Mélanie Joly (; born January 16, 1979) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who has been serving as the Minister of Industry,

Registrar General of Canada The registrar general of Canada () is responsible for registering all letters patent, commissions, instruments, proclamations, and any other documents that may, from time to time, be issued under the Great Seal of Canada or the Privy Seal of C ...

, and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions since May 2025. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Joly represents the

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 ...

-area riding of

Ahuntsic-Cartierville Ahuntsic-Cartierville ( (local accent)) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created following the 2002 municipal reorganization of Montreal. It comprises two main neighbourhoods, Ahuntsic, ...

in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, taking office as a member of Parliament (MP) following the 2015 federal election. She has held a number of portfolios including

Canadian heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity and values, cultural develo ...

, tourism, foreign affairs, and

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

. Joly ran for mayor of Montreal in the

2013 Montreal municipal election Municipal elections were held in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 3, 2013, as part of the 2013 Quebec municipal elections. Voters elected 65 positions on the Montreal City Council, including the mayor, borough mayors, and city c ...

, placing second behind eventual winner

Denis Coderre Denis Coderre (; born July 25, 1963) is a Canadian politician who served as the 44th mayor of Montreal from 2013 to 2017. Coderre was involved in federal politics as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, serving as the member of Parliame ...

. Born in

, Quebec, Joly graduated from

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

and

Brasenose College, Oxford Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...

Early and personal life

Born on January 16, 1979, Joly grew up in Montreal's northern neighbourhood of

Ahuntsic Ahuntsic (; , ) is a district in the northern part of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Originally an independent village, Ahuntsic was first annexed by Montreal in 1910, then merged into the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville in 2002. It is home to Coll ...

. She is the daughter of Laurette Racine and Clément Joly, an accountant who was president of the Liberal Party's finance committee in Quebec and board member of the

Canadian Air Transport Security Authority The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA; ) is the Canadian Crown Corporation responsible for security screening of people and baggage and the administration of identity cards at the 89 designated airports in Canada. CATSA responds ...

from 2002 to 2007. Her late stepmother, Carole-Marie Allard, was a lawyer and journalist, who served as an MP representing Laval—East from 2000 to 2004. Joly is married to Felix Marzell, an artist and entrepreneur.

Education and career

After completing her

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree at the

in 2001, Joly became a member of the

Bar of Quebec The Bar of Quebec () is the regulatory body for the practice of advocates in the Canadian province of Quebec and one of two legal regulatory bodies in the province. It was founded on May 30, 1849, as the Bar of Lower Canada (). History The begi ...

. She subsequently received the

Chevening Scholarship The Chevening Scholarship is an international scholarship, funded by the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner organizations, that enables foreign students to study at universities in the United Kingdom. History The C ...

and continued her studies at

, where she received a ''

Magister Juris A MJur (Magister Juris or Master of Jurisprudence; common abbreviations include MJur, M.Jur., Mag. Jur. and Mag. iur.) is an academic degree in law awarded by some universities. University of Oxford The Magister Juris (MJur) is a one-year mast ...

'' in comparative and public law in 2003. Joly also interned at

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

, in 2007. At the beginning of her career, Joly practiced law at two major Montreal law firms,

Stikeman Elliott Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian business law firm founded in 1952 by H. Heward Stikeman and Fraser Elliott. The firm has offices located in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver, New York and London. Since 2024, the chair of the firm is ...

and

Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP is an integrated firm of more than two hundred and forty lawyers, with offices in Toronto, Montreal, and New York City. Davies focuses on business law, including commercial and financial matters. The firm acts ...

. At the latter firm, her mentor was former

Parti Quebecois Parti may refer to: *Parti (service), an online video platform, web hosting, livestreaming, and cloud services business. *Parti (surname), a Hungarian surname, and a list of people with the name * ''Parti'' (architecture), the organizing concepts b ...

premier

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. A minister for two years in the 24th Canadian Ministry, Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then founded and led the Bloc Québécois and became Leader ...

, 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 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 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 ...

's campaign for the leadership of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

. 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 The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ci ...

in the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

which occurred in the same year. She founded a new party,

Vrai changement pour Montréal Vrai changement pour Montréal () was a municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The party's leader was Justine McIntyre. Origins and 2013 campaign Vrai changement was founded by Mélanie Joly in September 2013 to contest the 2013 ...

, to support her candidacy with her personal friends. On November 3, election day, she obtained 26.50 per cent of the votes, finishing six points behind the winner,

. 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 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 ...

to the

42nd Canadian Parliament The 42nd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 3, 2015, to September 11, 2019, with the membership of its lower chamber, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2015 federal election held on Octob ...

. Joly won the riding with 47.5 per cent of the vote, unseating incumbent

Maria Mourani Maria Mourani (born 19 May 1969) is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Ahuntsic in Canada. She was formerly a member of the Bloc Québécois before leaving the party over its support for th ...

Minister of Canadian Heritage (2015–2018)

After the 2015 general election, Joly was named as the minister of Canadian heritage as part of Prime Minister

's new government.

Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie (2018–2019)

On August 28, 2018, Joly was named to the tourism, official languages, and

portfolio.

Minister of Economic Development (2019–2021)

She assumed the position of

Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages The Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages () is a Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The minister is responsible for Canada's six regional development agencies: the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Canadian ...

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 (2021–2025)

Joly took office as Canada's

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

on October 26, 2021. Amidst global concerns about a buildup of Russian troops on the country's eastern border, she visited

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in January 2022. Amidst the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, she visited again on May 8, 2022 when she accompanied Prime Minister Trudeau on an unannounced visit to Kyiv to reopen the Canadian embassy. However, it was reported that the Canadian Embassy was never in fact reopened and the Canadian ambassador did not return. One year after the invasion began, she touted her government's efforts to promote regime change in Russia. In May 2022, Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

voiced his opposition to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

joining

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

, accusing the two countries of tolerating groups which

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

classifies as terrorist organizations, including the Kurdish militant groups

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurdish militant political organization and armed gue ...

and

YPG The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a libertarian socialist US-backed Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The YPG mostly consists of K ...

and the supporters of

Fethullah Gülen Muhammed Fethullah Gülen (27 April 1941 – 20 October 2024) was a Turkish Ulama, Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement who as of 2016 had millions of followers. Gülen was an influential Neo-Ottomanism, neo-Ottomanist, A ...

, a US-based Muslim cleric accused by Turkey of orchestrating a failed

2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt In the evening of 15 July 2016, a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces, organized as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup d'état against state institutions, including the government and president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. They attempted ...

. Joly held talks with Turkey to convince the Turkish government of the need for the integration of the two Nordic nations into NATO. During the March 2023 House of Commons committee studying Chinese election interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections, Joly accused China of "trying to sow division in many democracies" and suggested ways foreign meddling could be hindered in the future. Following a vote on the

Uyghur genocide Since 2014, the government of the People's Republic of China has committed a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in Xinjiang which has often been characterized as persecution or as ...

in Xinjiang, it was reported in May 2023 that Conservative MP

Michael Chong Michael David Chong (born November 22, 1971) is a Canadian politician who has represented the Ontario riding of Wellington—Halton Hills in the House of Commons since 2004. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the cabinet of Pr ...

's family in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

was targeted, including by a Chinese diplomat named Zhao Wei. Wei was later declared

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

by Joly. The murder of Canadian

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

separatist leader

Hardeep Singh Nijjar Hardeep Singh Nijjar (11 October 197718 June 2023) was a Canadian Sikh involved with the Khalistan movement. He was a prominent member of the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and spearheaded the group's Khalistan Referendum campaign. Born in India, ...

caused a diplomatic crisis, with

Canada–India relations Canada and India established bilateral relations in the 19th century. Both are member nations of the Commonwealth of Nations and are part of G20, a group of world's largest economies. In 2023, bilateral trade between the countries was valued at ...

falling to their lowest point. Joly ordered the expulsion of Pavan Kumar Rai, a top Indian diplomat in Canada who headed the operations of the

Research and Analysis Wing The Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) is the foreign intelligence agency of the Republic of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, and a ...

, India's external intelligence agency, in Canada. In September 2023,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

launched a large-scale

military offensive An offensive is a military operation that seeks through an aggressive projection of armed forces to occupy or recapture territory, gain an objective or achieve some larger strategic, operational, or tactical goal. Another term for an offensiv ...

against the self-declared breakaway state of

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

, a move seen by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

as a violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement. Joly expressed grave concern with Azerbaijan's military intervention, calling for immediate cessation of hostilities, asking the Azerbaijani government to refrain from any actions and activities that pose a risk to the safety and welfare of the civilian population of

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

, labelling the military action as "unjustifiable" and the

Lachin corridor __NOTOC__ The Lachin corridor was a mountain road in Azerbaijan that linked Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Being the only road between these two territories, it was considered a humanitarian corridor or "lifeline" to the Armenian population of ...

blockade as "illegal". After the events of the

October 7 attacks On October 7, 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli ...

, Joly rejected calls for a ceasefire in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

on October 30 but expressed support for a "humanitarian pause". Joly was considered a possible candidate in the

2025 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election From February 26 to March 9, 2025, members of the Liberal Party of Canada voted on a successor for Justin Trudeau after he announced his intent to resign as the party leader and prime minister of Canada. Mark Carney, the former governor of ...

, upon the resignation of Prime Minister

. On January 10, 2025, she announced that she would not enter the race to focus on the threat of tariffs on Canadian goods from the incoming

second Trump administration Donald Trump's second and current tenure as the president of the United States began upon his inauguration as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. On his first day, Trump pardoned about 1,500 people convicted of offenses in the Janua ...

, as Minister of Foreign Affairs. On January 19, she endorsed former Bank of Canada governor

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

. Following the

2025 Canadian federal election The 2025 Canadian federal election was held on April 28, 2025, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 45th Canadian Parliament. Governor General Mary Simon issued the writs of election on March 23, 2025, afte ...

, the newly elected Liberal leader

named

Anita Anand Indira Anita Anand (born May 20, 1967) is a Canadian lawyer, academic, and politician who has served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada), minister of Foreign Affairs since 2025. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Party, ...

as foreign minister and assigned Joly as Minister of Industry.

Electoral record

Notes

References

External links

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 Living people Université de Montréal alumni Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford Politicians from Montreal Women in Quebec politics 1979 births Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Members of the 30th Canadian Ministry Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian lawyers 21st-century Canadian women lawyers Culture ministers of Canada 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Ministers of foreign affairs of Canada Female foreign ministers