Sadia Groguhé (; born November 9, 1962) is a

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

politician of Algerian descent. A municipal councillor in the French city of Istres from 1995 to 2000, Groguhé and her husband immigrated to Canada in 2005. In the 2011 federal election, she was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as the Member of Parliament for the

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Saint-Lambert under the banner of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. She was defeated for reelection in the new electoral district of Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne in the 2015 election.

Early life and French political career in

Groguhé was born on November 9, 1962, in Istres,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, to Algerian immigrants, one of twelve children. She has a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

, practiced as a psychologist, and did community work. In France, she worked in the area of social and occupational integration for youth and adults in distress. Trained in

transactional analysis Transactional analysis is a psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy wherein social interactions (or "transactions") are analyzed to determine the id, ego, and superego, ego state of the communicator (whether parent-like, childlike, or adult- ...

as a therapeutic tool, she held sessions as a trainer. Groguhé was chair of the Istres equality association. Groguhé ran as an independent candidate in 1994’s cantonal election. Noticed by Jacques Siffre, Istres’

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

mayor, she ran municipally in 1995. Groguhé was elected and was a municipal councillor from 1995 to 2000. She was responsible for integration, and left her position after the birth of her children. Groguhé and her husband, who is originally from the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

, decided to leave France so their children would not be discriminated against because of their background. They submitted their visa requests in 2003 and immigrated to Canada in 2005.

Canadian politics

2011 election and tenure

Naturalized as a Canadian citizen in 2010, Groguhé joined the

. She was a candidate for the party in the 2011 federal election in 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 ...

riding of Saint-Lambert and defeated the incumbent Bloc MP, Josée Beaudin, with 42.65% of the vote. After her election, Groguhé was appointed the NDP’s assistant critic for

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

, citizenship, and multiculturalism. During her parliamentary tenure, Groguhé advocated for modernizing the immigration application system. From April 19, 2012, to August 12, 2013, Groguhé was the Deputy House Leader of the NDP and the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

. She then became the NDP's

Deputy Whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

, which meant she was also the

Deputy Whip, and gave up the assistant critic portfolios she had held since 2011. In June 2014, the Board of Internal Economy found that a group of NDP MPs, including Groguhé, had improperly used Parliamentary resources for partisan activities by sending out nearly two million mass mailings, costing 1.17 million dollars to different ridings, including some that were holding

by-elections A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

at the time. Groguhé kept the deputy whip position until she lost her bid for re-election in the new riding of Longueuil—Saint-Hubert in the 2015 federal election.

Party politics

Following

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician and academic who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on T ...

's death, she supported Thomas Mulcair in the 2012 NDP leadership race. In the 2017 leadership contest, Groguhé was a supporter of

Peter Julian Peter S. Julian (born April 16, 1962) is a Canadian politician who was a Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2004 to 2025. He represented the ridings of Burnaby—New Westminster from 2004 to 2015 and New Westminste ...

prior to his exit from the race.

Post-federal politics

Following her defeat, Groguhé became a guidance counselor. Groguhé announced in April 2017 that she is running for Mayor of

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

in the 2017 Quebec municipal election. She finished third with 14.7% of the vote.

Personal life

Groguhé is the mother of four children, and is married.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Groguhe, Sadia 1962 births Canadian people of Algerian descent Women members of the House of Commons of Canada French emigrants to Quebec French people of Algerian descent Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Naturalized citizens of Canada New Democratic Party MPs People from Istres 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians Black Canadian politicians