Vivian Barbot

Family and Education

Vivian Barbot grew up in a well-off family; her grandfather owned plantations. At age 16, she left Haiti to study in France.

In 1960, the dictatorial regime of François Duvalier had imposed harsh political and social conditions in Haiti. Vivian Barbot returned there without completing her studies. Her family was placed under house arrest, and her father, Clément Barbot, was imprisoned. Originally a friend and trusted ally of Duvalier’s, who had helped him organize the paramilitary militia known as the Tontons Macoutes, Vivian’s father subsequently turned against the dictator. The latter suspected him of wanting to take over power and accused him of plotting against the state. Shortly after being released from prison, Clément Barbot was murdered by the Tontons Macoutes.

Fleeing the threat of political persecution, Vivian Barbot, her mother, her brother and her two sisters took refuge in the embassy of Argentina in Port-au-Prince. The family remained there for two years before they were able to leave Haiti for Argentina. Vivian Barbot was then 23 years old.

A few months after arriving in Argentina, Vivian met Réal Lymburner, a Québécois who was travelling around the world and who was to become her husband. The couple decided to settle in Quebec, and they arrived in Montreal during Expo 67. They eventually had three children.

Vivian Barbot flourished in her adopted land. She earned a bachelor’s degree in literature from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 1975. (See also Université du Québec Network.) The following year, she obtained a secondary-school teacher’s certificate from the Université de Sherbrooke. From 1988 to 1994, she studied in the master’s in intercultural mediation program at the Université de Sherbrooke.

Professional Career and Activism

From 1983 to 2001, Vivian Barbot taught French at the CEGEP in Victoriaville, Quebec. From 1991 to 1992, she was president of Quebec’s federation of CEGEP teachers’ unions, the Fédération des enseignantes et enseignants de cégep. She also supported the causes of various feminist and trade-union organizations in Quebec. ( See also Union Centrals, Quebec.)

In 2001, while vice-president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec, Barbot ran to succeed Françoise David as its president. She was elected by acclamation and served as head of the federation for two years. In a March 2003 interview, Barbot related an anecdote that told much about her character and her commitment. “My mother often reminded us that we had only one life to live, and that we had to live it standing up for what we believed in!” Often depicted as a combative personality, Vivian Barbot embodies this maxim to the letter, and this image has stuck with her for life.

A politically engaged woman and feminist, Barbot has built an impressive track record. Throughout her career, she has been at the centre of numerous debates on fundamental issues, notably equality between men and women (see Gender Equality, social housing (see Housing and Housing Policy), seniors’ living conditions and absorption of immigrants (see: Immigration to Canada; Immigrant Diasporas in Canada), as well as respect for human integrity and human rights.

Political Career

Vivian Barbot developed affinities with the political ideals of the Quebec sovereignty movement (see Separatism in Canada) and became a member of the Bloc Québécois. ( See Francophone Nationalism in Québec.)

In the 2006 federal elections, Barbot ran as the Bloc Québécois candidate in Papineau riding and was elected as its Member of Parliament, receiving 990 more votes than her Liberal opponent, former cabinet minister (see Cabinet) Pierre Pettigrew. This was a major victory both for the Bloc Québécois and for Vivian Barbot, who thus became the first woman of Haitian origin to be elected to the Parliament of Canada.

Her success was attributable in part to cultural communities that had rallied to her cause, including Quebec’s Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian and Mauritanian communities.

In the elections of 14 October 2008, Barbot lost her seat to Liberal Justin Trudeau in a tight battle, with fewer than 900 votes separating the two. She ran against Trudeau and lost to him again in 2011.

Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe also lost his seat in the House of Commons in the 2011 elections. In the six federal elections held from 1993 to 2011, the Bloc Québécois had won the majority of Quebec’s 75 seats, but in 2011, it won only four. As a result of this defeat, the Bloc Québécois lost its official-party status in the House of Commons, which meant that it would have a smaller research budget and minimal opportunities to speak in the House. Duceppe resigned, and Vivian Barbot, who had been the party’s vice-president since 2009, was appointed its acting president. She thus became the first Black person to lead a federal party that was represented in Parliament. She held this acting position until a new leader, Daniel Paillé, was elected on 11 December 2011. She resigned from the vice-presidency in 2012.

Retirement

Vivian Barbot retired from politics in 2012, at age 70. She wanted to focus on her writing projects and on taking care of her grandchildren and her elderly mother.

In September 2013, she broke with Fédération des femmes du Québec, which she had led from 2001 to 2003, following a difference of opinion regarding the proposed Québec Values Charter, which the federation opposed.

An ardent feminist, after resigning from the vice-presidency of the Bloc Québécois, Barbot participated in many conferences and discussions on the place of women in politics, and especially of racialized women. In 2018, in connection with the exhibition Shalom Montreal at the McCord Museum, she participated in a panel discussion on the various ways that immigrant and racialized women contribute to life in Montreal.

Awards and Honours

• Souper-Gala des Patriotes 2017: Marie-Victoire Felix Dumouchel award for her great contribution to the advancement of Quebec sovereigntist and patriotic causes
• Woman of the Year Award from the Montreal association of Haitian business and professional women (AFAPHM), 2001
• Ambassador for the Université de Sherbrooke, 2001
• Chevalière de l’Ordre de la Pléiade et du dialogue des cultures, from the Assemblée des parlementaires de la Francophonie, 2006