A $10,00 donation by the Quebec Mounted Police Members’ Association Foundation salutes a long-time friend.

From left, Pierre Auger, Noémie Boutin, Jonathan Decubber, Étienne Monty, Pierre Légaré’s wife Danielle Lauzon, his daughters Catherine and Manuelle Légaré, Gaétan Delisle, Shanny Croteau and Antonin Arès (Photo www.lanouvelle.net)

An early October press conference to announce the creation of the Fondation Pierre Légaré pour la jeunesse had just ended inside Place Rita St. Pierre in Victoriaville, with speeches by several dignitaries, friends and family of humorist Pierre Légaré, when an old friend of Légaré walked up to the podium to make a special announcement.

The old friend was retired RCMP Staff Sgt. Gaétan Delisle, representing the Quebec Mounted Police Members’ Association, and he was there to announce a $10,000 donation by the association’s foundation – all of it dedicated to help set up Légaré’s new foundation to support young people.

“Pierre was a very dear friend of myself and our association, and for years, he worked with us to support young people in the community,” said Delisle. “He was tireless and really devoted to making the lives of so many young people better. Our donation is aimed at helping his dream continue.”

Created in synergy with another local youth assistance group, Partenaires 12-18 – one that has also long been supported by the RCMP foundation — the new Légaré foundation was announced in the presence of Danielle Lauzon, the late comedian’s wife, and his daughters, Manuelle and Catherine Légaré.

“The mission of this new philanthropic entity is to support and promote the work of Partenaires 12-18 Centre-du-Québec, thereby ensuring the continuity of its commitment to the development of young leaders. This new foundation aims to strengthen the organization’s impact and extend its reach,” said Shanny Croteau, a member of Partenaires 12-18.

Another young person, Noémie Boutin, emphasized the foundation’s commitment to solidarity, integrity and innovation, with a particular focus on sustainable development and community involvement. “Its primary objective,” she said, ”is to provide stable, ongoing financial support for existing and future Partenaires 12-18 programs while developing strategic partnerships.”

Throughout the end of 2024 and 2025, the Légaré foundation will be setting up various fundraising initiatives, such as online campaigns, community events and major gift and legacy programs, and these efforts will help mobilize diversified resources to ensure the sustainability and expansion of Partenaires 12-18 programs.

Honouring a legacy

Daughters Manuelle and Catherine Légaré

Those close to Pierre Légaré, who died in October 2021, are proud to see his name associated with this “worthy cause,” said Catherine Légaré, adding: “It’s good that his memory and his work live on. It’s truly an honour that the foundation bears his name.”

“Our father was trained as a psychologist,” said daughter Manuelle Légaré. “He worked with young people in primary and secondary school, and above all, what stands out about our father is that he was a humanist, someone who always believed in the potential of people and young people. This profound belief is in line with the objectives of Partenaires 12-18.”

Jonathan Decubber, president of the Légaré foundation, thanked the family, adding: “Thank you for letting us use the name of this great man and for allowing us to honour his memory for many years to come. A big thank you also to Pierre for the invaluable help he has given to Partenaires 12-18 over the years.”

Both Decubber and Delisle recalled the “long and fruitful collaboration” of some 27 years with Pierre Légaré. “He once said: “To believe in yourself, you first need someone to believe in you. But Pierre Légaré was more than just a quote. For him, the human fabric in rural areas was really important. It really resonated with our values,” said Decubber.

Pierre Légaré foundation president Jonathan Deccuber

The launch of this foundation, he added, is a major step towards supporting tomorrow’s leaders. “It’s important for us to support Partenaires 12-18 because young people in this age bracket in rural areas face many challenges, and sometimes with fewer resources than in major urban centres. So it’s very important for us to help provide Partenaires 12-18 with the tools it needs to keep moving forward,” he said.

Well-known Quebec magician, Alain Choquette, a friend of Pierre Légaré, has agreed to act as spokesperson for the Légaré foundation.

“Pierre was a friend for a very long time,” said Choquette in an interview. “He collaborated on my shows. He was also my writer at the time of the Ad Lib show. It’s a great pleasure for me to be associated with this wonderful cause, it’s an honour to follow in his footsteps and the wonderful cause he has endorsed.”

The illusionist said he is delighted to be able to help young people. “Sometimes it’s just a little spark, a little help,” he said. “When I was young, people helped me in some way. That’s what allowed me to accomplish and reach dreams I thought were unattainable.”

He said he hoped his magic could somehow help young people “to move forward, bounce back, be creative and hang on.”

Great potential

The creation of the Fondation Pierre Légaré pour la jeunesse, said Partenaires 12-18 Centre-du-Québec President Pierre Auger, will consolidate and develop the organization in central Quebec, and perhaps even take it further afield.

“There are easily over 800 municipalities across Quebec that could benefit from a 12-18 approach. The potential we could develop is not insignificant,” said Auger. “I’d like to remind you that 12-18 doesn’t invest in infrastructure or concrete. We invest in people, in young people, in the future that will make us all grow.”

Noémie Boutin concluded the launch by inviting “the community to join this noble cause and help build a better future for Quebec’s youth.”

To find out more about the Foundation and how to contribute, visit https://fplj.org.

Who was Pierre Légaré ?

Pierre Légaré (June 2, 1949 – October 5, 2021)

Quebec humorist Pierre Légaré was a decades-long supporter of the AMPMQ’s union cause, and participated in many events organized by the association and its foundation. He served as the master of ceremonies for the annual Quebec Police Awards Gala and was actively involved in the organizing committee of this ceremony, which has been hosted by the province’s top police unions since 1999.

Recognized as one of Quebec’s most intellectual humorists, Pierre Légaré, who seduced Quebecers and the entire French-speaking world for decades with his wordplay, puns and jokes in the form of existential questions, died at the age of 72, of cancer. Pierre is survived by his wife, Danielle, and their three children, Manuelle, Catherine, and Guillaume.

Pierre Légaré, was certainly one of Quebec’s most brilliant comedians, and he made a name for himself with his subtle, intelligent and deadpan humor. He acquired a specialty in asking questions about life and its shortcomings, about the why of things. He enjoyed pointing out the absurdities of everyday life and criticizing the behaviour and value system of our consumer society with derision and, often, implacable logic.

This thinker and philosopher first obtained a master’s degree in psychology from the Université de Sherbrooke. He enjoyed a career as a psychologist before entering the world of entertainment in the late 1970s.

He then wrote texts for radio (Le festival de l’humour), television – and for a long time he was a scriptwriter for various programs, including Samedi de rire and Ad Lib – as well as theater, while pursuing his career as a psychologist. Over the years, this unparalleled communicator collaborated with many of the greats of Quebec show business, including Richard Séguin, Alain Choquette, Lara Fabian, François Léveillée and Michel Barrette.

In 1989, at the age of 40, he decided to go solo. Between 1989 and 2000, he presented four solo shows: Recherchez Légaré (1989-1992), Légaré 2 (1992-1995), Guide de survie (1995-1997) and Rien (1999). He collected awards, including a Félix and Olivier, with each of his productions.

His most famous quotations have been published in a few volumes, entitled Mots de Tête, launched here and in Europe, and in other books, named Les Trois Premiers Coups and Rien. He wrote two plays (Waiter!, C’est pas un siphon, c’est mon frère). His puns have also been used on television, in short capsules, also called Mots de Tête, which earned him a Guinness record for the shortest television show in the world, and for which he was host and producer.

Pierre was responsible for the popular show, Les Parlementeries, which featured four editions of comedians mocking Quebec’s National Assembly.

He also gained popularity as a regular guest on the program Piment Fort in the 1990s and wrote song lyrics, including Quelle belle vie (1978), popularized by Gilles Rivard.

While he was known to the public as a comedian, Pierre Légaré was above all dedicated throughout his life to helping others achieve their full potential, a dedication that led him to our association, where he visited youth help centres to present cheques on behalf of our foundation.

In the last years of his life, far from the public eye, Pierre Légaré devoted himself to works that he found important, notably with the organization Le Renfort in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, which helps disabled people.

Légaré was a psychologist who worked in schools with young people in difficulty, but he was first and foremost a humanist, according to his daughter Catherine.