Vivian Barbot
Vivian Barbot (born July 7, 1941) is a Canadian teacher, activist, and politician. She is a former president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, a former member of Parliament and former vice-president of the Bloc Québécois.[2][3] She was the party's interim leader and president following the resignation of Gilles Duceppe in May 2011.[1] Barbot became the first person of a visible minority group to lead a Canadian federal political party with parliamentary representation.
Vivian Barbot
Barbot was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti. She is the former Member of Parliament for the riding of Papineau. In the 2006 election, she scored a significant victory for the Bloc by defeating former Liberal Cabinet Minister Pierre Pettigrew, but was defeated two years later in the 2008 federal election by Justin Trudeau.[4] Barbot ran against Trudeau in the 2011 election, but was once again defeated.
The 2011 election also saw the defeat of Gilles Duceppe and all but four Bloc MPs.[5] As vice-president of the party, Barbot was appointed interim party leader and president following Duceppe's resignation[6] and remained in the position until Duceppe's successor, Daniel Paillé, was elected on December 11, 2011.[7]