Lise Payette

Lise Payette ( Ouimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of Quebec member for the riding of Dorion. Originally a journalist, Payette became a television host in the 1960s. She left politics in 1981 and returned to a successful career in television production and writing.

Life and career

Payette was born in Verdun, Quebec, the daughter of Fernand Ouimet, a bus driver, and Cécile Chartier. She was educated in Montreal, Quebec. She started a career in journalism at a radio station in Trois-Rivières in 1954. She held various jobs, including editor of the weekly Frontier Rouyn-Noranda, host of the show La Femme dans le monde (The Woman in the World) at CKRN and secretary and public relations officer for the United Steelworkers of America. While living in Paris she wrote for Petit Journal at the Patrie, for New Journal, and for Châtelaine magazine.

Payette returned to Montreal where she worked on the television program Interdit aux hommes ("prohibited to men") for Radio-Canada. From 1965 to 1972, Payette worked on a series of animated television programs for the French and English networks of the CBC. From 1972-75, Payette was the host of the TV series Appelez moi Lise " (Call Me Lise) and Lise Lib. Payette was appointed President of the Quebec National Holidays Committee in 1975.

In 2007, Payette wrote a song for Celine Dion entitled "Je cherche l'ombre" which is included on Dion's D'Elles album.

In 1994, Payette was recognized as "Woman of the Year" by Canadian Women in Communications. Payette was awarded the Florence Bird Award by the International Centre for Human Rights and Development in 1997. She was awarded the Grand Prize of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, September 27, 1998.

In 2000, Payette was awarded the gold medal of the Mouvement national des Québécois, September 30, 2000. In 2001, she was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 2003, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Quebec Business Women's Network. In June 2009, she received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Quebec in Montreal. Payette was awarded the Pierre-Vadeboncœur Prize in 2012 and the Guy-Price Mauffette Prize in 2014.

Payette defended former PQ premier Pauline Marois's failed legislation known as the Charter of Quebec Values, which would prohibit public servants from wearing religious garb at work. The proposal, seen to target Muslim women, was widely criticized even by some Quebec nationalists. 1995 - 1999 : Les Machos 2011 : Mémoires de députés, entrevue avec Lise Payette 2014 : Un peu plus haut, un peu plus loin

Works

1971 : Recettes pour un homme libre, Éditions du Jour 1971 : Témoins de notre temps, Éditions du Jour 1975 : On l'appelle toujours... Lise, Éditions La Presse 1981 : Le Pouvoir ? Connais pas!, Québec Amérique (new edition 2010, Athéna Éditions) 1986 : La Bonne Aventure, Québec Amérique 1996 : Le Chemin de l'égalité, Éditions Fides Preface for L'enjeu, Ken Dryden, Éditions du Trécarré 1997 : Des femmes d'honneur : une vie privée 1931-1968, Éditions Libre Expression 1997 : Des femmes d'honneur : une vie publique 1968-1976, Éditions Libre Expression 1999 : Des femmes d'honneur : Une vie engagée, 1976-2000, Éditions Libre Expression 2012 : Le Mal du pays, Lux Éditeur