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.
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 |
Early life
editBorn 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
editTremblay 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
editElectoral 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".