Liza Frulla (born March 30, 1949, in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former

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politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She was a Liberal Member of the

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from 1989 to 1998, a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2006, and a member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

Background

All four of Frulla's grandparents were born in Italy and like many Italian Quebeckers, her family was strongly federalist and Quebec Liberal oriented. In college she says she was not politically involved as she voted "yes" in the 1980 referendum, believing it was only fair to give René Lévesque's government a mandate to negotiate, but when the results were strongly "no", she reverted to federalism. She then later worked as a marketer for Labatt Breweries when she regularly met with government officials and eventually joined the Quebec Liberals under

Robert Bourassa Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...

Early career

From 1974 to 1976, Frulla worked for the public affairs service of the organizing committee for the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

. She subsequently became the first woman reporter accredited to cover

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in the

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Provincial politics

From 1989 to 1998, she represented the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeoys in the National Assembly of Quebec. She was Minister of Communications and Minister of Cultural Affairs. She was vice-chair of the "No" committee in the

1995 Quebec referendum The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should proclaim sovereignty and become an independent country, with the condition precedent of ...

. However, on November 1, 2007, while appearing on the RDI program ''Le Club des Ex'', she admitted to having voted for the "Yes" side in the 1980 referendum. In 1998, she left the National Assembly to host her own show, ''Liza'', on public broadcaster

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until 2002.

Federal politics

She was elected to Parliament in a 2002 by-election in the now-defunct riding of Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe-Saint-Charles. After that riding was merged with portions of neighbouring ridings to form Jeanne-Le Ber, she was re-elected by a razor-thin margin over Thierry St-Cyr in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

; she subsequently lost to him in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. Frulla has the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the

Queen's Privy Council for Canada The King's Privy Council for Canada (), sometimes called His Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal advisors to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs. Practically, ...

on December 12, 2003. She was the

Minister of Canadian Heritage The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture is the minister of the Crown who heads Department of Canadian Heritage, Canadian Heritage, the department of the Government of Canada responsible for Canadian culture, culture, Media in Canada, medi ...

and Minister responsible for the Status of Women in the cabinet of

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Paul Martin and previously served as Minister of Social Development.

Honours

In 2016, she was made an Officer of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

. In 2017, she was appointed as a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

Electoral record (partial)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frulla, Liza 1949 births Canadian television talk show hosts Culture ministers of Canada Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Canadian people of Italian descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Montreal Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Television personalities from Montreal Women MNAs in Quebec Canadian women television personalities Members of the 27th Canadian Ministry Officers of the National Order of Quebec 21st-century Canadian women politicians Members of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada