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 ...
politician. Sellah represented the riding of
Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert
Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert (formerly known as Saint-Hubert) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. Its population in 2001 was 99,755.
Geography
This South S ...
in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
from
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
to 2015. Following her tenure in parliament, she served as president of the
New Democratic Party of Quebec
The New Democratic Party of Quebec (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec; NPDQ) is a federalist and social-democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The party is a revival of the comparable Nouveau Parti Démocratique d ...
in 2018.
Early life and career
Sellah was born in
Algiers
Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...
midwife
A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery.
The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...
and her father was killed in the
Algerian War of Independence
The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...
. She was a volunteer doctor for the
Red Crescent
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
during the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. She then went to
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, su ...
with her husband who was working as a translator. The two came to
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 1998. Sellah has three children. At the time of her election, she was president of the ''Association québécoise des médecins diplômés hors Canada et États-Unis'', supporting the recognition of qualifications of foreign-trained doctors.
Political career
Federal politics
Sellah entered politics ahead of 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 ...
Pierre Nantel
Pierre Nantel (born June 10, 1963) is a Canadian politician and a former member of the House of Commons of Canada. First elected in the 2011 federal election as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), he succeeded Jean Dorion of the B ...
. She was then nominated by the party for the riding of
Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert
Saint-Bruno—Saint-Hubert (formerly known as Saint-Hubert) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. Its population in 2001 was 99,755.
Geography
This South S ...
and was elected as part of the "Orange Wave" that swept Quebec, defeating three-term
Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...
Montarville
Montarville is a federal electoral district in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2015.
Montarville was created by the 2012 federal electoral boundaries redistributi ...
, but placed third behind
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Michel Picard, whom she had defeated in 2011. Sellah was once again the NDP's candidate for Montarville for the 2019 election; she came in third with a reduced percentage. She ran for the NDP again in the 2021 Election, but was unsuccessful.
Party politics
Following the death of
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 ...
, Sellah endorsed
Tom Mulcair
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
to be the next leader of 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 ...
. Sellah ran for president of the NDP in 2016 to replace Rebecca Blaikie, but ultimately lost to
Marit Stiles
Marit Stiles () (born September 20, 1969) is a Canadian politician who has represented Davenport in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since June 7, 2018. A member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), Stiles is presumed to be the next p ...
Charlie Angus
Charles Joseph Angus (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian author, journalist, broadcaster, musician and politician. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Angus has been the federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Timmins—Jame ...
.
Provincial politics
Sellah was the president of the
New Democratic Party of Quebec
The New Democratic Party of Quebec (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Québec; NPDQ) is a federalist and social-democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The party is a revival of the comparable Nouveau Parti Démocratique d ...
during 2018. She was the New Democratic Party of Quebec's candidate in
La Pinière
La Pinière is a provincial electoral district in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. Its territory corresponds to the city of Brossard, less its "P" and "V" sectors that are located no ...
for the
2018 Quebec general election
The 2018 Quebec general election was held on October 1, 2018, to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The election saw a landslide victory for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) led by François Legault, which won 74 of 125 seats, ...
Le Devoir
''Le Devoir'' (, "Duty") is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and throughout Canada. It was founded by journalist and politician Henri Bourassa in 1910.
''Le Devoir'' is one of few independent large-c ...