# Maka Kotto

Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to Quebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was 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 House of Commons of Canada for the Bloc Québécois, Kotto is also a published author and has appeared in films.

## Early life and education

Born in Douala, Cameroon, Léopold-Marcel Kotto-Maka 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. Kotto immigrated to Quebec in 2006.
Before becoming a politician, Kotto was an author, actor, and stage director. He appeared in the 1989 movie How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer), 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 House of Commons of Canada, 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.
Kotto resigned his seat in House of Commons of Canada 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.
On May 12, 2008, he won the Bourget by-election as a Parti Québécois candidate with 40% of the vote.
With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto became Minister of Culture and Communications.
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. He was defeated in the 2018 election.

## Personal life

Kotto is the husband of former Longueuil mayor and Bloc Québécois caucus colleague Caroline St-Hilaire, and is the father of four children.

## Selected filmography

* How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer) - 1989
* The Night of the Visitor (La nuit du visiteur) - 1990
* Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - 1995
* Beaumarchais - 1996
* The Caretaker's Lodge (La Conciergerie) - 1997
* Lumumba - 2000
* On Your Head (Le Ciel sur la tête) - 2001
* A Silent Love - 2004
* Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) - 2004
* On the Verge of a Fever (Le Goût des jeunes filles) - 2004
* How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit) - 2004
* Zim and Co. - 2005
* A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) - 2006

## 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 33,149 | 98.29 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 577 | 1.71 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,726 | 68 | +22.26 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 49,334 | – | – |
vte2012 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 35,856 | 98.64 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 495 | 1.36 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,351 | 74% | −6.0 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 48,998 | – | – |
vte2008 Quebec general election: 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 25,914 | 98.33 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 439 | 1.67 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,353 | 55.56 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 47,434 |
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. |||||||
vteQuebec 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 | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 16,171 | 99.01 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 162 | 0.99 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,333 | 34.55 | −35.34 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 47,276 | – | – |
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. |||||||
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 | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 46,242 | 100.00 | $77,306 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 562 | 1.2 | -0.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | 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 | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 45,096 | 100.0 | $77,333 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 861 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 45,957 | 1.9 |
vte2003 Quebec general election: Viau :
| 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 12$^e$) ISBN 2-89485-213-4