Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis (born 30 June 1940) is a Canadian Senator and a former Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

. She was a teacher by profession.

Early life

She studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 followed by studies at Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 where she received a Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree for visual arts with an educational psychology certificate. Fortin-Duplessis became a teacher after this.

Member of Parliament

She was the first female elected municipal councillor in Sainte-Foy, Quebec in 1981.

Fortin-Duplessis represented the Quebec riding of Louis-Hébert

Louis-Hébert (electoral district)

Louis-Hébert is a federal electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec. Represented in the House of Commons since 2004, its population was certified, according to the detailed statistics of 2001, as 98,156.-Geography:...

 where she was first elected in the 1984 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1984

The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...

 and re-elected in 1988

Canadian federal election, 1988

The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

, becoming part of Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...

's governing party during the 33rd

33rd Canadian Parliament

The 33rd Canadian Parliament was in session from November 5, 1984 until October 1, 1988. The membership was set by the 1984 federal election on September 4, 1984, and it only changed slightly due to resignations and by-elections prior to being dissolved before the 1988 election.It was controlled...

 and 34th Canadian Parliament

34th Canadian Parliament

The 34th Canadian Parliament was in session from December 12, 1988 until September 8, 1993. The membership was set by the 1988 federal election on November 21, 1988, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 1993 election.It was...

s.

Fortin-Duplessis left federal politics after her defeat in the 1993 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

 by Philippe Paré of the Bloc Québécois

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was originally a party made of Quebec nationalists who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative...

.

Return to politics

Both Fortin-Duplessis and former colleague Pierre H. Vincent

Pierre H. Vincent

Pierre H. Vincent, PC is a tax lawyer and former Canadian politician.-Member of Parliament:Vincent was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1984 electoral landslide that brought Brian Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative Party to power...

 managed the Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 campaign in Quebec in the federal election of 2008

Canadian federal election, 2008

The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...

.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper

Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...

 appointed Fortin-Duplessis to the Senate on 22 December 2008.

External links

• Official Website of Senator Suzanne Fortin-Duplessis