Anne Lagacé Dowson (born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 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 below ...

's ''

Radio Noon Radio Noon is the name of CBC Radio One's CBC Radio One local programming, regional noon-hour programs in the Canada, Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. It was formerly the name of all of the network's noon progra ...

'', a daily current affairs and phone-in program in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, she left to run for political office in 2008."NDP prepares star candidate for Westmount"
. '' The Gazette'', July 4, 2008. She also hosted ''

Home Run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

'' in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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'', 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 Fre ...

'', 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 (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...

'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 navy, 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 ...

television newscast '' Le Téléjournal'' with Jean-François Lisée, Liza Frulla and Tasha Kheiriddin, hosted by Céline Galipeau. 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''. In 2015, she was the guest host for the noontime Barry Morgan Show when Barry was on vacation on

's CJAD 800 AM radio.

Political career

She was the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

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 39th Canadian Parliament, previous parliament had been dissolved by Governor General o ...

for Westmount—Ville-Marie, coming second to Liberal Marc Garneau. 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, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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

Cory Doctorow Cory Efram Doctorow (; born 17 July 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 th ...

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 twice wo ...

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

academics Charles Taylor and Desmond Morton, human rights lawyer Julius Grey 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 served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

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

CBC News CBC News is the 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 ...

, August 23, 2015.

Education

Dowson holds a B.A. in

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

and

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

at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

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

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, 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 se ...

. At Carleton, Dowson served as vice president of the teaching assistant's union. She moderated at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to writers ranging from

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

to John Ralston Saul. Invited by the governor general, she hosted events at

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence of the governor general of Canada, the representative of the monarch of Canada. Located in Ottawa, the Capital city, capital of the country, on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, th ...

, 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 ran for Mayor of Toronto after the war on a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

platform. Her aunts Lois and Joyce Dowson co-founded the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Hemophilia Society in the 1950s after Joyce, married to sculptor Joe Rosenthal, discovered that their son, Ronald Rosenthal, had hemophilia. Lois and Joyce were also leading pro choice activists, and supporters of Henry Morgentaler.

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