Lorraine Pagé

Pagé, Lorraine

Lorraine Pagé, trade unionist (b at Montréal). In 1988, she was the first woman elected to head a Quebec labour confederation, the CENTRALE DE L'ENSEIGNEMENT DU QUÉBEC (CEQ). Prior to this, she was a teacher with the Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal/Montreal Catholic School Commission (CECM) and chaired the l'Alliance des professeures et professeurs de Montréal (Teacher's Union) for three years. She held this important position until May 1999, when she resigned to manage the CEQ's communication services. During her term, Lorraine Pagé vigorously defended teachers' interests, and her outspokenness and determination made her an opponent who commanded respect. A key public figure, she was a commissioner with the 1990 Commission on the Political and Constitutional Future of Québec. The Montréal SOCIÉTÉ SAINT-JEAN-BAPTISTE acknowledged her initiative by awarding her the 1987 prix Chomeday-de-Maisonneuve for most renowned Montreal personality. The 20th Salon de la femme de Montréal recognized the quality of her work promoting women's rights, and named her 1989 Woman of the Year, in the union category. An active member of the Mouvement Québec Français (MQF), Lorraine Pagé, saw her efforts for defending and promoting the French language rewarded in 1990 when she was made a laureate of the Ordre des francophones d'Amérique, a distinction granted by the Conseil de la langue française.