This text is part of the special notebook The State of Quebec 2024
On December 14, 1961, Marie-Claire Kirkland became the first woman elected to the Legislative Assembly of Quebec, a little more than 20 years after the adoption of the Act granting women the right to vote and stand for election. In this extract from an interview conducted by Josselyn Guillarmou and Sandra Larochelle for The state of Quebec 2024five pioneers and “firsts” in politics talk about representation, progress and what remains to be done to defend feminist and intersectional interests in Quebec and elsewhere in the world.
What posture did you adopt in a political environment dominated by men where you were the only women, but also either the only black woman, the only openly lesbian woman or the only indigenous woman?
Agnès Maltais:I think we all had a very deliberate posture. It was through volunteering that the women got there. We were all “firsts”, but to establish ourselves we had to push hard. I remember, in 1994, making a big deal at the Parti Québécois because we realized that the party only represented university men aged 60 and over, a classic model which excluded us. So, with about ten women, we met one evening in a bar, we had a beer, and we decided who was going to introduce themselves to the gang. As I was a loud mouth used to speaking on behalf of groups, with a certain notoriety as a woman in the theater, we agreed that I would be the one to introduce myself. I lost that nomination, but won the next one.
Manon Massé: This is a bit what happened for me too, the act of volunteering that Agnès speaks of. We couldn’t find a woman who wanted to come forward, so I went. Same thing when I became co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire. Françoise David made the wise decision to retire in 2017 instead of “breaking”, as she said. I was the only other woman elected in the party, so I took over in the interim. We know that women have an age-old commitment to their communities and their immediate environment. We also carry visions, but the political community has not often taken the trouble to listen to what women have to say. When I talk to those around me, even though I am in a feminist party, sometimes I see that they have difficulty understanding who I am, my vision, my utopia. I operate with my intuitive intelligence and I have affirmed myself as I am. Obviously, my mustache was distracting, but it allowed me to have my moment of affirmation. At first, the media didn’t talk about it openly because they didn’t know what to do with it. On social networks, people said that I didn’t know what a beautician was… It took a courageous journalist, Judith Lussier, to really ask me the question. It was for me an opportunity to make a statement politics: I have a mustache and I embrace it. I’ve been working with women for 30 years, telling them that they are beautiful as they are and it’s not true that I’m going to change because I’m in politics. After that, I felt something had changed.
Kateri Champagne Jourdain: I come from an Innu community whose evolution occurred largely through a nomadic lifestyle where women occupied a central place in societal organization. However, when the current Aboriginal political system was established, it was influenced by what existed at the federal and provincial levels, and political responsibilities fell more to men. When I started working within my band council, I quickly understood that I had to be solid in my positions. In fact, I think my entire journey has prepared me to maintain this posture. When I joined various boards of directors, including those of the Desjardins Movement and the Sept-Îles Chamber of Commerce, I found myself without any sort of identity model in front of me and I think that is what motivated me . I said to myself: “We should be there to influence, to make our realities known and understood, to bring about positive changes in society!” » So I always got involved with a constructive and unifying attitude, sitting around the table with the others. It is essential to have this attitude to change things, to heal the wounds of the past and to prepare for the future. Among influential indigenous women, there are activists, there are those who work on the transmission and preservation of our cultures, there are those who will go into teaching, health and social services, and few no matter the path taken, no matter the form of their commitment, they all have a significant contribution. In my case, it is through politics and economic development that I chose to bring change.
Francine Ruest-Jutras: When I ran for mayor in 1987, the council was very politicized, very partisan. My opponent had decided to form a municipal political party. I wanted to depoliticize all that. I had a PQ image focused mainly on culture, my opponent was a notorious liberal who came from the business community. So I went and found an official who was a successful businessman to send the message that I could effectively manage a city. I put together a very diverse team with people from all backgrounds, which allowed us to cast a very wide net. I even recruited the president of the young liberals. It was a big campaign. I presented a solid program and people trusted me. Together, we changed the image of Drummondville and made an extraordinary economic shift that has been cited many times as an example.
Marlene Jennings: In our context, I think that organizing our own system was decisive. We couldn’t rely on what existed. In my case, several leaders of the Liberal Party of Canada had decided that I was going to be a candidate in Saint-Lambert and that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was going to appoint me. For me, all my community involvement was done in Montreal, and in particular in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce. So, when the constituency became available, that’s where I wanted to run. But that didn’t suit the party which no longer wanted to nominate me… Certainly, they wanted to present a woman, but it wasn’t me. I organized with friends from all walks of life, from the New Democratic Party, the Bloc Québécois, the Conservative Party, and I won my nomination, then the elections. Throughout my career, I have strived to come to terms with my reality as a woman, and to go beyond the reality of men. And then I also understood the importance of supporting each other among women, of developing our empowerment and to open doors for young women in politics.
About the authors and the author:
Kateri Champagne JourdainMember of Parliament for Duplessis (Coalition Avenir Québec), Minister of Employment and Minister responsible for the Côte-Nord region
Marlene JenningsPC, Member of Parliament for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce–Lachine from 1997 to 2011 (Liberal Party of Canada), retired lawyer
Agnes MaltaisMember of Parliament for Taschereau from 1998 to 2018 (Parti Québécois), Minister of Culture and Communications from 1998 to 2001, Minister Delegate for Health, Social Services and Youth Protection from 2001 to 2002, Minister Delegate for Employment from 2002 to 2003, Minister responsible for the Status of Women, Minister of Employment and Social Solidarity and Minister of Labor from 2012 to 2014
Manon MasséMember of Parliament for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques (Québec solidaire) and co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire from 2017 to 2023
Francine Ruest-Jutrasmayor of Drummondville from 1987 to 2013 and president of the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UMQ) from 2002 to 2004
Josselyn Guillarmou And Sandra Larochelleco-director of The state of Quebec 2024
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