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Lise Payette | |
|---|---|
| Minister for Consumer Affairs, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions of Quebec | |
| In office November 26, 1976 – November 6, 1980 | |
| Premier | René Levesque |
| Preceded by | Lise Bacon |
| Succeeded by | Pierre-Marc Johnson |
| Member of theNational Assembly of Quebec forDorion | |
| In office November 15, 1976 – April 13, 1981 | |
| Preceded by | Alfred Bossé |
| Succeeded by | Hugette Lachapelle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lise Ouimet (1931-08-29)August 29, 1931 Verdun, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | September 5, 2018(2018-09-05) (aged 87) |
| Political party | Parti Québécois |
| Profession |
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Lise PayetteOQ (néeOuimet; August 29, 1931 – September 5, 2018) was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was aParti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of PremierRené Lévesque andNational Assembly of Quebec member for the riding ofDorion.[1] 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.
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Payette was born in Verdun, Quebec, the daughter of Fernand Ouimet, a bus driver, and Cécile Chartier. She was educated inMontreal, Quebec. She started a career in journalism at a radio station inTrois-Rivières in 1954. She held various jobs, including editor of the weeklyFrontier Rouyn-Noranda, host of the showLa Femme dans le monde (The Woman in the World) atCKRN and secretary and public relations officer for theUnited Steelworkers of America. While living inParis she wrote forPetit Journal at the Patrie, forNew Journal, and forChâtelaine magazine.
Payette returned to Montreal where she worked on the television programInterdit 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 seriesAppelez moi Lise[2]" (Call Me Lise) andLise Lib. Payette was appointed President of the Quebec National Holidays Committee in 1975.[1]
Payette held several portfolios in the René Lévesque government. She was Minister for Consumer Affairs, Cooperatives and Financial Institutions, the Minister of State for the Status of Women, and the Minister of State for Social Development. The phrase "Je me souviens" ("I remember") on Quebec vehicle license plates is attributed to Payette, replacing the old slogan of "La Belle Province". Payette was also instrumental in the founding of theSAAQ automobile insurance company of Quebec, and the updating of the Civil Code of Quebec, allowing two surnames for children.
During the campaign for the1980 Quebec referendum Payette denounced women supporters of the "No" side as Yvettes (the name of a docile young girl in an old school textbook). She went so far as callingClaude Ryan's wife, Madeleine Guay, an "Yvette". This backfired spectacularly as "the Yvettes", led by Guay, held a number of political rallies in response to her remarks. AsDonald Brittain put it in his documentary series of René Lévesque andPierre Elliott Trudeau,The Champions, "Theold women were proud to be 'Yvettes'. Theyoung women resented being 'Yvettes'. Payette had galvanized them into a fighting force". The first of those rallies happened on March 30 when a group of 1,700 women held thebrunch des Yvettes at the Château Frontenac inQuebec City. A major rally occurred at theMontreal Forum on April 7 when 14,000 women denounced the minister's declarations about women and manifested their support for the "No" side. This was the first major rally for the "No" side in the campaign. This would be followed by many more rallies, particularly by women groups. Lise Payette would eventually apologize for her remarks.
In 1981, Payette left political life and did not stand for re-election. She became a writer for television with a series of successful soap operas. She founded the television production company Focus, with whom she first conceived the documentary series "Les quatre chevaliers de l'apocalypse" and "Femmes" and other fiction series, as a producer or author.
In 2004, Payette began writing columns for theJournal de Montreal. In 2007, she switched toLe Devoir. Payette continued to write for the paper until May 6, 2016, when she signed off with the phrase "Le Devoir ends the chronicle of Lise Payette," without further explanation, although she has since claimed that editor Brian Myles let her go without explanation from one day to the next.[3]
In 2007, Payette wrote a song forCeline Dion entitled "Je cherche l'ombre" which is included on Dion'sD'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 theNational 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.[1] Payette died at her home on September 5, 2018.[4]
Payette defended former PQ premierPauline Marois's failed legislation known as theCharter 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.[4]
Her daughter, Dominique Payette, ran unsuccessfully for the PQ in the riding ofCharlesbourg in the2014 election.
Payette in 2016 defended her friend, the deceased film directorClaude Jutra, about allegations that he sexually abused children that were revealed after his death.[4]
In 2017, Payette tried to dissuade Quebec media personality Léa Clermont-Dion from proceeding with a complaint of sexual assault alleged against journalistMichel Venne.[4]
(Elle Québec, septembre 1992 no.37 -Entrevue Lise Payette, pp. 58–59
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