Christine Black

Originally from Montreal's South Shore area,^[1] Black moved to Montréal-Nord at age twenty to work for the Centre des jeunes l'Escale (English: L'Escale Youth Centre). She became the organization's director in 2006 and held this position until the time of her election to public office.^[2]

In 2008, she became a spokesperson for the Mouvement Solidarité Montréal-Nord, a group that formed following the shooting death of Fredy Villanueva by a police officer.^[3] She argued in favour of community policing during this period and was quoted as saying, "Part of the problem is you have police officers who aren't known around here coming in and making arrests, harassing people, and then leaving. It's important to have a police presence here, but they also need to understand the flavour of the neighbourhood and the benefits of dialogue and prevention."^[4] She also noted that part of her centre's mandate was to provide basketball, soccer, singing, and dancing programs for at-risk youth in the community.^[5]

Black has a certificate in social work from the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal (2001) and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Université de Montréal (2010). As of 2017, She was working toward the completion of a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the École nationale d'administration publique (ENAP), with a focus on health services and social services.^[6]