René Lévesque was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, through a referendum, a mandate to negotiate the political independence of Quebec. Starting his career as a reporter, and radio and television host, he later became known for his eminent role in Quebec's nationalization of hydro-electric companies and as an ardent defender of Quebec sovereignty. He was the founder of the Parti Québécois, and before that, a Liberal minister in the Lesage government from 1960 to 1966.
Pierre Bourgault was a politician and essayist, as well as an actor and journalist, from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated sovereignty for Quebec from Canada.
Marie-Claire Blais was a Canadian writer, novelist, poet, and playwright from the province of Quebec. In a career spanning seventy years, she wrote novels, plays, collections of poetry and fiction, newspaper articles, radio dramas, and scripts for television. She was a four-time recipient of the Governor General’s literary prize for French-Canadian literature, and was also a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for creative arts.
Lise Payette was a Canadian politician, journalist, writer, and businesswoman. She was a Parti Québécois (PQ) minister under the leadership of Premier René Lévesque and National Assembly of Quebec member for the riding of Dorion. Originally a journalist, Payette became a television host in the 1960s. She left politics in 1981 and returned to a successful career in television production and writing.
Janine Sutto, was a French-born Canadian actress and comedian.
Passe-Partout was a Canadian French-language children's television program funded by the Quebec ministry of education and produced by Radio-Québec from 1977 to 1992. It was revived in 2019 with a new cast and cancelled once more in August 2024. The show, which also aired on Radio-Canada and TVOntario, had a duration of thirty minutes per episode and included both live actors and puppets, though there was no interaction between the two.
Ici ARTV is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The channel broadcasts the arts and culture including music, dance, theatre, visual arts, films and scripted television series.
Sylvie Moreau, is a Canadian actress.
André Forcier is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His work has been linked to Latin American magic realism by its use of fantasy but is firmly rooted in Quebec's reality. His unromanticized, even Rabelaisian, portraits of people on the fringe of society, especially in Bar Salon, Au clair de la lune, Une Historie inventée, Le Vent du Wyoming and The Countess of Baton Rouge, blend observations of minutia of everyday life with elements of fantasy and imaginary.
Kim Yaroshevskaya, CM is a Russian-born Canadian film, television and stage actress. Best known to audiences in Quebec as a children's entertainer, starring in series such as Fanfreluche and Passe-Partout in the 1970s, she also had a starring role in the English Canadian drama series Home Fires in the early 1980s.
Picolo is the name of a character created by Paul Buissonneau for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Picolo is also the title track of several program series with Paul Buissonneau in the title role aired on television channel CBC. For several years, even in official sources, the spelling Picolo or Piccolo is used.
Lucille Dumont was a Canadian singer and radio and television host. She is credited by the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame with having "served and personified Quebec popular music" and popularized the music of Quebec songwriters by singing their songs. She is also credited with being "at the birth of Quebec television," participating in Radio Canada's first television shows.
Raymond Lévesque was a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet from Quebec. One of the pioneers of the chansonnier tradition in Quebec, he was best known for writing "Quand les hommes vivront d'amour", one of the most famous pop standards in French-language popular music.
Hélène Loiselle was a Canadian actress living and working in Quebec.
Debbie Lynch-White is a Canadian film and television actress from Quebec. Most noted for her performance in the 2018 film La Bolduc in the title role as folk singer Mary Rose-Anna "La Bolduc" Travers, she was previously known for her regular supporting role as prison guard Nancy Prévost in the television series Unité 9. She has also appeared in the television series Le Jeu and Une autre histoire, and the film Sisters and Neighbors! .
The COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until April 2021, Montreal was the worst affected health region in Canada. Despite being surpassed by Toronto in total number of cases, Montreal still has the highest total death count and the highest death rate in Canada, with the death rate from COVID-19 being two times higher on the island of Montreal than in the city of Toronto due in large part to substantial outbreaks in long-term care homes. Montreal is Canada's second most populous city, the largest city in Quebec, and the eighth most populous city in North America.
Sylvie Parent is a Canadian politician. She was mayor of Longueuil, Quebec from November 5, 2017 to November 14, 2021. She was the second female mayor in the city's history.
