Marcelle Mersereau, (born February 14, 1942, in Pointe-Verte, New Brunswick) is a Canadian politician. A

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

for most of her career, she also served as a councillor on

Bathurst, New Brunswick Bathurst () is a city in northern New Brunswick with a population of 12,157 and the 4th largest metropolitan area in New Brunswick as defined by Census Canada with a population of 31,387 as of 2021. The City of Bathurst overlooks Nepisiguit Ba ...

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

while on the provincial payroll from 1980 to 1991. She resigned her seat on council upon being elected to the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

in the 1991 provincial election. A member of

Frank McKenna Francis Joseph McKenna (born January 19, 1948) is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Chair of Brookfield Corporation and Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador ...

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 ...

, she was immediately named to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

and became deputy premier in 1994. She served in a variety of roles in cabinet until the defeat of the Liberals in the 1999 election. She defeated PC candidate Robert N. Stairs to retain her seat in Bathurst, one of only 10 Liberals to survive what was their worst ever electoral defeat. In opposition she was a top critic and the media reported she had lost the vote in her

caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

to become interim leader of her party by a margin of 4-3 following the resignation of

Camille Thériault Camille Henri Thériault (born February 25, 1955) is a Canadian politician from New Brunswick. He served as the 29th premier of New Brunswick from 1998 to 1999. Early life The son of Joséphine Martin and Norbert Thériault, a former provinc ...

. Her most high-profile role in opposition was that of

finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

critic. She did not seek re-election to the legislature in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

but has remained active in her party. She was elected vice president of the New Brunswick Liberal Association on October 4, 2003, and re-elected on October 15, 2005. During the 2004 federal election, she was co-chair of the Liberal campaign in New Brunswick. She was the Liberal candidate for 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 ...

in the riding of

Acadie—Bathurst Acadie—Bathurst (formerly known as Gloucester) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1867. Geography The district includes ...

in the 2006 federal election, but finished second to

Yvon Godin Yvon Godin (born May 12, 1955) is a Canadian politician. Godin was a New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Acadie—Bathurst from 1997 until his retirement in 2015. ...

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 served as co-chair of the successful Liberal campaign as it prepared for the 2006 provincial election. She succeeded

Greg Byrne Greg Byrne, King's Counsel, KC (born April 14, 1960, in Harvey, New Brunswick) is a lawyer and former Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, MLA in the Province (Canada), province of New Brunswick, Canada. Byrne was educated at Fredericton Hig ...

as president of the New Brunswick Liberal Party when he resigned after being appointed to the cabinet following the 2006 election and served the post until stepping down in the Fall of 2007.

References

List of Women MLAs, New Brunswick Legislative Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mersereau, Marcelle 1942 births Living people New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Women MLAs in New Brunswick Deputy premiers of New Brunswick People from Bathurst, New Brunswick 20th-century Canadian women politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick