Liza Frulla (born March 30, 1949, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

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 ...

), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former

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 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 ...

. She was 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 ...

Member 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 ...

from 1989 to 1998, a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from 2002 to 2006, and a member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

Background

All four of Frulla's grandparents were born in Italy and like many Italian Quebeckers, her family was strongly federalist and Quebec Liberal oriented. In college she says she was not politically involved as she voted "yes" in the 1980 referendum, believing it was only fair to give René Lévesque's government a mandate to negotiate, but when the results were strongly "no", she reverted to federalism. She then later worked as a marketer for Labatt Breweries when she regularly met with government officials and eventually joined the Quebec Liberals under Robert Bourassa.

Early career

From 1974 to 1976, Frulla worked for the public affairs service of the organizing committee for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She subsequently became the first woman reporter accredited to cover

professional sport In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

in the

electronic media Electronic media are media that use electronics or electromechanical means for the audience to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media), which today are most often created digitally, but do not require el ...

Provincial politics

From 1989 to 1998, she represented the riding 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 ...

in the National Assembly of Quebec. She was Minister of Communications and Minister of Cultural Affairs. She was vice-chair of the "No" committee in the 1995 Quebec referendum. However, on November 1, 2007, while appearing on the RDI program ''Le Club des Ex'', she admitted to having voted for the "Yes" side in the 1980 referendum. In 1998, she left the National Assembly to host her own show, ''Liza'', on public broadcaster

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

until 2002.

Federal politics

She was elected to Parliament in a 2002 by-election in the now-defunct riding of Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe-Saint-Charles. After that riding was merged with portions of neighbouring ridings to form

Jeanne-Le Ber Jeanne-Le Ber was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 112,863. It was abolished for the 2015 election and dissolved into Ville-Mar ...

, she was re-elected by a razor-thin margin over Thierry St-Cyr in 2004; she subsequently lost to him in 2006. Frulla has the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...

on December 12, 2003. She was the

Minister of Canadian Heritage The minister of Canadian heritage (french: ministre du patrimoine canadien) is the minister of the Crown who heads Canadian Heritage, the department of the Government of Canada responsible for culture, media, sports, and the arts. History The ...

and Minister responsible for the Status of Women in the cabinet of

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 i ...

Paul Martin and previously served as Minister of Social Development.

Honours

In 2016, she was made an Officer 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 2017, she was appointed as a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

Electoral record (partial)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frulla, Liza 1949 births Canadian television talk show hosts Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian people of Italian descent French Quebecers Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Montreal Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Television personalities from Montreal Women MNAs in Quebec Canadian women television personalities Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry Officers of the National Order of Quebec 21st-century Canadian women politicians Members of the Order of Canada