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Maka Kotto
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Bourget
In office
May 12, 2008 – August 29, 2018
Preceded by Diane Lemieux
Succeeded by Richard Campeau
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Saint-Lambert
In office
June 28, 2004 – March 13, 2008
Preceded by Yolande Thibeault
Succeeded by Josée Beaudin
Personal details
Born (1961-12-07) December 7, 1961 (age 63)
Douala, Cameroon
Nationality
  • Canadian
  • French
Political party Bloc Québécois, Parti Québécois
Spouse Caroline St-Hilaire
Children 4
Residences Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Profession Author, stage director

Maka Kotto (born December 7, 1961) is a Cameroonian-born Canadian politician. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to Quebec, Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was 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 House of Commons of Canada 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. Kotto immigrated to Quebec in 2006.

Before becoming a politician Kotto was an author, actor, and stage director. ..... 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 House of Commons of Canada, 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.

Kotto resigned his seat in House of Commons of Canada 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.

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

With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto became Minister of Culture and Communications.

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. He was defeated in the 2018 election.

Personal life

Kotto is the husband of former Longueuil mayor and Bloc Québécois caucus colleague Caroline St-Hilaire, and is the father of four children.

Selected filmography

  • Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea - 1995
  • Beaumarchais - 1996
  • Lumumba - 2000
  • On Your Head (Le Ciel sur la tête) - 2001
  • A Silent Love - 2004
  • Looking for Alexander (Mémoires affectives) - 2004
  • On the Verge of a Fever (Le Goût des jeunes filles) - 2004
  • How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit) - 2004
  • Zim and Co. - 2005
  • A Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali) - 2006

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: http://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/francais/provincial/resultats-electoraux/elections-generales.php?e=3&c=387&s=1#s.
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: http://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/english/provincial/election-results/by-elections.php?e=5&s=1#s.
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 12e) ISBN: 2-89485-213-4
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