Marie Poulin

Marie P. Poulin
Senator for Northern Ontario
Incumbent
Assumed office September 21, 1995
Appointed by	Jean Chrétien
Personal details
Born	June 21, 1945 (1945-06-21) (age 66) 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.

Education

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.

Professional life

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).

Political life

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]

See also

• List of Ontario senators

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ "Liberal party president Marie Poulin resigns after suffering mild stroke", Canadian Press, April 22, 2008

External links

• Marie Poulin for LPC President
• Senator Marie Poulin

Party political offices
Preceded by Mike Eizenga	President of the Liberal Party of Canada 2006-2008	Succeeded by Doug Ferguson

Persondata
Name	Poulin, Marie-Paule
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	June 21, 1945
Place of birth	Sudbury, Ontario
Date of death
Place of death