22 Facts About Lise Payette

Lise Payette was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman.

Lise Payette was a Parti Quebecois minister under the leadership of Premier Rene Levesque and National Assembly of Quebec member for the riding of Dorion.

Originally a journalist, Payette became a television host in the 1960s.

Lise Payette left politics in 1981 and returned to a successful career in television production and writing.

Lise Payette was born in Verdun, Quebec, the daughter of Fernand Ouimet, a bus driver, and Cecile Chartier.

Lise Payette started a career in journalism at a radio station in Trois-Rivieres in 1954.

Lise Payette held various jobs, including editor of the weekly Frontier Rouyn-Noranda, host of the show La Femme dans le monde at CKRN and secretary and public relations officer for the United Steelworkers of America.

Lise Payette returned to Montreal where she worked on the television program Interdit aux hommes for Radio-Canada.

From 1965 to 1972, Lise Payette worked on a series of animated television programs for the French and English networks of the CBC.

Lise Payette 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" on Quebec vehicle license plates is attributed to Lise Payette, replacing the old slogan of "La Belle Province".

Lise Payette was instrumental in the founding of the SAAQ automobile insurance company of Quebec, and the updating of the Civil Code of Quebec, allowing two surnames for children.

Lise Payette went so far as calling Claude Ryan's wife, Madeleine Guay, an Yvette.

In 1981, Lise Payette left political life and did not stand for re-election.

Lise Payette became a writer for television with a series of successful soap operas.

Lise Payette 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, Lise Payette began writing columns for the Journal de Montreal.

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

In 1994, Lise Payette was recognized as "Woman of the Year" by Canadian Women in Communications.

Lise Payette was awarded the Florence Bird Award by the International Centre for Human Rights and Development in 1997.

In 2000, Lise Payette was awarded the gold medal of the Mouvement national des Quebecois, September 30,2000.

Lise 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.