Last March, as part of the “A coffee with” segment, I interviewed DD Mylene Drouin, Regional Director of Public Health for Montreal. “Who would you like to bring around a table?” To the question », she answered: Louise Arbor, Pauline Marois and François David 1.
We took her at her word. A long, calm river that at first seemed like climbing Mount Everest. In three strokes of the spoon, everything is organized.
The meeting took place last month in the lounge at Brasserie 701 at the Place d’Armes Hotel. From the beginning, all four women agreed to renounce their vows. Mylene Drouin, who moderated the discussion, came up with an ambitious interview plan that could keep her guests occupied for two days.
I’m feeling a little nervous, but over all very happy. The three women he meets for the first time are inspirational figures, models of determination and courage. That’s why she likes to hear them.
One day the interviewer first wants to know what motivates these women to get involved in so many causes through politics, activism or law.
Pauline Marois breaks the ice. “I think it comes from the conflicts I had as a teenager with bourgeois circles. I came from a working-class background with exceptional parents. I was studying at the Collège Jesus-Marie in Quebec. [que Mylène Drouin a aussi fréquenté] There were women from all social classes. It was a brutal shock and the beginning of my determination. It made me want to fight for equal opportunities. »
Francois David proves that appearances can often be deceiving. “My story is similar to Pauline’s and vice versa. I come from a capitalist background [elle est la fille du cardiologue et ancien sénateur Paul David et la petite-fille de l’homme politique Athanase David]. But at school, I was the type to give speeches to girls asking them to collect food for those who had nothing to eat. Pauline has had to go through hardships that I have not experienced. As I often say, I had every opportunity. »
Like Pauline Marois, François David first took the path of social and community work. “I worked in the centre-south, and I didn’t say what background I came from. A woman from the neighborhood who followed the news said to me one day: “Francois, you’re going to hide from us that you’re from Outremont, we know it. You’re going to stop wearing ripped jeans. It’s not because you work in a poor area that you look poor, we have our dignity. What a lesson I learned.”
Louise Arbor grew up in a “broken” family. His parents divorced at a time when the approval of the Federal Parliament was required. Because the top girls’ colleges were private, her mother first made her take aptitude tests. “He wanted to be firm in his action,” the former Supreme Court judge said. At one point, she could no longer pay for my music lessons. Alleluia! I hated it so much. Sometimes having no money is good. »
Myleene Drouin enjoys hearing the words of her three guests who continue to find common ground like being a part of Young Christian Students (JEC). “I wanted to be a part of the Youth of Christian Workers [dans les années 1960, la JOC était considérée comme plus à gauche], adds Louise Arbor. Catholic petty capitalism is not mine Fit. »
Women inspired by women
After about fifteen minutes, it is clear that the early discovery of social inequalities had a profound effect on these women. Added to this is the strong influence of the female environment. “The most important person is my mother,” says François David. He was very Catholic and spoke to me about the social message of the Gospel. She kept telling me that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. »
Louise Arbor grew up almost exclusively with girls. “I never doubted the ability of women, because I was first surrounded by talented women. My school only had a chemistry teacher. When I came to the Faculty of Law and saw the Brebeuf guys, I said: Alas ! »
As soon as the entrance is barely given, the material of feminism causes the group to slide over the summer movie: Barbie!
Louise Arbor saw the shock of “normal patriarchy” in this film, which she loved. “I don’t see it, I don’t dare,” said François David. “I definitely want to see it because I’ve heard all kinds of really interesting comments,” says Pauline Marois.
Discussion on that day Barbie This ignites all four feminists. The scene is fun and surreal!
Who is at the table?
Louise Arbor
After studying law, Louise Arver became a law clerk to Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon at the Supreme Court of Canada and a lecturer at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. In 1987, she became the first French-speaking woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Ontario (now the Superior Court of Ontario). In 1996, he was appointed by the United Nations Security Council as the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999 by Jean Chrétien, he served until 2004, the year he became the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. He resigned in 2008.
Francois David
Françoise David’s bachelor’s degree in social work in 1972 led her to first work in the field. In 1987, she became coordinator of the Regroupment des Centers de Femmes du Québec, before being elected president of the Fédération des Femmes du Québec in 1994. The following year, she organized the Women’s March Against Poverty. Bread and roses. In 2004, he founded the Citizen Option Party. Two years later its merger with the Union of Progressive Forces led to the creation of Quebec Solidaire. François David and Amir Ghadir are the co-spokesmen. In 2013, he was elected Vice-President of the Goi and was re-elected in 2014. He left the political scene in 2017.
Pauline Marois
Pauline Marois studied social work at Laval University in the late 1960s. Elected to Parliament for the first time in 1981 under the PQ government of René Levesque. After losing in 1985, he was re-elected in 1989 in the Tailon constituency, a position he held for 17 years. During her tenure as minister, she headed nine ministries (Status of Women, Labor and Income Security, Education, Family, Health and Social Services etc.). From 2007 to 2014, he was the leader of the Parti Québécois. He led the party to power in 2012. She is the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister of Quebec. He called a general election 18 months later and, following his defeat, stepped down as party leader.
DD Mylene Drouin
Mylene Drouin completed her medical training at the University of Sherbrooke in 1996. He then spent a few months in Guinea-Bissau as a research agent for a child vaccination and HIV testing program. He began his specialization in public health at the University of Montreal in 1997 and was then appointed Medical Director at the Montreal Regional Public Health Directorate in 2008. In 2018, she became the first woman appointed to Montreal’s Regional Public Health Directorate. In 2020, it was injected into public space with the Covid-19 pandemic.
