Gisèle Lalonde
{{Short description|Canadian politician (1933–2022)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Gisèle Lalonde
|honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OOnt|size=100%}}
| image =
| caption =
| office1 = Mayor of Vanier, Ontario
| term_start1 = 1985
| term_end1 = 1991
| predecessor1 = Bernard Grandmaître
| successor1 = Guy Cousineau
| constituency1 =
| party = Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
| birth_date = {{birth date|1933|6|28}}
| birth_place = Eastview, Ontario
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|7||1933|6|28}}
| death_place =
| residence =
}}
Gisèle Lalonde, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OOnt}} ({{Nee|Deschamps}}; June 28, 1933 – July 26 or 27, 2022){{cite news|url=https://www.ledroit.com/2022/07/27/la-grande-militante-franco-ontarienne-gisele-lalonde-meurt-a-89-ans-1c6ea9c30aae7dc25c352350c88054d1 |title= La grande militante franco-ontarienne Gisèle Lalonde meurt à 89 ans |newspaper=Le Droit|date=July 27, 2022 |accessdate=July 27, 2022 |language=fr}} was a Canadian politician and community activist,{{cite news|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/the-capital-builders-how-gisele-lalonde-saved-the-montfort?google_editors_picks=true |title= The Capital Builders: How Gisèle Lalonde saved the Montfort |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=May 21, 2017 |accessdate=May 21, 2017 |first=Patrick |last=Butler}} who served as the mayor of Vanier, Ontario from 1985 to 1991.
Biography
She was born in Eastview (later renamed Vanier in 1969). She received a teaching certificate from the University of Ottawa and taught in the Ottawa area from 1951 to 1973. During that time, she was also a member of the French Separate School Board for 13 years. She acted as an advisor on the subject of francophone education to Ministry of Education in Ontario and also chaired a council which advised Premier of Ontario on francophone matters. She ran for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in the 1977 Ontario general election in the riding of Ottawa East,{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/93037426/the-ottawa-citizen-27-may-1977/|title= Ottawa East |newspaper=Ottawa Citizen |date=May 27, 1977|accessdate=July 27, 2022 |first=Dave|last=Rogers}} losing to Liberal Albert Roy.
She married Gilles Lalonde.
She was elected mayor of Vanier in 1985. In 1988, she founded and was the first president of the Francophone Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
She was a key leader in the S.O.S. Montfort campaign which prevented the closing of the Montfort Hospital, the largest francophone hospital in Ontario.{{Cite web |title=SOS Montfort {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sos-montfort |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}
She was also part of the Scout District d'Ottawa (Association Scout du Canada) for five years as of 2006.
She also wrote an autobiography.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}
She was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003{{cite web |url=http://archive.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=8758 |title=Gisèle Lalonde, C.M., O.Ont., D.h.c. |accessdate=2009-01-11 |publisher=Governor General of Canada}} and the Order of Ontario in 2006.
A school, L'école secondaire publique Gisèle Lalonde in Orleans, Ontario, is named in her honour.
References
- {{cite web |url=http://www.racontemoiottawa.com/en/49.html |title=Gisèle Lalonde |publisher=Muséoparc Vanier |accessdate=2009-01-11}}
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Category:Mayors of Eastview and Vanier
Category:Members of the Order of Canada
Category:Members of the Order of Ontario
Category:Women mayors of places in Ontario
Category:Franco-Ontarian people
Category:Women in Ontario politics
Category:Ottawa-Carleton regional councillors
Category:University of Ottawa alumni
Category:Franco-Ontarian history
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario candidates in Ontario provincial elections
Category:Ontario school board trustees
Category:20th-century mayors of places in Ontario
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