Mélanie Joly
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Mélanie Joly (born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada), Minister of Foreign Affairs since October 2021. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, Joly represents the Montreal-area Electoral district (Canada), riding of Ahuntsic-Cartierville (electoral district), Ahuntsic-Cartierville in the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, taking office as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) following the 2015 Canadian federal election, 2015 federal election. She has held a number of portfolios including Minister of Canadian Heritage, Canadian heritage, tourism, and Minister responsible for La Francophonie (Canada), La Francophonie. Joly ran for mayor of Montreal in the 2013 Montreal municipal election, placing second behind eventual winner Denis Coderre. Born in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Joly graduated from Université de Montréal and Brasenose College, Oxford.


Early and personal life

Born on January 16, 1979, she grew up in Montreal's northern neighbourhood of Ahuntsic. Joly's father is Clément Joly, an accountant who was president of the Liberal Party's finance committee in Quebec and manager of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority from 2002 to 2007. Her stepmother, Carole-Marie Allard, is a lawyer and journalist, who was an MP representing Alfred-Pellan (electoral district), Laval—East from 2000 to 2004.


Education and career

After completing her degree in Bachelor of Laws, law at the Université de Montréal in 2001, Joly became a member of the Bar of Quebec, Barreau du Québec. She subsequently received the Chevening Scholarship, Chevening scholarship and continued her studies at Brasenose College, Oxford, where she received a ''Magister Juris'' in comparative and public law in 2003. Joly also interned at Radio Canada, Radio-Canada, in 2007. At the beginning of her career, Joly practiced law at two major Montreal law firms, Stikeman Elliott and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg. At the latter firm, her mentor was former Parti Quebecois premier Lucien Bouchard, who supplied her with a letter of recommendation for her Oxford application. She worked primarily in the areas of civil and commercial litigation, bankruptcy and insolvency law. She was also a prosecutor before the Gomery Commission, Gomery Commission of inquiry. In 2010, she became the first Quebecer to receive the Arnold Edinborough award, which recognizes philanthropic involvement within the Canadian cultural community. In 2013, she was appointed to head the Quebec Advisory Committee for Justin Trudeau’s 2013 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, leadership campaign of the Liberal Party of Canada. Along with her colleagues, she founded Generation of Ideas, which is a political forum for 25- to 35-year-olds. She is also a member of the collective group Sortie 13, for which she wrote "Les villes au pouvoir ou comment relancer le monde municipal québécois".


Political career


Municipal campaign

In June 2013, Joly announced her candidacy for mayor of Montreal in the 2013 Montreal municipal election, elections which occurred in the same year. She founded a new party, Vrai changement pour Montréal, to support her candidacy. On November 3, election day, she obtained 26.50 per cent of the votes, finishing six points behind the winner, Denis Coderre. However, she finished ahead of several more established challengers.


Federal politics

In 2015, Joly left municipal politics and announced her candidacy for the nomination of the Liberal Party of Canada in the new electoral district of Ahuntsic-Cartierville for the 2015 federal election. Joly won the riding with 47.5 per cent of the vote, unseating incumbent Maria Mourani.


In Cabinet

After the election, Joly was named as the minister of Canadian heritage as part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 29th Canadian Ministry, new government. On August 28, 2018, Joly was demoted to the tourism, official languages, and La Francophonie portfolio. She assumed the position of Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages on December 13, 2019. Her mandate was marked by the introduction of separate regional development agencies for Western Canada: Canada Economic Development for the Prairies (PrairieCan) and Canada Economic Development for the Pacific (PacifiCan). On June 15, 2021, she introduced Bill C-32 in the House of Commons, an Act to achieve substantive equality of English and French and to strengthen the Official Languages Act. The first reform since 1988, Joly's modernization was intended to ensure that the government's broad range of measures in support of official languages responded to and adapted to the challenges faced by these languages in the various regions of the country.


Minister of Foreign Affairs

Joly took office as Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada), Minister of Foreign Affairs on October 26, 2021. On December 20, 2021, Joly announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19. Amidst global concerns about a buildup of Russian troops on the country's eastern border, she visited Ukraine in January 2022. She visited again on May 8, 2022 when she accompanied Trudeau on an unannounced visit to Kyiv to reopen the Canadian embassy amidst the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian invasion of Ukraine. In May 2022, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan voiced his opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, accusing the two countries of tolerating groups which Turkey classifies as terrorist organizations, including the Kurdish militant groups Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK and People's Defense Units, YPG and the supporters of Fethullah Gülen, a US-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt. Joly held talks with Turkey to convince the Turkish government of the need for two Nordic nations integration.


Electoral record


References


External links

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Le vrai changement pour Montréal - groupe Mélanie Joly (official website)Biography & mandate latter from the Prime Minister
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joly, Melanie Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Liberal Party of Canada MPs Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian women in municipal politics Female Canadian political party leaders Lawyers from Montreal People from Ahuntsic-Cartierville French Quebecers Living people Université de Montréal alumni Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Politicians from Montreal Canadian women lawyers Women in Quebec politics 1979 births Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians Chevening Scholars