Michèle Taïna Audette (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian politician and activist. She served as president of ''

Femmes autochtones du Québec ''Femme'' (; , literally meaning ) is a term traditionally used to describe a lesbian woman who exhibits a feminine identity or gender presentation. While commonly viewed as a lesbian term, alternate meanings of the word also exist with some ...

'' (Quebec Native Women) from 1998 to 2004 and again from 2010 to 2012. She was also the president of

Native Women's Association of Canada The Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC; FAC is a national Indigenous organization representing the political voice of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people in Canada, inclusive of First Nations on and off reserve, status an ...

from 2012 to 2014. From 2004 through 2008, she served as Associate Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration of the Quebec government, where she was in charge of the Secretariat for Women. In 2017, she was appointed as one of the five commissioners of the government's national inquiry into

missing and murdered Indigenous women Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples s ...

and girls. In 2021, Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

nominated her to the Canadian Senate, as a Senator for Quebec.

Life

In 1971, Audette's mother was returning to

Schefferville Schefferville () is a town in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. Schefferville is in the heart of the Naskapi and Innu territory in northern Quebec, less than 2 km (1¼ miles) from the border with Labrador o ...

from Sept-Îles by train when she unexpectedly went into labour. The train stopped and her mother was airlifted by helicopter to the nearest hospital, in

Wabush Wabush is a small town in the western tip of Labrador, bordering Quebec, known for transportation and iron ore operations. Economy Wabush is the twin community of Labrador City. At its peak population in the late 1970s, the region had a populati ...

, Labrador, where Audette was born. She grew up in Schefferville,

Maliotenam Maliotenam (Mani-Utenam in Innu-aimun) is a First Nations reserve in Quebec, located adjacent to the city of Sept-Îles. Together with Uashat some distance away, it forms the Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Mont ...

, and

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 ...

. Audette is from the Innu community of Uashat mak Mani-Utenam in Quebec. Her mother, Evelyne St-Onge, is

Innu The Innu/Ilnu ('man, person'), formerly called Montagnais (French for ' mountain people'; ), are the Indigenous Canadians who inhabit northeastern Labrador in present-day Newfoundland and Labrador and some portions of Quebec. They refer to ...

and her father, Gilles Audette, is French-Canadian from

. The family was denied a house on her mother's reserve under federal law because her mother married a non-Native man. St-Onge co-founded the

Quebec Native Women Association Quebec is Canada's 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, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...

in 1974, which fought against the clause in the federal

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' () is a Canadian Act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still in force with amendments, it is the primary document that defines how t ...

that stated that a Native woman who marries a non-Native man did not have the right to live in her reserve community. Native men who marry non-Native women do not suffer such restrictions. As Audette grew up, she too became an activist in Indigenous affairs. She served as president of

(FAQ) from 1998 to 2004, and from 2010 to 2012, then led the

(NWAC) from 2012 to 2014, the youngest women to be elected. She also acted in one of the short film vignettes on Canadian history known as ''

Heritage Minutes ''The Heritage Minutes'' is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in History of Canada, Canadian history. Published by Historica Canada the ''Minutes'' integrate Canadian history, Canadian folklore, folklore ...

'' as a member of an

Attikamek The Atikamekw are an Indigenous people in Canada. Their historic territory, ('Our Land'), is in the upper Saint-Maurice River valley of Quebec (about north of Montreal). One of the main communities is Manawan, about northeast of Montreal. ...

family teaching early French settlers how to make

maple syrup Maple syrup is a sweet syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Ma ...

. Audette was appointed as Associate Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Relations with Citizens and Immigration Quebec government, in charge of the Secretariat for Women, serving from 2004 through 2008. She has conducted public relations for and acted as coordinator of many festivals. She has also worked as a researcher for ''Aboriginal Nations'', a

news magazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio, or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories in greater depth than newspapers or new ...

broadcast on

Télé-Québec The (; ), branded as () (formerly known as ), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Crown corporation owned by the Government of Quebec. The network's main studios an ...

. In 2017, Audette was appointed as one of five commissioners to the national inquiry:

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native Americans in the United States, ...

to raise awareness and gain government action on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The inquiry, which had an estimated cost of $53.8 million, examined the factors and institutions that contribute to a high rate of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Their final report, delivered to the federal government in 2019, included 231 calls for justice. In May 2021 she appeared on

Ici Radio-Canada #REDIRECT ICI {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

's literary debate show ''

Le Combat des livres ''Le Combat des livres'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the ''Canada Reads'' competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from ...

'', advocating for

Michel Jean Michel Jean is a Canadian television journalist and author. He was the weekend anchor of ''TVA Nouvelles'' on TVA until retiring from the network in 2024, and was formerly an anchor on TVA's newsmagazine ''JE'' and for the 24-hour news channel ...

's novel ''Kukum''. The novel won the competition.

Politics

Some years after her first government service, Audette decided to enter electoral politics. In the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election was held on October 19, 2015, to elect the 338 members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 42nd Canadian Parliament, 42nd Parliament of Canada. In accordance with the Fixed election date ...

, she ran as the Liberal candidate for the Quebec riding of Terrebonne and was defeated to

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

candidate

Michel Boudrias Michel Boudrias (born 1977) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Terrebonne in the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2021. He was first elected in the 2015 election as a member of the B ...

. In July 2021, she was appointed a senator for Quebec. Initially non-affiliated, she joined the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; ) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the modernization of the Upper House of Canada's Parli ...

on September 27, 2021. On June 27, 2022, she joined the

Progressive Senate Group The Progressive Senate Group () is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the former Senate Liberal Caucus. It is currently led by Pierre Dalphond. History Background On January 29, 2014, a ...

. On August 9, 2023, she was appointed Government Liaison by

Representative of the Government in the Senate The representative of the Government in the Senate () is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after they are passed by the House of Commons of Canada ...

Marc Gold Marc Gold (born June 30, 1950) is a Canadian law professor and politician who has served as Representative of the Government in the Senate since 2020. Gold has sat as the senator for Stadacona, Quebec since he was appointed on the advice of Pr ...

. The role entails acting as a

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

to secure votes for government legislation in the Senate. She subsequently left the

and became once again non-affiliated.

Personal life

Audette, a mother of five, lives in both

Wendake Wendake () is the current name for two urban reserves, Wendake 7 () and Wendake 7A, () of the Huron-Wendat Nation in the Canadian province of Quebec. They are enclaves entirely surrounded by the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough of Quebec City, w ...

near

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

and the

reserve of

near

Sept-Îles, Quebec Sept-Îles (, , ) is a city in the Côte-Nord region of eastern Quebec. Along with Brador, Quebec, Brador and Blanc-Sablon, Sept-Îles is one of the oldest places in the province. The population was 24,569 as of the 2021 Canadian census. The ...

, with her domestic partner Serge Ashini Goupil. She is a consultant with the indigenous rights group ''Nation Innue''.

Awards

* Woman of Distinction Award in the Inspiration category from the Women’s Y Foundation of Montréal (2018) * Woman of the Year in by the Montreal Council of Women (2014) *

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

Life

Politics

Personal life

Awards

Electoral record

References

External links

See also