Pierre Curzi

Pierre Curzi
MNA for Borduas
In office April 25, 2007 – 2012
Preceded by	Jean-Pierre Charbonneau
Succeeded by	Pierre Duchesne
Personal details
Born	February 11, 1946 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	Parti Québécois → Independent
Spouse(s)	Marie Tifo
Residence	Montreal
Profession	Actor, Screenwriter, Unionist
Portfolio	Culture, Communications, Language

Pierre Curzi (born February 11, 1946 in Montreal, Quebec) is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec. He is a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. Elected under the Parti Québécois (PQ) banner, he later sat as an independent.

Acting and screenplay career

Curzi went to the École nationale de Théâtre in 1969. Prior to his political career, he played in numerous popular Quebec movies, plays, television shows and documentaries including Duplessis, Maria Chapdelaine, Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe, Babylone, Les Filles de Caleb, Million Dollar Babies, Virginie, Suzanne, Matroni et moi, The Barbarian Invasions, Le Négociateur and Romeo and Juliette.

Overall, he played roles in about 50 productions since 1971 and had been nominated for four Genie Awards for his roles in Maria Chapdelaine (1983), Lucien Brouillard (1983) and Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1986) and a nomination for best screenplay for Pouvoir intime in 1986.

He was also the president of the Union des artistes for eight years. The UDA is the main union group for cinema, theatre and television actors in Quebec.

He is married to Marie Tifo, an actress with whom he costarred in the films Pouvoir intime and Le jour S....

Politics

Curzi entered politics when he announced his candidacy for the riding of Borduas in the 2007 provincial elections, following the retirement of Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. He defeated the Action démocratique du Québec's Claude Gauthier by over 2,000 votes. He was later named the PQ critic for culture, communications and language.

Curzi was forced to apologize and retract a statement he made in October 2007 during a radio interview that appeared to suggest that a sovereign Quebec would have "more teeth" and could potentially remove the voting rights of Quebec's English-speaking community living on Montreal's West Island.^[1] He faced some criticism in 2008 as one of two MNAs, along with Daniel Turp, who endorsed a controversial petition opposing Paul McCartney's performance at Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations.^[2] In September 2010, Curzi expressed on the television interview show Les Francs-tireurs his theory that there was a shortage of Francophone players on the National Hockey League team the Montreal Canadiens and that this was "damned well political" and the result of a federalist plot.^[3]

On June 6, 2011, Curzi and caucus mates Louise Beaudoin and Lisette Lapointe resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as independents over the PQ's acceptance of a bill changing the law to permit an agreement between the City of Québec and Quebecor Inc. concerning the construction of an arena in Quebec City.^[4]

Electoral record

Quebec general election, 2008: Borduas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Pierre Curzi	13,329	47.66	+8.90
	Liberal	Jacques Charbonneau	9,125	32.63	+10.95
	Action démocratique	Jean Dion	3,430	12.26	−19.05
	Québec solidaire	Éric Noël	966	3.45	+0.53
	Green	Marco Caron	904	3.23	−1.28
	Parti indépendantiste	Michel Lepage	214	0.77	-
Total valid votes			27,968	98.30
Rejected and declined votes			485	1.70
Turnout			28,453	65.87	−13.71
Electors on the lists			43,198
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Quebec general election, 2007: Borduas
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Pierre Curzi	12,529	38.76	−8.06
	Action démocratique	Claude Gauthier	10,123	31.31	+13.44
	Liberal	Jacques Charbonneau	7,010	21.68	−12.08
	Green	Olivier Adam	1,459	4.51	–
	Québec solidaire	Julie Raby	944	2.92	–
	Independent	Super Cauchon	262	0.81	–
Total valid votes			32,327	99.12	–
Total rejected ballots			286	0.88	–
Turnout			32,613	79.58	+1.74
Electors on the lists			40,980	–	–
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

References

1. "PQ language critic backtracks", Montreal Gazette, October 23, 2007.
2. "Separatists decry McCartney's Quebec concert", National Post, July 16, 2008.
3. Hamilton, George (September 14, 2010), "Federalists taking control of Montreal Canadiens: Parti Quebecois", National Post, retrieved September 15, 2010
4. Chouinard, Tommy (June 6, 2011). "Trois députés claquent la porte du PQ". Le Soleil (in French). Quebec City. Retrieved June 6, 2011.

External links

• Pierre Curzi at the Internet Movie Database
• Curzi's Bio
• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.