PAYETTE LEFT MARK ON QUEBEC
Author, feminist, journalist, politician
Lise Payette, a former Parti Québécois cabinet minister who was responsible for creating the province’s automobile insurance board and who ended up playing a key role in the 1980 referendum campaign, has died at the age of 87.
The popular Quebec feminist, author, journalist and television personality was surrounded by friends and relatives when she died Wednesday, her family said in a statement.
“Lise Ouimet Payette managed to take control of her destiny and advance Quebec society through her determination, courage and willingness to offer the generations that followed a better and more equal world,” the statement said.
Quebec sovereignty and equality for women were the causes that marked Payette’s life but she is perhaps best remembered in certain circles for unintentionally hurting the Yes campaign during the 1980 independence referendum campaign.
She compared the wife of thenQuebec Liberal leader Claude Ryan to “Yvette,” a submissive young girl in a textbook and, although she apologized a few weeks later, the damage had been done.
The comments were denounced in the media and the federalist No side jumped on them, eventually organizing a rally at the Montreal Forum attended by about 15,000 people, mostly women.
Some people described the socalled “Yvette incident” as a crucial moment of the campaign and a direct cause of the Yes side’s defeat by a margin of 60 per cent to 40 per cent. Payette did not share that opinion but did acknowledge her remark had been clumsy.
Born in 1931 in the workingclass Montreal neighbourhood of St-Henri, she started in journalism in the 1950s with stints at various Quebec radio stations before heading to Paris.
She later returned to Quebec and worked as a TV host on a popular show dubbed Appelez-moi Lise until 1975. The late-night concept, new to the province, broke ratings records despite its unconventional 11 p.m. broadcast time.
Payette then jumped into provincial politics, representing the now-defunct riding of Dorion for the PQ under René Lévesque between 1976 and 1981, and immediately became the only female cabinet minister.
During her brief political career, Payette held multiple cabinet positions and accomplished numerous feats, including beefed-up provincial consumer-protection rules.
She oversaw the revision of Quebec’s Civil Code, no longer making it obligatory for women to assume their husband’s family name upon marriage, as well as bringing in changes to allow children to carry the surnames of both parents.
Payette also extended access to daycare and was responsible for the creation of Quebec’s automobile insurance board, ushering in the province’s highly controversial no-fault insurance regime.
She also updated the province’s licence plate slogan in 1978 from “La Belle Province” to “Je me souviens,” which is still in use today.
Premier Philippe Couillard, a staunch federalist who admittedly didn’t share Payette’s political views, paid tribute to her Thursday as he campaigned ahead of the Oct. 1 provincial election.
“(She was) a major TV personality who had a significant influence on Quebec society,” the Liberal leader said. “But also, and mainly, a major figure of Quebec’s feminist movement.”
The province’s Council on the Status of Women also expressed sadness at Payette’s passing.
“Lise Payette was a great feminist, she made history in Quebec through her remarkable contribution to equality issues in our society,” said president Louise Cordeau.
Payette did not seek re-election in 1981 and returned to a successful TV writing career, penning Quebec soaps Des dames de coeur, La Bonne Aventure, Un signe de feu and Marilyn, the first daily soap on Quebec television.
The statement says Payette is survived by her children Daniel, Dominique and Sylvie, grandchildren Flavie and Louis and greatgrandchild Philippe, along with their respective partners.