Bernard Lemaire, the visionary entrepreneur who made his fortune with his brothers Laurent and Alain by focusing on recycling and recovery, has died at the age of 87. He will have succeeded in elevating Cascades among the major global companies in the green economy.
At a time when Quebec was just beginning to turn towards sustainable environmental practices, a dashing young man named Bernard Lemaire already saw life in green.
It was 1964. A new generation of Quebec entrepreneurs was emerging, slowly but surely, with innovative ideas. It is in this bubbling context that the fiery Bernard Lemaire had the idea, with his brother Laurent, of breathing new life into an abandoned mill of the Dominion Paper Co., in Kingsey Falls.
That’s where it all started. A new company, Cascades, would establish itself in a hitherto little-known niche: the large-scale manufacturing of paper made from recycled fibers.
He had someone to look after. His father Antonio had opened the way. For him, life could be summed up in a single, simple but very meaningful sentence. He said: “Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed. » He was already promoting sustainable development within his household and industrial waste recovery company, Drummond Pulp & Fiber.
A modest millionaire
Those who worked alongside Bernard Lemaire are unanimous on one aspect of his rich personality: Cascades was his life, and recycling was his fuel.
“He was somewhat hyperactive,” summarizes Laurent Verreault, founding president of the Laperrière & Verreault Group. With him, things had to move. His brain was still racing. »
“He was also an entrepreneur who was passionate about a host of things,” adds the man who served on the Cascades board of directors for 11 years, until May 2012. “He constantly impressed us. He often saw things that we could not perceive. He was ahead of his time. »
His son Patrick, president and CEO of Boralex from 2006 to 2020, a subsidiary of Cascades, has already said that Bernard, like his brothers Laurent and Alain, was almost more interested in the manufacturing quality of cardboard boxes than ‘to the presents under the Christmas tree.
There is no doubt in his mind that the main qualities that served his father well in business were “his flair and his ability to delegate.”
“Flair, both for making transactions and for surrounding yourself with the right people,” Patrick will summarize. And when Bernard trusts someone, he gives them a lot of autonomy, which allows people to flourish around him. »
Bernard Lemaire led Cascades for almost three decades before passing the baton to Laurent, then to Alain.
Cascades’ rapid rise allowed him and his brothers Laurent and Alain to join the millionaires’ club. At 32, Bernard was already worth a million. But he was always careful, like his brothers, to project the image of a CEO above his business.
He wasn’t the type to lock himself in his office either. He participated in hockey tournaments in his village, he went for a beer with the employees at the brewery, he went hunting with a group of employees.
“In hunting, everyone is equal,” he liked to repeat.
Profit sharing
It has always conveyed the same message: without the collaboration of employees, the “stuntmen”, as they were originally nicknamed at Cascades, the Kingsey Falls company would not have been able to progress at the projected pace. This is what prompted him to make the decision, with his brothers, to redistribute part of the profits to all employees. It was the late 80s.
In 2014, Cascades celebrated its 50th anniversary. A half-century during which Bernard Lemaire, accompanied by his brothers, allowed the green company to stand out with its responsible environmental practices, which earned Cascades the title of the most responsible in the eyes of Quebecers, according to the responsible consumption barometer.
Today, Cascades manufactures, transforms and markets packaging and paper products composed mainly of recycled fibers, with 11,000 employees, in 90 operating units in North America and Europe.
With the collaboration of Rollande Parent
Some of his quotes
When we started, almost all the companies were English-speaking. We were told that Quebecers were not capable of succeeding. Even Desjardins only did personal loans and mortgages. My goal was to demonstrate that we could succeed, that we were not born for nothing.
The gallery, June 3, 2014
Bernard Lemaire has always displayed his colors as a nationalist entrepreneur, proud of the success of Quebecers in business, and also proud of the giant steps taken by Cascades.
I was born an entrepreneur. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started passing newspapers when I was 10 years old. Subsequently, when I started my civil engineering course, it was not to become an engineer: I wanted to become a construction contractor, build roads, bridges, etc. In the family, I was the one who wanted to push. What I like are the projects, seeing how we can develop, what niches we should favor.
Deals, November 2010
He had a sense of entrepreneurship and he considered it “a legacy”.
We earned our place through hard work. If we don’t become productive, we won’t be able to support large businesses. We will live off those who exploit us. Wealth is measured in efficiency and competitiveness. I visited Eastern countries to purchase factories; they suffer from a terrible lack of efficiency due to wanting to protect jobs too much, by not following the laws of the market. You have to see it to believe it. They have good equipment, but four times too many employees. Their system is collapsing, it’s a total fiasco. It’s coming to us: if we don’t become more competitive, it will happen to us.
News, 1er March 1992
Bernard Lemaire had just told the employees of the Jonquière factory that they feared that Quebecers would once again become water carriers.
We took the steps one after the other. My father was an inveterate dreamer, an optimist; for him, nothing was impossible. My mother was a very rational woman, who knew how to take money and expenses into consideration; with her, we had to take it step by step. We [lui et ses frères Laurent et Alain] we inherited both.
The duty, March 13, 1994.
The entrepreneur said he had “the pride of having created a company and of having remained the same man, of having been capable of forming teams”.
“A damn good Quebecer!” »
“With Bernard Lemaire, there were never double standards. When he told you he was signing a contract, he signed it. And he paid. He was not trying to get the last cent to his advantage. »
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Laurent Verreault in 2014
Laurent Verreault was a friend of Bernard Lemaire and a business partner of the Quebec entrepreneur. His company was closely associated with the development of Cascades.
“There is no doubt, in my mind, that this man was a visionary and a damn good Quebecer! », summarizes the founding president of the Laperrière & Verreault Group.
“He was one of the first to be concerned about the environment,” he adds, “at a time when this notion was still little considered. He could read market trends and he quickly got to work building green factories. He already knew the importance of not polluting our waterways. »
A lasting relationship
Laurent Verreault likes to recall that his relationship with Bernard Lemaire was like the character: lasting and based on mutual frankness.
“We always respected each other,” he said. We knew our limits. »
It was in the early 1970s that he met the founder of Cascades. “He was looking for someone to design controls at his containerboard plant in Cabano. He told me, “If you want to start your business, I’ll give you the contract.” I said yes and it was the kick in the butt that allowed me to launch my business.
Later, Bernard Lemaire telephoned him, this time for a “toilet paper factory”.
“He asked me how much it was going to cost,” he said. I said 5.5 million. He replied: OK, we’ll send you a check for 2 million to start. It suits you ? »
“Bernard Lemaire was not more complicated than that,” he adds. But in return he expected things to go smoothly. He kept telling me: give me a good job! »
A strength of character
One thing is certain, Laurent Verreault was impressed by the combativeness and strength of character of the founder of Cascades. “He was interested in green energy, wind turbines with Boralex, oil in Gaspésie, he invested colossal sums in breeding his animals on his farm. He was passionate about mechanics. He wanted to know everything, he tried to understand everything. He was a fascinating character. »
And when the rain prevented him from playing golf, he “tapped his foot” impatiently in his condo in Florida, says Laurent Verreault, who was also his golfing partner for more than fifteen years, laughing. Winter and summer.
“In golf, Bernard Lemaire had a competitive spirit,” he says, “but he played above all for fun. He liked to bet a piastre per hole, just for laughs, within our quartet. We were called the Four Musketeers. »
Without a doubt, the good humor of Bernard Lemaire on the tee will be missed by the “musketeers” Louis Laperrière, Laurent Verreault and Jean Turmel.
At full throttle
Bernard Lemaire never did things by halves. Those who knew him will tell you that he always committed himself wholeheartedly to the projects that were close to his heart. In addition to his passion for pulp and paper, Bernard Lemaire had a great need to see far and operate in large spaces.
The breeder
He became an agricultural producer, breeding Highland cows, these Scottish cows characterized by long erect horns and whose marbled meat is well known for its taste qualities.
He moved to Austin in 2010. Two years later, he had 400 head. In 2013, he had 700 head of cattle and he wanted to reach the milestone of 2000. In November 2015, his herd had increased to 1300.
The oil prospector
He was fueled by Quebec oil projects. He considered himself a patient investor in the Junex company. He held a 30% interest in the Galt property, in Gaspésie.
He has already declared that the technology put forward by the Junex company, consisting of horizontal drilling work – a first in Quebec – “now allows us to do things that we could not do before”.
The dam opener
Bernard Lemaire believed in the potential of wind and hydroelectric power. He was a dam opener and Boralex was the common thread.
The Cascades subsidiary, headed by his son Patrick Lemaire, followed the strong economic trends, and Bernard Lemaire was never far away to advise his son.
The lover of beautiful cars
Bernard Lemaire was capable of a lot of humor. One day, he allowed himself the following joke with relatives.
“When I turned 55, I bought myself a (red) Ferrari. When I turned 65, a Bentley. At age 75 (in 2012), I just bought a Rolls-Royce. When I’m 85, I’m going to buy an electric three-wheeler. »