Early Life and Career
Marleau was born Diane Lebal in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, one of three children raised by a single mother in a low-income household. She was a childhood friend of Marie-Paule Charette, who later became a Senator and president of the Liberal Party.
She studied Commerce at the University of Ottawa, but left after three years when she married fellow student Paul Marleau, with whom she had three children: Brigitte, Donald and Stéphane, and moved to Sudbury. She worked as the secretary to a medical doctor for five years, prior to the introduction of Medicare. She later said that this experience made her realize the importance of a publicly-funded health system, saying "I was the one who had to collect the bills. It gave me an understanding of what it means when people are obliged to pay to see a doctor."
Marleau returned to Laurentian University as a mature student, and completed a Bachelor's Degree in Economics (1976). She worked as an accountant, managed an office for a firm of chartered accountants (Thorne and Riddell and then with Collins, Barrow-Maheux Noiseux), and operated a restaurant she co-owned with her husband. She also served on the boards of Laurentian University and Laurentian Hospital. Marleau worked on Judy Erola's campaign in the 1980 federal election, and later credited Erola as a role model for her own career in public life.
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