Yves Desautels will no longer have to pronounce the words rush hour, collision, towing, bumper to bumper, traffic jam, slowing down and defective lights. But above all, he will no longer have to zigzag between the potholes and orange cones of which there are thousands in the streets of Montreal – at least for work.
At the end of a career of 47 years, including 26 as a traffic columnist on ICI Première, he bequeathed to someone else the Hérisson, the vehicle in which he traveled every day. The time for retirement and the dolce vita has come for him.
I reached him Friday as he was emerging from the “tsunami of love” he received the day before from colleagues and listeners.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Yves Desautels, traffic columnist for ICI Première, newly retired
My departure was announced on May 6. So there was a crescendo. But I admit that the last day was very emotional. It was rough. I didn’t know people loved me that much.
Yves Desautels, traffic columnist for ICI Première, newly retired
I like to say this again: radio creates an incomparable bond with the public. This is its great strength. The departure of Yves Desautels is an eloquent example of this powerful relationship. Authentic, spontaneous, gentleman, this columnist is all of these at the same time. And listeners have always felt it.
But another thing explains his credibility: Yves Desautels was the only traffic columnist to throw himself into the heat of the action every day. The screens that show images of busy intersections were not for him. “When I started in 1998, all the traffic reporters were in a vehicle. I was the last one to do this. It allowed me to experience the same problems as the listeners. When there were things that didn’t make sense, I said so. People felt that. »
This emotional day began with the team of All one morning. The tribute paid to him ended in a charming way when Patrick Masbourian, helped by his teammates, performed a revised version of the song The bicycleby Yves Montand.
When he left early in the morning
When he went on the road
By van
[…]
And then there were the orange cones
And the damned changes of meaning
Pedestrian streets, sidewalk sales
And the thumbnails
The VIA Rail team, Geneviève Guilbault, Minister of Transport, René Homier-Roy, Michel Désautels and Denis Niquette all highlighted his professionalism and good humor. But what made the man who admits to “crying often” break down were the testimonies of his partner, Francine, and his three children, Anouk, Simon and Étienne.
Listen to the tribute to Yves Desautels at All one morning
In the afternoon, these were the last farewells to the show 15-18. Yves Desautels had been hoping for several days that no major media event would spoil this moment. However, during the 5 p.m. bulletin, Donald Trump’s guilty verdict fell. Bang! However, Annie Desrochers and her colleagues needed more to keep quiet about the departure of their colleague.
For his last trip home, Yves Desautels made a point of having two loyal “road collaborators” with him, Yves Laforest and Claude Milette. The latter said that the columnist was a sort of road cardiologist. “He works for a company with a big heart, he operates in the heart of a big city and he is a specialist in arteries. »
Listen to the opening of 15-18 with Yves Desautels
By chance, Yves Desaultels retired at the very moment when The Press publishes an issue with the title To slow down. If there was one who often told us to slow down, it was him. But when he begins his retirement, has he prepared well for this step which allows him to change gear? “We always traveled in June. There, we can leave in September. »
A fan of cycling and tennis, he also intends to devote time to these passions.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, THE PRESS
Yves Desautels spent 26 years commenting on traffic on Radio-Canada.
Yves Desautels now intends to limit his car travel in Montreal. “It’s become hellish. Scheduling work is a big problem. How can we explain that work is currently taking place in the four corners of the Jean-Talon market as the summer season begins? »
The chronicler, that his famous “ouch ouch ouch!” » made famous, can’t help but shoot an arrow at the municipal administration.
More and more people are leaving Montreal and that doesn’t seem to bother the current administration. The only decision she makes is to raise taxes. Meanwhile, people go elsewhere.
Yves Desautels
At the end of the day Thursday, Yves Desautels left Radio-Canada with the orange cone that his colleagues at 15-18 offered to him as a joke. Then he went to the FACE school to attend his grandson Gaël’s end-of-year show. That says a lot about his priorities.
After leaving the Hedgehog at Radio-Canada at the end of the evening, Yves Desautels returned home… by bus. You can not make that up.