Saint-Léandre is a well-known victim in the play

Bas-Saint-Laurent is in mourning after four people died on Saturday in a serious residential construction accident in Saint-Léandre. The victims are well-known in their respective fields.

• Read more: Four people died in a residential building accident in Bas-Saint-Laurent

The 60-year-old man who fell to his death from the lifting platform, Marco Roy, was a good friend of Quebec’s former minister of maritime affairs, Jean d’Amour.

“It’s a very bad day, give up on someone who was minister in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region from 2014 to 2018. We’ve known each other for over 40 years. […] We met at CEGEP and we never lost each other.

Mr. Roy was there.

“He did not pursue me out of taste in politics, but mainly out of friendship. He was with us most of my election nights. […] Not the guy we saw and turned the cameras on,” underlines the former deputy from Rivière-du-Loup-Témiscouata.

Jean-François Desgagnés / Diary

There was a tremor in Jean d’Amour’s voice as she recounted the last discussion she had with her good friend two weeks ago.

The two discussed the retirement plans of Marco Roy and his wife, Jocelyn Bouchard, who are new grandparents. “I’m in pain,” he breathes on the other end of the line.

Astonishment in Matani

Kim Blouin and his wife, Émerik Chénard, were part of the next generation of Quebec farmers, a rare commodity in tough times for the industry. Their deaths create a significant void in their family, but also in the farming community of the region.

The Eunoria cooperative, based in Bas-Saint-Laurent, highlighted on Sunday morning, on its social networks, the sad departure of two members of the family behind Ferme Maridel. The post was later deleted by the organization.

For his part, Pascal Bérubé, Member of Parliament for Matane-Matapédia, said he was deeply saddened by the tragedy. He knows Kim Blouin’s family personally and was at the family farm last summer during an open house.

Photo from Pascal Bérubé’s Facebook

“It deeply affects the Saint-Léandre community and the agricultural world. […] It has shaken us all and I share that pain. On behalf of all citizens of the region, I offer my deepest condolences and my full support for the situation.