Françoise David (born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of

Québec solidaire Québec solidaire (QS; ) is a democratic socialist and sovereigntist political party in Quebec, Canada. The party and media outlets in Canada usually use the name "Québec solidaire" in both French and English, but the party's name is sometimes ...

– a

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 ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, and sovereigntist political party in the province of

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 ...

, Canada. She was elected to serve as the

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

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 ...

for the riding of Gouin in the 2012 Quebec election, and then again in the

2014 Quebec election The 2014 Quebec general election was held on April 7, 2014 to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The incumbent Parti Québécois which had won a minority government in 2012 was defeated by the Quebec Liberal Party under Philippe C ...

. Quebec Solidaire was born from the merger of

Option Citoyenne Option citoyenne was an alterglobalization, sovereigntist and feminist political organization in the Canadian province of Quebec. The group was created by Françoise David in 2004; David and François Saillant were its official spokespersons. Op ...

with l'

Union des Forces Progressistes The Union des forces progressistes (UFP) was a left-wing political party in Quebec, Canada, active from 2002 to 2006. History The Union des Forces Progressistes (UFP) was formed in 2002 out of desire to unite Québec's leftists into a political ...

. She is the author of the book/manifesto ''Bien commun recherché – une option citoyenne'' (over 7,000 copies sold in Quebec) which attempts to combine the concepts of "common good",

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and

economic democracy Economic democracy is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift decision-making power from corporate managers and corporate shareholders to a larger group of public stakeholders that includes workers, customers, suppliers, neighbour ...

into a coherent political doctrine. On January 19, 2017, Françoise David announced her immediate retirement as both party spokesperson and as a Member of the National Assembly due to her health.

Biography

In 1987, Françoise David became coordinator for the ''Regroupement des centres de femmes du Québec''. Seven years later, she was named 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 form ...

'' (FFQ). In this capacity, she ensured that women's issues, including poverty and violence against women, remained at the forefront in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. She is the daughter of cardiologist and Progressive Conservative Senator Paul David. Her grandfather

Athanase David Louis-Athanase David (June 24, 1882 – January 26, 1953) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and businessman. He was a cabinet minister in the Provincial Parliament of Quebec, representing the riding of Terrebonne and serving as Provincial Secret ...

was a Liberal Senator. She is also the sister of

political science 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 ...

professor and director of Raoul-Dandurand Chair, Charles-Philippe David. Two of her best-recognised public successes have been the 1995 Women's March against Poverty and the 2000 World March of Women against Poverty and Violence. In addition to her work experience, Françoise David is a member of numerous community organizations. In January 2000, she participated in the non-governmental observation mission to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

, and in December 2001 she traveled to

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

with the Canadian University Service Overseas. In 1999, she was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

. In 2002, she was awarded the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. Th ...

in Commemoration of the Persons Case. David ran in the riding of Gouin in central Montreal in the 2007 Quebec election, finishing second to the PQ incumbent

Nicolas Girard Nicolas Girard (born June 5, 1972 in Montreal, Quebec) is a politician in Quebec, Canada, and former member of the National Assembly of Quebec. He was elected to the National Assembly in a by-election as a Parti Québécois member on September 20, ...

. David received 7913 votes, amounting to 26% of the vote in her riding, behind Girard's 11,318 votes (37%). Quebec Solidaire received 3.7% of the vote provincewide. David ran in Gouin a second time in the 2008 Quebec election, receiving 7987 votes, or approximately 32% of the total, but again losing out to Girard, who received 10,276 votes (41%). Quebec Solidaire received 3.8% of the vote provincewide and David's co-leader

Amir Khadir Amir Khadir ( fa, امیر خدیر; born June 12, 1961) is a Canadian politician in the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA), Canada for the electoral district of Mercier, and the first male spokesperson for Québec solidaire, a sovereigntist and ...

won the party's first seat in the

in the neighbouring riding of

Mercier Mercier is French for ''notions dealer'' or ''haberdasher'', and may refer to: People * Agnès Mercier, French curler and coach *Annick Mercier (born 1964), French curler *Amanda H. Mercier (born 1975), American Judge * Armand Mercier, (1933–20 ...

. In the 2012 Quebec election, David was elected for the first time. She was re-elected in 2014, her party winning the most seats in its history. Her younger sister,

Hélène David Hélène David (born 1953) is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 provincial election.

, was elected as a

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 ...

MNA for the provincial riding of

Outremont Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by fran ...

in the

. David holds a PhD in psychology and since 1984 she was an instructor and vice-rector at the University. From 2008 to 2010 she was Assistant Deputy Minister for higher education in the Quebec Ministry of Education, Recreation & Sport under Premier

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012 and the fifth deputy prime minister of Canada in 1993. Charest was elected to the House o ...

. When asked if her sister Françoise tried to persuade her to join Québec solidaire, Hélène said that the two have "known for a long time that we're not necessarily from the same political family." Unlike Françoise, Hélène is a federalist. Françoise David is married to François Larose, with whom she had one child.

Electoral record

* Result compared to Action démocratique * Result compared to UFP

References

External links

Official Website of Québec Solidaire
{{DEFAULTSORT:David, Francoise 1948 births People from Outremont, Quebec Québec solidaire MNAs French Quebecers Knights of the National Order of Quebec Living people Quebec political party leaders Women MNAs in Quebec Canadian feminists Female Canadian political party leaders Politicians from Montreal Canadian socialists Canadian socialist feminists 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Francoise Université de Montréal alumni Canadian atheists Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners