Joan Bertrand, an important citizen and dear friend for many, many years, passed away in early June. Her memorial was held September 4, at Église St-Pierre in her hometown, Fort-Coulonge. Attendees ranged from infants to Joan’s sons, Tim and Shawn, and their own families, as well as nieces and nephews and, of course, old friends from across the Pontiac.
I say “important citizen” for the value she brought to our community all her life, beginning in municipal government (in Luskville), regional development (she managed the SAO, the original development organization for the entire Outaouais) to federal politics as a parliamentary assistant (to Lawrence Cannon, I believe). I recall her debating a run for the federal Liberal nomination herself. Her contributions on the local scale were numerous, from the Fondation des Chutes Coulonge, to the Red Hat Society – plus her daily bread-and-butter as a financial and insurance advisor.
What may be less well known is the crucial role Joan played in the launch and survival of this newspaper which you are holding. I founded the Journal in 1987 with borrowed money when, after 18 years here, I realized that the Pontiac needed, and deserved, a real newspaper, one that represented not just the English-speaking population and one which reached beyond Shawville. I had taught journalism in two colleges and had been a practising journalist from 1965 when I had landed my first assignments for the Guadalajara (Mexico) Reporter, before expanding to the Guardian, the Toronto Star, and San Francisco Examiner, as well as local newspapers. However, managing a start-up newspaper with an aggressive established competitor was a different ball game than reporting, and I soon found myself in tough straits. For the first three years, all of my collaborators — Nancy Hunt, Peter Smith, Lucie Lamoureaux and others — were paid, but I was not — and here Joan’s support made a difference.
From the start, Joan supported the idea of a bilingual newspaper delivered to every home and supported, but by advertisers who would benefit from reaching Pontiac’s 20,000 residents. Joan made numerous suggestions, and her financial wizardry was key. She introduced us to many helpful people — but most of all, she was the friend who was always there for me. Including at supper time! Night after night in those three years I would leave the office, first on Baume Street and then Principale, often close to midnight, and make my way to Joan’s lovely home on the “Schni” waterway, for a supper she had kept in her warming oven.
We talked and talked and Joan’s wide knowledge of the whole Pontiac – from Luskville, where she had started her family, all the way to Rapides – gave me contacts and insights
I would never have found on my own. She seemed to know someone in every locality!
Our politically connected competitor was able to shut us out from government advertising (public & health notices, etc), but Joan always knew “someone else” I should speak to. Those public notices became a lifeline!
Joan declined to become formally connected with the Journal, but she was aware of our struggles and plans, and in actuality, she was part of every meeting. We had attracted a stellar team, with smart contributors in most communities. It was after those first three years that our books began to improve, I had found a friendly banker in Pembroke (a Chapeau native), plus the manager of the Pembroke Observer who saw the Journal would become a loyal and growing printing customer, thereby allowing us “unreasonable”, and lifesaving, credit. Family members gave the Journal small loans and so the Pontiac Journal has become an institution in itself for the Pontiac’s benefit: truly bilingual, guaranteed to reach every single address, and committed to real, fact-checked news (long before social media).
A big part of all this is owed to my friend, Joan Bertrand, truly a woman to be remembered with fondness and honour. Her wisdom and good humour are irreplaceable. From all of us, and every Journal reader, dear Joan, a million, million thanks!
