Catherine Fournier (Canadian politician)

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Her Worship
Catherine Fournier
Catherine Fournier in 2018
Mayor of Longueuil
Assumed office
November 14, 2021[1]
Preceded bySylvie Parent
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Marie-Victorin
In office
December 5, 2016 – November 7, 2021
Preceded byBernard Drainville
Succeeded byShirley Dorismond
Personal details
Born (1992-04-07) 7 April 1992 (age 32)[2]
Sainte-Julie, Quebec
NationalityCanadian
Political partyIndependent (2019–2021)
Other political
affiliations		Parti Québécois (before 2019) Coalition Longueuil (2021-present)

Catherine Fournier (born 7 April 1992) is a Canadian politician, who was elected as mayor of Longueuil on November 7, 2021. She is the third female mayor in the city's history.

She was previously member of the National Assembly of Quebec, having been elected in a by-election on December 5, 2016 at the age of 24.[3] She represented the electoral district of Marie-Victorin. Fournier was the youngest member of the National Assembly, and the youngest woman ever elected to that body.[4]

Originally elected as a member of the Parti Québécois, Fournier won a full term in 2018 even amid the PQ's meltdown in Greater Montreal; she was the only surviving PQ member from the metro area. However, she quit the PQ on March 11, 2019 to sit as an independent MNA. She believed the party had lost its way ideologically, though she still considers herself a committed sovereigntist.[5][6]

Before her election to the National Assembly, Fournier ran for the Bloc Québécois in the 2015 federal election in the riding of Montarville, finishing second. After her defeat, she was named as the party's vice-president. A few weeks later, Fournier left the Bloc Quebecois position to join Parti Quebecois as a political attaché of PQ leader Pierre Karl Péladeau.[7]

Early life[edit]

Fournier was born in Sainte-Julie, Quebec on 7 April 1992. She holds an economics major and political science minor from the Université de Montréal. She was a political blogger and columnist for 103.3 FM.[2]

Sexual assault[edit]

In 2023, Fournier revealed she had been the victim of sexual assault by Harold Lebel, a former Quebec MNA. The assault took place during the evening of October 20, 2017, while Fournier and Lebel, who were PQ MNAs at that time, were in Rimouski to introduce their party's plan to combat poverty.[8]

In 2022, Lebel was found guilty of sexual assault by a jury and sentenced to 8 months in prison.[9] The identity of the victim had been under a publication ban, but Fournier requested that the ban be lifted in 2023.[8]

Electoral record[edit]

Federal[edit]

Montarville

2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Michel Picard 18,848 32.54 +20.03 –
Bloc Québécois Catherine Fournier 16,460 28.42 -0.66 –
New Democratic Djaouida Sellah 14,296 24.68 -19.85 –
Conservative Stéphane Duranleau 6,284 10.85 +1.25 –
Green Olivier Adam 1,388 2.40 -0.05 –
Libertarian Claude Leclair 641 1.11 – –
Total valid votes/Expense limit 57,917 100.00   $207,758.92
Total rejected ballots 881 1.50 –
Turnout 58,798 77.86 –
Eligible voters 75,521
Liberal gain from New Democratic Swing +19.94
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

Provincial[edit]

2018 Quebec general election: Marie-Victorin
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Parti Québécois Catherine Fournier 8,952 30.82 -21.68
Coalition Avenir Québec Martyne Prévost 8,247 28.39 +14.24
Québec solidaire Carl Lévesque 6,295 21.67 +7.48
Liberal Sonia Ziadé 4,418 15.21 +1.77
Green Laeticia Poiré-Hill 625 2.15 -0.47
New Democratic Myriam de Grandpré-Ruel 310 1.07
CINQ Shirley Cedent 98 0.34 +0.09
Marxist–Leninist Pierre Chénier 60 0.21
Équipe Autonomiste Florent Portron 45 0.15 -0.03
Total valid votes 29,050 98.16
Total rejected ballots 546 1.84 +0.64
Turnout 29,596 62.91 +37.20
Eligible voters 47,044
Parti Québécois hold Swing -17.96
Source(s)
"Rapport des résultats officiels du scrutin". Élections Québec.

Marie-Victorin

Quebec provincial by-election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Parti Québécois Catherine Fournier 6,302 52.49 +14.33
Québec solidaire Carl Lévesque 1,703 14.19 +2.62
Coalition Avenir Québec Julie Chapdelaine 1,699 14.15 -6.45
Liberal Normand Parisien 1,613 13.44 -12.61
Green Vincent Charbonneau 315 2.62 +0.30
Option nationale Fabien Villemaire 109 0.91 +0.11
Parti travailliste du Québec Roch Dumont 101 0.84
Conservative Hoang Nam Nguyen 90 0.75
Changement intégrité pour notre Québec Shirley Cedent 30 0.25
Équipe Autonomiste Florent Portron 22 0.18 +0.04
Parti indépendantiste Étienne Turgeon Pelletier 21 0.17
Total valid votes 12,005 100.00
Total rejected ballots 147 1.21 -0.70
Turnout 12,152 25.71 -40.62
Electors on the lists 47,267
Parti Québécois hold Swing +5.85

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Cérémonie de prestation de serment des nouvelles élues et nouveaux élus de Longueuil".
  2. ^ a b Murphy, Caroline G. (December 6, 2016). "11 choses à savoir sur Catherine Fournier, la plus jeune femme élue dans l'histoire de l'Assemblée nationale". Le Journal de Montréal. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  3. ^ "PQ wins two of four by-elections; status quo remains". CTV Montreal, December 5, 2016.
  4. ^ "PQ wins 2 byelections, keeps Pierre Karl Péladeau's seat | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved Mar 19, 2019.
  5. ^ "PQ may have no future, youth wing members say in open letter". The Canadian Press. March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  6. ^ "'They've lost their way': PQ MNA Catherine Fournier quits party". CTV Montreal. March 11, 2019. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  7. ^ ICI.Radio-Canada.ca, Zone Politique- (2015-11-30). "La bloquiste Catherine Fournier se joint au cabinet de PKP | Radio-Canada.ca". Radio-Canada (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  8. ^ a b "Catherine Fournier, mayor of Longueuil, reveals she was sexually assaulted by Harold Lebel". CBC News.
  9. ^ "Former Quebec legislator Harold LeBel handed 8-month sentence for sexual assault". CBC News.
  10. ^ Canada, Elections. "Voter Information Service - Find your electoral district". www.elections.ca. Retrieved Mar 19, 2019.
  11. ^ Canada, Elections. "Error page". www.elections.ca. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
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