Yolette Lévy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- pharmacist
- politician
- unionist
- feminist
- activist
Yolette Lévy | |
|---|---|
 (1996) | |
| Born | May 15, 1938 Haiti |
| Died | December 6, 2018 (aged 80) |
| Occupations |
|
| Known for | Municipal councilor, Val-d'Or |
| Spouse | Jean-Emmanuel Alfred |
| Children | 3 |
| Awards |
|
Yolette Lévy (May 15, 1938 – December 6, 2018) was a Haitian-born Canadian politician and activist from Val-d'Or, in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Quebec. She was for many years a municipal councilor in Val-d'Or. Originally a pharmacist, she also worked as a feminist activist, trade unionist, and defender of the rights of seniors.
Yolette Lévy was born May 15, 1938, in Haiti. She hailed from Cap-Haïtien.[1]
Career
Levy worked as a pharmacist in Haiti,[2] before fleeing Duvalierism, arriving in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), and teaching for four years in the service of UNESCO. She and her husband, Jean-Emmanuel Alfred, then submitted their applications for teaching positions in Val-d'Or.[3] She arrived in Val-d'Or in 1969, to work as a chemistry teacher at the Le Carrefour high school;[4] her husband taught literature.[5] Upon her arrival she and her husband were among the 12 Haitians in the city.[6]
She became involved in the teachers' union in 1972. On April 8, 1982, she was elected president of the Syndicat des travailleurs de l'enseignement du Nord-Ouest québécois (Union of Education Workers of Northwestern Quebec) (STENOQ)[7] and held this position until June 1984.[8] In June 1984, she was elected to the executive council of the Commission des enseignants des commissions scolaires (School Board Teachers' Commission) of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec.[9] During her union career, she defended several issues concerning women, such as maternity leave, the right to abortion, child care services, and led a major push for pay equity. She also led workshops on the involvement of women in politics.[2]
Lévy was one of the founders of La Mosaïque, the intercultural association for welcoming and integrating immigrants in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. With several others, she filed the organization's letters patent on November 23, 1990, with the Quebec government. The association received its official recognition on February 13, 1991.[10]
From 1996 to 2009, Lévy sat as a municipal councilor in Val-d'Or.[4] She was re-elected in the municipal elections of 2000, 2001 and 2005,[11] but lost the 2009 elections.[12] During her mandates, she contributed to the revision of the family policy, the implementation of the Taxibus public transport service, defending community organizations, and supporting cultural development.[11]
Lévy served as vice-president of the board of directors of the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (UQAT) from 1998 to 2005.[13][14][15][16][17][18]
In 2015, she became president of the section of the Association québécoise de défense des droits des retraités et préretraités (AQDR) (Quebec Association for the Defense of the Rights of Retired and Pre-Retired Persons) in Val-d’Or.[19]
Personal life
She was the mother of three children: Yolette, Jean-Emmanuel, and Henry-Philippe Alfred.[20]