Former Le Devoir editor honoured with CJF Lifetime Achievement Award

Lise Bissonnette, former editor-in-chief of Le Devoir, has been named winner of the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s (CJF) Lifetime Achievement Award.

Bissonnette joined Montreal daily Le Devoir in 1974 and was editor-in-chief of the paper from 1990 to 1998.

In 1998 she became president and general director of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationals du Québec, a position she held until June, 2009, when she retired.

Bissonnette was chosen from more than 50 nominations.

Geoffrey Stevens, chair of the selection jury, said in the award announcement:

“She is a superb journalist, scholar and administrator. She has been recognized with no fewer than eight honorary doctorates from universities in Canada and the United States.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented at the CJF gala in Toronto on June 10.

Past winners include Joe Schlesinger, Sally Armstrong, Norman Webster, Knowlton Nash, June Callwood and Doris Anderson, among others.

The members of the selection jury are: Geoffrey Stevens, Miller Ayre, Catherine Bergman, Pat Carney, Bernard Derome, Dale Eisler, Mary Lou Finlay and Norman Webster.