Ruba Ghazal

Ruba Ghazal (born December 6, 1977) is a Canadian politician. A member of Québec solidaire, she was first elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election, representing the district of Mercier.^[1] Since 2024, she is Québec solidaire's female co-spokesperson.

Ruba Ghazal MNA
Ghazal in 2018
Co-Spokesperson for Québec Solidaire
Incumbent
Assumed office November 16, 2024 Serving with Guillaume Cliche-Rivard (interim)
Preceded by	Christine Labrie (interim)
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Mercier
Incumbent
Assumed office October 18, 2018
Preceded by	Amir Khadir
Personal details
Born	(1977-12-06) December 6, 1977 (age 47) Beirut, Lebanon
Political party	Québec solidaire
Education	HEC Montréal Université de Sherbrooke
Profession	Chartered accountant
Signature

Early life and education

Ghazal was born in Beirut, Lebanon to a family of Palestinian refugees. She lived in the United Arab Emirates until she was 10, when her family immigrated to Quebec.^[2] She studied at HEC Montréal.^[3]

Political career

Ghazal was a founding member of Québec solidaire in 2006, and was the party's candidate for Laurier-Dorion in the 2007 and 2008 general elections.^[4] In 2018, she was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec for Mercier, succeeding Amir Khadir.^[5]

Following re-election in the 2022 provincial election, she became the opposition critic for Education, Culture and Communications, the French Language, and the Status of Women.

In 2023, Ghazal ran for the female co-spokesperson election of Québec solidaire. Ghazal lost the election in the second round, getting 49.7% for Ghazal against Émilise Lessard-Therrien who obtained 50.3%.^[6] After Lessard-Therrien stepped down in April 2024, she again ran for the co-spokesperson position. On November 16, she was acclaimed co-spokesperson after an uncontested election.^[7]

Political views

Language issues

Ghazal has pushed for government policies to reverse the decline of the French language in Montreal.^[8] As Québec solidaire's critic for language issues, Ghazal has advocated for the creation of a special branch of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF) for Montreal.^[9]

Foreign policy

In 2021, Ghazal attended protests amid the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis against the Israeli government's actions in actions in Sheikh Jarrah. Ghazal stated that "One day we will look back and declare this a humanitarian crime against Palestinians."^[10] Ghazal was among the signatories of a 2021 letter opposing Canada's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council due to the country's position on Palestine.^[11]

Electoral record

v t e 2022 Quebec general election: Mercier
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Québec solidaire	Ruba Ghazal	14,755	53.92	-0.58
	Parti Québécois	Sabrina Mercier-Ullhorn	3,986	14.57	+2.44
	Liberal	Catherine Boundjia	3,837	14.02	-3.69
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Florence Lavictoire	2,814	10.28	+2.24
	Conservative	Emmanuel Da Costa	1,051	3.84	+3.42
	Green	Véronique Langlois	818	2.99	-0.78
	Parti nul	Jenny Cartwright	102	0.37	-0.43
Total valid votes			27,363	99.14	–
Total rejected ballots			238	0.86	–
Turnout			27,601	63.62
Electors on the lists			43,387

v t e 2018 Quebec general election: Mercier
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Québec solidaire	Ruba Ghazal	15,919	54.5	+8.31
	Liberal	Gabrielle Collu	5,172	17.71	-5.31
	Parti Québécois	Michelle Blanc	3,542	12.13	-8.37
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Johanne Gagné	2,348	8.04	-0.34
	Green	Stephanie Rochemont	1,102	3.77
	New Democratic	Conrad Thompson	738	2.53
	Parti nul	Malou Marcil	233	0.8
	Conservative	Ludovic Proulx	122	0.42
	Marxist–Leninist	Serge Lachapelle	34	0.12
Total valid votes			29,210	98.91
Total rejected ballots			322	1.09
Turnout			29,532	65.56
Eligible voters			45,048
	Québec solidaire hold		Swing		+6.81
Source(s) "Rapport des résultats officiels du scrutin". Élections Québec.