The Alumni Series aims to foster relationships among the generations of students who have graduated from the Department of Communication since it was founded in 1978. Each year, graduates who have distinguished themselves in their profession or in some other capacity are invited to share their stories and talk about their career paths.
- 2009 – Frédérica Dupuis
- 2008 – Michel Coulombe
- 2007 – Marie Grégoire
- 2006 – Lisa LaFlamme
- 2005 – Daniel Lamarre
2009
Frédérica Dupuis
Frédérica is an on-air television reporter with more than 15 years experience, presently working for the regional news of the CBC and Radio-Canada in Ottawa. Prior to joining Radio-Canada’s news team in the national capital, she spent more than three years in the United States pursuing her career as a freelance reporter. She also covered the news in Toronto for a decade, working for Radio-Canada as a television reporter as well as TVOntario’s French current affairs show as a journalist, host and field producer.
Over the years, she has covered ongoing and breaking news stories such as Michael Jackson’s trial, numerous hurricanes, and other natural disasters, the Rolling Stones concert for SARS relief and the 2003 Blackout. She has also done many in-depth current affairs segments including pieces on Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas and stories about the aftermath of Walkerton.
As a bilingual journalist, she brings a unique cultural perspective to her reporting. Her background and experience, as well as her bilingualism, have always been assets. She has enjoyed collaborating with both her English and French television and radio counterparts, especially in the context of the merging of radio and television news services.
She graduated from the Department of Communication at the University of Ottawa in 1994.2008
Michel Coulombe
A Communication, screenwriting and management of cultural organizations graduate, Michel Coulombe worked in the communication sector before choosing cinema, a sector where he is mainly interested in diffusion. After acting as director of the Association des cinémas parallèles du Québec from 1984 to 1999, he shared his passion for Quebec cinema by organizing the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois, a yearly retrospective of national production. From 2001 to 2006, he was involved in programming Silence, on court! (a joint project of the National Film Board and Radio Canada) which, through the Web, television and theatrical screenings, has helped many short films from Quebec and elsewhere find an audience. In 2007, he took on the leadership of special projects for Radio Canada International, where he organized competitions in creative media such as Métissé serré/Digital Diversity, Génération DX2 and Migrations. He produced the cyberseries J’adopte un pays and Embracing Canada, which focused on immigration. These activities allowed him to attend numerous world cinema events, namely as a jury member.
Working as a freelancer for more than 25 years and as content analyst for Téléfilm Canada and Radio Canada, he has acted on numerous occasions as scriptwriting adviser for film and television. Since the early 1980s, he has been a contributor to several magazines and a commentator on many radio and television programs within Canada and abroad. He is a film analyst on Samedi et rien d’autre, broadcast on Saturday mornings on the Première Chaîne de Radio Canada and film critic for the all-news French network RDI. His publications include Le dictionnaire du cinéma québécois, Boréal, 2006 [1988], (with Marcel Jean); Denys Arcand. La vraie nature du cinéaste, Le Boréal, 1993; Entretiens avec Gilles Carle. Le chemin secret du cinéma, Liber, 1995; and Entretiens avec Jean Beaudin. À fleur d’écran, Liber, 1999.
2007
Marie Grégoire
Marie-Grégoire is Vice-president of Communication and Marketing with the public relations firm HKDP Communications and Public Affairs.
After working a number of years as an independent public relations consultant for companies such as Bell Canada and IBM, Ms. Grégoire became Vice-President of Marketing for Zoom Media. Until recently, she served as Senior Director of Communications for Desjardins Financial Security. She appears as a guest on RDI (Le club des ex) in Montreal, as well as on 98.5 FM, and is a columnist for the Métro daily newspaper.
She was a member of the Société d'aménagement Berthier-d’Autray (land-use planning)from 1987 to 1994, Vice-President of the Société de développement économique de Berthier (economic development corporation) from 1990 to 1992, a member of the Québec Conseil permanent de la jeunesse (youth council from 1990 to 1993, a member of the advisory committee of the National Bank for the Lanaudière region from 1993 to 1996, a founding member of the board of directors for the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi d’Autray-Joliette (youth employment organization) from 1995 to 2000 and President of a working group dealing with family-children of the CRD Lanaudière from 1999 to 2000.
A founding member of ADQ (Action démocratique du Québec), Ms. Grégoire was a candidate in the riding of Assomption in 1998. In June 2002, she won a by-election in Berthier but was later defeated in the 2003 election.
She obtained a B.A. in communication from the University of Ottawa in 1988.
2006
Lisa LaFlamme
Lisa LaFlamme, a communication graduate of the University of Ottawa, is well known as the CTV National Affairs Correspondent. Ms. LaFlamme has enjoyed a successful career anchoring the CTV News and interviewing numerous guests as co-host of Canada AM, Canada's most-watched national morning show. Prior to joining Canada AM, she was a political correspondent for CTV News in Ottawa and the prime-time NewsNet anchor, unravelling national and international current affairs for viewers. She recently spent five weeks in the Middle East reporting on the war in Iraq and the political climate in that country.
Ms. LaFlamme has received several awards, winning the 1999 Galaxi Award from the Canadian Cable Television Association in Vancouver and the prestigious RTNDA award for best live coverage of a breaking news event, and receiving three Gemini nominations in the Best News Anchor category.
Ms. LaFlamme is also actively involved with the community, promoting events for organizations such as the Canadian Blood Services and the Canadian Women's Foundation.
2005
Daniel Lamarre
As president and CEO of Cirque du Soleil, Daniel Lamarre leads an organization that is acclaimed as a Canadian icon in the international world of arts and entertainment. He manages the Resident Shows and Touring Shows division, new show development activities, and the creation of new entertainment projects. He is also in charge of multimedia, marketing and merchandising services.
Before joining the Cirque du Soleil in January 2001, he served for nearly four years as President and CEO of TVA Group, Quebec’s largest private television broadcaster. During that time, he also served on the boards of McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada and the Canadian Association of Broadcasters, and helped administer the Montreal Heart Institute Research Fund.
From 1984 to 1997, Mr. Lamarre worked with NATIONAL Public Relations and became its president in 1995. Earlier, he served as President and CEO of Burson-Marsteller, the world’s largest PR firm, and opened its first Montreal office. In 1977, he served as Director of Public Relations for the cable operator Cogeco.
Before taking up his management duties in the world of communications, he worked as a journalist for over ten years. He started out with the Trois-Rivières daily Le Nouvelliste, then moved on to Radio-Canada in Ottawa. He holds a B.A. in communication from the University of Ottawa.