Marie-Josée Houle is a housing advocate and musician who lives in

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, Canada. On February 3, 2022 she was appointed as Federal Housing Advocate by Minister of Housing and Diversity

Ahmed Hussen Ahmed Hussen (; born 1976) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. A member of the Liberal Party, Hussen has also sat as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto-area riding of York South—Weston since the 2015 federal election. He pre ...

Biography

She was born in

Val-d'Or Val-d'Or ( , , ; meaning "Golden Valley" or "Valley of Gold") is a city in Quebec, Canada with a population of 32,752 inhabitants according to the 2021 Canadian census. The city is located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region near La Vérendrye ...

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and grew up in

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Music career

Starting in the early 2000s, Houle hosted a radio show on

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

's radio station CKCU and was involved in many aspects of the

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

and independent music scene. In 2007, she released her first solo album 'Our Lady of Broken Souls' which was nominated for a Best Folk Album award. It was recorded at Little Bullhorn Productions and was produced by Dave Draves. Musicians featured include Derek Loewen on drums and percussion, Aalya Ahmad on fiddle, and Rob Skitmore on guitar and mando. For her first show in Oslo, Norway, Houle opened for Norwegian sensation Girl From Saskatoon (featuring Arthur Holoein - who died in early 2012 - on string bass and Eirik Roald on cello). She quickly became friends with the band members and invited Arthur to join her for her first cross-Canada tour during the summer of 2007. Her second release 'Monsters' (2008) was also recorded at Little Bullhorn Studios by Dave Draves and was completed in Oslo, Norway by producer Marius Gengenbach. The album featured Norwegian musicians Arthur Holoien on string bass and uke, Eirik Roald on cello, Ulk Knudsen on piano and Ida Malin Sanden on soprano sax. Canadian musicians include Derek Loewn on drums, Dave Draves on piano, Neil Gerster on guitar, and Aalya Ahmad on fiddle. 'Monsters' was nominated for a Best Folk Album award in 2008.

Housing advocacy

Starting in 2004, Houle also started to get involved in housing advocacy and activism. She later became the executive director of in Ottawa, an organization aiming to prevent the loss of housing. On February 3, 2022, she was appointed to a three-year term as Federal Housing Advocate by Minister of Housing and Diversity

References

External links

Of accordions and cleavage
- article in the

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

a playgrrround session in Vienna
(Cruelle Poetesse, Shallow Breathing) Living people Canadian women accordionists People from Val-d'Or 21st-century Canadian accordionists Year of birth missing (living people) {{Ottawa-stub