Catherine Dorion

Catherine Dorion MNA
Catherine Dorion, december 2018
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Taschereau
In office October 1, 2018 – August 28, 2022
Preceded by	Agnès Maltais
Succeeded by	Étienne Grandmont
Personal details
Born	(1982-09-30) September 30, 1982 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Québec solidaire (January 2018-present)
Other political affiliations	Option nationale (2011 - 2017)
Residence(s)	Limoilou, Quebec City
Education	King's College London Université du Québec à Montréal Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec
Profession	Politician, actress, comedian, artist, writer

Catherine Dorion is a Canadian politician from Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election. She represented the electoral district of Taschereau as a member of Québec solidaire (QS) from 2018 to 2022. Dorion is aligned with Option nationale, a pro-independence faction, referred internally as a "collective", within QS.

Biography

Dorion was born in Quebec in 1982. Her father, Louis Dorion, who died in 1998, was a lawyer from Quebec City; her mother, Claudette Brasseur, was a court reporter. She grew up in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood of Quebec City and was the last of nine children. Her mother raised her by herself; her father having left the family when Dorion was a year old. Her grandfather was Noël Dorion, a Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bellechasse riding. She has three daughters, one of which is from a father who wished to remain anonymous.

Dorion is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec. She also received a bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Law from Université du Québec à Montréal, in 2009, and a master's degree in Political Science from King's College London, in 2010. She also studied in Chile, Russia and Spain and travelled in more than 30 countries.

She has been living in the Limoilou neighbourhood since 2014.

Career

Acting

As an actress, Dorion has performed in several television dramas and theatre productions, including L'Auberge du chien noir. Her performance in Amélie Nothomb's Fuels at the Théâtre du Trident, earned her the 2007 Prix Révélation of the Year Award at the Gala des Masques.

She also performs slam poetry, has won several competitions, and has been a regular guest artist at the Francofolies de Montréal.

Writing

She was a columnist at the Carrefour de Québec (2012-2016) and at Update - Québec (2016). She also collaborated on a show for Radio-Canada (2015) and has written blogs for Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec (2016-2018).

In 2013, Dorion produced a micro-documentary on immigrants and Quebec sovereignty.

She has published several written works including Même s'il fait noir comme dans le cul d'un ours (2014), and two collections of poems, FUCK TOUTE (2016) and The NoShow (2015 and 2017).

In the essay Les luttes fécondes. Libérer le désir en amour et en politique, she defends polyamory, which she herself practices, and discusses the revolutionary potential of desire, which, left free, is for her a means of deconstructing institutions.

She published the youth novel Ce qui se passe dehors, which tells the story of high school students in Quebec who engage in politics.

In an article for Le Journal de Québec, she advocates for nudity in the locker rooms of public swimming pools.

Politics

Dorion was elected as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for Taschereau, October 1, 2018, as the candidate for Québec Solidaire.

On November 8, 2019, Dorion was barred from the Blue Room of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for dress code violations. Examples of her wardrobe included t-shirts and Doc Martens shoes and an orange hoodie that drew criticism previously. Speaker François Paradis notified Québec Solidaire leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of complaints. Speaking to the media, Deputy speaker Chantal Soucy said, "we have a decorum to respect, we reminded her of it several times, it was time to draw a line".

On April 1, 2022, she announced she wasn't running for re-election in the 2022 election.

On November 13, 2023, she released a book about her experience as MP, criticizing Quebec's legislative apparatus as outdated and in need of a shake-up, describing MPs as inconsequential actors reduced to the role of zombie tribunes unable to make significant decisions, while also criticizing the male spokesperson of her party and fellow MP, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his increasing influence and control on the party.

Books

• Dorion, Catherine (2017). Les luttes fécondes : libérer le désir en amour et en politique. Documents (Atelier 10 (Organisme)) ; 11 [49] (in French). Montréal (Québec): Atelier 10. p. 109. ISBN 9782897592684.
• Dorion, Catherine (2018). Ce qui se passe dehors (in French). Montréal (Québec): Hurtubise. ISBN 9782897811235. OCLC 1033517068.
• Dorion, Catherine (2023). Les Têtes brûlées : carnets d'espoir punk (in French). Montréal (Québec): Lux Editeur. ISBN 9782898330063.

Electoral record

2014 Quebec general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Agnès Maltais	11,376	31.66	-5.40
	Liberal	Florent Tanlet	10,925	30.40	+4.72
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Steve Brabant	5,865	16.32	-0.39
	Québec solidaire	Marie-Ève Duchesne	5,495	15.29	+3.60
	Option nationale	Catherine Dorion	1,513	4.21	-3.22
	Parti nul	Jean-Luc Savard	385	1.07	+0.12
	Conservative	Anne Deblois	198	0.55	–
	Parti des sans Parti	Sylvain Drolet	127	0.35	–
	Équipe Autonomiste	Guy Boivin	49	0.14	-0.05
Total valid votes			35,933	98.72	–
Total rejected ballots			466	1.28	–
Turnout			36,399	73.41	-3.96
Electors on the lists			49,582	–	–

2012 Quebec general election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Parti Québécois	Agnès Maltais	13,994	37.06	-7.16
	Liberal	Clément Gignac	9,697	25.68	-3.80
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Mario Asselin	6,311	16.71	+3.32*
	Québec solidaire	Serge Roy	4,416	11.69	+3.27
	Option nationale	Catherine Dorion	2,804	7.43	–
	Parti nul	Jean-Luc Savard	358	0.95	–
	Coalition pour la constituante	François Tremblay	110	0.29	–
	Équipe Autonomiste	Guy Boivin	72	0.19	–
Total valid votes			37,762	98.91	–
Total rejected ballots			418	1.09	–
Turnout			38,180	77.37	+20.41
Electors on the lists			49,350	–	–

* Result compared to Action démocratique du Québec.

Bibliography

• 2008: Quand le sage pointe la lune, le fou regarde le doigt, co-author of the company Soucide collective. Directed by Marc Doré at the Théâtre Périscope (Québec).
• 2009: Viva Pinoshit, directed by Olivier Lépine at Théâtre Premier Acte (Québec).
• 2010: Kounadia , story presented in the play We are made (like rats), by the company of pensive Biches. Directed by Alexia Burger at the Cinémathèque québécoise (Montreal).
• 2011: Kukipik , a clown theater, co-author of the company Soucide collectif. Directed by Marc Doré at Théâtre Premier Acte (Québec).
• 2011: Two texts in J'aurais voté oui mais j'étais trop petit, Editas.
• 2011-function. : several articles in the journals Liberté , Relations, Quebec Journal of International Law, Public Ethics, National Action, Qui vive, as well as in major Quebec dailies.
• 2012: "Le lieu collectif", in "Notre indépendance", Stanké.
• 2012: NOUS? , monologue presented by the Moulin des lyres collective.
• 2014: Même s'il fait noir comme dans le cul d'un ours, poetry, Cornac.
• 2017: Les luttes fécondes. Libérer le désir en amour et en politique, Workshops 10, Canadian Essays category.
• 2018: Ce qui se passe dehors, youth novel, Hurtubise.