Anne Lagacé Dowson (born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, January 29, 1959) is a Canadian radio journalist.

Radio career

A longtime host of

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined belo ...

's '' Radio Noon'', a daily current affairs and phone-in program in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, she left to run for political office in 2008."NDP prepares star candidate for Westmount"
. ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei rock band, formed in Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Records. Biography 2002: Conception a ...

'', July 4, 2008. She also hosted ''

Home Run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

'' in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, and was producer of '' C'est la Vie''. She was a news reporter, arts reporter, press reviewer, and has guest hosted '' Cross Country Checkup'' and ''

As It Happens ''As It Happens'' is a Canadian interview show that airs on CBC Radio One in Canada and various public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio Exchange. Its 50th anniversary was celebrated on-air on November 16, 2018. It has bee ...

'', where she was also a producer. Anne has been a frequent guest in the francophone media, she was a juror on the Radio Canada version of ''

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

'', entitled ''Le Combat des livres'', and she championed

Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...

's '' Barney's Version''. She was a daily presence on the Radio-Canada radio program ''Sans Préliminaires'' with Franco Nuovo. She has been a member of a weekly politics panel on Radio-Canada's

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

television newscast '' Le Téléjournal'' with

Jean-François Lisée Jean-François Lisée (born February 13, 1958) is a Quebec nationalist politician who served as the leader of the Parti Québécois from October 2016 until October 2018. He was first elected a member of the National Assembly of Quebec in the 20 ...

Liza Frulla Liza Frulla (born March 30, 1949, in Montreal, Quebec), formerly known as Liza Frulla-Hébert, is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal Member of the National Assembly of Quebec from 1989 to 1998, a Liberal Member of Parliament from 20 ...

and Tasha Kheiriddin, hosted by

Céline Galipeau Céline Galipeau, OC, OQ, is a Canadian news anchor for Radio-Canada. Well known for her comprehensive and insightful coverage from Moscow, she is currently the weekday anchor of the network's flagship newscast ''Le Téléjournal''. Early life ...

. Anne was the first ever Anglophone spokesperson for the Festival International du Film sur l'Art in Montreal, the biggest festival of films on art in the world. From September 2009 to August 2011, she hosted a Saturday afternoon show on CJAD-AM in Montreal. She now participates in the Tommy Schnurmacher Show as a member of the Gang of Four, and does a weekly column on politics on the drive show with Aaron Rand. Her column about Anglo Quebec entitled "Bloke Nation" appeared in the entertainment weekly ''

Hour Community ''Hour'' was an English-language urban news weekly paper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Communications Voir. Its president-publisher was Pierre Paquet, the editor-in-chief was Kevin Laforest. The first issue was published on Februar ...

''. In 2015, she has been the guest host for the noontime Barry Morgan Show when Barry is on vacation on

's CJAD 800 AM radio.

Political career

She was the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

candidate in the

2008 Canadian federal election The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on October 14, 2008, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General Michaëlle Jean on Sept ...

for

Westmount—Ville-Marie Westmount—Ville-Marie was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. Its population in 2001 was 97,226. Geography The district included the City of Westmount as wel ...

, coming second to Liberal

Marc Garneau Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau (born February 23, 1949) is a Canadian politician, retired Royal Canadian Navy officer and former astronaut who served as a Cabinet minister from 2015 to 2021. A member of the Liberal Party, Garneau was the m ...

. She had originally been the party's candidate in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

for Westmount—Ville Marie, which was superseded by the general election call. She was endorsed by

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born July 17, 1971) is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who served as co-editor of the blog '' Boing Boing''. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of ...

Boing Boing ''Boing Boing'' is a website, first established as a zine in 1988, later becoming a group blog. Common topics and themes include technology, futurism, science fiction, gadgets, intellectual property, Disney, and left-wing politics. It twic ...

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Univer ...

academics Charles Taylor and Desmond Morton, human rights lawyer

Julius Grey Julius H. Grey (born 1948) is a Canadian lawyer and university professor. He is particularly known for his expertise in constitutional and human rights law. He is a senior partner at the law firm Grey Casgrain, s.e.n.c. Born in Wrocław, Poland, ...

and the former mayor of Westmount, May Cutler. She ran for office in the 2015 election in the riding of Papineau, losing against Liberal leader

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

."Anne Lagacé Dowson takes on Justin Trudeau for NDP in Papineau"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, August 23, 2015.

Education

Dowson holds a B.A. in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

, where she was a member of the student senate, and holds a M.A. (1989) in

Canadian studies Canadian studies is an interdisciplinary field of undergraduate- and postgraduate-level study of Canadian culture and society, the languages of Canada, Canadian literature, media and communications, Quebec, Acadians, agriculture in Canada, natu ...

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

. At Carleton, Dowson served as vice president of the teaching assistant's union. She moderated at the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

to writers ranging from

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

John Ralston Saul John Ralston Saul (born June 19, 1947) is a Canadian writer, political philosopher, and public intellectual. Saul is most widely known for his writings on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the Public good (economics), public good; t ...

. Invited by the governor general, she hosted events at

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main bu ...

, most recently three national panel debates on the arts. Fluently bilingual, she is the daughter of trade unionist Hugh Dowson of Toronto and Québec City's Claire Lagacé. Claire Lagacé studied with the Ursulines alongside leading Québec author Anne Hébert, from whom Anne derives her name. Her great uncle Pierre Édouard Blondin was a Conservative Minister in Prime Minister Robert Borden's government, and went on to become Speaker of the Senate. Her uncle

Ross Dowson Ross Jewitt Dowson (September 4, 1917 – February 17, 2002) was a Canadian Trotskyist political figure. Early life Dowson was born on September 4, 1917, the third of what was eventually a family of seven children in a working-class family in ...

ran for Mayor of Toronto after the war on a

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

platform. Her aunts Lois and Joyce Dowson co-founded the Ontario chapter of the

Canadian Hemophilia Society The Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) is a non-profit organization founded in 1953 whose mission is to lead the fight against inherited bleeding disorders by helping people affected live healthy lives while searching for a cure. The organization ...

in the 1950s after Joyce, married to sculptor

Joe Rosenthal Joseph John Rosenthal (October 9, 1911 – August 20, 2006) was an American photographer who received the Pulitzer Prize for his iconic World War II photograph '' Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima'', taken during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. ...

, discovered that their son, Ronald Rosenthal, had hemophilia. Lois and Joyce were also leading pro choice activists, and supporters of

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagace Dowson, Anne Living people Canadian radio journalists Canadian talk radio hosts University of Ottawa alumni Journalists from Montreal Journalists from Toronto Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Toronto New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Franco-Ontarian people Anglophone Quebec people Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament Women in Quebec politics CBC Radio hosts Canadian women radio journalists 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian women radio hosts 1953 births