Maria Mourani

Maria Mourani
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Ahuntsic
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006
Preceded by	Eleni Bakopanos
Personal details
Born	May 19, 1969 (1969-05-19) Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Political party	Bloc Québécois
Residence	Montreal
Profession	Criminologist, probation officer, rehabilitation counsellor, researcher, sociologist, teaching assistant
Religion	Catholic [1]

Maria Mourani (born May 19, 1969 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire), of Lebanese origin, is the Bloc Québécois Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Ahuntsic in Canada. She was elected in the 2006 Canadian federal election and reelected in 2008 and 2011. She was consequently assigned as the Bloc Québécois Critic on Public Security and on the Status of Women in the Canadian Parliament.

She immigrated to Canada in 1988.

In the past, she has held positions as rehabilitation consultant, professor, researcher, and probation officer. She is a former probation officer for Correctional Service of Canada. She is a former member of the Saint-Laurent volunteer action, Henri-Beaulieu school establishment council, Founoun artistic journal, Quebec Association of Criminologists, and the Reflection Committee and Social Action. She is the former President of the Bloc's citizen's committee and on the Parti Québécois riding executive in the provincial riding of Acadie and the Committee director of the PQ orientation congress. She was also a freelance writer for L'Avenir.

In the 2003 Quebec election, she ran unsuccessfully as the PQ candidate in Acadie.

Maria Mourani is also the author of La face cachée des gangs de rue (October 2006), a book about street gangs in Montreal. She followed it up with a second book on street gang networks in Canada, United States and Central America entitled Gangs de rue inc. (September 2009).

She is co-founder and co-president of the Canadian Lebanese Friendship Association in the Canadian Parliament as well as the President of the Algerian Canadian Friendship Association.

On 15 August 2008, she was awarded an honorary medal in Beirut, Lebanon by the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU).

After the 2011 federal election Mourani was one of only four Bloc Québécois MPs left in the House of Commons and the only Bloc member from the Montreal area in the 41st Parliament.

She declared her candidacy in the Bloc Québécois leadership election that was held to choose a successor to Gilles Duceppe and ran on a platform of making the Bloc more independent from the Parti Québécois. She was defeated on the second ballot by former MP Daniel Paillé on December 11, 2011.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	% of total	±pp change	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	14,908	31.80	-7.68
	New Democrat	Chantal Reeves	14,200	30.29	+21.32
	Liberal	Noushig Eloyan	13,087	27.91	-10.68
	Conservative	Constantin Kiryakidis	3,770	8.04	-2.32
	Green	Ted Kouretas	620	1.32	-1.25
	Rhinoceros	Jean-Olivier Berthiaume	299	0.64	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			46,884	100.00
Total rejected ballots			516	1.09	-
Turnout			47,400	64.98	-0.66
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing	-14.50

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	% of total	±pp change	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	18,815	39.48	+0.57	$53,286
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	18,392	38.59	+1.30	$51,887
	Conservative	Jean Précourt	4,937	10.36	-1.89	$56,496
	New Democrat	Alexandra Bélec	4,276	8.97%	+1.07	$6,663
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,228	2.57%	-1.10	$20
Total valid votes/Expense limit			47,648	100.00	–	$82,379
Total rejected ballots			523	1.09
Turnout			48,181	65.64
	Bloc Québécois hold		Swing	-0.40

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	% of total	±pp change	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	19,428	38.91	-2.34	$69,180
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	18,594	37.24	-6.51	$64,168
	Conservative	Etienne Morin	6,089	12.25	+7.01	$16,100
	New Democrat	Caroline Desrosiers	3,948	7.90	+1.70	$4,702
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,836	3.67	+0.99	$411
Total valid votes/Expense limit			49,895	100.00	$77,453
	Bloc Québécois gain from Liberal		Swing	-2.1

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	% of total	±pp change	Expenditures
	Liberal	Eleni Bakopanos	21,234	43.75	-10.13	$59,946
	Bloc Québécois	Maria Mourani	20,020	41.25	+9.02	$53,286
	New Democrat	Annick Bergeron	3,013	6.20	+4.33	$3,308
	Conservative	Jean E. Fortier	2,544	5.24	-3.85	$39,703
	Green	Lynette Tremblay	1,301	2.68	+0.57	$2,388
	Marijuana	F.X. de Longchamp	314	0.64	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Marsha Fine	102	0.21	-0.09
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,528	100.00	$77,288
	Liberal hold		Swing	-9.6

2003 Quebec provincial election : Acadie
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	+/-
	Liberal	(x)Yvan Bordeleau	23,211	70.39
	Parti Québécois	Maria Mourani	6,702	20.33
	Action démocratique	Jean-Pierre Chamoun	2,253	6.83
	Bloc pot	Jonathan Bérubé	440	1.33
	Independent	André Parizeau	161	0.49
	Marxist-Leninist	Linda Sullivan	111	0.34
	Equality	Marina Paümann	95	0.29
Total valid votes			32,973	100.00
Rejected and declined votes			316
Turnout			33,289	65.66
Electors on the lists			50,699

External links

• Official site
• Maria Mourani - Parliament of Canada biography