An accomplished actress and pianist, the Honourable Andrée Champagne was already a well-known personality in Quebec when she decided to enter politics in 1984. During her career in entertainment, Andrée Champagne served on the Board of Directors for l'Institut québécois du cinéma and was Vice-President and General Secretary of l'Union des artistes. A veteran of many television, radio, film and theatre productions, she is most widely recognized for her role in the television series Les Belles Histoires des pays d'en haut. Ms. Andrée Champagne was elected twice - in 1984 and 1988 - as the Member of Parliament for Saint-Hyacinthe - Bagot and in 1984 was appointed to Cabinet as Minister of State for Youth. She was later elected by the House of Commons to the position of Assistant Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole in 1986, followed by her appointment as Deputy Speaker - the first woman to ever hold this office in Canada. A mother of two, Andrée Champagne is also a proud grandmother along with her life partner, pianist and professor, André Sébastien Savoie. She will be sitting in the Senate as a member of the Conservative Party.