Andre Chagnon, a Quebec businessman who founded telecommunications giant Videotron and later set up one of the largest family foundations in the country, has died.
In a statement, his family said Chagnon passed away early Saturday at the age of 94, surrounded by loved ones.
The Montreal-born Chagnon, an electrician by trade, was the founder of Videotron in 1964, the Quebec cable television company that would become one of the largest telecommunications companies in Canada.
Videotron was later acquired by Quebecor Media Inc. in 2000, with Chagnon and his widow, Lucie, in turn setting up the Lucie and Andre Chagnon Foundation with a goal of preventing poverty.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault paid tribute to Chagnon as a brilliant and visionary man and someone he had consulted many times during his political career.
Legault said on Twitter that in founding Videotron, Chagnon shaped modern Quebec and highlighted his exceptional efforts to prevent poverty through the family foundation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 8, 2022.
