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"I'm doing my best to represent the Black Canadian community," Madeleine Toussaint said to herself, and the six-foot-tall, curvy, pantsuit-wearing Haitian businesswoman looked at her reflection in the mirror, and smiled. The dark gray pantsuit and white blouse which Madeleine wore contrasted sharply against her mahogany-hued skin. Folks often commented on Madeleine's resemblance to the machete lady from The Walking Dead, but she claimed not to see the resemblance.

Madeleine walked out of the women's washroom a few minutes later, a smile on her face. When the game is on the line you have to be careful but you absolutely cannot show fear, Madeleine reminded herself. She steeled herself for what was to come. On the seventh floor of the Sunlife Financial Building in downtown Ottawa, Madeleine headed into the corporate meeting room like a jungle cat stalking her prey.

Madeleine would need every ounce of that confidence today, for she was meeting with some major power players. The men and women with the big bucks. Lots of American businesspeople came to Canada and they threw their weight around, and their money. As the attorney representing their interests, it was often Madeleine's task to give these Americans a crash course in Canadian culture and corporate policy, whether they like it or not.

There aren't a lot of Black female lawyers in the Capital of Canada, and the few that operate don't reach Madeleine Toussaint's level of power and influence. Madeleine is a corporate lawyer, a shark wrangler, and in the corridors of power, she's often the only person of color. Madeleine doesn't let any of it get her down, though. After all, nothing these corporate sharks can throw at her can dazzle her. Life has been rocky enough...

Madeleine Toussaint was born in the City of Cap-Haitien, northern Haiti, on November 7, 1982. In 2000, Madeleine's family moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, and this definitely changed her life. Madeleine studied Criminal Justice at Carleton University, graduating in June 2004, and then went on to study Law at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 2007. Fast forward twelve years, and Madeleine is the Queen of the Ottawa legal scene...

At the prestigious law firm of Toussaint, Kelley, McKay