She was the party's interim leader and president following the resignation of Gilles Duceppe in May 2011.
Barbot became the first person of a visible minority group to lead a Canadian federal political party with parliamentary representation.
Barbot was born in Saint-Marc, Haiti.
She is the former Member of Parliament for the riding of Papineau.
In the 2006 election, she scored a significant victory for the Bloc by defeating former Liberal Cabinet Minister Pierre Pettigrew, but was defeated two years later in the 2008 federal election by Justin Trudeau.
Barbot ran against Trudeau in the 2011 election, but was once again defeated.
The 2011 election also saw the defeat of Gilles Duceppe and all but four Bloc MPs.