# Catherine Dorion

Catherine Dorion is a Canadian politician from Quebec, who was elected to the National Assembly of Quebec in the 2018 provincial election. She represented the electoral district of Taschereau as a member of Québec solidaire (QS) from 2018 to 2022. Dorion is aligned with Option nationale, a pro-independence faction, referred internally as a "collective", within QS.

## Biography

Dorion was born in Quebec City in 1982. Her father, Louis Dorion, who died in 1998, was a lawyer from Quebec City; her mother, Claudette Brasseur, was a court reporter. She grew up in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood of Quebec City and was the last of nine children. Her mother raised her by herself; her father having left the family when Dorion was a year old. Her grandfather was Noël Dorion, a Progressive Conservative (PC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Bellechasse riding. She has three daughters, one of which is from a father who wished to remain anonymous.
Dorion is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec. She also received a bachelor's degree in International Relations and International Law from Université du Québec à Montréal, in 2009, and a master's degree in Political Science from King's College London, in 2010. She also studied in Chile, Russia and Spain and travelled in more than 30 countries.
She has been living in the Limoilou neighbourhood since 2014.

## Career
### Acting

As an actress, Dorion has performed in several television dramas and theatre productions, including L'Auberge du chien noir. Her performance in Amélie Nothomb's Fuels at the Théâtre du Trident, earned her the 2007 Prix Révélation of the Year Award at the Gala des Masques.
She also performs slam poetry, has won several competitions, and has been a regular guest artist at the Francofolies de Montréal.

### Writing

She was a columnist at the Carrefour de Québec (2012–2016) and at Update - Québec (2016). She also collaborated on a show for Radio-Canada (2015) and has written blogs for Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec (2016–2018).
In 2013, Dorion produced a micro-documentary on immigrants and Quebec sovereignty.
She has published several written works including Même s'il fait noir comme dans le cul d'un ours (2014), and two collections of poems, FUCK TOUTE (2016) and The NoShow (2015 and 2017).
In the essay Les luttes fécondes. Libérer le désir en amour et en politique, she defends polyamory, which she herself practices, and discusses the revolutionary potential of desire, which, left free, is for her a means of deconstructing institutions.
She published the youth novel Ce qui se passe dehors, which tells the story of high school students in Quebec who engage in politics.
In an article for Le Journal de Québec, she advocates for nudity in the locker rooms of public swimming pools.

### Politics

Dorion was elected as Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for Taschereau, October 1, 2018, as the candidate for Québec Solidaire.
On November 8, 2019, Dorion was barred from the Blue Room of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec for dress code violations. Examples of her wardrobe included t-shirts and Doc Martens shoes and an orange hoodie that drew criticism previously. Speaker François Paradis notified Québec Solidaire leader Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois of complaints. Speaking to the media, Deputy speaker Chantal Soucy said, "we have a decorum to respect, we reminded her of it several times, it was time to draw a line".
On April 1, 2022, she announced she wasn't running for re-election in the 2022 election.
On November 13, 2023, she released a book about her experience as MP, criticizing Quebec's legislative apparatus as outdated and in need of a shake-up, describing MPs as inconsequential actors reduced to the role of zombie tribunes unable to make significant decisions, while also criticizing the male spokesperson of her party and fellow MP, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, for his increasing influence and control on the party.

### Books

* Dorion, Catherine (2017). Les luttes fécondes : libérer le désir en amour et en politique. Documents (Atelier 10 (Organisme)); 11 [49] (in French). Montréal (Québec): Atelier 10. p. 109. ISBN 9782897592684.
* Dorion, Catherine (2018). Ce qui se passe dehors (in French). Montréal (Québec): Hurtubise. ISBN 9782897811235. OCLC 1033517068.
* Dorion, Catherine (2023). Les Têtes brûlées : carnets d'espoir punk (in French). Montréal (Québec): Lux Editeur. ISBN 9782898330063.

## Electoral record

vte2018 Quebec general election: Taschereau :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Québec solidaire | Catherine Dorion | 15,373 | 42.52 | +27.23 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Svetlana Solomykina | 6,862 | 18.98 | +2.58 |
| | Liberal | Florent Tanlet | 6,387 | 17.66 | -12.74 |
| | Parti Québécois | Diane Lavallée | 6,379 | 17.64 | -14.02 |
| | Green | Élisabeth Grégoire | 534 | 1.48 | |
| | Parti nul | Nicolas Pouliot | 201 | 0.56 | -0.51 |
| | New Democratic | Roger Duguay | 196 | 0.54 | |
| | Citoyens au pouvoir | Christian Lavoie | 152 | 0.42 | |
| | Équipe Autonomiste | Guy Boivin | 73 | 0.20 | +0.06 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 36,157 | 98.82 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 431 | 1.18 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,588 | 73.74 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 49,619 |
| | Québec solidaire gain from Parti Québécois | Québec solidaire gain from Parti Québécois | Swing | Swing | +12.33 |
| Source(s) "Rapport des résultats officiels du scrutin". Élections Québec. |||||||
2014 Quebec general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Parti Québécois | Agnès Maltais | 11,376 | 31.66 | -5.40 |
| | Liberal | Florent Tanlet | 10,925 | 30.40 | +4.72 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Steve Brabant | 5,865 | 16.32 | -0.39 |
| | Québec solidaire | Marie-Ève Duchesne | 5,495 | 15.29 | +3.60 |
| | Option nationale | Catherine Dorion | 1,513 | 4.21 | -3.22 |
| | Parti nul | Jean-Luc Savard | 385 | 1.07 | +0.12 |
| | Conservative | Anne Deblois | 198 | 0.55 | – |
| | Parti des sans Parti | Sylvain Drolet | 127 | 0.35 | – |
| | Équipe Autonomiste | Guy Boivin | 49 | 0.14 | -0.05 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 35,933 | 98.72 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 466 | 1.28 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,399 | 73.41 | -3.96 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 49,582 | – | – |
2012 Quebec general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Parti Québécois | Agnès Maltais | 13,994 | 37.06 | -7.16 |
| | Liberal | Clément Gignac | 9,697 | 25.68 | -3.80 |
| | Coalition Avenir Québec | Mario Asselin | 6,311 | 16.71 | +3.32* |
| | Québec solidaire | Serge Roy | 4,416 | 11.69 | +3.27 |
| | Option nationale | Catherine Dorion | 2,804 | 7.43 | – |
| | Parti nul | Jean-Luc Savard | 358 | 0.95 | – |
| | Coalition pour la constituante | François Tremblay | 110 | 0.29 | – |
| | Équipe Autonomiste | Guy Boivin | 72 | 0.19 | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 37,762 | 98.91 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 418 | 1.09 | – |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,180 | 77.37 | +20.41 |
| Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | Electors on the lists | 49,350 | – | – |
* Result compared to Action démocratique du Québec.