Marlene Jennings Politician

Marlene Jennings, PC, MP (born November 10, 1951) is a former Canadian politician. She was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada in the Canadian House of Commons, and represented the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine from 1997 to 2011.Jennings was born in Longueuil, Quebec. She is a former lawyer and senior public servant. She is the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation, the former Parliamentary Secretary to the Solicitor General of Canada, and a former Member of Parliament. From 2004 to October 2005, she was Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister with special emphasis on Canada-U.S. relations.Jennings was the first black woman from Quebec to be elected to Parliament in the history of Confederation. She was also one of the few parliamentarians with a physical disability, having become temporarily partially blind due to an illness in early 2010; she used visual aids and a white cane until late 2011. Over 7 surgical procedures successfully restored her vision.