A silent procession, dozens of fans as well as media and political personalities, a palpable emotion: in sobriety and meditation, the funeral of columnist and writer Denise Bombardier took place on Friday afternoon at the Saint-Viateur church in Outremont.
At the head of the procession, her husband James Jackson seemed shaken. “I’ve just lost my wife, with whom I’ve lived for 20 years, we didn’t part every day,” he affirmed, touched, in front of the church. I have a big gap in my life. »
The Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, was also present. “We pay tribute to a great Quebecer,” he said. “She made it clear that we should not be afraid to defend the French language and ensure that new immigrants integrate into the nation of Quebec. »
The ceremony, which lasted less than an hour, was attended by the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, who sang several cantatas in the respectful silence of the crowd.
Defender of the French language
Many public figures gathered in front of the Saint-Viateur church to honor the memory of Mrs. Bombardier and to remember her passion and openness. ” I wish that [son] Legacy is an open intellectual debate where people are willing to disagree with respect […] ‘ affirmed the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.
For his part, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette claimed to have “consulted” Ms Bombardier “a couple of times” and indicated that those consultations concerned the French language. “We had the truth with her, she didn’t use the language of the wood. »
Quebecor President Pierre-Karl Péladeau also underscored the columnist’s passion for the language. “She wanted this culture transmitted through the French language to be preserved. »
For her part, former Liberal Minister Christine St-Pierre underlined her character as a doer. “For me and the women of my generation, it was really a role model. A woman older than us, who broke down doors, who made it, who set an example for us. »
She remembered her last conversation with the deceased five or six weeks ago. “In that conversation she told me that she had lost weight. I remember saying to her, “Come on Denise, you’re going to be 100 years old…” That was the last conversation we had. »
Theater woman Louise Latraverse discreetly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye before the ceremony on the church forecourt. “We’ve known each other forever,” she said. She had come to pay homage to her great friend. “We saw each other a lot, we laughed a lot because she was very funny, Denise. »
intellectual and polemicist
Ms. Bombardier’s death has sparked emotions in Quebec, driven by her passion and her sometimes strong opinions, causing controversy.
Born into a working-class family in the Villeray neighborhood of Montreal, Ms. Bombardier has earned a place as one of the pre-eminent intellectual figures in recent Quebec history. She received her doctorate in sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris before becoming the first woman to host a public affairs program in Quebec in the 1980s.
She is also the author of several books that have received recognition both nationally and in France. Her participation in the literary program “Apostrophe” in 1990 caused a stir: she then firmly apostrophized the author and pedophile Gabriel Matzneff, who claimed to have sex with minors.
Ms. Bombardier has been a columnist for the Journal de Montréal since 2014, where she forcefully expressed beliefs that could spark controversy. On occasion, she has shown that she disagrees with issues specific to progressivism, such as drag queens or multiculturalism.
With Adrien Banville and Aziz Mestiri