Alternately professor of economics, guest columnist, deputy editor, columnist and editor-in-chief of the Homework, Jean-Robert Sansfaçon died on Friday evening of the consequences of a brain tumour. He was 74 years old. His family confirmed the sad news on Saturday morning.
Recognized for his talents as a popularizer and his lucid view of the issues that have marked Quebec, Mr. Sansfaçon remained a guest editorialist until his retirement in June 2021, after leaving his position as editor-in-chief in 2009.
“We are losing a great friend”, breathes Bernard Descôteaux, ex-director of the Homework who named Mr. Sansfaçon editor-in-chief in 1999. The two men have known each other since they worked together at the student newspaper at Collège Lionel-Groulx in the 1960s, during the Quiet Revolution.
An economist by training, Mr. Sansfaçon began his career as a college professor in the 1970s. “The political movements of the time followed us and inspired us all our lives,” says Mr. Descôteaux. It has remained a constant to want to change Quebec in our own way, to want to make society both more progressive and richer”.
From the 1980s, he lent his pen to several magazines and wrote regularly for the Homework. Mr. Sansfaçon notably contributed to the launch of the magazine crazy time (1978-83). In 1993, he became associate editor and columnist at Homeworkthen directed by Lise Bissonnette.
A caring teacher
The current director of Homework, Brian Myles, has known him since he arrived at the newspaper in the early 1990s. The latter also remembers, above all, “his qualities as a human being”. He emphasizes his generosity and his sensitivity towards his colleagues and his fellow citizens. “Jean-Robert could go to the bedside of his sick colleagues. He was very caring.”
Marie-Andrée Chouinard, editor-in-chief since 2016, highlights her qualities as a teacher. “It was he who taught me how to do editorial work,” she says. I brought him my first texts and he corrected them for me before I sent them. Even today, I apply the advice he gave me. »
Mr. Descôteaux maintains that the importance he attached to transmission was reflected in his “remarkable, limpid and flexible” writing. His editorials allowed, he says, “to enrich our knowledge based on facts. »
Jean-Robert Sansfaçon has also published three novels: loft story (The Fifteen) in 1986, The water in the inkwell (The Fifteen) in 1993 and Last theater (VLB) in 1992. loft story has also won the Robert-Cliche prize awarded for a first work at the Salon du Livre de Québec.
A pragmatic look at the economy
Throughout his career as a columnist and editorialist, Jean-Robert Sansfaçon has been particularly interested in the economy and the social safety net of Quebec. “He was able to popularize public policy while avoiding obscure language,” says Myles.
A great defender of social democracy, Jean-Robert Sansfaçon knew however “to see the inherent limits” of certain more expensive policies, adds Mr. Myles. He could “put the left back in front of its contradictions” thanks to his lucid, “moderate and pragmatic” criticisms.
Mr. Descôtaux specifies that “his economist’s perspective helped to understand why we had to be careful with certain social programs”. The former director remembers, for example, his criticism of drug insurance that former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard wanted to set up. “Jean-Robert’s approach was to say: ‘take the time to do your calculations'”.
“In the midst of the first wave of COVID-19, his editorial entitled “The model takes the water” caused a stir for its lucid denunciation of the poor quality of Quebec public services and their corporatism. Jean-Robert knew how to be tough, but his analysis was always supported by the facts and an in-depth knowledge of his favorite subjects, ”wrote in July 2021 Brian Myles, in an editorial announcing Jean-Robert Sansfaçon’s desire to officially put away his keyboard.
A significant legacy
As a manager, Jean-Robert Sansfaçon marked The duty by “taking responsibility” for launching the notebooks Outlook and Pleasure of the Saturday edition, says Mr. Descôtaux. “One of his main concerns was to enrich the content of the newspaper,” he says. We then experienced great growth, even in times of crisis in the media”.
Alongside his director friend, Mr. Sansfaçon has also contributed to the digital shift of the Homework. The newspaper turned, under their guidance, to digital subscriptions and new content for the Web. “He carried out extremely rigorous management at a time when the newspaper’s finances were more fragile,” says Ms. Chouinard.
“We will remember his selflessness and his courage,” concludes Brian Myles. Even in the last moments of his life, adds Bernard Descôteaux, Jean-Robert faced the disease with “serenity”.