A TRIBUTE TO THE WOMEN IN OUR ECOSYSTEM – A portrait of the situation in the public domain
For a long time, the transportation sector consisted mostly of men. In the past ten years or so, more and more women can be found around discussion tables, in management roles and on executive boards of different leading corporations and organizations in our ecosystem.
In December 2006, in the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises, the Quebec National Assembly recognized the importance of having women more involved in various bodies. The policy established that, as of December 14, 2011, the boards of directors of state-owned enterprises as a group include an equal number of women and men.
As of December 31, 2021, the representation rate of women on boards of directors in all state-owned enterprises addressed by the Act respecting the governance of state-owned enterprises was 52.7%, thus reflecting the specified gender balance. The organization that stands out in our sector is Hydro-Québec. Women represent 68.8% of its executive board!
Since the creation of the Quebec ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable, three women have held the position of Minister of Transportation. The first, Marie-Claire Kirkland-Casgrain, a lawyer, was not only the first woman elected to Quebec’s National Assembly in 1961, she was also the first holder of the important position of Minister of Transportation and Communications, from 1964 to 1966. She was followed by Julie Boulet 41 years later, who took on the role of what was then the Minister of Transports in 2007, and then by Geneviève Guilbault, who has held the current position of Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility since October 2022.
Women now make up 41% of the boards of directors of Quebec’s ten transportation authorities, four of them in the role of chair, namely: Jocelyne Frédéric-Gauthier of the Société de transport de Laval (STL), Geneviève Héon of the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL), Josée Bérubé of Exo and Maude Mercier-Larouche of the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC). Recently, two women were appointed as CEO of, respectively, the STM (Marie-Claude Léonard) and the STL (Josée Roy).
We are proud to announce that for the 2023 IMPULSION summit, 36 of the speakers are women and will lead or moderate different panels and workshops. The Propulsion Québec executive committee roles are 75% held by women and many of our teams are also made up by a majority of women.
Find us at the IMPULSION summit this coming March 13 to 15:
IMPULSION, Innovation Edition, is made possible thanks to the financial support of Innovation, Science And Economic Development Canada, the Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Energy (MEIE), the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF), the Ministère des Transports et de la Mobilité durable du Québec (MTMD), the Ville de Montréal, the Ministère du Tourisme du Québec (MTO), Attrix, integration partner Geotab, Hydro-Québec and InnovÉÉ.