Elsie Lefebvre (born May 5, 1979, 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, ...

) is a

politician. She was the

Member of the National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the represen ...

for the

Laurier-Dorion Laurier-Dorion () is a provincial electoral district in the Montreal region of Quebec, Canada that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Villeray and Park Extension in the city of Montreal M ...

riding from 2004 to 2007, and later served on Montreal City Council. She is trilingual, speaking

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and English.

Profile

Background

Lefebvre has been involved in politics, with the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

(PQ), since the age of 17. Following her bachelor's degree in political science at

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 ...

, her studies took her to the Universidad de las Américas in

Puebla, Puebla Puebla de Zaragoza (; ; ), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city of the state of Puebla, and t ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. There she gathered much political experience, notably as an intern at the Quebec Government House in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

and as parliamentary assistant to French politician

Philippe Séguin Philippe Séguin (; 21 April 1943 – 7 January 2010) was a French political figure who was President of the National Assembly from 1993 to 1997 and President of the Cour des Comptes of France from 2004 to 2010. He entered the Court of Financ ...

Election

In 2004, she won the Parti Québécois candidacy for the coming

by-election 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 ...

in her native riding, Laurier-Dorion, and began a campaign of outspoken

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

and sovereigntist politics (opposing the Charest government). On September 20, 2004, at the age of 25, she became the youngest elected female MNA in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

's history. Her arrival was touted by some as the sovereigntist new blood and ''breath of fresh air'' for the party and movement. Four by-elections occurred on the day of her victory. The Liberals lost all but one (with a smaller victory than usual for one of the strongest Liberal fortresses, Nelligan), with the PQ winning two and the

Action démocratique du Québec The (, ), commonly referred to as the , was a right-wing populist and conservative provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. On the sovereignty question, it defined itself as autonomist; it had support from nationalists and federalists. Its ...

one. Coming at a time when the Charest government was low in opinion polls, her victory in the Laurier-Dorion was described as historic for reasons other than Lefebvre's relative youth. Laurier (later merged with the riding of Dorion) had been won only once before by the PQ, by

Lise Payette Lise Payette ( Ouimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of ...

, and had been held by Liberal Christos Sirros for two decades. As one of the most

multicultural Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''ethnic'' or cultural pluralism in which various e ...

ridings in Quebec, the surprise victory was seen as a major step in the long ongoing PQ "charm operation" towards Quebec cultural minorities. In addition, the riding is remembered as the first riding of the party founder

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

. Twice elected in Laurier as a Liberal, Lévesque never managed to win it with the PQ, despite being party leader. Lefebvre lost her Montreal seat to the Quebec Liberal Party in the 2007 provincial election.

Parliament

Lefebvre was the Official Opposition critic for immigration and cultural communities during her tenure in office. In June 2005, after answering her question in the National Assembly about a possible conflict of interest involving his spouse, Premier Jean Charest mumbled "hostie de chienne", an insult which would roughly translate in English as "fucking bitch". Lefebvre supported then-leader

Bernard Landry Bernard Landry (; March 9, 1937 – November 6, 2018) was a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Quebec from 2001 to 2003. A member of the Parti Québécois (PQ), he led the party from 2001 to 2005, also serving as the leader ...

in February 2005 in the Parti Québécois leadership race. In September 2005, she announced her support for

Richard Legendre Richard Legendre (born January 19, 1953, in Montmagny, Quebec) is a former professional tennis player and politician in Quebec, Canada. Tennis Legendre was born in Montmagny, Quebec. He once represented Canada at the Davis Cup and had a care ...

Montreal City Council

Lefebvre was recruited by Vision Montréal as a high-profile candidate for Montreal City Council in November 2009, in the district of Villeray in the borough of

Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension () is a borough (''arrondissement'') in the city of Montreal, Quebec. It had a population of 143,853 according to the 2016 Census and a land area of . The borough of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extensi ...

. She won the election, defeating incumbent

Union Montréal Union Montreal () is an inactive municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the governing party in the city from 2001, when it won its first election under mayor Gérald Tremblay, until 2012. The party remained the largest singl ...

councillor Sylvain Lachance. When she joined municipal politics, she said the political milieu in Montreal was hampered by factionalism. She won re-election in 2013 under the party Coalition Montreal. Lefebvre announced in June 2017 that she would become an independent councilor before choosing which party she will join for the next elections. On 13 June 2017 Mayor

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 ...

dropped councilor

Marvin Rotrand Marvin Rotrand (born 1951) is a former Canadian politician, last sitting as an independent. He previously served as a member of Montreal City Council, representing the district of Snowdon. Rotrand served on Montreal city council from 1982 until 2 ...

from the role of Vice-Chair of the ''

Société de transport de Montréal The Société de transport de Montréal (, STM; ) is a public transport agency that operates transit bus and rapid transit services in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Established in 1861 as the "Montreal City Passenger Railwa ...

'' and replaced him with Lefebvre. Lefebvre announced in August 2017 that she would join the mayor's

Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal Equipe or Équipe may refer to: ''Équipe'' Équipe may refer to: * team, in French language * ''L'Équipe'', a French newspaper devoted to sports * ''L'Équipe'' (TV series), a television series broadcast in many versions and in many countries ...

for the November 2017 municipal elections. She said working with the Coderre government on files like transit electrification and banning plastic bags convinced her to join his team. She said she feels the partisan atmosphere changed since Coderre’s election in 2013. Lefebvre subsequently lost to Rosannie Filato, a lawyer with the Projet Montreal party.

References

Une étudiante en études internationales est élue à l'Assemblée nationale
on the

website. ;Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lefebvre, Elsie 1979 births Living people Parti Québécois MNAs Universidad de las Américas Puebla alumni Université de Montréal alumni Women MNAs in Quebec Montreal city councillors People from Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension Women municipal councillors in Quebec 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century Canadian women politicians