Louise Beaudoin (born September 26, 1945 in
Quebec City,
Quebec) is a
Canadian politician, who represented the
electoral district
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
of
Rosemont Rosemont may refer to:
* Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
* ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places
In Australia
* Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register
In Canada ...
in the
National Assembly of Quebec until
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, as a member of the
Parti Québécois (PQ). She sat as an
independent from June 6, 2011 to April 3, 2012. She is best known for her previous tenure as a
Member of the National Assembly (MNA) of
Chambly, from 1994 to 2003, when she occupied various ministerial positions.
Biography
Beaudoin earned a master's degree in history from
Université Laval and a master's degree in
sociology at the
Sorbonne. As a student, like many contemporaries, she was associated with Quebec separatists.
In the 1970s, she worked at the
École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP). She was also director of
Claude Morin's office. Posted to the ''Délégation générale du Québec à Paris'' from 1984–1985, she was close to
René Lévesque in the last years of his life.
Beaudoin was elected as a ''
péquiste'' in the riding of
Chambly in 1994, and re-elected in 1998.
During her time as MNA of Chambly, Beaudoin had several portfolios. At various times she was the minister responsible for the
Charter of the French Language,
international relations,
intergovernmental relations
Intergovernmental can refer to:
*Intergovernmentalism
*Intergovernmental immunity (disambiguation)
*Intergovernmental Risk Pool
*Intergovernmental organization
Globalization is social change associated with increased connectivity among societies ...
,
La Francophonie, Culture and Communications, and
globalization. She received some English press coverage for her spirited defence of
Bill 101 on an episode of ''
60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
''. Her stringent enforcement of Bill 101 didn't play well with the
Anglophone communities in Quebec, and she was famously portrayed as a leather-clad
dominatrix by popular ''
Montreal Gazette''
cartoonist
A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
Aislin. On several occasions she has made controversial remarks about culture, claiming, for example, that
multiculturalism is a Canadian value but not a Quebec one. With
Sheila Copps, the Minister for Canadian Heritage, Beaudoin also worked for the adoption of the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, voted on after the
September 11 attacks in 2001. The same year, she accused the federal government of lying for not permitting Quebec premier
Bernard Landry to participate in the
Summit of the Americas
The Summit of the Americas (SOA) is an international summit meeting that brings together the leaders of countries in the Organization of American States (OAS). Cuba was expelled from the OAS under pressure from the United States after the Cuban Re ...
.
After eight years as MNA of Chambly, Beaudoin was defeated by the
Liberal Diane Legault in 2003. Her defeat was largely attributed to anti-PQ resentment in the
Saint-Bruno area of the riding as a result of
Bill 170.
After her departure from the National Assembly, she joined the
Université du Québec à Montréal as a professor and there continued her studies into
globalization.
She was decorated as a ''commandeur'' of the
Légion d'honneur on September 23, 2004.
She did not run for the PQ in the riding of Chambly in the
2007 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2007.
* Electoral calendar 2007
* Elections in 2007
* 2007 United Nations Security Council election
Africa
* 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress
* 2007 Algerian legislative elec ...
and her assistant
Bertrand St-Arnaud tried to win the seat but lost to ''
adéquiste''
Richard Merlini
Richard Merlini (born January 27, 1965 in Montreal, Quebec) is a politician from Quebec, Canada. He was an Action démocratique du Québec member of the National Assembly for the electoral district of Chambly from 2007 to 2008.
Merlini holds a ...
.
Beaudoin returned to the political scene in December 8, 2008 by getting elected in
Rosemont Rosemont may refer to:
* Rosemont (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse
* ''Rosemont'', a 2015 film Places
In Australia
* Rosemont (Woollahra), located in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra and listed on the NSW State Heritage Register
In Canada ...
to succeed the resigned
Rita Dionne-Marsolais.
As of 2008, Beaudoin was a host and journalist on
Radio-Canada's series ''
5 sur 5
5 (five) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typ ...
'', which answers viewers' questions about a wide variety of topics. She has also served as director of the board for
Théâtre Espace Go
Théâtre Espace Go (commonly known as Espace Go, French for "Go Space") is a Theater (structure), theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1985 as the feminist , the company changed its name to Théâtre Espace Go in 1994 and broadened its ...
.
On January 20, 2009, Beaudoin, along with fellow PQ member
François Rebello, attended the
inauguration of Barack Obama in
Washington, D.C.
On June 6, 2011, Beaudoin and caucus mates
Lisette Lapointe and
Pierre Curzi resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as independents over the PQ's acceptance of a bill changing the law to permit an agreement between the
City of Québec and
Quebecor Inc. concerning the construction of an arena in Quebec City.
On April 3, 2012, Beaudoin rejoined the PQ caucus.
Electoral record (incomplete)
References
External links
*
*
Short biography(in French)
Notice from the ''Alliance française''English language interview from CBC archives 1997
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beaudoin, Louise
1945 births
French Quebecers
Independent MNAs in Quebec
Living people
Parti Québécois MNAs
Politicians from Quebec City
Université du Québec à Montréal faculty
Université Laval alumni
Women MNAs in Quebec
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians
Women government ministers of Canada
Members of the Executive Council of Quebec