneys.

References

1961 births Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Women MNAs in Quebec 20th-century Canadian legislators 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian legislators 21st-century Canadian women politicians People from Baie-Comeau {{PartiQuébécois-Quebec-MNA-stub