| Marie P. Poulin | |
|---|---|
| Senator for Northern Ontario | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office September 21, 1995 |
|
| Appointed by | Jean Chrétien |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 21, 1945 Sudbury, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
Marie-Paule Poulin, née Charette (born June 21, 1945) is a Canadian senator and was the president of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2006 to 2008. She is married to international portrait artist Bernard Poulin.
Contents |
Poulin was raised in Sudbury and Haileybury. She was a classmate and friend of MP Diane Marleau in high school; Poulin and Marleau have remained friends throughout their careers.[1]
She was educated at Laurentian University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1966, and the Université de Montréal, obtaining her Master's of Social Science in 1969. In 1995, Laurentian awarded her an honorary Doctor of Laws. Poulin received an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa in 2007.
In her career, Poulin was a deputy minister in the government of Canada and a broadcast executive. She was the founding chair and CEO of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal, a federal agency for self-employed workers in the arts. She was also a vice-president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and established the network's French language service in Northern Ontario (CBON).
Poulin was appointed to the Senate in 1995 by Jean Chrétien, representing the senate division of Northern Ontario for the Liberal Party of Canada. She was appointed to succeed Jean Noël Desmarais following his death in office.
As a senator, she is a member of the Senate committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, and the Senate committee on National Security and Defense. As well, she is a past member of the committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. She chaired the Senate committee on Transport and Communications and the subcommittee on Communications; leading the review of Canada's national and international position in communications and telecommunications.
She was the first woman to chair the Senate Liberal caucus, and the first senator to chair the Northern Ontario Liberal caucus.
Poulin ran for the presidency of the party at the party's leadership convention in 2006. She defeated former MP Tony Ianno and party activist Bobbi Ethier to win the election. She is the second woman and first francophone woman to hold this position.
Poulin suffered a mild stroke in April 2008 and subsequently announced her resignation as Liberal Party president as she felt she was no longer able to devote the required amount of time to the position.[2]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Mike Eizenga |
President of the Liberal Party of Canada 2006-2008 |
Succeeded by Doug Ferguson |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||