Janette Bertrand (born March 25, 1925) is a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

journalist, actress, educator, and writer.

Biography

She was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, grew up there, and studied journalism at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) 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- ...

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

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

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 French language, French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial Highway advisory radio, traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. Its stud ...

. Later, she began appearing on television for Radio-Canada, Télé-Métropole and Radio-Québec. She developed the television series '' Grand-Papa'', '' L'Amour avec un Grand A'', and ''Parler pour parler''. Bertrand wrote the lyrics for the

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...

song "Berceuse", which was included on the ''

D'Elles ''D'elles'' (meaning ''About Them'' or ''From Them'') is a thirteenth French-language and twenty-second studio album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Columbia Records on 18 May 2007. It is a concept album which features thirteen songs w ...

'' album. Bertrand supported the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a Quebec sovereignty movement, sovereignist and social democracy, social democratic provincial list of political parties in Quebec, political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates Quebec sovereignty movement ...

' proposed Charter of Values, arguing that accommodating religious minorities could lead to the erosion of women's rights.

Awards

Bertrand received a

Governor General's Performing Arts Awards A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United State ...

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, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Govern ...

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 Prix Condorcet was instituted in 1993, by the Mouvement laïque québécois to honour a public personality who had worked for the defense of secularity and freedom of thought. The name honours the Marquis de Condorcet, a philosopher of the Age of E ...

, which is awarded annually to a public figure who has contributed to

secularity Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...

and

freedom of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency b ...

in Quebec. She was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

in 2002, and in 2020 was elevated to Companion.

Selected works

* ''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 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