Dominique Anglade

Dominique Anglade, politician, engineer, businesswoman (born 31 January 1974 in Montreal, Quebec). Anglade was the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party from 2020 to 2022. She was the first Black person to lead a major provincial political party in Quebec.

Early Life and Education

Dominique Anglade’s parents, Georges and Mireille Neptune, were political exiles from Haiti. They eventually settled in Quebec, where Anglade was born. After the fall of the Duvalier regime, her parents moved the family back to Haiti for a brief period. Anglade lived there from age 14 to 17 before returning to Montreal to attend CEGEP and École Polytechnique de Montréal, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1996 (see Université de Montréal). She later went on to earn a Master’s degree in business administration from HEC Montréal in 2003.

Early Career

Anglade began her professional career in 1996 as an engineer with Procter & Gamble. In 2000, she went to work with Nortel Networks. From 2005 to 2012, Anglade worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.

In January of 2010, Anglade lost her parents, a cousin and an uncle in the Haiti earthquake. That year, Anglade co-founded a charity organization called KANPE with childhood friend Régine Chassange of Montreal-based indie rock band Arcade Fire. KANPE, which means “to stand up” in Haitian creole, works with families in Haiti to help them achieve financial independence.

Political Life

In 2012, Anglade left the private sector to pursue a political career. In the 2012 Quebec general election, she ran as the candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec in the riding of Fabre, losing to Liberal Gilles Ouimet. She served as president of the CAQ from 2012 to 2013 before departing to take on the role of president and chief executive officer of Montréal International. In 2015, Anglade switched political allegiances and joined the Quebec Liberal Party. She ran in the Montreal riding of Saint-Henri–Sainte-Anne in the provincial election that year and won her seat. She was the first woman of Haitian origin elected to the Quebec Parliament.

Anglade rose quickly through party ranks, holding positions of Minister of the Economy, Science and Innovation, and Minister responsible for Digital Strategy, and deputy premier in the Couillard cabinet.

Although the Liberals lost the election to the CAQ in 2018, Anglade held onto her seat. She became Vice-Chair of the Committee on Institutions and Official Opposition Critic for the Economy. In the summer of 2019, Anglade announced her intention to seek the party leadership. In May of 2020, Anglade was named leader of the Quebec Liberal Party of Quebec after her opponent Alexandre Cusson, former mayor of Drummondville, dropped out of the race. She is the first woman and the first person who is not of French-Canadian descent to lead the party since its founding in 1897.

Dominque Anglade led the QLP into the 2022 election. However, the party suffered its worst defeat with only 21 MNAs and 14.4 per cent of votes. In contrast, the victorious CAQ had 90 elected MNAs and received almost 41 per cent of votes. Anglade later announced that she would resign as party leader.

Honours and Awards

In 2011, Anglade was recognized by the Quebec Order of Engineers for her contributions to the profession. In 2014, the World Economic Forum (Davos) appointed her to their Young Global Leaders program.