Aline Desjardins, Quebec TV pioneer, dies at 92

Aline Desjardins, the Quebec journalist and television host who brought women’s rights to the centre of Radio-Canada’s daytime programming, died Friday at age 92.

Her friend and agent, Hélène Mailloux, announced the death in a news release, the Canadian Press reported. Desjardins was born in Saint-Pascal-de-Kamouraska.

She was best known for hosting the daily Radio-Canada program Femme d’aujourd’hui for 13 years. She hosted nearly 3,000 one-hour episodes, broadcast in the 1960s and 1970s. The program tackled subjects including abortion, incest, women’s legal capacity and domestic violence at a time when newsrooms were dominated by men.

“Despite the fact that we were dominated by a male hierarchy, we had great freedom, and I took it,” she said in a 2025 interview with Radio-Canada, as reported by the Canadian Press. Speaking about the advancement of women’s rights, and recent setbacks, she said she had confidence in the future “with a great deal of reserve” and believed women would “rise up and fight for society.”

Desjardins also hosted La semaine verte, D’un soleil à l’autre and Avis de recherche. She ended a career of about 40 years on the program Desjardins d’aujourd’hui.

In 2024, she won the Prix René-Lévesque and was named an officer of the Ordre national du Québec. The order’s website says she “tirelessly motivated Quebec women to take their destiny into their own hands.”

“As a pioneer in a field largely dominated by men, she opened the way for a whole generation of women journalists,” Mailloux wrote. She described Desjardins as a free woman and a committed advocate for women’s rights who respected the French language and was deeply attached to the quality of news.

Quebec Premier Paul St-Pierre Plamondon paid tribute to her on X after the announcement. Radio-Canada, Le Soleil and Noovo also reported her death on Friday.

Her name was among the most searched in Canada on Friday, according to Google Trends, as Quebecers looked for details about her life and career.

No information on funeral or memorial arrangements was available in the reports reviewed Saturday morning. We will update this story when the family announces them.

Sources: The Canadian Press; Radio-Canada; Le Soleil.

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