View source for Maka Kotto

{{short description|Canadian politician and actor (born 1961)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Maka Kotto
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = 
| caption          = 
| cabinet          = 
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1961|12|07}}
| birth_place      = [[Douala, Cameroon]]
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = 
| nationality      = {{hlist|Canadian|French}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Dion among a dozen MPs with dual citizenships |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dion-among-a-dozen-mps-with-dual-citizenships-1.574134 |author=<!--not stated--> |work=[[CBC News]] |access-date=January 2, 2024 |date=December 8, 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102102216/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/dion-among-a-dozen-mps-with-dual-citizenships-1.574134 |archive-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>
| profession       = Author, stage director
| party            = [[Bloc Québécois]], [[Parti Québécois]]
| residence        = [[Montreal, Quebec]], Canada
| office           = Member of the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] for [[Bourget (electoral district)|Bourget]]
| term_start       = May 12, 2008
| term_end         = August 29, 2018
| predecessor      = [[Diane Lemieux]]
| successor        = [[Richard Campeau (politician)|Richard Campeau]]
| constituency_MP1 = [[Saint-Lambert (electoral district)|Saint-Lambert]]
| parliament1      = Canadian
| term_start1      = June 28, 2004
| term_end1        = March 13, 2008
| predecessor1     = [[Yolande Thibeault]]
| successor1       = [[Josée Beaudin]]
| portfolio        =
| footnotes        =
| spouse           = [[Caroline St-Hilaire]]
| children         = 4
}}

'''Léopold-Marcel Kotto-Maka''' (born December 7, 1961), known as '''Maka Kotto''', is a Cameroonian-born Canadian politician and actor. Educated in France, Kotto immigrated to [[Quebec]], Canada, where he was an educator before entering politics. Kotto was a [[Parti Québécois]] member of the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] for the [[Electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Bourget (electoral district)|Bourget]]. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the [[Ministry of Culture and Communications (Quebec)|Minister of Culture and Communications]]. A former member of the [[House of Commons of Canada]] for the [[Bloc Québécois]], Kotto is also a published author and has appeared in films.

==Early life and education==
Born in [[Douala]], [[Cameroon]], Léopold-Marcel Kotto-Maka<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boivin |first1=Simon |title=Vous pouvez m'appeler Léo |trans-title=You can call me Léo|url=https://www.lesoleil.com/actualite/politique/maka-kotto-vous-pouvez-mappeler-leo-7f26189d67ebf1bc04a8d02418288d48 |website=[[Le Soleil (Quebec)|Le Soleil]] |access-date=9 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618001315/https://www.lesoleil.com/actualite/politique/maka-kotto-vous-pouvez-mappeler-leo-7f26189d67ebf1bc04a8d02418288d48 |archive-date=2021-06-18 |language=fr |date=2016-07-12}}</ref> graduated from high school at Lycée Henri-Martin in [[Saint-Quentin, France]]. He studied law, politics, dramatic art and cinema in [[Nanterre, France|Nanterre]], [[Bordeaux, France|Bordeaux]] and [[Paris, France|Paris]]. Kotto immigrated to [[Quebec]] in 2006.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Perreaux |first=Les |date=September 18, 2013 |title=PQ minister's advice for religious minorities: Accept Quebec values |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |location=Quebec City, Quebec |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pq-ministers-advice-for-religious-minorities-accept-quebec-values/article14393844/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705123350/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/pq-ministers-advice-for-religious-minorities-accept-quebec-values/article14393844/ |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>

Before becoming a politician, Kotto was an author, actor, and stage director. He appeared in the 1989 movie ''[[How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired]] (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer)'', based on the novel by [[Dany Laferrière]]. He also appeared in a second film in 2000, ''[[Lumumba (film)|Lumumba]]'', starring as [[Joseph Kasa-Vubu]].

Kotto was also an educator in dramatic art for nearly 15 years in France and Quebec.

==Federal political career==
Kotto was elected to the House of Commons of Canada, representing the Bloc Québécois in the [[2004 Canadian federal election]]. In that election, he defeated incumbent [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] MP [[Yolande Thibeault]] and five other candidates. Upon winning the [[Saint-Lambert (electoral district)|Saint-Lambert]] riding, Kotto became the first [[black Canadian]] Member of Parliament for the Bloc. He was re-elected two years later, winning a comfortable, but reduced, popular vote and a much larger plurality in the [[2006 Canadian federal election]]. He defeated five other candidates to win his second term in office.

Kotto served as the Bloc's critic for [[Minister of Canadian Heritage|Canadian heritage]].

==Provincial political career==
On November 12, 2007, Kotto announced that he would be the candidate for the Parti Québécois in the provincial riding of [[Bourget (electoral district)|Bourget]] in [[Montreal]] to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of former PQ house leader [[Diane Lemieux]]. It was his second attempt at provincial politics; he was defeated in his previous candidacy in [[Viau]] by former [[Quebec Liberal Party|Liberal]] MNA [[William Cusano]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2007/11/12/maka-kotto-fait-le-saut-au-pq |title=Maka Kotto fait le saut au PQ |language=French |trans-title=Maka Kotto jumps to the PQ |date=November 12, 2007 |last=Rhéaume |first=Normand |work=[[TVA Nouvelles]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102170956/https://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2007/11/12/maka-kotto-fait-le-saut-au-pq |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>

Kotto resigned his seat in [[House of Commons of Canada]] on March 5, 2008, in order to run in the provincial by-election. His vacancy was officially recognized by the Speaker on March 13, 2008.<ref name="resign">{{cite news |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2008/03/10/bloc-mp-kotto-resigns-seat-to-run-in-provincial-byelection/240156/ |title=Bloc MP Kotto resigns seat to run in provincial byelection |author=<!--not stated--> |work=[[The Hill Times]] |url-access=subscription |date=March 10, 2008 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>

On May 12, 2008, he won the [[Bourget (electoral district)|Bourget]] by-election as a Parti Québécois candidate with 40% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/396476/partielles-resultats |title=Coup dur pour Dumont |language=French |trans-title=Tough blow for Dumont |author=<!--not stated--> |date=May 13, 2008 |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|Radio-Canada]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102172107/https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/396476/partielles-resultats |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>

With the election of the Parti Québécois on September 4, 2012, Kotto became [[Ministry of Culture and Communications (Quebec)|Minister of Culture and Communications]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lapresse.ca/debats/chroniques/nathalie-petrowski/201209/26/01-4577663-maka-kotto-le-role-de-sa-vie.php |title=Maka Kotto: le rôle de sa vie |language=French |trans-title=Maka Kotto: The role of his life |date=September 26, 2012 |last=Petrowski |first=Nathalie |work=[[La Presse (Canadian newspaper)|La Presse]] |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929133522/https://www.lapresse.ca/debats/chroniques/nathalie-petrowski/201209/26/01-4577663-maka-kotto-le-role-de-sa-vie.php |archive-date=September 29, 2022 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref>

Kotto was re-elected in the [[2014 Quebec general election|2014 Quebec election]] with a smaller margin, but the Parti Québécois government of Pauline Marois was defeated and Kotto became a member of the [[Official Opposition (Canada)|Official Opposition]] caucus.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/quebec-votes-2014-below-the-surface-changes-afoot-in-the-east-end |title=Changes afoot in the east end |orig-date=April 6, 2014 |date=April 8, 2014 |last=Wilton |first=Katherine |work=[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]] |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102173001/https://montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/quebec-votes-2014-below-the-surface-changes-afoot-in-the-east-end |archive-date=January 2, 2024 |access-date=January 2, 2024}}</ref> He was defeated in the [[2018 Quebec general election|2018 election]].

==Personal life==
Kotto is the husband of former [[Longueuil, Quebec|Longueuil]] mayor and Bloc Québécois caucus colleague [[Caroline St-Hilaire]], and is the father of four children.

==Selected filmography==
* ''[[How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired]] (Comment faire l'amour avec un nègre sans se fatiguer)'' - 1989
* ''[[The Night of the Visitor]] (La nuit du visiteur)'' - 1990
* ''[[Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (film)|Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea]]'' - 1995
* ''[[Beaumarchais (film)|Beaumarchais]]'' - 1996
* ''[[The Caretaker's Lodge]] (La Conciergerie)'' - 1997
* ''[[Lumumba (film)|Lumumba]]'' - 2000
* ''[[On Your Head (film)|On Your Head]] (Le Ciel sur la tête)'' - 2001
* ''[[A Silent Love]]'' - 2004
* ''[[Looking for Alexander]] (Mémoires affectives)'' - 2004
* ''[[On the Verge of a Fever]] (Le Goût des jeunes filles)'' - 2004
* ''[[How to Conquer America in One Night]] (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit)'' - 2004
* ''[[Zim and Co.]]'' - 2005
* ''[[A Sunday in Kigali]] (Un dimanche à Kigali)'' - 2006

==Electoral record==
{{Canadian election result/top|QC|2014|Bourget (electoral district)|Bourget|percent=yes|change=yes}}
{{CANelec|QC|PQ|Maka Kotto | 12,525|37.78|-7.90}}
{{CANelec|QC|Liberal|Jean-Pierre Gagnon |9,567|28.86|+9.45
{{CANelec|QC|CAQ| Sylvain Medza |6,510|19.64|-1.29}}
{{CANelec|QC|Québec solidaire|Gaétan Chateauneuf |3,714|11.20|+1.77}}
{{CANelec|QC|Green |Thomas Lapierre |489|1.48|-0.02}}
{{CANelec|QC|Option nationale | Diego Saavedra Renaud|243|0.73|-1.23}}
{{CANelec|QC|Marxist-Leninist|Claude Brunelle |101|0.30|+0.11}}
}}

{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|33,149|98.29|&ndash;}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots|577|1.71|&ndash;}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Turnout|33,726|68|+22.26}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Electors on the lists|49,334|&ndash;|&ndash;}}
{{end}}
{{2012 Quebec general election/Bourget}}
{{2008 Quebec general election/Bourget}}
{{2008 Quebec provincial by-elections/Bourget}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2006|Saint-Lambert (electoral district)|Saint-Lambert|percent=yes|change=yes|expenditures=yes}}
{{CANelec|CA|BQ|Maka Kotto|20,949|45.3	|-3.5| $45,282}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Jean-Jacques Hermans|10,777|23.3	|-13.6| $57,186}}
{{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Patrick Clune|9,097|19.7	|+13.6| $36,940}}
{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Ronaldo Garcia|3,404|7.4	|+2.6| $1,200}}
{{CANelec|CA|Green|Sonia Ziadé|1,819|3.9	|+0.8| }}
{{CANelec|CA|Marxist-Leninist|Normand Fournier|196|0.4	|+0.1| }}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes/Expense limit|46,242|100.00| $77,306}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots|562| 1.2|-0.7 }}
{{Canadian election result/total|Turnout|46,804| }}
{{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2004|Saint-Lambert (electoral district)|Saint-Lambert|percent=yes|change=yes|expenditures=yes}}
{{CANelec|CA|BQ|Maka Kotto|22,024|48.8	|+10.7| $44,877}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|[[Yolande Thibeault]]|16,654|36.9	|-8.5| $51,431}}
{{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Patrick Clune|2,739|6.1	|-7.2| $16,096}}
{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Monique Garcia|2,130|4.7	|&ndash;| $984}}
{{CANelec|CA|Green|Diane Joubert|1,404|3.1	|&ndash;| }}
{{CANelec|CA|Marxist-Leninist|Normand Fournier|145|0.3|&ndash;| }}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes/Expense limit|45,096|100.0| $77,333}}
{{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots|861| }}
{{Canadian election result/total|Turnout|45,957|1.9}}
{{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|QC|2003|Viau|percent=yes|change=yes}}
{{CANelec|QC|Liberal|[[William Cusano]]|17,703|65.13|-4.95}}
{{CANelec|QC|PQ|Maka Kotto|6,142|22.60|&ndash;}}
{{CANelec|QC|ADQ|Paolo V. Tamburello|2,406|8.85|-10.61}}
|-
{{CANelec|QC|Bloc Pot|Guillaume Blouin-Beaudoin|426|1.57|-4.66}}
|-
{{CANelec |QC |UFP |Jocelyne Dupuis |384 |1.41 |&ndash;}}
|-
{{Canadian party colour|QC|Independent|row}}
|No designation
|Yannick Duguay
|align="right"|121
|align="right"|0.45
|align="right"|&ndash;
|}

==Books==
*Kotto, Maka. ''Femme : libre exaltation poétique''. Outremont, Québec: Lanctôt, 2002. 93 p.; 21&nbsp;cm. (Series: J'aime la poésie 12<sup>e</sup>) {{ISBN|2-89485-213-4}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0467846}}
*[http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/ProfileMP.aspx?Key=78561&Language=E House of Commons of Canada: Maka Kotto]
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=12545}}
*{{Quebec MNA biography|kotto-maka-41}}

{{Marois Ministry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotto, Maka}}
[[Category:1961 births]]
[[Category:Black Canadian male actors]]
[[Category:Black Canadian politicians]]
[[Category:Bloc Québécois MPs]]
[[Category:French-language Canadian poets]]
[[Category:Cameroonian emigrants to Canada]]
[[Category:Francophone Quebec people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Male actors from Montreal]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Quebec]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec]]
[[Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada]]
[[Category:Parti Québécois MNAs]]
[[Category:Politicians from Montreal]]
[[Category:Canadian actor-politicians]]
[[Category:People from Douala]]
[[Category:People from Saint-Quentin, Aisne]]
[[Category:Male actors from Hauts-de-France]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Montreal]]
[[Category:Black Canadian poets]]
[[Category:Canadian male poets]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Canadian male film actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male television actors]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male writers]]
[[Category:Quebecor people]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec]]
[[Category:Black Canadian non-fiction writers]]