Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet MP |
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Member of the Canadian Parliament for Hochelaga |
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Assumed office 2 May 2011 |
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Preceded by | Daniel Paillé |
New Democratic Party Whip | |
Assumed office 12 November 2015 |
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Leader | Tom Mulcair |
Preceded by | Nycole Turmel |
Personal details | |
Born |
Abitibi, Quebec |
October 3, 1955
Political party | New Democratic Party |
Profession | museum interpretive guide, teacher, union organizer |
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet (born 3 October 1955) is a Canadian anthropologist, unionist and politician, who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2011 election. She represents the electoral district of Hochelaga as a member of the New Democratic Party. Since November 2015, she is also the NDP's Whip. She is married and has two grown sons.
After obtaining her Master's degree of anthropology at the University of Alberta, Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet participated in various archeological digs in Canada and the United-States. She also taught at the University of Alberta's francophone campus and at Grant McEwan University. From 1992 to 2011, Boutin-Sweet worked as a guide/animator at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum and was involved in union activities. Co-founder and treasurer of the museum’s employees union, which is affiliated with the Centrale des syndicats démocratiques (CSD), she was a member of the pay equity and bargaining committees. With the CSD, she sat on the committee on the status of women and served as trainer, auditor and vice-president, trade and services. Until 2011, Marjolaine has worked both as an archeologist and as a train-unionist for the Pointe-à-Callière museum.
In 2011, she decided to put her name forward as a candidate for the New Democratic Party in the federal district of Hochelaga. In the 41st Canadian federal election, she was elected with 48,17% of the votes, defeating the incumbent candidate Daniel Paillé, from the Bloc Québécois. She was re-elected in Hochelaga in the 42nd Canadian federal election, an election that was subject to a recount, in which she was declared the victor by 500 votes, giving her 30.89% of the vote. On 12 November 2015, she was named Chief Whip for the NDP, as well as being asked to continue her role as Housing Critic.