By her example, Denise Bombardier encouraged women to also make their place in the “boy clubs” of politics and journalism. Elected caquists and liberals confide in having walked in his footsteps.
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“She really paved the way for women of my generation. She was a woman who was outspoken, and I greatly admired that, ”confided in an interview the former Liberal minister Christine St-Pierre, who claims to have been influenced by Denise Bombardier when choosing a career. in journalism.
“Getting information in general was much more difficult for women at the time, it was really a man’s job. The women who were successful and who rose, they became like models, ”she explains.
But before “breaking down glass ceilings for women”, Denise Bombardier had to tear herself away from a difficult family environment, recalls Liberal MP Marwah Rizqy.
“She came from a working class background, with an unaffected father, and she lived in a house that was more like a mental asylum. And her mother had told her how important education is, education and mastery of words,” she says.
- Listen to Stephan Bureau’s testimony via QUB-radio :
“My mother often told me that, continues the deputy. Then when I listened to Denise Bombardier and she told us her story, I understood that one can come from a modest background, but that when one takes the trouble to educate oneself and to master the verb correctly , at that moment, we become very powerful”.
Fighting his battles
Minister Pascale Déry says she too was inspired by this pioneer, both in her career as a journalist and during her time in politics.
Her parents being close friends, she rubbed shoulders with M.me Bombardier from childhood, whether during family vacations in Morocco or for the launch of his second book organized at the Dérys.
When he made the leap into politics, Denise Bombardier was there to encourage him. “The first thing she told me was to dare, not to be afraid, to fight the fights that have to be fought,” says the Minister of Higher Education.
- Listen to the audio tribute to Denise Bombardier via QUB-radio :
“It has always inspired me to say: when you want to fight, you have to fight. She made me realize how important it can be,” she adds.
No Quebec Solidarity elected official was available on Tuesday to testify to the influence of Denise Bombardier. The co-spokesperson of the party, Manon Massé, however underlined that Mme Bombardier “is a woman with many hats who will have marked Quebec”, in a brief message on social networks.