Janette Bertrand (born March 25, 1925) is a

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

journalist, actress, educator, and writer.

Biography

She was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, grew up there, and studied journalism at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

. She began work at the ''Petit Journal'', working there for 16 years. She next moved to radio, becoming the host of the

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

program ''Déjeuner en musique'' in the early 1950s. Bertrand married the actor Jean Lajeunesse. The couple hosted the program ''Jean et Janette'', and then ''Mon mari et nous'' at radio station

CKAC CKAC is a Canadian French, French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial travelers' information station, traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. ...

. Later, she began appearing on television for Radio-Canada,

Télé-Métropole CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language network TVA. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios in the ''Journal de Montréal'' building on Rue Frontenac in the ...

and Radio-Québec. She developed the television series '' Grand-Papa'', ''

L'Amour avec un Grand A ''Avec un grand A'' is a French-Canadian drama television series comprising 52 episodes which aired from February 19, 1986 to March 22, 1996 on Télé-Québec. Created and written by Janette Bertrand, the series dealt with issues impacting romanc ...

'', and ''Parler pour parler''. Bertrand wrote the lyrics for the

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

song "Berceuse", which was included on the '' D'Elles'' album. Bertrand supported the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

' proposed Charter of Values, arguing that accommodating religious minorities could lead to the erosion of women's rights. Janette turned 100 on March 25, 2025.

Awards

Bertrand received a Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 2000. She also received several

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s, including one for Lifetime Achievement, the Order of Merit from the Canadian Association of Radio Broadcasters, was named a Chevalier in the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (Natio ...

in 1992, and was named Woman of the Century by the Salon de la femme de Montréal in 1990. In 2003, she received the Prix Condorcet, which is awarded annually to a public figure who has contributed to

secularity Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

and

freedom of conscience Freedom of conscience is the freedom of an individual to act upon their moral beliefs. In particular, it often refers to the freedom to ''not do'' something one is normally obliged, ordered or expected to do. An individual exercising this freedom m ...

in Quebec. She was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2002, and in 2020 was elevated to Companion.

Selected works

Source: * ''Moi Tarzan, Toi Jane'', play * ''Dis moi si j'dérange'', play * ''Ma vie en trois actes'', biography (2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, Janette 1925 births Living people Canadian women screenwriters Canadian women centenarians Canadian dramatists and playwrights in French Actresses from Montreal Journalists from Montreal Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Knights of the National Order of Quebec 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women journalists Université de Montréal alumni Writers from Montreal Canadian women television writers Canadian television writers Canadian feminists Canadian women non-fiction writers Companions of the Order of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Governor General's Award winners Screenwriters from Quebec