Elsie Lefebvre (born May 5, 1979 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 ...

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 ...

) is a

politician. She was the

Member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

for the

Laurier-Dorion Laurier-Dorion is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Villeray and Park Extension in the city of Montreal Mon ...

riding from 2004 to 2007, and later served on Montreal City Council. She is trilingual, speaking French,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Profile

Background

Lefebvre has been involved in politics, with 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), since the age of 17. Following her bachelor's degree in political science at

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-de ...

, her studies took her to the Universidad de las Américas in

Puebla, Puebla Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. There she gathered much political experience, notably as an intern at the

Quebec Government House The Quebec Government Offices (French: ''Délégations générales du Québec'') are the Government of Quebec's official representations around the world. They are overseen by Quebec's Ministry of International Relations. The network of 33 office ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and as parliamentary assistant to French politician

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financi ...

Election

In 2004, she won the Parti Québécois candidacy for the coming

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 her native riding, Laurier-Dorion, and began a campaign of outspoken

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

and sovereigntist politics (opposing the Charest government). On September 20, 2004, at the age of 25, she became the youngest elected female MNA in 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 ...

's history. Her arrival was touted by some as the sovereigntist new blood and ''breath of fresh air'' for the party and movement. Four by-elections occurred on the day of her victory. The Liberals lost all but one (with a smaller victory than usual for one of the strongest Liberal fortresses, Nelligan), with the PQ winning two and the

Action démocratique du Québec Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

one. Coming at a time when the Charest government was low in opinion polls, her victory in the Laurier-Dorion was described as historic for reasons other than Lefebvre's relative youth. Laurier (later merged with the riding of Dorion) had been won only once before by the PQ, by

Lise Payette Lise Payette ( Ouimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of ...

, and had been held by

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 ...

Christos Sirros Christos Sirros ( el, Χρήστος Σύρρος; born 2 February 1948) is a politician in the Province of Quebec, Canada. He was a member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the Laurier-Dorion electoral district (Canada), riding for ...

for two decades. As one of the most

multicultural The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

ridings in Quebec, the surprise victory was seen as a major step in the long ongoing PQ "charm operation" towards Quebec cultural minorities. In addition, the riding is remembered as the first riding of the party founder

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attempt ...

. Twice elected in Laurier as a Liberal, Lévesque never managed to win it with the PQ, despite being party leader. Lefebvre lost her Montreal seat to the Quebec Liberal Party in the 2007 provincial election.

Parliament

Lefebvre was the Official Opposition critic for immigration and cultural communities during her tenure in office. In June 2005, after answering her question in the National Assembly about a possible conflict of interest involving his spouse, Premier Jean Charest mumbled "hostie de chienne", an insult which would roughly translate in English as "fucking bitch". Lefebvre supported then-leader

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 ...

in February 2005 in the Parti Québécois leadership race. In September 2005, she announced her support for Richard Legendre.

Montreal City Council

Lefebvre was recruited by Vision Montréal as a high-profile candidate for Montreal City Council in November 2009, in the district of Villeray in the borough of

Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension is a borough (''arrondissement'') in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It had a population of 143,853 according to the 2016 Census and a land area of . The borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension ...

. She won the election, defeating incumbent Union Montréal councillor Sylvain Lachance. When she joined municipal politics, she said the political milieu in Montreal was hampered by factionalism. She won re-election in 2013 under the party Coalition Montreal. Lefebvre announced in June 2017 that she would become an independent councilor before choosing which party she will join for the next elections. On 13 June 2017 Mayor

Denis Coderre Denis Coderre (born July 25, 1963) is a Canadian politician from Quebec. Coderre was the member of Parliament for the riding of Bourassa from 1997 until 2013, and was the Immigration minister from 2002 to 2003 and became the mayor of Mont ...

dropped councilor

Marvin Rotrand Marvin Rotrand (born 1951) is a former Canadian politician, last sitting as an independent. He previously served as a member of Montreal City Council, representing the district of Snowdon. Rotrand served on Montreal city council from 1982 until ...

from the role of Vice-Chair of the ''

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (STM; en, Montreal Transit Corporation) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Ra ...

'' and replaced him with Lefebvre. Lefebvre announced in August 2017 that she would join the mayor's

Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal Equipe or Équipe may refer to: ''Équipe'' Équipe may refer to: * team, in French language * ''L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury ...

for the November 2017 municipal elections. She said working with the Coderre regime on files like transit electrification and banning plastic bags convinced her to join his faction. She said she feels the partisan atmosphere changed since Coderre’s election in 2013. Lefebvre subsequently lost to Rosannie Filato, a lawyer with the Projet Montreal party.

References

Une étudiante en études internationales est élue à l'Assemblée nationale
on the

website. ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Elsie 1979 births French Quebecers Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Universidad de las Américas Puebla alumni Université de Montréal alumni Women MNAs in Quebec Montreal city councillors People from Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Women municipal councillors in Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians