Gérald Godin
Gérald Godin was a Canadian poet and politician from Quebec. During his time as a politician, he served in various cabinet posts in the governments of René Lévesque and Pierre-Marc Johnson. As cabinet minister, Godin has been noted for his openness towards immigrants.
Biography
Born in Trois-Rivières, he worked as a journalist at La Presse and other newspapers and magazines. His most important poetry collection, Les cantouques: poèmes en langue verte, populaire et quelquefois française, was published in 1967. He was among those arrested under the War Measures Act during the October Crisis in 1970.Political career
In the 1976 Quebec provincial election, he won a seat as a candidate for the Parti Québécois, heavily defeating incumbent Premier Robert Bourassa in his own riding of Mercier.He served in various cabinet posts in the governments of René Lévesque and Pierre-Marc Johnson. His most notable role was Minister of Cultural Communities and Immigration. Godin saw immigrants as the future of Quebec’s sovereigntist movement by believing that they should be welcomed and acknowledged that they left due to negative impact of authoritarianism in their home country. However, he felt that immigrants should respect Quebec history and integrate into Québécois society.
Godin also avoided scapegoating immigrants. In 1984, during an interview with Radio Canada on the topic of undocumented immigrants, he rejected the idea of that Canada borders should be tighten towards poorer countries, by responding that countries like Canada should utilize their strengths. In 1993, after the Charlottetown Accord failed to pass, Godin was furious when Jacques Parizeau, who proclaimed that sovereignty could be achieved without Anglophones and Allophones of Quebec, by telling Le Devoir that Parizeau comment 'scraped' previous effort of outreach done by the PQ.
Personal life and death
His life companion was the Québécois singer Pauline Julien. Godin died from brain cancer in October 1994.Legacy
As a poet, he won the Prix Québec-Paris for his 1987 work Ils ne demandaient qu'à brûler.The area surrounding the Mont-Royal metro station has been named Place Gérald-Godin in his honour. One of his poems, Tango de Montréal, described as a lyrical tribute to the immigrants in Montreal, is displayed as a mural overlooking the square.
Cégep Gérald-Godin, in Sainte-Geneviève, Montreal, is named after him.