Suzanne Tremblay
Suzanne Tremblay | |
|---|---|
| Opposition House Leader | |
| In office March 17, 1997 – April 25, 1997 | |
| Leader | Gilles Duceppe |
| Preceded by | Gilles Duceppe |
| Succeeded by | Randy White |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Rimouski-Neigette-et-La Mitis (Rimouski—Mitis 1997-2000) (Rimouski—Témiscouata 1993-1997) | |
| In office October 25, 1993 – June 28, 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Monique Vézina |
| Succeeded by | Riding dissolved |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 24, 1937 Montreal, Quebec |
| Died | September 26, 2020 (aged 83) Rimouski, Quebec |
| Political party | Bloc Québécois |
| Residence(s) | Le Bic, Quebec |
Suzanne Tremblay (French pronunciation: [syzan tʁɑ̃blɛ]; January 24, 1937 – September 26, 2020) was a Canadian politician from Quebec who served as a Bloc Québécois member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2004.
Early life
[edit]Born in Montreal, Tremblay received a Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship to attend Tufts University in the United States, where she earned a Master's degree in pre-school education. She then completed a certificate in educational studies at the Université de Lyon and a certificate in child care studies at the University of London.
Political career
[edit]Tremblay was first elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1993 federal election for the riding of Rimouski—Témiscouata. She was re-elected in the 1997 election for the riding of Rimouski-Mitis and in the 2000 election for Rimouski-Neigette-et-La Mitis. She announced her intention not to run again in the 2004 federal election.
She was occasionally a controversial figure, once pointing out that Quebec Premier Jean Charest's first name was really "John" in an attempt to discredit him as a representative of the true Quebec;[1] the Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe distanced himself from this comment. Tremblay also made similar comments attacking Radio-Canada journalist Joyce Napier for not having a francophone name,[2] and pop singer Céline Dion for purportedly turning her back on her Québécoise identity in her pursuit of pop stardom.[3]
Following Tremblay's announcement of her retirement from the House of Commons, Louise Thibault, a municipal councillor in Le Bic, became the Bloc Québécois candidate in the new riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, and won the 2004 election. Tremblay ran in the resulting by-election to fill Thibault's municipal council seat, running primarily on a campaign of opposing the then-proposed amalgamation of Le Bic with Rimouski.[4] She lost narrowly to Pierre Garon, a local farmer and trucker who had not previously been active in politics.[4]
Death
[edit]Tremblay died on September 26, 2020, from cancer.[5][6]
Electoral record
[edit]| 2000 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||||
| Bloc Québécois | Suzanne Tremblay | 19,759 | ||||||
| Liberal | Réal Marmen | 9,795 | ||||||
| Alliance | Gerard Gosselin | 1,280 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative | Réal Blais | 1,150 | ||||||
| Natural Law | Lyse Beauchemin | 673 | ||||||
| New Democratic | René Lemieux | 525 | ||||||
| 1997 Canadian federal election: Rimouski—Mitis | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Bloc Québécois | Suzanne Tremblay | 17,282 | 47.00 | $53,089 | ||||
| Liberal | Réal Marmen | 11,112 | 30.22 | – | $47,800 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Jean Roy | 7,901 | 21.49 | $32,225 | ||||
| New Democratic | Elizabeth Clark | 479 | 1.30 | $0 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 36,774 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 1,211 | |||||||
| Turnout | 37,985 | 68.24 | ||||||
| Electors on the lists | 55,665 | |||||||
| Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada. | ||||||||
| 1993 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||||
| Bloc Québécois | Suzanne Tremblay | 23,118 | ||||||
| Liberal | André Reid | 9,454 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative | Jean Morin | 4,622 | ||||||
| Independent | François-Michel Denis | 598 | ||||||
| Natural Law | Gilles Roussel | 400 | ||||||
| New Democratic | Alex En Hwa Ng | 335 | ||||||
References
[edit]- ^ "Name-calling reaches a new low". Financial Post, May 28, 1997, pg. 14.
- ^ "Non-Quebecois accent sounds ignorant to MP". Vancouver Sun, October 18, 1995.
- ^ "Does Céline like poutine?" The Globe and Mail, April 13, 1999.
- ^ a b "Défaite surprise pour Suzanne Tremblay". Radio-Canada, October 24, 2004.
- ^ "Colleagues recall spirit of former Bloc Quebecois MP Suzanne Tremblay, dead at 83". 26 September 2020.
- ^ "L'Ancienne députée bloquiste Suzanne Tremblay s'éteint".
External links
[edit]
- 1937 births
- 2020 deaths
- 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
- 20th-century Canadian women politicians
- 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
- 21st-century Canadian women politicians
- Alumni of the University of London
- Bloc Québécois MPs
- Deaths from cancer in Quebec
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
- Politicians from Montreal
- Women in Quebec politics
- Women members of the House of Commons of Canada