Liza Frulla

Liza Frulla PC CM OQ (born March 30, 1949, in Montreal, Quebec), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 1998, a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2002 to 2006, and a member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The Honourable Liza Frulla PC CM OQ
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Jeanne-Le Ber Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe Saint-Charles (2002-2004)
In office May 13, 2002 – January 23, 2006
Preceded by	Raymond Lavigne
Succeeded by	Thierry St-Cyr
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Marguerite-Bourgeoys
In office September 25, 1989 – November 30, 1998
Preceded by	Gilles Fortin
Succeeded by	Monique Jérôme-Forget
Personal details
Born	(1949-03-30) March 30, 1949 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	Liberal Party of Canada (national) Quebec Liberal Party (provincial)
Occupation	broadcaster

Background

All four of Frulla's grandparents were born in Italy and like many Italian Quebeckers, her family was strongly federalist and Quebec Liberal oriented. In college she says she was not politically involved as she voted "yes" in the 1980 referendum, believing it was only fair to give René Lévesque's government a mandate to negotiate, but when the results were strongly "no", she reverted to federalism. She then later worked as a marketer for Labatt Breweries when she regularly met with government officials and eventually joined the Quebec Liberals under Robert Bourassa.

Early career

From 1974 to 1976, Frulla worked for the public affairs service of the organizing committee for the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She subsequently became the first woman reporter accredited to cover professional sport in the electronic media.

Provincial politics

From 1989 to 1998, she represented the riding of Marguerite-Bourgeoys in the National Assembly of Quebec. She was Minister of Communications and Minister of Cultural Affairs. She was vice-chair of the "No" committee in the 1995 Quebec referendum. However, on November 1, 2007, while appearing on the RDI program Le Club des Ex, she admitted to having voted for the "Yes" side in the 1980 referendum.

In 1998, she left the National Assembly to host her own show, Liza, on public broadcaster Radio-Canada until 2002.

Federal politics

She was elected to Parliament in a 2002 by-election in the now-defunct riding of Verdun—Saint-Henri—Saint-Paul—Pointe-Saint-Charles. After that riding was merged with portions of neighbouring ridings to form Jeanne-Le Ber, she was re-elected by a razor-thin margin over Thierry St-Cyr in 2004; she subsequently lost to him in 2006.

Frulla has the prenominal "the Honourable" and the postnominal "PC" for life by virtue of being made a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on December 12, 2003. She was the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for the Status of Women in the cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin and previously served as Minister of Social Development.

Honours

In 2016, she was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2017, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada.

Electoral record (partial)

2004 Canadian federal election: Jeanne-Le Ber
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Liza Frulla	18,766	41.09	$61,848
	Bloc Québécois	Thierry St-Cyr	18,694	40.93	$32,921
	New Democratic	Anthony Philbin	3,160	6.92	$1,281
	Conservative	Pierre-Albert Sévigny	2,524	5.53	$14,155
	Green	Jean Claude Mercier	1,864	4.08	not listed
	Marijuana	Cathy Duchesne	520	1.14	none listed
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Chouinard	148	0.32	none listed
Total valid votes			45,676	100.00
Total rejected ballots			836
Turnout			46,512	55.22
Electors on the lists			84,223
Percentage change figures are factored for redistribution. Conservative Party percentages are contrasted with the combined Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative figures from 2000. Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to totals submitted by the candidate and are presented when the reviewed totals are not available.

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• Liza Frulla – Parliament of Canada biography