Journalist Marie-Jose Turcotte retires after 40 years at Radio Canada

She joined Radio Canada in 1982 to host the morning radio program in Edmonton, and in 1985 Marie-José Turcotte became the first sports journalist on local television.

Three years later, she was the first woman to host a sports program in Quebec when she took over Sports World. It has distinguished itself in daily sports news as much as it has excelled in writing human stories and has hosted a variety of programs covering a large number of national and international competitions.

She was a former high-ranking athlete, she said, to Claude Bernaches, host first hourAt a Radio Canada radio station in Quebec, she accidentally found herself working as a sports journalist.

” I played sports, I was on the Canadian junior track and field team, so I was interested in this thing, but I wanted to be a foreign correspondent. This is not exactly what I did. It’s really a mixture of circumstances. When I was in Edmonton hosting the morning show, the network came to do a Gray Cup there and asked me to collaborate. Then I offered to do summer relief work, but my Edmonton boss didn’t want it. So I resigned to accept a nine-week contract in Montreal. That’s how it started. »

The public is mainly associated with major competitions such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games. She has covered 17 Olympic Games, including 15 as a broadcaster on Radio Canada, namely Calgary, Seoul, Albertville, Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney, Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing, Sochi, Rio, Pyeongchang and Tokyo, as well as the Beijing 2022 Winter Games.

Over the years, her work as a journalist, host and broadcaster has earned her a large number of awards, including 15 Gémeaux Awards as well as the titleKhaled TV Awarded by the Canadian Film and Television Academy. She has also received the René-Lecavalier Award for Journalism, the Molson Award for Entertainment Journalism, the YWCA Woman of the Year in Communication award as well as the Most Influential Woman of the Year by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women, Sport and Physical Activity.

In 2014, Marie-Jose Turcotte became Member of the Order of Canada To help open the doors of journalism for women and to promote women’s sports throughout her career.

She said I’m proud of my entire career. What is difficult about this job is to keep going. I managed to stay there for 40 years, including 37 years in the sport. When I got to Sports, it wasn’t clear that I would be staying there for 37 years.

” You are the first wife. Inadvertently, I opened the doors and fortunately wasn’t aware of it because I would probably have worn their heels. I was young and innocent and simply went for it. I didn’t ask myself any questions. »

tribute rain

On Radio Canada, as elsewhere, women are playing an increasing role in television sports coverage. Through her passion and through excellence in her work, Marie-José Turcotte has, year after year, been at the forefront of this evolution and an inspiration to generations of communication. I thank her warmly for her exemplary career at Radio Canada.announced Radio Canada’s Senior Vice President, Michel Bissonnette, who wanted to pay tribute to him.

De nombreuses personnalités ont tenu à saluer cette longue carrière, notamment l’ancienne patineuse de vitesse sur courte piste Isabelle Charest, ministre déléguée à l’Éducation et à la Condition féminine et responsable des Quévercé pouré Sports au that it Fantastic sports figurewho has always been able to translate the athletes’ experience with precision and great respect.

Former Paralympic champion Chantal Petticlerk, now a senator in Ottawa, wrote on Twitter that Marie-José Turcotte was Few of the daring who made way for Paralympic athletes before this became the norm.

For his part, Marquette’s deputy, Enrico Ciccone, spoke of her as a A great lady of absolute professional class.

The voices of some colleagues from Radio Canada were added to this commendation. Rene Botheer, himself retired for a few years, although he continued to work at the Olympics.

” In 1988, when Serge Arsino left, I expressed my desire to replace him, but I wanted Marie-José to take the position. I knew she would have an amazing career. In addition to her talent for communication, she is a hard worker. She has a great love for athletes. It’s related to promoting women’s sports, but it’s a bit simple. She has promoted sports in all genres, and she deserves all the praise. »

Journalist Diane Souve emphasized how inspiring Marie-José Turcotte was.

She said it was hard to find someone more humble and kind than Marie José. I remember, you took the time to calm me down when I was paralyzed when I started animation. What has always fascinated me over time is Leader. Always wanting to learn and do better…for 40 years. Agar.

And if there’s anyone capable of running a dime, it’s Mary Jo. I’ve seen her backstage at the Olympics, she’s been amazing. Now you understand why it quickly became a reference for us. It will leave a huge void in the section.