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
Member of Parliament for Papineau
In office February 6, 2006 – October 14, 2008
Preceded by	Pierre Pettigrew
Succeeded by	Justin Trudeau
Interim Leader of the Bloc Québécois
In office May 3, 2011[1] – December 11, 2011
Preceded by	Gilles Duceppe
Succeeded by	Daniel Paillé
Vice-President of Bloc Québécois
In office May 15, 2009 – January 24, 2012
Succeeded by	Annie Lessard
Personal details
Born	(1941-07-07) July 7, 1941 (age 84) Saint-Marc, Haiti
Political party	Bloc Québécois
Parent	Clément Barbot (father)
Residence	Montreal
Profession	President/manager, teacher

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]

Election results

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Justin Trudeau	16,429	38.41	-3.06
	New Democratic	Marcos Radhamés Tejada	12,102	28.29	+19.55
	Bloc Québécois	Vivian Barbot	11,091	25.93	-12.76
	Conservative	Shama Chopra	2,021	4.73	-2.90
	Green	Danny Polifroni	806	1.88	-0.96
	Marxist–Leninist	Peter Macrisopoulos	228	0.53	–
	Independent	Joseph Young	95	0.22	–
Total valid votes/expense limit			42,772	100.00
Total rejected ballots			558	1.29	-0.04
Turnout			43,330	61.46
Eligible voters			70,500	–	–

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Justin Trudeau	17,724	41.47	+2.99	$76,857
	Bloc Québécois	Vivian Barbot	16,535	38.69	-2.06	$70,872
	New Democratic	Costa Zafiropoulos	3,734	8.74	+1.04	$5,745
	Conservative	Mustaque Sarker	3,262	7.63	-0.69	$44,958
	Green	Ingrid Hein	1,213	2.84	-0.76	$814
	Independent	Mahmood Raza Baig	267	0.62	+0.20
Total valid votes/expense limit			42,735	100.00	$81,172
Total rejected ballots			576	1.33
Turnout			43,311

Note: Baig's share of popular vote as an independent candidate is compared to his share in the 2006 general election as a Canadian Action Party candidate.

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Vivian Barbot	17,775	40.75	+0.79	$50,886
	Liberal	Pierre Pettigrew	16,785	38.48	-2.62	$75,541
	Conservative	Mustaque Sarker	3,630	8.32	+3.55	$34,951
	New Democratic	Marc Hasbani	3,358	7.70	-1.07	$2,568
	Green	Louis-Philippe Verenka	1,572	3.60	+1.03	$181
	Marxist–Leninist	Peter Macrisopoulos	317	0.73	+0.32
	Canadian Action	Mahmood-Raza Baig	185	0.42	–	$2,007
Total valid votes/expense limit			43,622	100.00	$76,023