Émilise Lessard-Therrien (born November 27, 1991) is a Québécoise politician, who is serving as a co-spokesperson of Québec solidaire since November 2023. She was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 Quebec general election.[1] She represented the electoral district of Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue as a member of Québec solidaire until her defeat in the 2022 Quebec general election.[2]
Émilise Lessard-Therrien | |
|---|---|
 Lessard-Therrien in 2022 | |
| Co-Spokesperson for Québec Solidaire | |
| In office November 26, 2023 – April 29, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Manon Massé |
| Succeeded by | Christine Labrie (interim) |
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue | |
| In office October 1, 2018 – August 28, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Luc Blanchette |
| Succeeded by | Daniel Bernard |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 27, 1991 Duhamel-Ouest, Quebec, Canada |
| Political party | Québec solidaire |
| Residence | Duhamel-Ouest, Québec |
| Education | UQAM Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue |
| Profession | Teacher, organic farmer |
In November 2023, Lessard-Therrien was elected co-spokesperson of Québec Solidaire at the party congress in Gatineau, defeating Ruba Ghazal and Christine Labrie. She obtained 50.3% of the votes in the second round, against 49.7% for Ghazal.[3] After taking leave for health reasons in late March 2024,[4] she resigned as co-spokesperson on April 29 of the same year.[5]
She is a proponent of Quebec independence, regional decentralization and food sovereignty in Quebec. She is engaged in campaigns against arsenic pollution emitted by the copper factory Fonderie Horne in Rouyn-Noranda.[6]
In March 2019, Lessard-Therrien in an interview expressed concern over possible land grabs in the province by Chinese investors. She said that, with climate change, Quebec would be one of the few places left with good, arable land and fresh water in a few years’ time and that the Temiscamingue region had much unexploited land that was being scouted by Chinese investors. She also said "Between us, we call them predators," she said. "They are predators of agricultural land. And we see them, we feel them. And what I’m saying is that fallow land still has potential to be farmed again, but land that belongs to China may never feed Quebecers, and it’s important that we be concerned now."[7][8] Responding to the criticism, she acknowledged that her statement was badly formulated, and that she was critical of large investors dominating agricultural lands, no matter where they are from.[9]
Electoral record
edit| 2022 Quebec general election: Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Daniel Bernard | 12,975 | 45.16 | +14.82 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Émilise Lessard-Therrien | 8,890 | 30.94 | -1.14 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Jean-François Vachon | 3,232 | 11.25 | -7.06 | ||||
| Conservative | Robert Daigle | 2,202 | 7.66 | +6.79 | ||||
| Liberal | Arnaud Warolin | 1,255 | 4.37 | -12.02 | ||||
| Green | Chantal Corswarem | 178 | 0.62 | -0.72 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 28,732 | 98.93 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 310 | 1.07 | -0.29 | |||||
| Turnout | 29,042 | 64.91 | -0.69 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 44,742 | – | – | |||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec gain from Québec solidaire | Swing | +7.98 | ||||||
| 2018 Quebec general election: Rouyn-Noranda–Témiscamingue | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Émilise Lessard-Therrien | 9,304 | 32.08 | +20.52 | ||||
| Coalition Avenir Québec | Jérémy G. Bélanger | 8,798 | 30.33 | +13.07 | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Gilles Chapadeau | 5,311 | 18.31 | -13.92 | ||||
| Liberal | Luc Blanchette | 4,753 | 16.39 | -21.59 | ||||
| Green | Jessica Wells | 389 | 1.34 | |||||
| Conservative | Guillaume Lanouette | 253 | 0.87 | |||||
| Citoyens au pouvoir | Fernand St-Georges | 195 | 0.67 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 29,003 | 98.64 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 400 | 1.36 | -0.81 | |||||
| Turnout | 29,403 | 65.60 | +1.35 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 44,824 | |||||||
| Québec solidaire gain from Liberal | Swing | +21.06 | ||||||
References
edit- ^ Page, Julia (October 2, 2018) [October 1, 2018]. "Québec Solidaire triples number of seats, gets off island of Montreal". CBC News. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ "Élections 2022 : Émilise Lessard-Therrien défaite dans Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue" [Election 2022: Émilise Lessard-Therrien defeated in Rouyn-Noranda-Témiscamingue]. TVA Abitibi-Témiscamingue (in French). October 4, 2022. Archived from the original on March 28, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ "Émilise Lessard-Therrien devient la nouvelle co-porte-parole de Québec solidaire" [Émilise Lessard-Therrien becomes Québec solidaire's new co-spokesperson]. Radio-Canada (in French). November 26, 2023. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Radio-Canada. "Émilise Lessard-Therrien ennuyée par un « souci de santé »" [Émilise Lessard-Therrien bothered by “health concerns”]. CBC (in French). Retrieved April 30, 2024.
- ^ Radio-Canada. "Émilise Lessard-Therrien démissionne de son poste de co-porte-parole de Québec solidaire" [Émilise Lessard-Therrien resigns from her position as co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire]. CBC (in French). Retrieved April 30, 2024.
- ^ Léveillé, Jean-Thomas (July 4, 2022). "Émissions d'arsenic à Rouyn-Noranda: La députée qu'on voulait faire taire" [Arsenic emissions in Rouyn-Noranda: The MNA they wanted to silence]. La Presse (in French). Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Olivier, Annabelle (March 3, 2019). "Montreal Chinese community demands apology from Québec Solidaire MNA". Global News. Archived from the original on November 26, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Lalonde, Michelle (March 4, 2019). "Marchers demand Québec solidaire apologize for MNA's "racist" comments". Montreal Gazette. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Bernard, Eric. "«Prédateurs Chinois» : Les excuses de la députée QS" ["Chinese predators": Québec solidaire MNA apologizes]. La vie agricole (in French). Archived from the original on November 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
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