Monia Mazigh

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Monia Mazigh (Arabic: مونيا مزيغ‎) is best known as the wife of Canadian torture victim Maher Arar. A resident of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, she was the New Democratic Party candidate for the riding of Ottawa South, a traditionally Liberal riding, in the 2004 federal election.

She was born and raised in Tunisia and emigrated to Canada in 1991, at the age of 21. Mazigh has a PhD in financial economics from McGill University and speaks Arabic, English and French fluently. In 2000, she started working for the University of Ottawa as a research assistant and later as a French-language instructor. Until 2002, her goal was to become a professor instead of a politician. [1]

Mazigh first entered the public spotlight when her husband was deported to Syria in 2002 by the US government, on suspicion of terrorist links. He was tortured and held without charge for over a year before being returned to Canada. Mazigh joined with a number of human rights groups to press the government for his release. She appeared frequently in the media and was widely respected for her tireless efforts.

She was courted by the Liberal Party, but chose to stand as a candidate for the NDP. Mazigh had reportedly grown personally close with NDP foreign affairs critic, and former federal leader, Alexa McDonough, and she perceived the NDP as having been more emphatic than the other parties in calling for her husband's release. During a leaders' debate, NDP leader Jack Layton said that the party was proud to have her as a candidate. However, Mazigh's candidacy was unusual in that Mazigh personally opposes same-sex marriage; had she been elected she would have been the only NDP MP to hold this position. While campaigning Mazigh said that she would abstain if Parliament was ever called to vote on the issue. [1]

She ran against but lost to Liberal candidate David McGuinty, the brother of Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty. Despite finishing third, her 8,080 votes were the highest the NDP has ever won in Ottawa South federally or provincially.

After running in the election, she worked for a while as a policy researcher at NDP headquarters in Ottawa. Some of her areas of expertise included economics (such as budget issues) and child care. [2] She is currently employed as a professor of finance, at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. [3]

She and her husband have two young children together, a daughter named Baraa and a son named Houd. [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ottawa Citizen. "Ottawa South candidates unlikely allies on gay marriage". June 5, 2004. pg. B.1

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jeannie Page		 New Democratic Party candidates in Ottawa South
2004		 Succeeded by
Henri Sader
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