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Pascale St-Onge

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The Honourable
Pascale St-Onge
PC MP
St-Onge in 2022
Minister of Canadian Heritage
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 26, 2023
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded byPablo Rodriguez
Minister of Sport
In office
October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023
Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau
Preceded bySteven Guilbeault[a]
Succeeded byCarla Qualtrough
Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
In office
October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023
Preceded byMélanie Joly[b]
Succeeded bySoraya Martinez Ferrada
Member of Parliament
for Brome—Missisquoi
Incumbent
Assumed office
September 20, 2021
Preceded byLyne Bessette
Personal details
Born (1977-05-13) May 13, 1977 (age 47)
NationalityCanadian
Political partyLiberal
ResidenceOrford, Quebec
Alma materUniversité de Montréal
Université du Québec à Montréal
OccupationUnion leader

Pascale St-Onge PC MP (born May 13, 1977) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Brome—Missisquoi in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 Canadian federal election. She has been Minister of Canadian Heritage since 2023 and was previously Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec from 2021 to 2023. Her appointment in 2021 made her the first openly lesbian Canadian cabinet minister.

Before politics, she was president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture [fr], Quebec's largest media union as well as a bassist in an all-lesbian alternative rock band, Mad June.

Early life and career

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St-Onge was born on May 13, 1977,[1][2] and grew up in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Eustache, Quebec. She was a competitive swimmer in her youth and played volleyball in college and university. She graduated from the Université du Québec à Montréal in literary studies. St. Onge also obtained a certificate in journalism from the Université de Montréal, and worked for La Presse in sales after graduation.[3]

In the early 2010s, St. Onge was the bassist, backup vocalist,[2] and manager of an all-lesbian alternative rock quartet from Montreal called Mad June.[3] She learned to play bass after the deciding to form the group with her bandmates.[3] She learned using a second-hand bass from her then-girlfriend, the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the band. In 2010, the band played at Montebello Rock; the Boston finale of the Lilith Fair, where they were hugged on-stage by fellow Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan; and were selected to appear at the Canadian Music Week.[4] The band produced three singles before dissolving in 2015.[3][5]

By the end of 2015, St-Onge was elected president of the Fédération nationale des communications et de la culture [fr] (FNCC-CSN), Quebec's largest media and cultural industry association. In that role, she was critical of then-Minister of Canadian Heritage and future cabinet colleague Mélanie Joly for granting an exemption to Netflix from Canadian taxes and called for more government support of media. By the 2019 federal election, St. Onge collaborated with Joly to bring most political parties to support such tax changes, which led to the later Online News Act.[3]

Political career

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In the lead up to the September 20, 2021 federal election, Joly, the national campaign co-chair for the Liberal Party, recruited St. Onge, whose term at FNCC was ending. St. Onge won by less than 200 votes in Brome—Missisquoi, a riding in Quebec's Eastern Townships.[3][6] The count was subject to a judicial recount requested by the Bloc Québécois candidate after St. Onge won three days after election night on the strength of mail-in ballots. After approximately 60 irregularities were resolved without issue, the Bloc then conceded and ended the recount process on October 13, 2021.[7]

Minister of Sport

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed St. Onge Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec in November 2021, making her Canada's first openly lesbian cabinet minister.[8]

On June 12, 2022, St. Onge launched the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) as an independent investigative and complaints body for national sports organizations, who were required to sign on by April 2023 or lose federal funding. OSIC received $16 million over three years to fund its launch and operations.[9][10] St. Onge also called for Canadian national sport organizations to stop using non-disclosure agreements.[11]

The same month, in response to the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal, St-Onge called for a forensic audit into whether taxpayer funding was used to pay out sexual assault settlements.[12][13] The following month, St-Onge also paused federal funding to Hockey Canada until it explained its response to the 2018 allegations.[13] After further revelations about sexual assault allegations, she called for Hockey Canada leadership to step down in August 2022.[14]

St. Onge refused to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, citing the country's poor LGBTQ rights record as well as abuses of migrant workers.[15] On December 12, 2022, St. Onge announced $2.4 million in mental health funding for Canadian athletes.[16]

In February 2023, St. Onge organized a ministerial conference with provincial counterparts on the safe sport crisis in Charlottetown, P.E.I. during the Canada Games and urged provinces to either join OSIC or set up their own analogous organizations.[10][9] In May 2023 she announced reforms to address the safe sport crisis in Canada, which included the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal.[17]

Minister of Canadian Heritage

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St. Onge was appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage in July 2023.[3] In this role, she was in charge of implementing the rollout of the Online News Act, which required large internet corporations to pay Canadian news outlets for posts using their coverage. Corporations such as Meta Platforms and Google had threatened to block access to news on their platforms to avoid regulation.[18] Google would subsequently sign a deal with the government paying news outlets $100 million per year to avoid regulation under the Online News Act.[19]

In February 2024, St. Onge criticized Bell Media for a round of layoffs in local journalism positions and selling 45 of its 113 regional radio stations despite the end of certain licensing fees meant that it would gain $40 million in regulatory relief per year.[19]

In March 2024, St. Onge announced that the Local Journalism Initiative would be expended until 2027 with a cost of $58.8 million.[20] At the Juno Awards later that month, St. Onge announced a $32 million increase over two years to the Canada Music Fund, which awards grants via FACTOR and Musicaction for English and French artists respectively. The amount was short of the $60 million that various industry associations had requested.[21]

In May 2024, St. Onge set up an expert commission to provide recommendations on how to modernize the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). In October 2024, St. Onge named Marie-Philippe Bouchard as the new CEO of the CBC, succeeding Catherine Tait.[22]

Personal life

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St. Onge is lesbian and married her wife in summer 2005 after Prime Minister Paul Martin's government legalized same-sex marriage in Canada via the Civil Marriage Act. In November 2024, St. Onge took parental leave as her wife gave birth and continued to work and vote remotely.[23] She has lived in Orford, Quebec since 2018.[24]

Electoral record

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2021 Canadian federal election: Brome—Missisquoi
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Pascale St-Onge 21,488 35.1 -3.1 $39,303.15
Bloc Québécois Marilou Alarie 21,291 34.8 +0.4 $33,184.64
Conservative Vincent Duhamel 9,961 16.3 +3.8 $94,614.82
New Democratic Andrew Panton 3,828 6.3 -1.7 $0.45
People's Alexis Stogowski 1,982 3.2 +2.5 $0.00
Green Michelle Corcos 1,466 2.4 -3.0 $0.00
Free Maryse Richard 961 1.6 N/A $914.14
Veterans Coalition Lawrence Cotton 216 0.4 +0.1 $0.00
Independent Dany Desjardins 145 0.2 N/A $0.00
Christian Heritage Susanne Lefebvre 133 0.2 N/A $2.403.25
Total valid votes/expense limit 67,471 98.2 – $112,117.88
Total rejected ballots 1,115 1.8
Turnout 62,586 66.3
Registered voters 94,460
Liberal hold Swing -1.8
Source: Elections Canada[25]

Notes

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  1. ^ as Minister of Canadian Heritage.
  2. ^ as Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages.

References

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  1. ^ St-Onge, Pascale [@pascale.stonge] (May 13, 2024). "Les équipes de Patrimoine et de Brome—Missisquoi prennent le contrôle pour te souhaiter un joyeux anniversaire, Pascale ! 🎂💕Tu nous inspires toujours et tu nous encourages à faire les choses différemment pour mieux répondre aux besoins des gens. C'est un vrai plaisir de travailler avec toi. On te souhaite une merveilleuse journée, Ton équipe.—Teams Heritage and Brome—Missisquoi taking over to wish you a happy birthday, Pascale! 🎂💕You inspire us every day — always encouraging and pushing us to do things differently to better deliver for Canadians. It's a real pleasure to work with you. Wishing you a wonderful day, Your team" – via Instagram.
  2. ^ a b Woolf, Marie (May 31, 2024). "Bryan Adams weighs into debate on what should count as a Canadian song". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on June 1, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Lévesque, Catherine (July 27, 2023). "From alt rocker to Cancon regulator: Pascale St-Onge steps up". National Post. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  4. ^ Smith, Deanne (October 3, 2010). "'Baby steps' and growing success for Montreal rock quartet Mad June". Xtra Magazine. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  5. ^ Arsenault, Marie-Louise (June 15, 2024). Pascale St-Onge, la ministre qui tente d’endiguer la crise des médias [Pascale St-Onge, the minister trying to stem the media crisis] (Radio broadcast) (in French). Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  6. ^ Pirro, Raphael (September 23, 2021). "La libérale Pascale St-Onge élue dans Brome-Missisquoi". Le Journal de Québec (in Canadian French). Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  7. ^ "Liberal win confirmed in Brome-Missisquoi riding after Bloc Québécois concedes". CBC News. October 13, 2021. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  8. ^ Rachel Aiello, "Pascale St-Onge making history as the first out lesbian federal cabinet minister". CTV News, November 4, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Minister St-Onge announces creation of Sport Canada athletes commission". Sportsnet. The Canadian Press. June 12, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  10. ^ a b Ward, Lori; Strashin, Jamie (February 17, 2023). "Federal, provincial sports ministers to discuss safe sport solutions at meetings in P.E.I." CBC Sports. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  11. ^ Ewing, Lori (November 15, 2022). "Rules around NDAs found to complicate safe-sport reporting in Canada". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  12. ^ "What to know ahead of this week's Hockey Canada hearings". Sportsnet.ca. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-09.
  13. ^ a b Mosleh, Omar (2022-07-22). "The Hockey Canada scandal: What we know, and don't know, about the two sexual-assault incidents". thestar.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved 2022-08-15.
  14. ^ Burke, Ashley (August 27, 2022). "Sport minister calls for 'change' at Hockey Canada as calls for resignations mount". CBC News. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  15. ^ Rana, Abbas (December 4, 2022). "Sport Minister St-Onge refused to go to Qatar for FIFA World Cup to show solidarity with LGBTQ community and migrant workers, say Liberal sources". The Hill Times. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  16. ^ Spencer, Donna (December 12, 2022). "Federal government commits $2.4 million in crisis money to athletes' mental health". CBC Sports. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  17. ^ "Demands continue for inquiry as Canada's sport minister unveils safe sport reforms". nationalpost.
  18. ^ Woolf, Marie (July 27, 2023). "New Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge says she will stand ground against Facebook, Google on Bill C-18". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  19. ^ a b "Local news cuts at Bell come after it was granted $40M in regulatory relief: St-Onge". Times Colonist. February 8, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  20. ^ "Federal government pledges $58.8M to continue local journalism program to 2027". CBC News. The Canadian Press. March 1, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  21. ^ Decter, Rosie Long (March 25, 2024). "'A Good Start': Canadian Government Announces $32 Million Boost to Canada Music Fund". Billboard Canada. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  22. ^ "Veteran Quebec TV exec Marie-Philippe Bouchard named new CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada". CBC News. The Canadian Press. October 22, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  23. ^ Saba, Michael (September 28, 2024). "Openly lesbian cabinet minister to make history with parental leave". Global News. Retrieved January 14, 2025.
  24. ^ Morin-Martel, Florence (July 17, 2021). "La leader syndicale Pascale St-Onge se joint aux libéraux fédéraux". La Presse (in Canadian French). Retrieved October 21, 2021.
  25. ^ "Past Results: Brome—Missisquoi". Elections Canada. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
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