Fatima Houda-Pepin (born December 26, 1951) is a

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and a former 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 repre ...

, Canada. She represented the

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 ...

electoral district (the city of

Brossard Brossard (, , ) is a municipality in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Canada and is part of the Greater Montreal area. According to the 2021 census, Brossard's population was 91,525. It shares powers with the urban agglomeration of Longueuil a ...

) between 1994 and 2014, and was a member from the

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; french: Parti libéral du Québec, PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has always been associated with the colour red; e ...

until 2014. She was born in

Meknes Meknes ( ar, مكناس, maknās, ; ber, ⴰⵎⴽⵏⴰⵙ, amknas; french: Meknès) is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco, located in northern central Morocco and the sixth largest city by population in the kingdom. Founded in the 11th c ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. After doing studies in political sciences at

Mohammed V University Mohammed V University (, french: Université Mohammed-V de Rabat), in Rabat, Morocco, was founded in 1957 under a royal decree ( Dahir). It is the first modern university in Morocco after the University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez. History The uni ...

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

and earning a bachelor's degree in

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

at Lycée Al Khansa in

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

, she obtained a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

, 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.

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

, a

doctor's degree A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' l ...

in international relations 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 ...

and a master's degree in library and

information science Information science (also known as information studies) is an academic field which is primarily concerned with analysis, collection, Categorization, classification, manipulation, storage, information retrieval, retrieval, movement, dissemin ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. She was a researcher in information society issues and has made international trips to study the evolution of

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system (I ...

. She has worked as a consultant for the federal and provincial governments as well as for the city of

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 ...

. She was also a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

and the

Université du Québec à Montréal The Université du Québec à Montréal (English: University of Quebec in Montreal), also known as UQAM, is a French-language public university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the Université du Québe ...

. She received, for her work in the community, the

Governor General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

's Commemorative Medal in 1992 and was honoured during

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

in 1993. She was also a member on the

Montérégie Montérégie () is an administrative region in the southwest part of Quebec. It includes the cities of Boucherville, Brossard, Châteauguay, Longueuil, Saint-Hyacinthe, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Vaudreuil-Dorion. The ...

development board. She was first elected in

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 ...

and served as critic for international affairs, French-language affairs, immigration and cultural communities. Re-elected in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

, she was the critic for

housing Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether it ...

, information highway and government services. Re-elected when the Liberals regained power in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, she was named the Chair of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food committee. During the 2007 election, Houda-Pepin was again the La Pinière candidate for the

and was elected with 50.44% of the votes. She was named the First Vice-President of the National Assembly. On January 20, 2014, Houda-Pepin was expelled from the

due to disagreement with the party's views. The Liberal party had come out against the

Charter of Quebec Values The Charter of Quebec Values () was Bill 60 in the Canadian province of Quebec, introduced by the governing Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada ...

, legislation that would strip people from minority religions such as Jews and Muslims the right to wear "overt" religious symbols in public service. Catholics would be permitted to wear small crucifixes which is already the norm for adherents. The same proposed charter retains prominent Catholic symbols including a crucifix over the chair of the Quebec national assembly. Houda-Pepin argued that state employees employed in a coercive role should not wear religious symbols. She ran for reelection in the 2014 election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. 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 ...

opted not to run a candidate in the riding, instead directing its supporters to vote for Houda-Pepin. On election day, however, she was defeated by new Liberal candidate

Gaétan Barrette Gaétan Barrette (born July 5, 1956) is a Canadian politician in Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 election. He represented the electoral district of La Pinière as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party until ...

. Houda-Pepin lost a defamation lawsuit. A judge ordered her to pay $20,000 in moral damages and $4,000 in punitive damages to the mayor of Brossard, Paul Leduc. Houda-Pepin wrote a letter published by a Rive-Sud newspaper claiming falsely that Leduc delivered a "turnkey election" for Barrette.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Houda-Pepin, Fatima 1951 births Living people Quebec Liberal Party MNAs People from Brossard Canadian Muslims Moroccan emigrants to Canada University of Ottawa alumni Université de Montréal alumni Université Laval alumni McGill University School of Information Studies alumni Mohammed V University alumni Women MNAs in Quebec People from Meknes Independent MNAs in Quebec Vice Presidents of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Politicians affected by a party expulsion process