Christopher Skeete, BA 10, was re-elected in the Laval riding of Sainte-Rose for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) after first being elected in 2018. Skeete, who served as parliamentary secretary to Premier François Legault in his first term, was recently appointed minister for the economy, minister for the fight against racism and minister for the Laval region.
Quebec election delivers victories for five Faculty of Arts and Science grads
Meet the new and re-elected members of the National Assembly of Quebec
Photo by Geneviève Tremblay on Unsplash
When Quebecers took to the polls in provincial elections on October 3, they voted a number of Concordia graduates to the national assembly.
Learn about the alumni — all from the Faculty of Arts and Science — who either retained their seat or have been newly elected:
Joëlle Boutin, MA 10, represents the Quebec City riding of Jean-Talon for the CAQ. Boutin, a former ministerial chief of staff, first took office in 2019 after garnering more than 32 per cent of the vote in the 2018 provincial election, in what had been a Liberal stronghold since 1966.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier, BA 85, GrDip 86, is a newly elected member of the assembly representing Chomedey for the Quebec Liberal Party after residing in the area for over 30 years. Born into an Armenian family from Beirut, Lakhoyan Olivier speaks five languages and is a champion of multiculturalism in Canada. In addition to her BA in political science, Lakhoyan Olivier has a graduate diploma from the John Molson School of Business.
Desirée McGraw, BA 93, is the Quebec Liberal Party’s newly elected MNA for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, with a platform mainly focusing on environmental causes and education. McGraw is also a graduate of the London School of Economics and attended the Kennedy School’s executive education program at Harvard. She served as president and CEO of Pearson College in Victoria from 2015 to 2019.
Elisabeth Prass, BA 04, was newly elected to represent the riding of D’Arcy-McGee for the Quebec Liberal Party. She replaces former representative David Birnbaum after serving as director of his riding office for seven years. Prass, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Morocco and Latvia, is one of two Jewish women MNAs elected this year, a first in Quebec history.
