Ringuette, a businesswoman and professor, was the first francophone woman to be elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.
[1] In the 1993 federal election, she won a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as the Liberal MP for Madawaska—Victoria by defeating Progressive Conservative Cabinet Minister Bernard Valcourt.
She was defeated in the subsequent 1997 federal election, one of a number of Maritime Liberal MPs who lost their seats that year.
After her electoral defeat, she joined Canada Post Corporation in a senior position as manager of the international trade development unit.
On December 12, 2002, she was appointed to the Senate on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.