Maka Kotto

Maka Kotto
MP for Saint-Lambert
In office 2004–2008
Preceded by	Yolande Thibeault
Succeeded by	Josée Beaudin
MNA for Bourget
Incumbent
Assumed office 2008
Preceded by	Diane Lemieux
Personal details
Born	December 7, 1961 Douala, Cameroon
Political party	Bloc Québécois, Parti Québécois
Spouse(s)	Caroline St-Hilaire
Residence	Montreal
Profession	author, stage director

Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961), is a politician of Cameroonian descent from Quebec, Canada who is a Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Bourget. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Minister of Culture and Communications. A former member of the Canadian House of Commons for the Bloc Québécois, Kotto is also a published author and has appeared in films.

Early life and education

Kotto was born in Douala, Cameroon, and graduated from high school at Lycée Henri-Martin in Saint-Quentin, France. He studied law, politics, dramatic art and cinema in Nanterre, Bordeaux and Paris.

Before becoming a politician Kotto was an author, comedian, actor, and stage director. He appeared in the 1989 movie Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer (How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired), based on the novel by Dany Laferrière. He also appeared in a second film in 2000, Lumumba, starring as Joseph Kasa-Vubu.

Kotto was also an educator in dramatic art for nearly 15 years in France and Quebec.

Federal political career

Kotto was elected to the Canadian House of Commons representing the Bloc Québécois in the 2004 Canadian federal election. In that election, he defeated incumbent Liberal MP Yolande Thibeault and five other candidates. Upon winning the Saint-Lambert riding, Kotto became the first black Canadian Member of Parliament for the Bloc. He was re-elected two years later winning a comfortable, but reduced, popular vote and a much larger plurality in the 2006 Canadian federal election. He defeated five other candidates to win his second term in office.

Kotto served as the Bloc's critic for Canadian heritage.

Provincial political career

On November 12, 2007, Kotto announced that he would be the candidate for the Parti Québécois in the provincial riding of Bourget in Montreal to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former PQ House Leader Diane Lemieux. It was his second attempt at provincial politics; he was defeated in his previous candidacy in Viau by former Liberal MNA William Cusano.^[1]

Kotto resigned his seat in Canadian House of Commons on March 5, 2008 in order to run in the provincial by-election. His vacancy was officially recognized by the Speaker on March 13, 2008.^[2]

On May 12, 2008, he won the Bourget by-election as a Parti Québécois candidate with 40% of the vote.^[3]

With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto became Minister of Culture and Communications.^[4] Kotto was re-elected in the 2014 Quebec election with a smaller margin, but the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois was defeated and Kotto became a member of the Official Opposition caucus.^[5]

Personal life

Kotto is the husband of Longueuil mayor Caroline St-Hilaire. He's also the father of four, Ekedi, Dovi, Samuel et Baptiste.

Selected filmography

• How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired (1989)
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1995)
• Beaumarchais (1996)
• Lumumba (2000)
• A Silent Love (2004)
• Looking for Alexander (2004)
• Zim and Co. (2005)

Electoral record

Quebec general election, 2014: Bourget
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Maka Kotto	12,525	37.78	-7.90
	Liberal	Jean-Pierre Gagnon	9,567	28.86	+9.45
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Sylvain Medza	6,510	19.64	-1.29
	Québec solidaire	Gaétan Chateauneuf	3,714	11.20	+1.77
	Green	Thomas Lapierre	489	1.48	-0.02
	Option nationale	Diego Saavedra Renaud	243	0.73	-1.23
	Marxist–Leninist	Claude Brunelle	101	0.30	+0.11
Total valid votes			33,149	98.29	–
Total rejected ballots			577	1.71	–
Turnout			33,726	68	+22.26
Electors on the lists			49,334	–	–

Quebec general election, 2012: Bourget
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Maka Kotto	16,379	45.68	−4.51
	Coalition Avenir Québec	Mario Bentrovato	7,503	20.93	+10.60
	Liberal	Dave McMahon	6,960	19.41	−11.40
	Québec solidaire	Patrice Gagnon	3,381	9.43	+4.88
	Option nationale	Paolo Zambito	702	1.96	–
	Green	Gilbert Caron	537	1.50	−2.12
	Parti indépendantiste	Sylvie Tremblay	199	0.57	+0.08
	Coalition pour la constituante	Jan Stohl	70	0.20	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Claude Brunelle	68	0.19	–
	Unité Nationale	Gaston Savard	57	0.16	–
Total valid votes			35,856	98.64	–
Total rejected ballots			495	1.36	–
Turnout			36,351	74%	−6.0
Electors on the lists			48,998	–	–

Quebec general election, 2008: Bourget
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Maka Kotto	13,007	50.19	+9.53
	Liberal	Pierre Mac Nicoll	7,984	30.81	−1.11
	Action démocratique	Guy Boutin	2,677	10.33	+0.93
	Québec solidaire	Gaétan Legault	1,180	4.55	+0.22
	Green	Gilbert Caron	939	3.62	−7.75
	Parti indépendantiste	Antonis Labbé	127	0.49	−1.84
Total valid votes			25,914	98.33
Total rejected ballots			439	1.67
Turnout			26,353	55.56
Electors on the lists			47,434
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Quebec provincial by-election, May 12, 2008: Bourget
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Parti Québécois	Maka Kotto	6,575	40.66	−0.60
	Liberal	Lyn Thériault	5,161	31.92	+9.07
	Green	Scott McKay	1,839	11.37	+3.28
	Action démocratique	Denis Mondor	1,520	9.40	−13.61
	Québec solidaire	Gaétan Legault	700	4.33	+0.14
	Parti indépendantiste	Richard Gervais	376	2.33	–
Total valid votes			16,171	99.01	–
Total rejected ballots			162	0.99	–
Turnout			16,333	34.55	−35.34
Electors on the lists			47,276	–	–
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.

Canadian federal election, 2006: Saint-Lambert
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maka Kotto	20,949	45.3	-3.5	$45,282
	Liberal	Jean-Jacques Hermans	10,777	23.3	-13.6	$57,186
	Conservative	Patrick Clune	9,097	19.7	+13.6	$36,940
	New Democratic	Ronaldo Garcia	3,404	7.4	+2.6	$1,200
	Green	Sonia Ziadé	1,819	3.9	+0.8
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Fournier	196	0.4	+0.1
Total valid votes/Expense limit			46,242	100.00	$77,306
Total rejected ballots			562	1.2	-0.7
Turnout			46,804

Canadian federal election, 2004: Saint-Lambert
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Bloc Québécois	Maka Kotto	22,024	48.8	+10.7	$44,877
	Liberal	Yolande Thibeault	16,654	36.9	-8.5	$51,431
	Conservative	Patrick Clune	2,739	6.1	-7.2	$16,096
	New Democratic	Monique Garcia	2,130	4.7	–	$984
	Green	Diane Joubert	1,404	3.1	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Normand Fournier	145	0.3	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			45,096	100.0	$77,333
Total rejected ballots			861
Turnout			45,957	1.9

Quebec general election, 2003: Viau
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	William Cusano	17,703	65.13	-4.95
	Parti Québécois	Maka Kotto	6,142	22.60	–
	Action démocratique	Paolo V. Tamburello	2,406	8.85	-10.61
	Bloc Pot	Guillaume Blouin-Beaudoin	426	1.57	-4.66
	UFP	Jocelyne Dupuis	384	1.41	–
	No designation	Yannick Duguay	121	0.45	–

Books

• Kotto, Maka. Femme : libre exaltation poétique. Outremont, Québec: Lanctôt, 2002. 93 p.; 21 cm. (Series: J'aime la poésie 12^e) ISBN 2-89485-213-4

References

1. Maka Kotto fait le saut au PQ - LCN - National
2. "Bloc MP Kotto resigns seat to run in provincial byelection". Hill Times. March 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-13.
3. Politique québécoise : Coup dur pour Dumont | Politique | Radio-Canada.ca
4. Maka Kotto: le rôle de sa vie
5. Wilton, Katherine (8 April 2014). "Changes afoot in the east end". The Gazette. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.

External links

• Maka Kotto at the Internet Movie Database
• House of Commons of Canada: Maka Kotto
• Maka Kotto – Parliament of Canada biography
• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.