Sana Hassainia (; born November 1, 1974) is a

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n born

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. 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 ...

in the 2011 election as the New Democratic Member of Parliament for Verchères—Les Patriotes. She left the NDP caucus on August 20, 2014 as the result of a dispute with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair's position on the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

and completed her term as an Independent MP.

Education

She has degrees in French literature and language, and a journalism certificate from the

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 ...

. At the time of her election she was working in the

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

business.

Personal life

While an MP, Hassainia gave birth to her son, Skander-Jack Kochlef, on 14 November 2011. Her second child was born in 2013.

Split with NDP

On August 20, 2014, Hassainia announced she was leaving the NDP and will sit as an Independent due to Mulcair's "excessively pro-Israel stance on the current conflict in Gaza and demeaning party demands to toe the line." Hassainia claimed that she was "punished" for supporting Brian Topp (who previously challenged Mulcair for the party's leaderships) by being removed from her position with Commons committee on the Status of Women. Regarding the Middle East, Hassainia stated that she could not support the position adopted by the NDP under Mulcair." Following her announcement, Hassainia stated that "a party leader should be loved like ormer leader

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 ...

and not feared. Today, I have the courage to make a significant gesture, to take a weight off my shoulders and stand by my convictions."New Democrat MP quits party because she thinks Mulcair is too pro-Israel
by Joan Bryden, ''

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; , ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Press has been a private, not-for-profit c ...

'' (reprinted in the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

''), August 20, 2014.Quebec NDP MP Sana Hassainia defects over Mideast position
by Susana Mas,

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

, Aug 20, 2014. In her blog, Hassainia blamed "pressures within and outside the party" for the shift in the NDP's position towards the Middle East, and stated that "To declare that we are in favour of peace in the Middle East is not a position, in fact it's a non-position — it's a way to avoid the issue and postpone a discussion on a topic that 'angers.'" However, according to the

, sources within the NDP subsequently claimed that Hassainia had never expressed concerns with the party's position towards the Israel/Palestine conflict prior to her announcement and accused her of "simply looking for an excuse to cover the fact that she rarely shows up for work." The ''

'' noted that Hassainia participated in only 8.7% of votes in the House of Commons for the first seven months of 2014, which meant that she had the lowest attendance record of any MP during this period. Another source claimed that the NDP "bent over backwards" to accommodate Hassainia's schedule, but that Nycole Turmel (the NDP party whip) became "frustrated in her efforts to get Hassainia to show up for votes and perform other parliamentary duties." In response to Hassainia's announcement, Mulcair stated that she had never expressed concern with his position towards Israel. Mulcair stated that the NDP's policy for supporting the

Two-State Solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

to the Israel/Palestine conflict remains unchanged from when

was leader, while adding that "in her note, assainiamade it clear that she doesn't agree with that." Hassiania was criticized for her poor attendance record in both in the House (in 2014 she attended 16 of 269 votes) and at her constituency office; she defended herself saying that her commitment to her caring for her two young children took her away from the House in early evenings when many votes take place. On February 5, 2015, she announced that she was not going to be a candidate in the 2015 federal election.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassainia, Sana 1974 births Living people New Democratic Party MPs Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Tunisian emigrants to Canada Université de Montréal alumni Politicians from Tunis People from Varennes, Quebec Politicians from Montérégie 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century Canadian women politicians