Marie Plourde is a politician, media personality, journalist, and occasional actress in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 has served on the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council since 2013 as a member of Projet Montréal.

Early life

Plourde was born in

Grand-Mère, Quebec Grand-Mère (, ) is a settlement and former municipality in central Quebec, Canada on the Saint-Maurice River. As a result of the municipal reorganization in Quebec which took effect at the beginning of 2002, Grand-Mère now forms part of the ...

(later

Shawinigan Shawinigan () is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,349 as of the 2016 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) an ...

). She later moved to Montreal to study urban planning.

Media personality and journalist

Plourde began her media career as a

MusiquePlus Elle Fictions (stylized ELLE Fictions) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Remstar Media Group. The channel broadcasts general entertainment programming targeting young adult women. It was first established in 1986 as the mus ...

VJ from 1989 to 1993. Later, after a brief stint as host of the

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. ...

culture program ''La Ruée vers l'art'', she became a television columnist for the tabloid ''

Le Journal de Montréal ''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. ...

'' from 1996 to 2006. In 1997, Plourde strongly criticized a

Public Works Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; french: Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada)''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works ...

television program entitled ''Services compris'' that promoted the services of the

Canadian federal government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

. She described it as "an insidious infomercial ... in which federal employees are depicted as superheroes who have come to our rescue from

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

." Plourde hosted the cultural television program ''Flash'' in 2001 as a temporary replacement for Patricia Paquin. Later in the decade, she hosted a

Canal Vie Canal Vie is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. Canal Vie airs lifestyle and entertainment programs aimed at women in the form of talk shows, documentaries, reality TV series, and films. Programs focus on a variet ...

program called ''Une chance qu'on s'aime'', a literary program called ''Sous les jaquettes'', and the TQS

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show ''Loft Story''. She also branched out into

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

, hosting a program on

Rythme FM Rythme FM is a network of French-language adult contemporary FM radio stations broadcasting in most major markets of Quebec. The network was created and owned by Cogeco. History The brand "Rythme FM" was introduced in January 1999 at CFGL-FM ...

. A ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'' article in 2008 described her as a "ubiquitous media celeb ity"

Actress

Plourde appeared in the film ''Le cas Roberge'' in 2008, playing a television journalist.

Politician

Plourde joined Projet Montréal in 2013 was elected to the

Plateau-Mont-Royal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Plateau-Mont-Royal takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mont-Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, acros ...

borough council for the Mile End division in the

2013 Montreal municipal election Municipal elections were held in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 3, 2013 as part of the 2013 Quebec municipal elections. Voters elected 65 positions on the Montreal City Council, including the mayor, borough mayors, and city co ...

. A '' Postmedia'' article written during the campaign described her as a

star candidate A star candidate (french: candidat vedette) refers to a high-profile individual who has been recruited as a candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for som ...

for her party. Projet Montréal emerged from the election as the official

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

at the city level and won every seat on the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council. In December 2013, Plourde was appointed to the board of directors of ''

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (STM; en, Montreal Transit Corporation) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Ra ...

'' (STM). The following year, she helped organize a new open-air market in Mile End known as the ''Marché des Possibles'', inspired by Pop Montreal. She was re-elected in the 2017 municipal election, in which Projet Montréal won the mayoral contest, a majority of seats at city hall, and, once again, all seats on the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough council. On November 27, 2017, she was appointed as chair of the city-level committee on transportation and public works, as well as being re-appointed to the board of STM.Romain Schué, "Philippe Schnobb remains at the head of the STM"
''Métro'', 27 November 2017, accessed 28 November 2017.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plourde, Marie Living people Montreal city councillors People from Shawinigan People from Le Plateau-Mont-Royal Canadian television hosts Canadian women television hosts Year of birth missing (living people)