Maka Kotto
Maka Kotto | |
---|---|
MP for Saint-Lambert | |
In office 2004–2008 | |
Preceded by | Yolande Thibeault |
Succeeded by | Josée Beaudin |
MNA for Bourget | |
Assumed office 2008 | |
Preceded by | Diane Lemieux |
Personal details | |
Born |
Douala, Cameroon | December 7, 1961
Political party | Bloc Québécois, Parti Québécois |
Spouse(s) | Caroline St-Hilaire |
Residence | Montreal |
Profession | author, stage director |
Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961), is a politician of Cameroonian descent from Quebec, Canada who is a Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Bourget. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Minister of Culture and Communications. A former member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Bloc Québécois, Kotto is also a published author and has appeared in films.
Early life and education
Kotto was born in Douala, Cameroon, and graduated from high school at Lycée Henri-Martin in Saint-Quentin, France. He studied law, politics, dramatic art and cinema in Nanterre, Bordeaux and Paris.
Before becoming a politician Kotto was an author, actor, and stage director. He appeared in the 1989 movie Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer (How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired), based on the novel by Dany Laferrière. He also appeared in a second film in 2000, Lumumba, starring as Joseph Kasa-Vubu.
Kotto was also an educator in dramatic art for nearly 15 years in France and Quebec.
Federal political career
Kotto was elected to the Canadian House of Commons representing the Bloc Québécois in the 2004 Canadian federal election. In that election, he defeated incumbent Liberal MP Yolande Thibeault and five other candidates. Upon winning the Saint-Lambert riding, Kotto became the first black Canadian Member of Parliament for the Bloc. He was re-elected two years later winning a comfortable, but reduced, popular vote and a much larger plurality in the 2006 Canadian federal election. He defeated five other candidates to win his second term in office.
Kotto served as the Bloc's critic for Canadian heritage.
Provincial political career
On November 12, 2007, Kotto announced that he would be the candidate for the Parti Québécois in the provincial riding of Bourget in Montreal to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former PQ House Leader Diane Lemieux. It was his second attempt at provincial politics; he was defeated in his previous candidacy in Viau by former Liberal MNA William Cusano.[1]
Kotto resigned his seat in Canadian House of Commons on March 5, 2008 in order to run in the provincial by-election. His vacancy was officially recognized by the Speaker on March 13, 2008.[2]
On May 12, 2008, he won the Bourget by-election as a Parti Québécois candidate with 40% of the vote.[3]
With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto became Minister of Culture and Communications.[4] Kotto was re-elected in the 2014 Quebec election with a smaller margin, but the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois was defeated and Kotto became a member of the Official Opposition caucus.[5]
Personal life
Kotto is the husband of Longueuil mayor Caroline St-Hilaire. He's also the father of four, Ekedi, Dovi, Samuel et Baptiste.
Selected filmography
- How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (1989)
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1995)
- Beaumarchais (1996)
- Lumumba (2000)
- A Silent Love (2004)
- Looking for Alexander (2004)
- Zim and Co. (2005)
Electoral record
Quebec general election, 2014: Bourget | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
Parti Québécois | Maka Kotto | 12,525 | 37.78 | -7.90 | ||||
Liberal | Jean-Pierre Gagnon | 9,567 | 28.86 | +9.45 | ||||
Coalition Avenir Québec | Sylvain Medza | 6,510 | 19.64 | -1.29 | ||||
Québec solidaire | Gaétan Chateauneuf | 3,714 | 11.20 | +1.77 | ||||
Green | Thomas Lapierre | 489 | 1.48 | -0.02 | ||||
Option nationale | Diego Saavedra Renaud | 243 | 0.73 | -1.23 | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Claude Brunelle | 101 | 0.30 | +0.11 | ||||
Total valid votes | 33,149 | 98.29 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 577 | 1.71 | – | |||||
Turnout | 33,726 | 68 | +22.26 | |||||
Electors on the lists | 49,334 | – | – |
Quebec general election, 2012: Bourget | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
Parti Québécois | Maka Kotto | 16,379 | 45.68 | −4.51 | ||||
Coalition Avenir Québec | Mario Bentrovato | 7,503 | 20.93 | +10.60 | ||||
Liberal | Dave McMahon | 6,960 | 19.41 | −11.40 | ||||
Québec solidaire | Patrice Gagnon | 3,381 | 9.43 | +4.88 | ||||
Option nationale | Paolo Zambito | 702 | 1.96 | – | ||||
Green | Gilbert Caron | 537 | 1.50 | −2.12 | ||||
Parti indépendantiste | Sylvie Tremblay | 199 | 0.57 | +0.08 | ||||
Coalition pour la constituante | Jan Stohl | 70 | 0.20 | – | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Claude Brunelle | 68 | 0.19 | – | ||||
Unité Nationale | Gaston Savard | 57 | 0.16 | – | ||||
Total valid votes | 35,856 | 98.64 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 495 | 1.36 | – | |||||
Turnout | 36,351 | 74% | −6.0 | |||||
Electors on the lists | 48,998 | – | – |
Quebec general election, 2008: Bourget | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
Parti Québécois | Maka Kotto | 13,007 | 50.19 | +9.53 | ||||
Liberal | Pierre Mac Nicoll | 7,984 | 30.81 | −1.11 | ||||
Action démocratique | Guy Boutin | 2,677 | 10.33 | +0.93 | ||||
Québec solidaire | Gaétan Legault | 1,180 | 4.55 | +0.22 | ||||
Green | Gilbert Caron | 939 | 3.62 | −7.75 | ||||
Parti indépendantiste | Antonis Labbé | 127 | 0.49 | −1.84 | ||||
Total valid votes | 25,914 | 98.33 | ||||||
Total rejected ballots | 439 | 1.67 | ||||||
Turnout | 26,353 | 55.56 | ||||||
Electors on the lists | 47,434 | |||||||
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. |
Quebec provincial by-election, May 12, 2008: Bourget | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
Parti Québécois | Maka Kotto | 6,575 | 40.66 | −0.60 | ||||
Liberal | Lyn Thériault | 5,161 | 31.92 | +9.07 | ||||
Green | Scott McKay | 1,839 | 11.37 | +3.28 | ||||
Action démocratique | Denis Mondor | 1,520 | 9.40 | −13.61 | ||||
Québec solidaire | Gaétan Legault | 700 | 4.33 | +0.14 | ||||
Parti indépendantiste | Richard Gervais | 376 | 2.33 | – | ||||
Total valid votes | 16,171 | 99.01 | – | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 162 | 0.99 | – | |||||
Turnout | 16,333 | 34.55 | −35.34 | |||||
Electors on the lists | 47,276 | – | – | |||||
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. |
Canadian federal election, 2006: Saint-Lambert | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
Bloc Québécois | Maka Kotto | 20,949 | 45.3 | -3.5 | $45,282 | |||
Liberal | Jean-Jacques Hermans | 10,777 | 23.3 | -13.6 | $57,186 | |||
Conservative | Patrick Clune | 9,097 | 19.7 | +13.6 | $36,940 | |||
New Democratic | Ronaldo Garcia | 3,404 | 7.4 | +2.6 | $1,200 | |||
Green | Sonia Ziadé | 1,819 | 3.9 | +0.8 | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Normand Fournier | 196 | 0.4 | +0.1 | ||||
Total valid votes/Expense limit | 46,242 | 100.00 | $77,306 | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 562 | 1.2 | -0.7 | |||||
Turnout | 46,804 |
Canadian federal election, 2004: Saint-Lambert | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
Bloc Québécois | Maka Kotto | 22,024 | 48.8 | +10.7 | $44,877 | |||
Liberal | Yolande Thibeault | 16,654 | 36.9 | -8.5 | $51,431 | |||
Conservative | Patrick Clune | 2,739 | 6.1 | -7.2 | $16,096 | |||
New Democratic | Monique Garcia | 2,130 | 4.7 | – | $984 | |||
Green | Diane Joubert | 1,404 | 3.1 | – | ||||
Marxist–Leninist | Normand Fournier | 145 | 0.3 | – | ||||
Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,096 | 100.0 | $77,333 | |||||
Total rejected ballots | 861 | |||||||
Turnout | 45,957 | 1.9 |
Quebec general election, 2003: Viau | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
Liberal | William Cusano | 17,703 | 65.13 | -4.95 | ||||
Parti Québécois | Maka Kotto | 6,142 | 22.60 | – | ||||
Action démocratique | Paolo V. Tamburello | 2,406 | 8.85 | -10.61 | ||||
Bloc Pot | Guillaume Blouin-Beaudoin | 426 | 1.57 | -4.66 | ||||
UFP | Jocelyne Dupuis | 384 | 1.41 | – | ||||
No designation | Yannick Duguay | 121 | 0.45 | – |
Books
- Kotto, Maka. Femme : libre exaltation poétique. Outremont, Québec: Lanctôt, 2002. 93 p.; 21 cm. (Series: J'aime la poésie 12e) ISBN 2-89485-213-4
References
- ↑ Maka Kotto fait le saut au PQ - LCN - National
- ↑ "Bloc MP Kotto resigns seat to run in provincial byelection". Hill Times. March 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
- ↑ Politique québécoise : Coup dur pour Dumont | Politique | Radio-Canada.ca
- ↑ Maka Kotto: le rôle de sa vie
- ↑ Wilton, Katherine (8 April 2014). "Changes afoot in the east end". The Gazette. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
External links
- Maka Kotto at the Internet Movie Database
- House of Commons of Canada: Maka Kotto
- Maka Kotto – Parliament of Canada biography
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.