Françoise Boivin

NDP MP Françoise Boivin was born and raised in Hull, Quebec, now a part of the larger municipality of Gatineau.

Her father worked for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, where he was often transferred to work in different cities across Quebec. For Françoise, being uprooted as often as she was meant making new friends and adapting to new surroundings. She believes the experience helped her in her career as a lawyer, and now politician.

Françoise expressed her desire for public office early. At age 10 she told her teacher she was going to be prime minister one day. Françoise eventually became a lawyer and had a successful career both in law and as a radio talk show host.

She became the Liberal MP for Gatineau in 2004 but was defeated in 2006. Following an acrimonious dispute with the Liberal party she left politics. In 2008 she was asked to run for the NDP by both Jack Layton and Thomas Mulcair. She wasn't successful the first time in 2008, but in 2011 won the riding the riding with a plurality of over 26,000 votes. Catherine Clark spoke to Françoise Boivin about her life Beyond Politics.