Françoise Boivin

Françoise Boivin (born June 11, 1960 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Gatineau in the House of Commons of Canada until 2015.

Françoise Boivin

Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Gatineau
In office
May 2, 2011  August 4, 2015
Preceded byRichard Nadeau
Succeeded bySteve MacKinnon
In office
June 28, 2004  January 23, 2006
Preceded byMark Assad
Succeeded byRichard Nadeau
Personal details
Born (1960-06-11) June 11, 1960
Hull, Quebec
Political partyLiberal (2004-2008)
New Democratic (2008-present)
ResidenceGatineau
ProfessionLawyer

She first represented the district from 2004 to 2006 as a member of the Liberal Party, but was defeated in the 2006 election by Richard Nadeau of the Bloc Québécois. She subsequently left the Liberals and ran to reclaim her seat in the 2008 election as a New Democratic Party candidate,[1] but was narrowly defeated by Nadeau. She was re-elected to Parliament as a New Democrat in the 2011 election. She was defeated in 2015.

Studies, early career and community involvement

Françoise Boivin has degrees in social sciences and civil law from the University of Ottawa.

Boivin has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1984. She began her legal career with Beaudry, Bertrand and subsequently co-founded the law firm Letellier & Associés. During this time, she also taught, and was in charge of the negotiation sector, at the Quebec Bar training school.

In September 1998, Boivin hosted a public affairs program on CJRC. She was subsequently asked to host a number of other programs for CJRC-1150 and for Canal Vox. During the times of increasing price of gas, she asked her radio listeners to boycott Petro-Canada to push the country's national fuel company to decrease its prices.

In 2000, she set up her own firm where she works mainly in the area of labour law.

Boivin has participated in many fundraising activities to help agencies such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Outaouais Alzheimer's Society, and the Foundation for Heart Disease (Outaouais). She has also worked closely with various support and network agencies helping women and seniors.

Liberal politician

In 2004, Boivin, a longtime Liberal supporter, won her party's nomination for Gatineau. She defeated Bloc candidate Richard Nadeau by only two percentage points, an unusually close margin for what has historically been a strongly federalist riding. She made a breakthrough in politics as newly elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) by being one of the first to openly oppose the US missile defence system, a point of view that ultimately became the official position of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Françoise Boivin was also chosen to be the official seconder to the 2004 Speech from the Throne in October of that year. She was a member of the Committee on Bill C-38 to provide legal recognition of same-sex marriage, which she supported. In Parliament, she was a member of the Subcommittee on Parliamentary Privilege and the Liberal Committee on Cities and Communities. She was also part of the Standing Committee on Official Languages and the Standing Committee on Finance.

She was named "Rookie of the Year" by Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star, and was one of the rare MPs to have never missed a vote in the House of Commons. As a member of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs which studied the topic of Electoral Reform, on May 17, 2005, when Ed Broadbent proposed a detailed resolution that the government launch a process of electoral reform, she immediately stated that she fully concurred with his resolution, which formed the basis for the Committee's Report the next month. She also served as chair of the Liberal Women's Caucus.

Boivin was narrowly defeated by Nadeau in the January 23, 2006 federal election. She remained active within the Liberal Party, backing Michael Ignatieff during the 2006 Liberal Party leadership campaign and as media specialist for the Liberal Women's Commission (Quebec).

Move to the NDP

On February 25, 2008, Boivin announced that she would seek to regain her old seat, this time as the candidate of the NDP. She opted to leave the Liberals after learning they planned to have a "star candidate" parachute into the riding. However, she said that her views were more aligned with those of the NDP than the Liberals. She had been a prominent member of the Liberals' left wing, and voted against stated Liberal policy five or six times during her initial stint in Parliament.[2] She was formally welcomed to the party on June 17 at a press conference that included NDP leader Jack Layton and deputy leader/Quebec lieutenant Thomas Mulcair.[3]

As an indication of her popularity, Boivin came in a very close second during the 40th Canadian Election in October 2008, beating the Liberal and distant Conservative candidates and challenging incumbent Nadeau very late into election night for the final result. At 29.1%, Nadeau received the lowest share of the popular vote of any candidate elected in that election.

Between elections

Boivin practiced labour law at her own law firm and was strongly involved in Outaouais community activities and associations. She was an advisory member of the committee for the President of the Women's Business Network (RÉFAP) and a guest speaker at the Public Service Commission Management School. She appeared weekly on television as host of La Vérité choc with Roger Blanchette and Le Témoin est à vous on Canal Vox, and as a news commentator on the Denis Lévesque broadcast on LCN and TVA.

At its November 2008 convention, Boivin was elected president of the Quebec Section of the federal NDP, a position she occupied until November 2010.[4]

2011 election

Boivin once again ran as the NDP candidate in her old riding of Gatineau during the 41st Canadian election. In the May 2, 2011 election, she won with 61.8% of the vote as part of the massive NDP tsunami that swept across Quebec, finishing 27,000 votes ahead of Nadeau.

41st Parliament

On May 26, 2011 Layton named Boivin critic for the Status of Women. On September 20, 2011, interim Opposition Leader Nycole Turmel also named her Deputy Critic for Justice. Boivin also co-chaired the Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations with Conservative Senator Bob Runciman. In April 2012, newly elected NDP leader Mulcair named her critic for Justice.

2015 election

Boivin lost to Liberal Steven MacKinnon in the October 19, 2015 election. She told a local newspaper that only an imbecile would work this hard without being elected, and that putting all the effort working with citizens for the past four years has been a waste of time because she ended up losing the election.[5]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalSteve MacKinnon31,07653.76+39.96
New DemocraticFrançoise Boivin15,35226.56-35.57
Bloc QuébécoisPhilippe Boily5,4559.44-5.49$36,985.75
ConservativeLuc Angers4,7338.19+0.18
GreenGuy Dostaler9421.63+0.49$639.67
IndependentGuy J. Bellavance1480.26
Marxist–LeninistPierre Soublière940.16
Total valid votes/Expense limit 57,800100.0 $221,304.70
Total rejected ballots 522
Turnout 58,322
Eligible voters 83,651
Source: Elections Canada[6][7][8]
2011 federal election redistributed results[9]
Party Vote %
  New Democratic31,89462.13
  Bloc Québécois7,66314.93
  Liberal7,08213.80
  Conservative4,1118.01
  Green5871.14
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticFrançoise Boivin35,26261.8%
Bloc QuébécoisRichard Nadeau8,61915.1%
LiberalSteve MacKinnon7,97514%
ConservativeJennifer Gearey4,5327.9%
GreenJonathan Meijer6391.1%
Total valid votes/Expense limit 100.00%

Source: Elections Canada

2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Bloc QuébécoisRichard Nadeau15,05029.13%-10.11%
New DemocraticFrançoise Boivin13,46726.07%+16.11%
LiberalMichel Simard13,11125.38%-5.92%
ConservativeDenis Tassé8,70016.84%+0.07%
GreenDavid Inglis1,3342.58%-0.12%
Total valid votes 51,462 100.00%
Total rejected ballots
Turnout %
Bloc Québécois hold Swing -13.11%
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Bloc QuébécoisRichard Nadeau21,09339.25%-1.02%
LiberalFrançoise Boivin16,82631.31%-10.78%
ConservativePatrick Robert9,01416.77%+9.19%
New DemocraticAnne Levesque5,3549.96%+4.24%
GreenGail Walker1,4562.71%-0.36%
Total valid votes 53,743 100.00
2004 Canadian federal election: Gatineau
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalFrançoise Boivin19,19842.09$46,713
Bloc QuébécoisRichard Nadeau18,36840.27$19,466
ConservativeGérald Nicolas3,4617.59not listed
New DemocraticDominique Vaillancourt2,6105.72none listed
GreenBrian Gibb1,4023.07$144
MarijuanaStephane Salko4530.99none listed
Marxist–LeninistGabriel Girard-Bernier1250.27none listed
Total valid votes/Expenditure limit 45,617 100.00 $80,437
Total rejected ballots 602
Turnout 46,219 56.61
Electors on the lists 81,644
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative percentages from 2000.
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.
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References

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