Isabelle Charest (born January 3, 1971 in

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), t ...

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 ...

) is a

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 ...

athlete and politician."Isabelle Charest candidate pour la CAQ dans Brome-Missisquoi"
'' Le Journal de Montréal'', June 18, 2018. A

short track speed skater Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as a ...

who competed in the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...

, the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in the ...

, and the

2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Salt Lake 2002 ( arp, Niico'ooowu' 2002; Gosiute Shoshoni: ''Tit'-so-pi 2002''; nv, Sooléí 2002; Shoshoni: ''Soónkahni 2002''), was an internation ...

, she was elected to 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 ...

in the 2018 provincial election as a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec. In 1994 she was a member of the Canadian relay team which won the silver medal in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 1000 m event she finished sixth and in the 500 m contest she finished seventh. Four years later she won the bronze medal with the Canadian team in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 500 m event as well as in the 1000 m contest she finished seventh. At the 2002 Games she won her second bronze medal with the Canadian relay team in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 500 m event she finished fourth. Charest was the Chef de Mission for Team Canada at the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics ( ko, 2018년 동계 올림픽, Icheon sip-pal nyeon Donggye Ollimpik), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (french: Les XXIIIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; ko, 제23회 동계 올림픽, Jeisipsamhoe Donggye Ollimpi ...

Controversies

In February 2019, Charest was criticized by members of the Quebec Liberal Party over comments she made calling hijabs a symbol of oppression. She said that wearing a hijab does not correspond to Quebec values and keeps women from flourishing. "For me, the hijab is not something women should be wearing because it does have, at some point, significance of oppression of women and the fact they have to cover themselves," she said.

Cabinet posts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charest, Isabelle 1971 births Living people Canadian female short track speed skaters Olympic short track speed skaters of Canada Olympic silver medalists for Canada Olympic bronze medalists for Canada Olympic medalists in short track speed skating Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1998 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 2002 Winter Olympics Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Short track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 1998 Winter Olympics Short track speed skaters at the 2002 Winter Olympics People from Rimouski Sportspeople from Quebec Coalition Avenir Québec MNAs Women government ministers of Canada Women MNAs in Quebec Canadian sportsperson-politicians