Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac
Member of Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot
In office September 17, 2007 – May 2, 2011
Preceded by	Yvan Loubier
Succeeded by	Marie-Claude Morin
Personal details
Born	(1972-02-06) February 6, 1972 Vietnam
Party	Bloc Québécois
Profession	Political assistant

Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac (born February 6, 1972) is a former Canadian politician. She served as a member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot from 2007 to 2011. She was the first Vietnamese Canadian ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons.

Early life

Born in Vietnam to a Cham family, Thi Lac was adopted at age two by a Quebec family and grew up on a farm near Acton Vale.

Career

Prior to her election, she worked for her predecessor, Yvan Loubier, as an executive assistant in his constituency office.

Political career

She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada on September 17, 2007, as the Bloc Québécois candidate in the Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot by-election, defeating the Conservative candidate Bernard Barré.

She acknowledged that racism was a factor at the outset of her campaign, but stressed her local roots by joking that having grown up on a farm, she was the only candidate in the race who knew how to castrate a pig. She later credited her willingness to simply talk to people as her most effective strategy:

I feel it enormously, but I explain my origins and people are receptive. I would say what scares people a little is difference, but when they speak to me, when they see me, when I am asked about my values, they see no difference between them and me.

She was re-elected in the 2008 election, but was defeated in the 2011 election by Marie-Claude Morin of the New Democratic Party.

Electoral record

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Marie-Claude Morin	26,963	52.4	+38.4
	Bloc Québécois	Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac	12,651	24.6	-22.7
	Conservative	Jean-Guy Dagenais	8,108	15.7	-5.5
	Liberal	Denis Vallée	2,784	5.4	-8.4
	Green	Johany Beaudoin-Bussières	994	1.9	-1.8
Total valid votes/Expense limit			51,500	100.0
Total rejected ballots			863	1.6	–
Turnout			52,363	66.2	–
Eligible voters			79,085	–	–
	New Democratic gain from Bloc Québécois		Swing		+30.55

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Bloc Québécois	Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac	22,719	47.3%	+5.2
	Conservative	René Vincelette	10,203	21.2%	-16.0
	New Democratic	Brigitte Sansoucy	6,721	14.0%	+6.1
	Liberal	Denise Tremblay	6,638	13.8%	+6.4
	Green	Jacques Tétreault	1,771	3.7%	+0.0
Total			48,052

By-election on September 17, 2007
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Bloc Québécois	Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac	13,443	42.1%	-13.9
	Conservative	Bernard Barré	11,965	37.5%	+12.7
	New Democratic	Brigitte Sansoucy	2,538	7.9%	+2.4
	Liberal	Jean Caumartin	2,379	7.4%	-2.4
	Green	Jacques Tétreault	1,169	3.7%	-0.2
	Rhinoceros	Christian Willie Vanasse	384	1.2%
	Canadian Action	Michel St-Onge	61	0.19%
Total			31,949

External links

• Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac – Parliament of Canada biography