Long-time NUPGE activist Louis Fournier dies from cancer

"Louis wanted the world to be a better place—and he wasn't about to wait. He was always the first to roll up his sleeves and get to work to make it that way," says NUPGE National President James Clancy.

Ottawa (19 Jan. 2015) — Louis Fournier, a former youth-care worker who was both an OPSEU/NUPGE member and staff member, died just before Christmas after a years-long struggle with cancer. He was 66.

"Louis wanted the world to be a better place—and he wasn't about to wait," remembers NUPGE National President James Clancy, who met and befriended Fournier when both were active OPSEU members in the early 1990s. "He was always the first to roll up his sleeves and get to work to make it that way. Sometimes he got paid to do it. When he didn't, he did it anyway."

Fournier played a key role in a variety of campaigns

A native of Campbellton, in northern New Brunswick, Fournier played a key role helping Clancy lead a variety of campaigns and strikes over the decades. He spent weeks on the road with Clancy during the Ontario public service strike in 1996, and was a regular presence over the years at OPSEU and NUPGE events and training sessions. A year and a half ago, after a punishing round of cancer treatment, Fournier spent six straight weeks traveling Atlantic Canada on the first leg of NUPGE's successful Fairness Express campaign to fight rising income inequality.

"He was a happy warrior," Clancy recalls. "He made the rest of us happy warriors too."

To read Clancy's full memorial to his friend and brother, please click here. The downloadable document contains both English and French versions.

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE