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Jonathan Genest-Jourdain
Jonathan Genest-Jourdain
Member of Parliament; for Manicouagan
	In office; May 2, 2011 – October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Gérard Asselin
Succeeded by	Marilène Gill
Personal details
Born	July 16, 1979 (age 45); Uashat-Maliotenam, Quebec
Political party	New Democratic Party
Residence(s)	Sept-Îles, Quebec
Alma mater	Université Laval
Profession	Lawyer

Jonathan Genest-Jourdain (born July 16, 1979) is a Canadian politician from Quebec. Genest-Jourdain served as the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Manicouagan and as a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet in the 41st Canadian Parliament (2011–2015).

Career

Jonathan Genest-Jourdain entered municipal politics in Sept-Îles, Quebec, in 2009. Through his legal work, Genest-Jourdain has been an ardent activist for Aboriginal, Quebec and Canadian heritage issues.

Genest-Jourdain defeated Bloc Québécois incumbent MP Gérard Asselin at the 2011 Canadian federal election, becoming the first ever NDP member to represent the Manicouagan riding. Along with fellow NDP member Romeo Saganash (who was elected for Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou), Genest-Jourdain was one of two First Nations members currently representing Quebec in the House of Commons of Canada. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.^[1]

A member of the Innu Nation, Genest-Jourdain is a lawyer originally from the reserve village of Uashat-Maliotenam located in the Sept-Rivières Regional County Municipality.^[2] Genest-Jourdain obtained a law degree from Université Laval in 2004 and started a graduate certificate in corporate law. He has been a member of the Bar of Quebec since 2007. Genest-Jourdain has devoted himself to the application of professional principles, including social intervention.

Genest-Jourdain supported Outremont MP Tom Mulcair's candidacy for federal leadership of the NDP to succeed the late Jack Layton.^[3]

Genest-Jourdain finished third in his own riding of Manicouagan in the 2015 Canadian federal election, with the Bloc's Marilène Gill succeeding him as MP.

Shadow Cabinet

Shortly after Genest-Jourdain entered Parliament in May 2011, NDP leader Jack Layton appointed him to the shadow cabinet as Deputy Critic for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.^[4]

Election record

2015 Canadian federal election: Manicouagan
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Marilène Gill	17,338	41.25	+8.57	$19,611.43
	Liberal	Mario Tremblay	12,343	29.37	+23.86	$9,363.37
	New Democratic	Jonathan Genest-Jourdain	7,359	17.51	-30.17	$24,554.75
	Conservative	Yvon Boudreau	4,317	10.27	-1.36	$16,863.38
	Green	Nathan Grills	673	1.60	-0.91	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			42,030	100.00		$259,798.61
Total rejected ballots			645	1.51	–
Turnout			75,030	56.88	–
Eligible voters			75,030
	Bloc Québécois gain from New Democratic		Swing		+19.37
Source: Elections Canada^[5]^[6]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Jonathan Genest-Jourdain	16,438	48.93%	+44.13%
	Bloc Québécois	Gérard Asselin	10,496	31.25%	-18.05%
	Conservative	Gordon Ferguson	3,879	11.55%	-15.45%
	Liberal	André Forbes^{[fn 1]}	1,881	5.6%	-9.7%
	Green	Jacques Gélineau	898	2.67%	-0.93%
Total valid votes/Expense limit			33,592	100.0%

Notes

^ André Forbes was nominated as a Liberal, but lost party support just before the nomination deadline. Instead of resigning, he continued to run as an Independent. He appears on the ballot as a Liberal.^[7]^[8]