Ève-Mary Thaï Thi Lac (born February 6, 1972) is a former Canadian politician. She served as a member of Parliament for the Bloc Québécois in the riding of Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot from 2007 to 2011. She was the first Vietnamese Canadian ever elected to the Canadian House of Commons.

Early life

Born in Vietnam to a Cham family, Thi Lac was adopted at age two by a Quebec family and grew up on a farm near Acton Vale.

Career

Prior to her election, she worked for her predecessor, Yvan Loubier, as an executive assistant in his constituency office.

Political career

She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada on September 17, 2007, as the Bloc Québécois candidate in the Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot by-election, defeating the Conservative candidate Bernard Barré. She acknowledged that racism was a factor at the outset of her campaign, but stressed her local roots by joking that having grown up on a farm, she was the only candidate in the race who knew how to castrate a pig. She later credited her willingness to simply talk to people as her most effective strategy: I feel it enormously, but I explain my origins and people are receptive. I would say what scares people a little is difference, but when they speak to me, when they see me, when I am asked about my values, they see no difference between them and me. She was re-elected in the 2008 election, but was defeated in the 2011 election by Marie-Claude Morin of the New Democratic Party.

Electoral record