Catherine Dorion


Catherine Dorion is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of Taschereau as a member of Québec solidaire. Dorion is aligned with Option nationale, a pro-independence faction that is a “collective” within QS.

Biography

Dorion was born in Quebec in 1982. Her father, Louis Dorion, who died in 1998, was a lawyer from Quebec City; her mother, Claudette Brasseur, was a court reporter. She grew up in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood of Quebec City and was the last of nine children. Her grandfather was Noel Dorion, a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Bellechasse riding. She has two daughters.
Dorion is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec. She also received a bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Law from Université du Québec à Montréal, in 2009, and a master's degree in Political Science from King's College London, in 2010.

Career

Acting

As an actress, Dorion has performed in several television dramas and theatre productions, including L'Auberge du chien noir. Her performance in Amélie Nothomb's Fuels at the Théâtre du Trident, earned her the 2007 Prix Révélation of the Year Award at the Gala des Masques.
She also performs slam poetry, has won several competitions, and has been a regular guest artist at the Francofolies de Montréal.

Writing

She was a columnist at the Carrefour de Québec and at Update - Québec. She also collaborated on a show for Radio-Canada and has written blogs for Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec.
In 2013, Dorion produced a micro-documentary on immigrants and Quebec sovereignty.
She has published several written works including Même s’il fait noir comme dans le cul d’un ours, and two collections of poems, FUCK TOUTE and The NoShow.
In the essay Les luttes fécondes. Libérer le désir en amour et en politique, she defends polyamory, which she herself practices, and discusses the revolutionary potential of desire, which, left free, is for her a means of deconstructing institutions.
She published the youth novel Ce qui se passe dehors, which tells the story of high school students in Quebec who engage in politics.
In an article for Le Journal de Québec, she advocates for nudity in the locker rooms of public swimming pools.

Politics

Dorion was elected as Member of the National Assembly for Taschereau, 1 October 2018, as the candidate for Québec Solidaire.
On 8 November 2019, Dorion was barred from the Blue Room of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for dress code violations. Examples of her wardrobe included t-shirts and Doc Martens shoes and an orange hoodie that drew criticism previously. Speaker François Paradis notified Québec Solidaire leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of complaints. Speaking to the media, Deputy speaker Chantal Soucy said, “we have a decorum to respect, we reminded her of it several times, it was time to draw a line”.

Electoral record

* Result compared to Action démocratique du Québec.