Ruth Ellen Brosseau eyes return to Parliament, will run for NDP in Quebec riding

Ruth Ellen Brosseau is attempting a political comeback in Quebec, 14 years after she won a surprise victory as a federal New Democrat and became the face of the Orange Wave that made the NDP the Official Opposition.

On Sunday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a social media post that Brosseau was declaring her candidacy in Berthier-Maskinongé, the riding she previously held that stretches along the St. Lawrence River between the suburbs of Montreal and Trois-Rivières.

Brosseau first garnered national attention in 2011 when she flew to Las Vegas during the election campaign to celebrate her 27th birthday.

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She had never set foot in her riding before becoming its MP — one of 59 NDP candidates to win a seat in Quebec under leader Jack Layton that year, up from one previously.

Brosseau went on to become the party's agriculture critic and win again in 2015 before losing to then-president of the Bloc Québécois, Yves Perron, in 2019 and again in 2021, that time by fewer than 1,000 votes.

The NDP is struggling in the polls in the face of a Liberal resurgence amid threats to Canada's economy and sovereignty launched by U.S. President Donald Trump.