Retired teachers Claude Painchaud and Jean-Marc Cormier are longtime friends and both taught a young Jean Lapierre. They meet for coffee every day and say it's no surprise that Lapierre went on to become a respected federal politician and influential broadcaster.
“He was very kind, he was a good student, he was curious,” said Painchaud.
You could say Lapierre's political career started at Ecole Polyvalente des Iles, where he was student council president .A local newspaper article from 1971 features Lapierre leading a group of teenaged protesters – he had organized a one-day strike, demanding a guidance counsellor for students at the school.
Lapierre’s family released a statement Thursday thanking the public for the outpouring of support and well wishes following Tuesday’s crash that killed Lapierre, his wife, two brothers and sister, as well as two crew members on the plane. His two children called him an “exceptional” dad and grandfather.
Outside city hall on the island, the flags of the province and country he loved and constantly analyzed are lowered.
“Many of us felt like we were in a dream, in a nightmare, and we were hoping to wake up,” said
Iles de la Madeleine Mayor Jonathan Lapierre.
George Sumarah, chief of the fire department, is remembering the horror of the crash, saying it was one of the worst incidents he’s seen.
Six people on the plane were killed instantly.But one passenger, trapped in the wreckage, was able to speak.
“The first person we got out of the aircraft was alive. He was thanking God, saying ‘Merci, merci’ in French and that’s all we heard from him. The ambulance brought him to hospital and he died there,” Sumarah said.
It’s a tragic end to a trip to the place Lapierre loved and always promoted.
“Everybody on Magdalen Islands knows him and they are proud of him,” Painchaud said.
