Written by Brittany Friesen
Line Drapeau grew up in French speaking Quebec where she completed her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Master’s of Science in Finance from the Université de Sherbrooke. Her interest in finance initially stemmed from her childhood. Her father was ill-advised on a stock market transaction, resulting in the loss of a small fortune. It was through this experience that she knew she had to learn about finance to educate and help people with their decisions. Doctoral research caught her attention through conversations with her master’s thesis supervisor Claudia Champagne who supported her in her application to the Queen’s PhD in Management (Finance) program.
Line exemplifies a passion for creating connections between the community and the academic sphere. Part of her decision to attend Queens for her doctoral studies, was to strengthen her linguistic abilities in order to broaden her opportunities for networking and collaborating. “The language of finance is English,” she shares, “so studying and just knowing French, I felt kind of limited in my opportunities and ability to communicate”. In the second year of her PhD, she was introduced to Toastmasters by a friend in Kingston. It provided a community that allowed her to have a creative outlet to experiment with public speaking and refine her English-speaking skills. Line’s excellent communication abilities have been an asset within her doctoral research presentations and teaching opportunities at Queens.
Line’s PhD research brings together elements of finance and economics. It focuses on how market competition impacts financial corporate decisions. She explains: “I use competition legislation where [new national anticollusion] laws are passed [and I observe] how companies behave financially”. Her work focuses on the larger picture of markets which has informed her decision to head into the industry. Line sees the complementarianism in having academic research experience and being active in the industry through her work as a competition law officer (Cartels Directorate) with the Competition Bureau where she investigates cartels who commit crimes such as price-fixing and bid-rigging.
Outside of her formal research at Queens, Line participated in the PhD Community Initiative - a program that provides a platform for an interdisciplinary team of PhD students to engage with a real-world organization using research. “We [found] ways to give good recommendations and help the non-profit [ABLE2],” Line shares. Her team worked with ABLE2 which is an Ottawa based organization that supports individuals with disabilities. Line’s continued passion to be an active member of her local community led her to remain connected with ABLE2 in her current role as a board member.
Looking forward to the completion of her doctoral studies, Line continues to think about the connections that exist between her field of study and other sectors. She is passionate about her role as an educator, both in her workplace and for the public, and the need to continue to critically evaluate the implications of a solely profit-prioritizing system on the environment and stakeholders.