Mylène Freeman (born March 7, 1989) is a former Canadian politician who was the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament for the riding of Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel in Quebec. She was elected in the 2011 Canadian federal election after defeating incumbent Mario Laframboise of the Bloc Québécois.

Mylène Freeman
Member of Parliament
for Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel
In office
May 2, 2011 – October 19, 2015
Preceded byMario Laframboise
Succeeded byriding abolished
Personal details
Born (1989-03-07) March 7, 1989 (age 35)
Stouffville, Ontario
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Projet Montréal
Alma materUniversity of Virginia
McGill University

Biography

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Born in Stouffville, Ontario, she is fluent in both French and English.[1] She grew up fluently bilingual; she is the daughter of an Irish Canadian father and a French Canadian mother.[2]

She holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University, where she studied political theory. She was co-president of the university's New Democratic Party student group and co-ordinator of the university's Women in House program, which has young women shadow female MPs in hopes of fostering their interest in getting involved in politics.[1]

In the 2009 Montreal municipal election, Freeman stood on behalf of Projet Montréal in Outremont as a candidate for borough councillor in Claude-Ryan.[1][2]

Freeman defeated Bloc Québécois MP Mario Laframboise by 8,000 votes in Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel in the 2011 federal election.[1] She was one of five McGill students, alongside Charmaine Borg, Laurin Liu, Matthew Dubé and Jamie Nicholls, elected to Parliament in the 2011 election following the NDP's unexpected mid-campaign surge in Quebec.[1] In 2015, NDP leader Tom Mulcair named her to the shadow cabinet as critic for the status of women. She succeeded Niki Ashton, who was reassigned to be critic for Aboriginal affairs.[3]

Amid a drop in support for the NDP in the 2015 election, Dubé was re-elected while Freeman and the other three were defeated. Following her defeat, Freeman went on to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Virginia.[4]

Electoral record

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2015 Canadian federal election: Mirabel
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Bloc Québécois Simon Marcil 18,710 31.49 +0.48
New Democratic Mylène Freeman 17,873 30.08 -19.47
Liberal Karl Trudel 15,514 26.11 +18.36
Conservative Gordon Ferguson 6,020 10.13 +0.91
Green Jocelyn Gifford 1,301 2.19 +0.17
Total valid votes/Expense limit 59,418 100.0   $225,548.06
Total rejected ballots 1,178
Turnout 60,596
Eligible voters 87,622
Bloc Québécois gain from New Democratic Swing +9.98
Source: Elections Canada[5][6]
2011 Canadian federal election: Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Mylène Freeman 25,801 44.24 +31.84 $0.00
Bloc Québécois Mario Laframboise 16,876 28.94 -19.16 $77,499.72
Liberal Daniel Fox 7,175 12.30 -5.85 $67,191.80
Conservative Yvan Patry 6,497 11.14 -6.29 $30,881.78
Green Stephen Matthews 1,506 2.58 -1.16 $888.62
Independent Michel Daniel Guibord 342 0.59 $1,904.02
Marxist–Leninist Christian-Simon Ferlatte 123 0.21 +0.03 $0.00
Total valid vote/Expense limit 58,320 100.00

Source: Elections Canada

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Marian Scott (May 4, 2011). "McGill 5 head off to House of Commons". The Gazette.
  2. ^ a b "Mylène Freeman". Projet Montréal. Archived from the original on May 6, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011. See also "‘No joke. Your daughter just elected Quebec MP’," Stouffville Sun-Tribune, May 6, 2011.
  3. ^ "Polibriefs". Ottawa Citizen. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Mylène Freeman". LinkedIn.
  5. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Mirabel, 30 September 2015
  6. ^ "Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates". Archived from the original on 2015-08-15. Retrieved 2018-11-14.
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