Maria Mourani

Maria Mourani (born May 19, 1969) is a Canadian politician who was elected as an independent Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Ahuntsic in Canada. She was formerly a member of the Bloc Québécois before leaving the party over its support for the proposed Quebec Charter of Values. She joined the New Democratic Party in November 2014 but was not a member of the party's caucus due to the party's policy against crossing the floor; she stood for the NDP in the 2015 Canadian federal election, but did not win. Mourani was the first woman of Lebanese origin elected to the Canadian House of Commons.[1] In 2017, she became the Quebec representative in the Permanent Delegation of Canada at UNESCO.

Maria Mourani
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Ahuntsic
In office 2006–2015
Preceded by	Eleni Bakopanos
Succeeded by	Mélanie Joly
Personal details
Born	(1969-05-19) May 19, 1969 Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Bloc Québécois (2006-2013) Independent (2013-2015) New Democratic Party (2015-present)
Residence	Montreal
Alma mater	Université de Montréal
Profession	Politician, criminologist, parole officer, rehabilitation counsellor, researcher, sociologist, teaching assistant, consultant

Before politics

Mourani was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.[1] Of Lebanese descent, Mourani immigrated to Canada in 1988. She has held positions as rehabilitation consultant, professor, researcher, and parole officer.[1] She is a former parole officer for Correctional Service of Canada. She is a former member of the Saint-Laurent volunteer action, Henri-Beaulieu school establishment council, Founoun artistic journal, Quebec Association of Criminologists, and the Reflection Committee and Social Action. She is the former President of the Bloc's citizen's committee and on the Parti Québécois riding executive in the provincial riding of Acadie and the Committee director of the PQ orientation congress. She was also a freelance writer for L'Avenir.

Maria Mourani is also the author of La face cachée des gangs de rue (October 2006), a book about street gangs in Montreal. She followed it up with a second book on street gang networks in Canada, United States and Central America entitled Gangs de rue inc. (September 2009).[1][2][3]

She was a co-founder and a co-president of the Canadian Lebanese Friendship Association in the Canadian Parliament as well as the President of the Algerian Canadian Friendship Association.

On 15 August 2008, she was awarded an honorary medal in Beirut, Lebanon by the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU).

Political career

In the 2003 Quebec election, she ran unsuccessfully as the PQ candidate in Acadie.[4]

She was elected in the 2006 Canadian federal election and reelected in 2008 and 2011. She was consequently assigned as the Bloc Québécois Critic on Public Security and on the Status of Women in the Canadian Parliament.

After the 2011 federal election Mourani was one of only four Bloc Québécois MPs left in the House of Commons, the only Bloc member from the Montreal area, and the only female Bloc MP in the 41st Parliament.[5]

She declared her candidacy in the Bloc Québécois leadership election that was held to choose a successor to Gilles Duceppe and ran on a platform of making the Bloc more independent from the Parti Québécois.[6][7] She was defeated on the second ballot by former MP Daniel Paillé on December 11, 2011.[8]

She was expelled from the Bloc Quebecois caucus on September 12, 2013, for opposing the Quebec Charter of Values and subsequently sat as an independent for the remainder of her term as MP.[9]

On December 18, 2013, Mourani surprised citizens by announcing that she had renounced sovereigntism. She now believed that Canadian federalism was the best way to protect minority rights, and argued that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was best suited to protect "the Quebec identity and all citizens of Quebec." She also accused the PQ of running its election campaign "on the backs of believers."[10][11][12]

On November 19, 2014, Mourani announced that she would run for the NDP in the next election, though as per the party's policy on crossing the floor she remained an independent MP until the election.[13][14]

On January 21, 2015 she was acclaimed the NDP's candidate in the renamed Ahuntsic-Cartierville for the 2015 Canadian federal election,[15] but lost her seat to rival Liberal candidate Mélanie Joly.

After the 2015 elections, she opened a consultancy office Mourani-Criminologie on criminology with a concentration on issues of organized crime and gangs, juvenile delinquency, human trafficking, prostitution and international terrorism. She is a member of the Quebec Professional Order of Criminologists.[16]

On 25 October 2017, the Quebec government nominated Mourani as the Quebec representative in the Permanent Delegation of Canada at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris replacing Julie Miville-Dechêne. She assumes her position starting 5 December 2017.[17]

Bibliography

Books

• La face cachée des gangs de rue, Les Éditions de l'Homme, 2006, 211 pages ISBN 978-2-7619-2253-1
• Gangs de rue inc. : leurs réseaux au Canada et dans les Amériques, Les éditions de l'Homme, 2009, 416 pages, ISBN 978-2-7619-2683-6

Others

• Rose Dufour, Ina Motoi (preface by Maria Mourani and Hélène Manseau), La femme, sa sexualité et son pouvoir sexuel: programme d'appropriation de sa sexualité, Les Presses de l'Université du Québec, 2011
• Notre indépendance: 28 Québécois s'expriment (collective book, under the direction of Catherine Fillion-Lauzièr, Stanké, 2012

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Ahuntsic-Cartierville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mélanie Joly	26,026	46.8	+15.7	–
	New Democratic	Maria Mourani	16,684	30.0	+0.1	–
	Bloc Québécois	Nicolas Bourdon	7,346	13.2	-15.1	–
	Conservative	Wiliam Moughrabi	4,051	7.3	-1.3	–
	Green	Gilles Mercier	1,175	2.1	+0.7	–
	Rhinoceros	Catherine Gascon-David	285	0.5	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			–	100.0		$220,041.13
Total rejected ballots			–	–	–
Turnout			–	–	–
Eligible voters			82,863
Source: Elections Canada[18][19]

2011 Canadian federal election: Ahuntsic
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	14,908	31.80	-7.68
	New Democratic	Chantal Reeves	14,200	30.29	+21.32
	Liberal	Noushig Eloyan	13,087	27.91	-10.68
	Conservative	Constantin Kiryakidis	3,770	8.04	-2.32
	Green	Ted Kouretas	620	1.32	-1.25
	Rhinoceros	Jean-Olivier Berthiaume	299	0.64	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			46,884	100.00
Total rejected ballots			516	1.09	-
Turnout			47,400	64.98	-0.66
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		-14.50

2008 Canadian federal election: Ahuntsic
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	18,815	39.48	+0.57	$53,286
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	18,392	38.59	+1.30	$51,887
	Conservative	Jean Précourt	4,937	10.36	-1.89	$56,496
	New Democratic	Alexandra Bélec	4,276	8.97	+1.07	$6,663
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,228	2.57	-1.10	$20
Total valid votes/Expense limit			47,648	100.00	–	$82,379
Total rejected ballots			523	1.09
Turnout			48,181	65.64
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing		-0.40

2006 Canadian federal election: Ahuntsic
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	19,428	38.91	-2.34	$69,180
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	18,594	37.24	-6.51	$64,168
	Conservative	Etienne Morin	6,089	12.25	+7.01	$16,100
	New Democratic	Caroline Desrosiers	3,948	7.90	+1.70	$4,702
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,836	3.67	+0.99	$411
Total valid votes/Expense limit			49,895	100.00	$77,453
	Bloc Québécois gain from Liberal		Swing		-2.1

2004 Canadian federal election: Ahuntsic
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	21,234	43.75	-10.13	$59,946
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	20,020	41.25	+9.02	$53,286
	New Democratic	Annick Bergeron	3,013	6.20	+4.33	$3,308
	Conservative	Jean E. Fortier	2,544	5.24	-3.85	$39,703
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,301	2.68	+0.57	$2,388
	Marijuana	F.X. de Longchamp	314	0.64	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Marsha Fine	102	0.21	-0.09
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,528	100.00	$77,288
	Liberal hold		Swing	-9.6

2003 Quebec general election: Acadie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Yvan Bordeleau	23,211	70.39	−4.80
	Parti Québécois	Maria Mourani	6,702	20.33	+1.22
	Action démocratique	Jean-Pierre Chamoun	2,253	6.83	+2.18
	Bloc Pot	Jonathan Bérubé	440	1.33	–
	Independent	André Parizeau	161	0.49	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Linda Sullivan	111	0.34	–
	Equality	Marina Paümann	95	0.29	–
Total valid votes			32,973	99.05	–
Total rejected ballots			316	0.95	–
Turnout			33,289	65.66	−12.39
Electors on the lists			50,699	–	–

References

1. "MOURANI, Maria, B.A., M.A." Library of Parliament. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
2. "Bloc MP helps police make big pot bust". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 March 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
3. "Shooting not expected to spark Montreal street war". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
4. "Quebec Votes 2003 - Riding: Acadie". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2003. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
5. "Bloc to seek party status, new leader: MP". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
6. "MP Maria Mourani bids for Bloc Québécois leadership". CBC News. September 21, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
7. Authier, Philip (October 4, 2011). "Daniel Paillé throws hat into Bloc ring". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
8. "Daniel Paille new leader of Bloc Quebecois". CBC News. December 11, 2011. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
9. Mas, Susana (September 13, 2013). "Bloc Québécois expels MP over secular charter comments". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved June 11, 2018.
10. Bourgault-Côté, Guillaume. "Mourani "n'est plus indépendantiste"" (in French). Le Devoir. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
11. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9vk38kel5eonpq4/Lettre%20Maria%20Mourani_18%20dec%202013.pdf Mourani's Letter to the Public
12. Canadian Press. "Maria Mourani, who quit Bloc Quebecois over Quebec values charter, says she is no longer a sovereigntist". National Post. Retrieved 18 December 2013.
13. "Maria Mourani, ex-Bloc MP, to join NDP". CBC News. November 19, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
14. "Former Bloc member Maria Mourani join NDP — but not as MP". Toronto Star. November 19, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
15. "Maria Mourani, Ex-Bloc MP, To Run For NDP In Montreal". Huffington Post. January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
16. "Mourani Criminologue Official website". Mouranicriminologue.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
17. "Former Bloc MP Maria Mourani appointed Quebec's representative to UNESCO". CTV Montreal. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
18. "Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Ahuntsic-Cartierville". Elections.ca. 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
19. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official site
• Maria Mourani – Parliament of Canada biography