Richard Marceau (born August 25, 1970) is a Canadian politician. Marceau was born in

Charlesbourg, Quebec City Charlesbourg is a borough of Quebec City, in the northeastern part of the city, west of the borough of Beauport. History The origins of Charlesbourg began with the concession of the seigniory of Notre-Dame-des-Anges in 1626. The seigniory extend ...

. A lawyer in both Québec and

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Marceau was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

in the 1997 federal election for the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

in the riding of Charlesbourg at the age of 26. He was re-elected in the 2000 election in the riding of Charlesbourg—Jacques-Cartier and again in the 2004 election in the riding of Charlesbourg. He has served as the Bloc's critic to the Solicitor General, International Trade, Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Privy Council. He was their critic to the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness until his defeat in the 2006 election. He ran unsuccessfully as the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

candidate in Charlesbourg in the 2007 Quebec election. Marceau converted to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

in 2004, 10 years after his marriage to Lori Beckerman. He had co-chaired the Canada-Israel Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group and sponsored a bill establishing a national

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

remembrance day. He described himself as a "pro-Palestinian

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

" in an op-ed piece he wrote for 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 '' ...

''. From 2006 to 2011, Marceau worked for the Canada-Israel Committee. Since 2011, he has worked for the

Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA; ) is a Zionist and Jewish advocacy organization and an agency of the Jewish Federations of Canada. It was founded in 2004 as the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy (CCIJA) and headqu ...

as a senior advisor. In 2011, he published ''A Quebec Jew: From Bloc Québécois MP to Jewish Activist'', detailing his spiritual journey and involvement in the Jewish community.

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* 1970 births Bloc Québécois MPs Canadian memoirists Canadian Zionists Converts to Judaism Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish Canadian writers Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Politicians from Quebec City Writers from Quebec City École nationale d'administration alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian writers 21st-century memoirists {{BlocQuébécois-MP-stub