Hélène David (born 1953) is a

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, who was elected to 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 ...

in the 2014 provincial election."Hélène David wins Liberal seat in Outremont"

Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and ...

, April 7, 2014. She represented the electoral district 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 ...

from 2014 to 2018, and represented the district of

Marguerite-Bourgeoys Marguerite-Bourgeoys is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It comprises the LaSalle borough of the city of Montreal. It was created for the 1966 elect ...

from 2018 to 2022, as a member of 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 ...

. David was Minister of Culture and Communications and Minister Responsible for the Protection and Promotion of the French Language from 2014 to 2016 in the Couillard government, then Minister Responsible for Higher Education from 2016 to 2018.

Biography

David was born, raised and educated in

. She holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the

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 ...

. In 1984 she started to work as an instructor in

psychopathology Psychopathology is the study of abnormal cognition, behaviour, and experiences which differs according to social norms and rests upon a number of constructs that are deemed to be the social norm at any particular era. Biological psychopatholo ...

and women's and maternal issues. She is also a member of various university committees, overseer of psychology graduate programs, deputy director of the Department of Psychology, and vice-rector of academic affairs, international relations, and the

Francophonie Francophonie is the quality of speaking French. The term designates the ensemble of people, organisations and governments that share the use of French on a daily basis and as administrative language, teaching language or chosen language. The ...

at the university. From 2008 to 2010 she was assistant deputy minister for higher education in the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports under then-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 of ...

. She received the Simone Chouinard Award from the Montreal Heart Institute Research Centre, and the International Cesare Sacerdoti Award from the

International Psychoanalytical Association The International Psychoanalytical Association (IPA) is an association including 12,000 psychoanalysts as members and works with 70 constituent organizations. It was founded in 1910 by Sigmund Freud, from an idea proposed by Sándor Ferenczi. His ...

. In 1977 became a member of the Quebec College of Psychologists, and served for many years on the board of the Montreal Heart Institute.

Personal life

She is the younger sister of

Françoise David Françoise David (born January 13, 1948) is a former spokesperson of Québec solidaire – a left-wing, feminist, and sovereigntist political party in the province of Quebec, Canada. She was elected to serve as the Member of the National Assemb ...

, a member of the National Assembly for the

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 ...

party from 2012 to 2017. When asked about her sister, she said that the two have "known for a long time that we’re not necessarily from the same political family." Hélène is a federalist, while Françoise is a sovereigntist. However, Hélène shares Françoise's staunch

feminism 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 ...

; she considers herself "allergic to all domination of women by men." Her other siblings include Pierre David, a film producer, and Charles-Philippe David, a political science professor at 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 ...

. Her father is Paul David, a former cardiologist and PC

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

under former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

. On February 22, 2016 she became

Minister of Higher Education {{Unreferenced, date=March 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A Ministry of Higher Education is a government department that focuses on the provision or regulation of institutions of higher education. In some countries these exist as ministries compounde ...

References

External links

Hélène David
Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Living people Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Université de Montréal faculty Université de Montréal alumni Women MNAs in Quebec Politicians from Montreal People from Outremont, Quebec 1953 births 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Canadian feminists Canadian psychologists Helene {{Quebec-MNA-stub