- Pierre Curzi
-
Pierre Curzi 
MNA for Borduas Incumbent Assumed office
April 25, 2007Preceded by Jean-Pierre Charbonneau Personal details Born February 11, 1946
Montreal, QuebecPolitical party Parti Québécois → Independent Spouse(s) Marie Tifo Residence Montreal Profession Actor, Screenwriter, Unionist Portfolio Culture, Communications, Language Pierre Curzi (born February 11, 1946 in Montreal, Quebec) is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec, Canada. He is the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. Elected under the Parti Québécois (PQ) banner, he now sits as an independent.
Contents
Acting and screenplay career
Curzi went to the Ecole nationale de Théâtre in 1969. Prior to his political career, he played in numerous popular Quebec movies, plays, television shows and documentaries including Duplessis, Maria Chapdelaine, Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe, Babylone, Les Filles de Caleb, Million Dollar Babies, Virginie, Matroni et moi, The Barbarian Invasions, Le Négociateur and Romeo and Juliette.
Overall, he played roles in about 50 productions since 1971 and had been nominated for four Genie Awards for his roles in Maria Chapdelaine (1983), Lucien Brouillard (1983) and Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986) and a nomination for best screenplay for Pouvoir intime in 1986.
He was also the president of the Union des artistes for eight years. The UDA is the main union group for cinema, theatre and television actors in Quebec.
He is married to Marie Tifo, an actress with whom he costarred in the films Pouvoir intime and Le Jour "S".
Politics
Curzi entered politics when he announced his candidacy for the riding of Borduas in the 2007 provincial elections, following the retirement of Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. He defeated the Action démocratique du Québec's Claude Gauthier by over 2,000 votes. He was later named the PQ critic for culture, communications and language.
Curzi was forced to apologize and retract a statement he made in October 2007 during a radio interview that appeared to suggest that a sovereign Quebec would have "more teeth" and could potentially remove the voting rights of Quebec's English-speaking community living on Montreal's West Island.[1] He faced some criticism in 2008 as one of two MNAs, along with Daniel Turp, who endorsed a controversial petition opposing Paul McCartney's performance at Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations.[2] In September 2010, Curzi expressed on the television interview show Les Francs-tireurs his theory that there was a shortage of Francophone players on the National Hockey League team the Montreal Canadiens and that this was "damned well political" and the result of a federalist plot.[3]
On June 6, 2011, Curzi and caucus mates Louise Beaudoin and Lisette Lapointe resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as independents over the PQ's acceptance of a bill changing the law to permit an agreement between the City of Québec and Quebecor Inc. concerning the construction of an arena in Quebec City.[4]
Electoral record
2008 Quebec provincial election : Borduas edit Party Candidate Votes % +/- Parti Québécois (x)Pierre Curzi 13,329 47.66 Liberal Jacques Charbonneau 9,125 32.63 Action démocratique Jean Dion 3,430 12.26 Québec Solidaire Éric Noël 966 3.45 Green Marco Caron 904 3.23 Parti indépendantiste Michel Lepage 214 0.77 Total valid votes 27,968 100.00 Rejected and declined votes 485 Turnout 28,453 65.87 Electors on the lists 43,198 Source: Official Results, Government of Quebec
References
- ^ "PQ language critic backtracks", Montreal Gazette, October 23, 2007.
- ^ "Separatists decry McCartney's Quebec concert", National Post, July 16, 2008.
- ^ Hamilton, George (September 14, 2010), "Federalists taking control of Montreal Canadiens: Parti Quebecois", National Post, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Federalists+taking+control+Canadiens+critic+says/3525041/story.html, retrieved September 15, 2010
- ^ Chouinard, Tommy (June 6, 2011). "Trois députés claquent la porte du PQ" (in French). Le Soleil (Quebec City). http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/politique-quebecoise/201106/06/01-4406449-trois-deputes-claquent-la-porte-du-pq.php. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
External links
Categories:- 1946 births
- Canadian film actors
- Canadian screenwriters
- Canadian stage actors
- Canadian television actors
- French Quebecers
- Living people
- Parti Québécois MNAs
- People from Montreal
- Actors from Quebec
- Canadian actor–politicians
- Independent MNAs in Quebec
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