eye. Criminologist Céline Billot receives a prestigious award in Quebec

She grew up in Al Ain, before making a name for herself abroad. On Wednesday, October 25, 2023, Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy, Innovation and Energy of Quebec, revealed the names of the winners of the 2023 Prix du Québec, the highest honor bestowed by the Quebec government, in the fields of science and culture.

In total, 17 individuals were nominated, including Céline Bellot, who excelled in the “Social Innovation” category.

Before making a name for herself across the Atlantic, this jurist, criminologist and sociologist trained in Ain, at the École Ternant, in Ambotrix, between 1979 and 1981, then at the College of Saint-Exupéry and in Plaine de la. Al Ain Secondary School in Amperio en Bougie, from 1986 to 1988.

Her journey will then take her to Quebec, where she became a professor at the University of Montreal’s Faculty of Social Work in 2003. an institution she directed between 2017 and 2021.

His first study, published in 2005, introduced to Canada the concepts of “prosecution” and “criminalization” associated with homelessness.

$30,000 scholarship

Since then, the researcher has gained a good reputation through her contribution, in particular, to the adoption of a draft law aimed at putting an end to prison punishment for non-payment of fines and the establishment of social programs in the courts, where she regularly works as an expert. She is also, among other things, the author of the first French-language work dealing with legal issues related to social work and fundamental rights.

Today, Pogest is being rewarded for her commitment to social justice and for her work denouncing discriminatory practices and inequalities affecting vulnerable people in her adopted country.

When her name was announced, Céline Billot thought of her “colleagues, partners, students” and all the people she had met along the way in her research. “They came into my life to stay,” he added. “I discovered with them greater injustice than I could have imagined, but I also valued our shared values ​​and were able to build unshakable bonds of respect and solidarity.”

The 2023 Quebec Awards ceremony will be held on November 22. On this occasion, the researcher will be honored by receiving a tax-free scholarship in the amount of $30,000.