Payette was born in Verdun, Quebec, the daughter of Fernand Ouimet, a bus driver, and Cécile Chartier. She was educated in
Montreal, Quebec. She started a career in journalism at a radio station in
Trois-Rivières in 1954. She held various jobs, including editor of the weekly
Frontier Rouyn-Noranda, host of the show
La Femme dans le monde (
The Woman in the World) at
CKRN and secretary and public relations officer for the
United Steelworkers of America. While living in
Paris she wrote for
Petit Journal at the Patrie, for
New Journal, and for
Châtelaine magazine. Payette returned to Montreal where she worked on the television program
Interdit aux hommes ("prohibited to men") for Radio-Canada. From 1965 to 1972, Payette worked on a series of animated television programs for the French and English networks of the CBC. From 1972-75, Payette was the host of the TV series
Appelez moi Lise" (
Call Me Lise) and
Lise Lib. Payette was appointed President of the Quebec National Holidays Committee in 1975. In 2007, Payette wrote a song for
Celine Dion entitled "Je cherche l'ombre" which is included on Dion's ''
D'Elles'' album. In 1994, Payette was recognized as "Woman of the Year" by Canadian Women in Communications. Payette was awarded the Florence Bird Award by the International Centre for Human Rights and Development in 1997. She was awarded the Grand Prize of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, September 27, 1998. In 2000, Payette was awarded the gold medal of the Mouvement national des Québécois, September 30, 2000. In 2001, she was made an Officer of the
National Order of Quebec. In 2003, she received a lifetime achievement award from the Quebec Business Women's Network. In June 2009, she received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Quebec in Montreal. Payette was awarded the Pierre-Vadeboncœur Prize in 2012 and the Guy-Price Mauffette Prize in 2014. Payette defended former PQ premier
Pauline Marois's failed legislation known as the
Charter of Quebec Values, which would prohibit public servants from wearing religious garb at work. The proposal, seen to target Muslim women, was widely criticized even by some Quebec nationalists. Her daughter, Dominique Payette, ran unsuccessfully for the PQ in the riding of
Charlesbourg in the
2014 election. Payette in 2016 defended her friend, the deceased film director
Claude Jutra, about allegations that he sexually abused children that were revealed after his death. In 2017, Payette tried to dissuade Quebec media personality Léa Clermont-Dion from proceeding with a complaint of sexual assault alleged against journalist
Michel Venne. == Scenarios for TV ==