The Honourable
Marlene Jennings
PC
Member of Parliament
for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine
In office
1997–2011
Preceded byWarren Allmand
Succeeded byIsabelle Morin
Personal details
Born (1951-11-10) November 10, 1951
Longueuil, Quebec
Political partyLiberal
SpouseLuciano Del Negro
ResidenceMontreal
ProfessionNon-profit executive

Marlene Jennings PC (born November 10, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. She was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the House of Commons of Canada, and represented the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine from 1997 to 2011.

Jennings was born in Longueuil, Quebec. Her father, Preston Jennings, was an African American from Alabama and immigrated to Canada as a CPR Sleeping Car Porter. Her mother, Gilberte Garand, was a Franco-Manitoban of Belgian & French-Canadian ancestry. Jennings is a former lawyer and senior public servant. She is the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation and the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Solicitor General of Canada. From 2004 to October 2005, she was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with special emphasis on Canada-U.S. relations.

Jennings was the first Black woman from Quebec to be elected to Parliament. She was also one of the few parliamentarians with a physical disability, having become partially blind due to an illness in early 2010; she used visual aids and a white cane until late 2011.[1] Over seven surgical procedures successfully restored her vision.

She is also a past member of the Girl Guides of Canada.

Electoral history

Jennings succeeded Warren Allmand, the MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, in the reorganized riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine upon its creation in 1997. She was elected five times in the riding with consistent margins of between 10,000 and 20,000 votes, and her riding was considered one of the safest Liberal seats in the country. However, she fell to Quebec's "orange wave" in the 2011 Canadian federal election, losing her seat to Isabelle Morin of the NDP.

Later life and career

In January 2012, it was reported that Jennings was considering an offer to run for the Coalition Avenir Québec in the 2012 Quebec general election.[2] She ultimately declined.[3] In a February 2012 Facebook post, Jennings explained that she had declined because she had never had a "passion" for provincial politics.[4] For close to two years (2012 and 2013) she was the executive director of the Montreal YMHA. She had let her Liberal Party of Canada party membership lapse but re-joined in 2014.

2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
New DemocraticIsabelle Morin17,94339.73%+24.57%
LiberalMarlene Jennings14,40731.90%-12.72%
ConservativeMatthew Conway6,57414.56%-1.66%
Bloc QuébécoisGabrielle Ladouceur-Despins3,9838.82%-7.07%
GreenJessica Gal1,9144.24%-3.47%
IndependentDavid Andrew Lovett2070.46%–
Marxist–LeninistRachel Hoffman1310.29%-0.11%
Total valid votes 45,159100.00%
Total rejected ballots 464 1.02%+0.12%
Turnout 45,623

Source: Elections Canada

2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMarlene Jennings19,55444.62%+0.77%$43,963
ConservativeCarmine Pontillo7,10816.22%-1.22%$45,991
Bloc QuébécoisÉric Taillefer6,96215.89%-4.45%$7,443
New DemocraticPeter Deslauriers6,64115.16%+3.34%$50,302
GreenJessica Gal3,3787.71%+1.74%$959
Marxist–LeninistRachel Hoffman1770.40%+0.14%
Total valid votes/Expense limit 43,820100.00% $83,411
Total rejected ballots 3960.90%
Turnout 44,216
  Liberal hold Swing +1.0%
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMarlene Jennings20,23543.85%-9.35%$64,145
Bloc QuébécoisAlexandre Lambert9,38520.34%-1.65%$15,822
ConservativeAllen F. MacKenzie8,04817.44%+7.22%$29,196
New DemocraticPeter Deslauriers5,45511.82%+3.89%$19,445
GreenPierre-Albert Sévigny2,7545.97%+0.97%$1,065
LibertarianEarl Wertheimer1520.33%-0.04%
Marxist–LeninistRachel Hoffman1180.26%+0.06%
Total valid votes/Expense limit 46,147 100.00%$78,444
  Liberal hold Swing -3.85%
2004 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalMarlene Jennings23,55253.20%-7.53%$63,389
Bloc QuébécoisJean-Philippe Chartre9,73621.99%+3.88%$9,950
ConservativeWilliam R McCullock4,52610.22%-1.30%$19,959
New DemocraticMaria Pia Chávez3,5137.93%+3.20%$6,040
GreenJessica Gal2,2145.00%+2.79%$1,069
MarijuanaJay Dell4791.08%-0.84%
LibertarianEarl Wertheimer1650.37%–
Marxist–LeninistRachel Hoffman880.20%-0.14%
Total valid votes/Expense limit 44,273 100.00%$78,500

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

2000 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalMarlene Jennings28,32860.72%+4.17%
Bloc QuébécoisJeannine Ouellet8,44918.11%+1.29%
Progressive ConservativeKathy Megyery3,3527.19%-12.60%
New DemocraticBruce Toombs2,2084.73%+0.31%
AllianceDarrin Etcovitch2,0224.33%
GreenKatie Graham1,0312.21%
MarijuanaGrégoire Faber8971.92%
Natural LawMichael Wilson2050.44%-0.65%
Marxist–LeninistRachel Hoffman1590.34%
Total valid votes 46,651 100.00%

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

1997 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%
LiberalMarlene Jennings29,58256.56%
Progressive ConservativeJohn V. Hachey10,35019.79%
Bloc QuébécoisGeneviève Dumont-Frenette8,79716.82%
New DemocraticAndré Cardinal2,3154.43%
Natural LawRonald Bessette5691.09%
IndependentBryan Wolofsky3890.74%
IndependentCaroline Polcsak3030.58%
Total valid votes 52,305 100.00%

References

  1. ↑ "Devenue aveugle, la députée Jennings défend son poste" Archived 2011-05-02 at the Wayback Machine. Rue Frontenac (Montreal), April 28, 2011.
  2. ↑ "CBC.ca | Daybreak Montreal | Marlene Jennings/Coalition Avenir Quebec".
  3. ↑ Chouinard, Tommy (10 February 2012). "Marlene Jennings dit non à Legault". La Presse.
  4. ↑ Chouinard, Tommy (10 February 2012). "Marlene Jennings dit non à Legault". La Presse.
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