The Achievement Award is presented each year during the Women of Distinction Award to a personality who has particularly distinguished herself throughout her career and plays a leading role in her field of activity. She is, in the eyes of her peers, a role model.
In this year of celebration, who better than Janette Bertrand, a pioneer of women’s rights, to receive this award?
A Fulfilling Life
A writer, a thinker, and a woman of heart, Janette Bertrand is one of Quebec’s most beloved and respected personalities.
Honored many times for her prolific career, which began in the 1950s, she has worked in literature, radio, television, and theater. As an exceptional communicator, she has surpassed prejudices and tackled delicate subjects with finesse, thus influencing the history of Quebec and that of women. Driven by great empathy and a sincere desire to understand the human condition, she led a true social revolution. Her contribution to the evolution of mindsets and to collective reflection is remarkable, still inspiring many generations today.
In 1950, after knocking on the doors of several editorial offices, she began her journalistic career at Le Petit Journal with the column “Opinions de femmes” (Women’s Opinions), followed by a seventeen-year stint writing the advice column “Le refuge sentimental” (The Sentimental Refuge). With boldness, she addressed then-taboo subjects such as domestic violence, women’s financial independence, female desire, and contraception.
At Radio-Québec, with the television series S.O.S. j’écoute (S.O.S. I’m Listening), she emphasized active listening, a method she learned at Tel-Aide. Over two decades, she became an indispensable figure in Quebec television.
In the 1980s and 1990s, she stood out with two groundbreaking shows that explored uncharted themes on television: Parler pour parler (Talking for the Sake of Talking), where she hosted discussions on intimate subjects, and the series Avec un grand A (With a Capital A), which realistically portrayed Quebec society and its evolution. Her writing, filled with humanity, resonated deeply with viewers, who saw themselves in her sincere and inclusive stories.
Janette Bertrand is also an author, having published nearly twenty books, including her autobiography. The second volume, Cent ans d’amour – Réflexions sur la vieillesse (A Hundred Years of Love – Reflections on Old Age), will be released soon. Whether as a journalist, screenwriter, feminist, or writer, she had the courage to open debates at a time when it seemed impossible, encouraging women to break free from oppressive ideological norms. She did it for herself but also for all other women.
“Proving to my father that a girl was worth something, I’m still doing that,” she says at the beginning of the documentary Janette & filles (Janette & Daughters, 2021) by Léa Clermont-Dion, which highlights the invaluable legacy she leaves behind.
Janette received the Women of Distinction Award in the Pioneer category in 2003.
For more information, you can find Janette’s complete bio on her agency’s website. (in French)