Françoise Boivin

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Françoise Boivin (born June 11, 1960 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian politician.

Boivin was a member of the Canadian House of Commons and leader of the Women's Caucus of the Liberal Party of Canada. She represented the district of Gatineau from 2004 until 2006. She is a former lawyer, radio and television host. She made breakthrough in politics as newly-elected Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) by being one of the first to openly oppose the US missile defence system, a point of view that ultimately became the official position of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

Françoise Boivin was also chosen to be the official seconder to the 2004 Speech of the Throne in October of that year. She was also a member of the Committee on Bill C-38 to provide legal recognition of same-sex marriage, which she supported. In Parliament, she was a member of the Subcommittee on Parliamentary Privilege and the Committee on Cities and Communities.

She was also part of the Standing Committee on Official Languages and was recently appointed to the Standing Committee on Finance. She was named "Rookie of the Year" Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star; she was also one of the rare MP's to have never missed a vote in the House of Commons.

Françoise Boivin has degrees in social sciences and civil law from the University of Ottawa. She studied with former Gatineau mayor Yves Ducharme during her time at the University. Federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, a work colleague of Ms. Boivin, is also a graduate from the same faculty.

Ms. Boivin has been a member of the Quebec Bar since 1984. She began her legal career with Beaudry, Bertrand and subsequently joined the law firm Letellier & Associés. During this time, she also taught, and was in charge of the negotiation sector, at the Quebec Bar training school.

In September 1998, Ms. Boivin accepted a position as host of a public affairs program with CJRC-1150. She was subsequently asked to host a number of other programs and to prepare reports for CJRC-1150 and for Canal Vox. During the times of increasing price of gas, she made a daring move by asking her radio auditory to boycott Petro-Canada to push the country's national fuel company to decrease its prices.

In 2000, she set up her own firm where she works mainly in the area of labour law.

Very involved in her community, Ms. Boivin has participated in many fundraising activities to help agencies such as the Canadian Cancer Society, the Outaouais Alzheimer’s Society, and the Foundation for Heart Disease (Outaouais). She has also worked closely with various support and network agencies helping women.

Ms. Boivin developed a profound interest in politics when she was very young. She has been actively involved in the political life of her region for a long time, through elections, fundraising, and other activities.

[edit] Quotes about Missile Defense

"What I am saying is that nobody can tell you in a very direct fashion what it stands for, what it is going to cost, how useful it's going to be," the outspoken labour lawyer said in an interview.

"So who in their right mind would go and vote for such a thing? It makes no sense." -Toronto Star, August 23, 2004