She has written for Montreal’s La Presse since 1980 and Toronto’s Globe and Mail since 1990. Gagnon was born in Montreal. From 1975-1980, she was a parliamentary correspondent. In 1975 she received the Olivar-Asselin Award, and has twice (in 1976 and 1982) been awarded the National Newspaper Awards prize. In 1984 she received the Salon de Montréal literary prize for her romance novel Vivre avec les hommes: un nouveau partage (Living with Men: A New Partnership).