# Hélène Laverdière

Hélène Laverdière (French pronunciation:; born April 13, 1955) is a Canadian politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Laurier—Sainte-Marie in the 2011 election as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), defeating Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe in his riding and retired at the 2019 election.
Laverdière obtained her Ph.D in sociology from the University of Bath, and briefly taught in the sociology department at the Université Laval. She subsequently entered Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992, serving in Washington, D.C., Dakar, Senegal and Santiago.
On July 9, 2018, Laverdière announced she would not run for a third term in the 2019 federal election. She told Le Devoir that she was due to turn 64 in 2019, and felt she needed to "pause for a little" and give "new blood" a chance to run.

## Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Laurier—Sainte-Marie :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Hélène Laverdière | 20,929 | 38.27 | -8.37 | – |
| | Bloc Québécois | Gilles Duceppe | 15,699 | 28.71 | -7.19 | – |
| | Liberal | Christine Poirier | 12,938 | 23.66 | +13.73 | – |
| | Conservative | Daniel Gaudreau | 2,242 | 4.10 | +0.58 | – |
| | Green | Cyrille Giraud | 1,904 | 3.48 | +0.84 | – |
| | Libertarian | Stéphane Beaulieu | 604 | 1.10 | – | – |
| | Independent | Julien Bernatchez | 160 | 0.29 | – | – |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Serge Lachapelle | 103 | 0.19 | +0.04 | – |
| | Communist | Pierre Fontaine | 102 | 0.19 | -0.08 | – |
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | Total valid votes/Expense limit | 54,681 | 100.00 | | $221,434.26 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 594 | 1.07 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 55,275 | 65.69 | – |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 84,142 |
| Source: Elections Canada |||||||
vte2011 Canadian federal election: Laurier—Sainte-Marie :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Hélène Laverdière | 23,373 | 46.64 | +29.53 | $22,982 |
| | Bloc Québécois | Gilles Duceppe | 17,991 | 35.90 | −14.34 | $81,167 |
| | Liberal | Philippe Allard | 4,976 | 9.93 | −8.40 | $16,728 |
| | Conservative | Charles K. Langford | 1,764 | 3.52 | −1.31 | $4,611 |
| | Green | Olivier Adam | 1,324 | 2.64 | −5.28 | $1,532 |
| | Rhinoceros | François Yo Gourd | 398 | 0.79 | −0.14 | none listed |
| | Communist | Sylvain Archambault | 137 | 0.27 | +0.10 | $1,606 |
| | Marxist–Leninist | Serge Lachapelle | 77 | 0.15 | −0.09 | none listed |
| | Independent | Dimitri Mourkes | 73 | 0.15 | | none listed |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,113 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 471 | 0.93 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,584 | 63.41 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 79,772 |
| | New Democratic gain from Bloc Québécois | New Democratic gain from Bloc Québécois | Swing | Swing | +21.94% |
| Source: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada. |||||||