Maria Mourani is yet another example of a strong and influential Lebanese woman who has left her mark on international politics as well as on the successful legacy of the Lebanese community in the Diaspora. Born May 19, 1969, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, she is of Lebanese descent. Mourani immigrated to Canada in 1988.
Prior to her brilliant political career, she held positions such as Rehabilitation Consultant, Professor, Researcher, and even a Parole Officer for Correctional Service of Canada. She is a former Member of the Saint-Laurent Volunteer Action, Henri-Beaulieu school establishment council, Founoun artistic journal, Quebec Association of Criminologists, and the Reflection Committee and Social Action.
She was a Co-founder and Co-president of the Canadian Lebanese Friendship Association in the Canadian Parliament as well as the President of the Algerian Canadian Friendship Association. On 15 August 2008, she was awarded an honorary medal in Beirut by the World Lebanese Cultural Union (WLCU).
Her political career began in the 2003 Quebec elections when she ran unsuccessfully as the candidate of the Party Quebecois in Acadie. She was elected in the 2006 Canadian Federal Election and re-elected in 2008 and 2011. She was consequently assigned as the Bloc Québécois Critic on Public Security and on the Status of Women in the Canadian Parliament.
Following a lengthy career as part of the Bloc Québécois, on November 19, 2014, Mourani announced that she would run for the New Democratic Party in the next election, though as per the party’s policy on crossing the floor she remained an independent MP until the election.
On January 21, 2015, she was acclaimed as the New Democratic Party’s candidate in the renamed Ahuntsic-Cartierville for the 2015 Canadian federal election but lost her seat to Mélanie Joly.
After the 2015 elections, she opened her consultancy office, Mourani-Criminologie, with a concentration on issues of organized crime and gangs, juvenile delinquency, human trafficking, prostitution, and international terrorism. She is a member of the Quebec Professional Order of Criminologists.
In most recent developments, in October of 2017, the Quebec Government nominated Mourani as the Quebec Representative in the Permanent Delegation of Canada at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, a position she still assumes until this day.
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