Manon Massé

Manon Massé MNA (born 1963) is a Canadian politician in Quebec and one of the two current leaders for Québec solidaire since 2017. She has represented Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques in the National Assembly of Quebec since the 2014 general election. Before her time in political office, she was a community organizer and one of the co-founders for the political movement Option citoyenne.[1][2]

Manon Massé MNA
Co-Spokesperson for Québec solidaire
Incumbent
Assumed office 21 May 2017 Serving with Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
Preceded by	Françoise David
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 April 2014
Preceded by	Daniel Breton
Personal details
Born	22 May 1963 Windsor, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Québec solidaire
Residence	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Alma mater	Université de Montréal

Biography

Massé was born on 22 May 1963 in Windsor, Quebec, to Fernande Migneault and Gilles Massé, both factory workers by profession. She spent the first seven years of her childhood in Windsor until her family moved to Boucherville, a suburb of Montreal.[3]

She studied at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit before pursuing a major in theology at the Université de Montréal.[4]

Massé worked with various community organisations, social causes, and political movements, including the Comité social Centre-Sud and Fédération des femmes du Québec (trans. Women's Federation of Québec). She was also on the coordinating committees for the Marche mondiale des Femmes in 2000 and the Marche du pain et des roses in 1995.[4] In 2011, she was also part of the Freedom Flotilla II, representing Québec solidaire on the Canadian Boat for Gaza, Tahrir.[5]

Political career

Manon Massé was the first-ever candidate to stand for political office under the Québec solidaire banner,[6] doing so in the 2006 by-election for the Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques constituency she now represents. She received 22% of the vote.[7]

She was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2014 election, her fifth attempt and winning the party its third seat.[8][9]

Due to her narrow margin of victory over Quebec Liberal Party candidate Anna Klisko of 91 votes, a request for a judicial recount was filed by Klisko.[9] The request was rejected by the presiding judge on 11 April, on the grounds that Klisko did not have sufficient evidence of any irregularities in the election process.[9]

Party Spokesperson, 2017–

Massé, along with activist Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, was elected co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire at the party's conference in May 2017.[10] This is a continuation the party's tradition of allocating the role to a woman and a man to serve concurrently.

In her role, she was proposed by the party as their candidate for Premier of Quebec in the 2018 Quebec general election.[11] In this election, the party tripled its seat count from three members to ten, the party's best performance to date and bringing the party to third party status, ahead of the traditional major sovereigntist party, Parti Québécois.[12]

In the trial of Catalonia independence leaders she testified at the Supreme Court of Spain on 29 April 2019 due to her role as international observer in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum.[13]

Electoral District

2018 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Québec solidaire	Manon Massé	12,429	49.28	+18.68
	Liberal	Louis Charron	5,335	21.15	-9.12
	Parti Québécois	Jennifer Drouin	3,528	13.99	-13.62
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Anna Klisko	2,773	10.99	+2.42
	Green	Anna Calderon	881	3.49	+1.43
	Conservative	Don Ivanski	130	0.52	New
	Bloc Pot	Henri Ladouceur	73	0.29	New
	Citoyens au pouvoir	Alexis Cossette-Trudel	72	0.29	New
Total valid votes			25,221	98.96
Total rejected ballots			266	1.04
Turnout			25,487	59.42
Eligible voters			42,894
	Québec solidaire hold		Swing

2014 Quebec general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Québec solidaire	Manon Massé	8,437	30.60	+5.17
	Liberal	Anna Klisko	8,346	30.27	+10.96
	Parti Québécois	Daniel Breton	7,612	27.61	-8.07
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Patrick Thauvette	2,364	8.57	-6.21
	Green	Stewart Wiseman	393	1.43	–
	Option nationale	Nic Payne	210	0.76	-2.33
	Bloc Pot	Marc Bissonnette	164	0.59	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Serge Lachapelle	47	0.17	-0.04
Total valid votes			27,573	98.86	–
Total rejected ballots			318	1.14	–
Turnout			27,891	65.96	-2.22
Electors on the lists			42,287	–	–
	Québec solidaire gain from Parti Québécois		Swing

Personal life

Massé is a noted feminist and social justice activist in and around Montreal.[14] She is an out lesbian and partner to Ghislaine Goulet.[15][16]

References

1. "Manon Massé : par-delà la moustache". URBANIA (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. Durocher, Sophie. "La moustache de Manon". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
3. "Les racines de Manon Massé à Windsor". Le Soleil. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
4. "Manon Massé - National Assembly of Québec". www.assnat.qc.ca. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
5. ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone International-. "Des Québécois en route vers Gaza pour briser le blocus israélien". Radio-Canada.ca (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. "Député.e.s – Manon Massé". quebecsolidaire.net. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
7. "Élections partielles". Élections Québec (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
8. Apr 08, CBC News · Posted; April 8, 2014 9:29 AM ET | Last Updated; 2014. "Manon Massé narrowly wins third seat for Québec Solidaire | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved 27 March 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
9. "Manon Masse officially wins seat for Quebec solidaire". CTV Montreal, 11 April 2014.
10. "Manon Massé et GND nommés porte-paroles de QS". Le Soleil. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
11. Morasse, Marie-Eve. "Manon Massé sera l'aspirante première ministre pour QS". La Presse (in French). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
12. Lalonde, Michelle; October 2, Montreal Gazette Updated; 2018 (2 October 2018). "Quebec election: Québec solidaire triples its caucus | Montreal Gazette". Retrieved 27 March 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
13. Una diputada de Quebec, la primera que se reivindica como observadora internacional en el 'procés', aunque corrió con sus gastos (in Spanish)
14. Julie Vaillancourt, "Intervues avec Manon Massé...", Fugues.com, Retrieved 8 May 2012
15. Québec Solidaire wants to fight homophobia CBC News, 6 March 2007.
16. Labranche, Michaël. "Un cliché de Manon Massé et de sa conjointe qui s'embrassent émeut le Web". Le Journal de Québec. Retrieved 27 March 2019.