Mathieu Ravignat (born January 18, 1973) is a Canadian federal politician from

Cantley, Quebec Cantley is a rural municipality in Quebec, Canada, north of the city of Gatineau, east of the Gatineau River, located within Canada's National Capital Region approximately from Parliament Hill. Cantley is one of six municipalities within the ...

, Canada, who 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 ...

from the riding of

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

in the May 2, 2011 federal election. He is a member 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 ...

, which formed 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 ...

in the

41st Canadian Parliament The 41st Canadian Parliament was in session from June 2, 2011 to August 2, 2015, with the membership of its House of Commons having been determined by the results of the 2011 federal election held on May 2, 2011. Parliament convened on June 2, ...

. He was defeated by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Will Amos William Amos (born December 4, 1974) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Pontiac, Quebec from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, he was first elected in the 2015 federal ele ...

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 ...

Early life

Of Belgian descent and raised in

Gracefield, Quebec Gracefield is a city in La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. It was reorganized on 13 March 2002 when three former municipalities (Gracefield, Northfield, and Wright) were merged int ...

and

Orleans, Ontario Orleans (; French: ; officially and in French Orléans)The suburb is called ''Orléans'' (with an accent) in French, and is commonly called ''Orleans'' (no accent) in English. The official name in English was changed from ''Orleans'' to ''Orlé ...

, Ravignat received 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 ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. He co-founded Local 2626 of the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; ) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well. CUPE is the largest union in Canada, ...

, the

labour union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

that represents student employees of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. At the time of his election to Parliament, Ravignat was a federal government researcher for aboriginal and

environmental issue Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans (human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot recov ...

Political career

Ravignat first ran for a seat as an independent candidate in the 1997 federal election. Ravignat ran in the riding of

Laurier—Sainte-Marie Laurier—Sainte-Marie () is a federal Electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons since the 1988 Canadian federal election ...

finishing in last place out of eight candidates earning 123 votes. He was soundly defeated by

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 ...

leader

Gilles Duceppe Gilles Duceppe (; born July 22, 1947) is a Canadian retired politician, proponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement and former leader of the federal political party, Bloc Québécois. He was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Ca ...

. Ravignat ran for his second time as a New Democratic Party candidate in the 2011 federal election. He was nominated by the party to contest the riding of

. On election night, he won his first term in office and picked up the seat for his party by defeating

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Foreign Affairs Minister 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 relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

Lawrence Cannon Lawrence Cannon, (born December 6, 1947) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. In early 2006, he was made the Minister of Transport. On October 30, 2008, he relinquished oversight ...

, despite the Conservative Party gaining its first majority government in the election. He was defeated by Liberal Will Amos in the 2015 Canadian federal election.

Martial arts

Ravignat is a

sensei The term "先生", read in Chinese, in Japanese, in Korean, and in Vietnamese, is an honorific used in the Sinosphere. In Japanese, the term literally means "person born before another" or "one who comes before". It is generally used ...

at the Daijiken Traditional

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

Association which he founded in Wakefield, Quebec. He is also one of the founders of the Canada Hokubei Karate-jutsu and Kobu-jutsu Association, a national martial arts organization affiliated with the North America Karate-jutsu Kobu-jutsu Association and with the International Kenshi-kai Organisation (IKO) headquartered in Okinawa, Japan.

Honours

Awarded heraldic crest, banner and flag by Queen Elizabeth II. Awarded the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, 2012. Awarded the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers, 2018.

Electoral record

References

External links

*
Mathieu Ravignat candidate page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravignat, Mathieu Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec New Democratic Party MPs Independent candidates in the 1997 Canadian federal election Living people 1973 births University of Ottawa alumni Politicians from Ottawa People from Outaouais 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada