As you read these lines, I find myself under the Mexican sky in Guadalajara with an old friend, Gérard Latulippe, an incredibly interesting man whom I will try to persuade to write his memoirs for you!
The historian Éric Bédard used to regret that Quebec politicians rarely wrote their memoirs, thus robbing the national memory of their own worldview.
Gérard Latulippe was Attorney General for Robert Bourassa.
His ambition to change the way the national police worked earned him enemies within the Sûreté du Québec, who found a way to leak information to create a mini-scandal that nonetheless forced his resignation… and so the status quo in the police force.
This is an exciting episode for Mr. Latulippe to tell.
emissary
After resigning as MP in 1989, he was appointed Delegate of Quebec to Mexico City by Bourassa. Thus he became a diplomat during the era of the Meech crisis, the Charlottetown referendum, the election of Jacques Parizeau and the 1995 referendum.
After Mexico, Latulippe was delegated to Brussels, Rabat and Trinidad and Tobago.
In the 1995 referendum, he chose to publicly support the yes camp, coming from a liberal party that had already betrayed its Bourassa-style nationalism under Daniel Johnson’s rule.
I remember Premier Parizeau’s delight upon hearing this news live in my CKAC studio at the time.
meaning of storytelling
The life and career of this little-known historical figure is incredible but significant. I wouldn’t just draw a book out of it, but a screenplay for a television series.
Yes, that’s why some men should write their memoirs so that their compatriots know their time better.
