Marie-Françoise Mégie

Marie-Françoise Mégie (born September 21, 1950) is a Canadian physician, university professor at the Université de Montreal and former member of the Independent Senators Group in the Senate of Canada. Born in Jacmel, Haiti, she moved to Quebec in 1976. She served as a senator until her mandatory retirement in 2025, on her 75th birthday.

Biography Education and career Mégie was born in Jacmel, Haiti, and completed her primary and secondary education there. In July 1974, she obtained her medical degree from the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the Université d'État d'Haïti, in Port-au-Prince.

In October 1981, she joined the Centre local de services communautaires (CLSC) du Marigot in Laval and worked in home care with the elderly, the severely handicapped, and people approaching the end of life.

Senator Mégie in the Senate of Canada

She was appointed to Senate on November 25, 2016, by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. She officially entered office on December 2, 2016 as an independent senator from Rougemont. As a member of the Senate, she has been a part of the Standing Committee of Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI), the Standing Committee of Official Languages (OLLO), the Standing Committee of Agriculture and Forestry (AGFO), and the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples (APPA). In 2018, she gave a speech, in which she recommended caution and data collection for research regarding Bill C-45 on cannabis. In 2019, she gave a speech in support of the Canadian Accessibility Act.

The Honourable Senator supported Senator Moodie's motion to bring to the attention of the Senate the important issue of vaccine hesitancy and the corresponding threats to public health. This motion is prescient of the vaccine hesitancy that would slow down the vaccination campaign to end the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Senator is also a member of the Parliamentary Black Caucus, whose mission is to prioritize issues affecting Black communities in Canada. In 2020, after the tragic events surrounding the murder of George Floyd, she participated in the drafting, with the help of other members, of the Statement by the Parliamentary Black Caucus. This document urges the government to take concrete steps to fight against systemic racism in Canada. She has asked for the Senate's consent to table the Declaration. The Senator then introduced a motion for the Senate to go into a plenary session to receive Ministers and discuss the government's role in combating racism.

During the Senate's subsequent study of racism, the Honourable Senator Mégie made a landmark speech that included the recommendations of the Parliamentary Black Caucus.

In 2021, she was elected to the Independent Senators Group, and was appointed member of the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons. This committee was established to review the terms of the Criminal Code regarding medically assisted dying and its application, particularly issues related to mature minors, advance directives, mental illness, the state of palliative care in Canada, and the protection of Canadians with disabilities.

Professional associations The senator is a member of several professional associations. October 2001: Gilles des Rosiers Award from the Fédération des médecins omnipraticiens du Québec for contributing to the education of her peers.