Thursday, paddlers formed a circle on the water in Dominica, an island in the Caribbean, to mourn “the exceptional beings” who were the Quebec businessman and patron Daniel Langlois and his partner Dominique Marchand . They were found lifeless last Friday at this location located between Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Moved, the crowd standing on the quay watched the kayaks and boats loaded with flowers move away, according to images of the ceremony broadcast live on the Internet. As night fell, a choir sang songs and marchers marched with candles in memory of the couple who first visited this island in 1997.
Mr. Langlois and Mr.me Marchand fell in love with the place, to the point of later launching the Coulibri Ridge project there, a self-sufficient hotel which welcomed its first guests in 2021. Their disappearance sowed consternation among the islanders, just as among Quebecers, who considered Daniel Langlois a visionary. “This vigil will allow us to come together, beyond the seas, to mourn exceptional beings,” underlined the hotel complex, in a press release sent to Duty earlier Thursday.
According to local media Dominica News Online, the entrepreneur and his partner were reportedly the occupants of a burned vehicle spotted by police authorities near the town of Gallion, in the south of the small Caribbean island. A fourth suspect was arrested by police as part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the couple’s death.
Ceremony on the water
The two Quebecers were known for their involvement in Dominica, in particular because of their REZDM Foundation (Resilient Dominica Project) dedicated to the reconstruction of the island after the devastating passage of Hurricane Maria in 2017.
On Thursday, the kayakers held their paddles high to say goodbye to Daniel Langlois and Dominique Marchand. They then sailed in a circle on the waters, as the last rays of the sun faded behind them. It is “a symbol of the Dominica community and the resilience of this exceptional couple,” said Simon Walsh, of the REZDM Foundation, in a press release.
Born in 1957 in Jonquière, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Mr. Langlois is considered by many to be a precursor of computer animation. In 1986 he founded Softimage, a company recognized for its 3D animation techniques. He sold his company to Microsoft in 1994 for $200 million, then established the Daniel Langlois Foundation in 1997.
The latter also founded Ex-Centris in 1999, a film production and distribution complex, the closure of which in 2016 caused turmoil among film fans in the metropolis.
The patron received several distinctions during his life, such as being named a knight of the National Order of Quebec and the Order of Canada, in 1999 and 2000 respectively. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also awarded him a Scientific and Technical Oscar in 1997.