President of the Commission de l'équité salariale since June 2007, Mtre. Louise Marchand is an attorney and a member of the Barreau du Québec. Before joining the Commission as a commissioner in 2004, Mtre. Marchand was vice-president of policy coordination with the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec, from 2001 to 2003, and director of socio-political research and labour relations with the Conseil du patronat du Québec, from 1997 to 2001. In 1990, she joined the firm of Dunton, Rainville et associés, where she practised for seven years–in labour law, family law and administrative law, in particular. Prior to that, Mtre. Marchand was director of communications for the Union des municipalités du Québec from 1979 to 1983. Her first professional activities took her into the world of journalism, where, from 1976 to 1979, she worked, notably, for state-owned television and regional weekly newspapers.