Isabelle Charest

Isabelle Charest MNA (born January 3, 1971) is a Canadian athlete and politician.^[1] A short track speed skater who competed in the 1994 Winter Olympics, the 1998 Winter Olympics, and the 2002 Winter Olympics, she was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election as a member of the Coalition Avenir Québec.^[2]

Isabelle Charest MNA
Charest in 2023
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Brome-Missisquoi
Incumbent
Assumed office October 1, 2018
Preceded by	Pierre Paradis
Personal details
Born	(1971-01-03) January 3, 1971 (age 54) Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
Political party	Coalition Avenir Québec
Profession	Athlete
Sports career
Medal record Women's short track speed skating Representing  Canada Olympic Games 1994 Lillehammer 3000 m relay 1998 Nagano 3000 m relay 2002 Salt Lake City 3000 m relay World Championships 1996 The Hague 500 m 1997 Nagano 500 m 1997 Nagano 3000 m relay 1996 The Hague 1000 m 1996 The Hague Overall World Team Championships 1999 St Louis Team 1998 Bormio Team

In 1994 she was a member of the Canadian relay team which won the silver medal in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 1000 m event she finished sixth and in the 500 m contest she finished seventh.

Four years later she won the bronze medal with the Canadian team in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 500 m event as well as in the 1000 m contest she finished seventh.

At the 2002 Games she won her second bronze medal with the Canadian relay team in the 3000 metre relay competition. In the 500 m event she finished fourth.

Charest was the Chef de Mission for Team Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics.^[1]

Controversies

In February 2019, Charest was criticized by members of the Quebec Liberal Party over comments she made calling hijabs a symbol of oppression. She said that wearing a hijab does not correspond to Quebec values and keeps women from flourishing. "For me, the hijab is not something women should be wearing because it does have, at some point, significance of oppression of women and the fact they have to cover themselves," she said.^[3]

Electoral record

v t e 2022 Quebec general election: Brome-Missisquoi
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Isabelle Charest	20,576	45.87	+1.49
	Québec solidaire	Alexandre Legault	7,318	15.91	-1.37
	Parti Québécois	Guillaume Paquet	5,359	11.95	+1.23
	Liberal	Claude Vadeboncoeur	5,344	11.91	-12.29
	Conservative	Stéphanie Prévost	4,875	10.87	–
	Canadian	Lynn Moore	642	1.43	–
	Green	Caitlin Moynan	487	1.09	-1.27
	Independent	Sébastien Houle	209	0.47	–
	Climat Québec	Tommy Quirion-Bouchard	121	0.27	–
	Démocratie directe	Pierre Fontaine	105	0.23	–
Total valid votes			44,856	98.82	–
Total rejected ballots			537	1.18	–
Turnout			45,393	67.99
Electors on the lists			66,769