Jump to content

Maka Kotto

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bearcat (talk | contribs) at 17:09, 22 November 2016 (not a comedian in the sense that term is understood in English; comédien in French is synonymous with "actor" and does not mean he had anything to do with comedy per se.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Maka Kotto
MP for Saint-Lambert
In office
2004–2008
Preceded byYolande Thibeault
Succeeded byJosée Beaudin
MNA for Bourget
Incumbent
Assumed office
2008
Preceded byDiane Lemieux
Personal details
Born (1961-12-07) December 7, 1961 (age 62)
Douala, Cameroon
Political partyBloc Québécois, Parti Québécois
SpouseCaroline St-Hilaire
ResidenceMontreal
Professionauthor, 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

Electoral record

2014 Quebec general election: 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 – –
2012 Quebec general election: 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 – –

Template:Quebec provincial election, 2008/Electoral District/Bourget (electoral district) Template:Quebec provincial by-election, May 12, 2008/Electoral District/Bourget (electoral district)

2006 Canadian federal election: 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
2004 Canadian federal election: 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
Template:Canadian politics/party colours/Independent/row
2003 Quebec general election: 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

  1. ^ Maka Kotto fait le saut au PQ - LCN - National
  2. ^ "Bloc MP Kotto resigns seat to run in provincial byelection". Hill Times. March 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
  3. ^ Politique québécoise : Coup dur pour Dumont | Politique | Radio-Canada.ca
  4. ^ Maka Kotto: le rôle de sa vie
  5. ^ 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.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Maka_Kotto&oldid=750980237"