Paulina Ayala (born June 25, 1962) is a Canadian politician who served as Member of Parliament for the riding of Honoré—Mercier from 2011 to 2015. She 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 ...

. She succeeded Pablo Rodriguez 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 ...

Early life and education

She was born in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, and was a leader in the student movement and in citizens' rights organizations during the

Pinochet dictatorship An authoritarian military dictatorship ruled Chile for seventeen years, between 11 September 1973 and 11 March 1990. The dictatorship was established after the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown ...

. She later immigrated to Canada in 1995 and settled 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 ...

. She earned a certificate in French as a

second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

and multicultural education from the

Université du Québec à Montréal The (UQAM; ), is a French language, French-language public university, public research university based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest constituent element of the system. UQAM was founded on April 9, 1969, by the government o ...

. She has a diploma in education, history and geography.

Political career

Ayala was elected to represent Honoré-Mercier in the

2011 Canadian federal election The 2011 Canadian federal election was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament. The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General of Canada, Governor Gene ...

. In the 2015 federal election, Pablo Rodriguez defeated Ayala in a re-match. Ayala ran in the

2018 Quebec general election The 2018 Quebec general election was held on October 1, 2018, to elect members to the National Assembly of Quebec. The election saw a landslide victory for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) led by François Legault, which won 74 of 125 seats, g ...

Rosemont Rosemont may refer to: People Rosemont is a surname. Notable people with this surname include: * David A. Rosemont, American television producer * Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009), American poet, artist, historian * Norman Rosemont (1924–2018), ...

for the provincial NDP but lost by a large margin. Ayala contested the riding of

Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel (; known until 1996 as Saint-Léonard) is a federal electoral district within the City of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, which has been represented in the House of Commons since 1988. Its population during the 201 ...

in the 2019 federal election but lost. She again contested Honoré—Mercier at the snap 2021 election but finished fourth and her opponent for the third time, Rodriguez, easily won re-election in a landslide. She ran in the

2021 Montreal municipal election Municipal elections were held in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada on November 7, 2021, as part of the 2021 Quebec municipal elections. Voters elected 103 representatives in a First-past-the-post voting, first-past-the-post electoral system. ...

as a Mouvement Montréal candidate for the city council seat of Saint-Leonard Est. She came in third place with around 12% of the vote.

Electoral record

Federal

Provincial

Municipal

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ayala, Paulina 1962 births Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Chilean emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Santiago, Chile Politicians from Montreal Université du Québec à Montréal alumni Women in Quebec politics Canadian people of Chilean descent 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians