Mr. Speaker, as all of my colleagues know, I was fully on board with my Foothills colleague's “Free the Beer!” campaign. In Mégantic—L'Érable, “beer” is practically synonymous with Maurice Legendre, the best independent representative in the world of Quebec breweries.
Maurice, as he was known to everyone back home, left us last week at the age of 90. Born in Lac-Mégantic in 1926, he moved to Thetford Mines at the age of 19 as a Boswell beer representative.
In 1952, he became Dow's first sales rep in Quebec. When Dow and O'Keefe merged in 1969, Maurice's career took off. In 1983, he sold 600,000 cases of beer, cornering 90% of the beer market in bars and hotels.
Mr. Speaker, did you know that they say he himself never drank a drop of beer his whole life?
Maurice was very involved in his community, particularly in sports.
Maurice was the one who taught me the art of the handshake, thereby helping me achieve success in politics though he was not partisan himself.
Thank you, Maurice. I want to express my condolences to his family. I hope there is beer in heaven.