Monique Bégin

Monique Bégin PC CC FRSC (March 1, 1936 – September 8, 2023) was a Canadian academic and politician.

The Honourable
Monique Bégin
PC CC FRSC
Minister of Health and Welfare
In office
March 3, 1980 – September 16, 1984
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byDavid Crombie
Succeeded byJake Epp
In office
September 16, 1977 – June 3, 1979
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byMarc Lalonde
Succeeded byDavid Crombie
Minister of National Revenue
In office
September 14, 1976 – September 15, 1977
Prime MinisterPierre Trudeau
Preceded byBud Cullen
Succeeded byJoseph-Philippe Guay
Member of Parliament for Saint-Michel
In office
October 30, 1972 – May 22, 1979
Preceded byVictor Forget
Succeeded byThérèse Killens
Member of Parliament for Saint-Léonard—Anjou
In office
May 22, 1979 – July 9, 1984
Preceded byfirst member
Succeeded byAlfonso Gagliano
Personal details
Born(1936-03-01)March 1, 1936
Rome, Italy
DiedSeptember 8, 2023(2023-09-08) (aged 87)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Political partyLiberal
OccupationAdministrator
sociologist
WebsiteParliament of Canada biography

Early life

Bégin was born in Rome to a Canadian-born sound engineer Joseph Lucien Bégin (1895–1964) and Belgian-born accountant Marie-Louise Vanhavre (1906–1967)[1][2] and raised in France and Portugal before emigrating to Canada at the end of World War II. She received an MA degree in sociology from the Université de Montréal and a PhD degree from the Sorbonne. She described her early life in Montreal as challenging, but credited community groups and her childhood role as a Girl Guides of Canada member as "sav(ing) her life".[3]

Political career

In 1967, Bégin became executive secretary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women, which published its report in 1970. She won election to the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal candidate in the riding of Saint-Michel in Montreal in the 1972 election. Bégin, Albanie Morin and Jeanne Sauvé, all elected in 1972, were the first women ever elected to the House of Commons from Quebec.

Bégin was appointed to the Canadian Cabinet by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau as Minister of National Revenue from 1976 to 1977, and served as Minister of Health and Welfare from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984 during which she introduced the Canada Health Act in Parliament which was passed by the House of Commons and is still in force today. She declined to run again in the 1984 election and retired from politics.

Post-politics

In 1986, she joined the University of Ottawa and Carleton University as the first joint Ottawa-Carleton Chair of Women's Studies. From 1990 to 1997, she was the University of Ottawa's dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and continued teaching as a professor emeritus. From 1993 to 1995, she also served as co-chair of Ontario's Royal Commission on Learning with Gerald Caplan.

In 1997, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Bégin served as the Treasurer for the International Centre for Migration and Health.

In 2015, she was a recipient of the Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case.[4]

In 2018, she published the memoir Ladies, Upstairs!: My Life in Politics and After.[5]

Bégin was elevated to a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2020.[6]

Death

Monique Bégin died in Ottawa on September 8, 2023, at the age of 87.[7]

Electoral record
1980 Canadian federal election: Saint-Léonard—Anjou
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalMonique Bégin42,22881.12
New DemocraticFilippo Salvatore3,7417.19
Progressive ConservativePierre Gauthier2,9725.71
RhinocerosPierre Guzzo-Céros1,5693.01
Social CreditGaétan Bernard1,1942.29
Union populaireU.P. Nelson Bouchard2600.50
Marxist–LeninistCaroline Commandeur-Laloux910.17
Total valid votes 52,055 100.00
Total rejected ballots 607
Turnout 52,662 66.44
Electors on the lists 79,266
Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-second General Election, 1980.
1979 Canadian federal election: Saint-Leonard-Anjou
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalMonique Bégin45,582
Social CreditRéal Ménard5,102
Progressive ConservativeLuciano Coraggio3,556
New DemocraticColette Lalancette-Deschamps3,105
RhinocerosJoanne Noël1,291
Union populaireAlice Derome268
Marxist–LeninistCarole Commandeur-Laloux176
1974 Canadian federal election: Saint-Michel
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalMonique Bégin29,822
Progressive ConservativePierre Noël6,816
Social CreditCharles-Eugène Landry4,348
New DemocraticJ. Richard Sylvestre3,833
Marxist–LeninistAnna C. Campagna476
CommunistGloria Mallaroni277
1972 Canadian federal election: Saint-Michel
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalMonique Bégin23,850
Social CreditCharles-Eugène Landry8,591
Progressive ConservativeJ.-Maurice Bergeron7,158
IndependentRobert G. Beale4,758
New DemocraticHélène Lewis4,551

Archives

There is a Monique Bégin fonds at Library and Archives Canada.[8]

References
  1. "Bégin, Hon. Monique, P.C., O.C., F.R.S.C., B.A., M.A. | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
  2. "Hommage à Madame Monique Bégin".
  3. "Monique Bégin: The feminist trailblazer – Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. November 7, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  4. Communication, Status of Women Canada. "2015 Recipients Governor General Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case". cfc-swc.gc.ca. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  5. "Ladies, Upstairs!: My Life in Politics and After, by Monique Bégin". Quill & Quire, March 2019.
  6. "Governor General Announces 114 New Appointments to the Order of Canada". November 26, 2020.
  7. The Honourable Monique Bégin passes away – 1936–2023
  8. "Finding aid to Monique Bégin fonds, Library and Archives Canada" (PDF). Retrieved August 31, 2020.
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