Bernard Lemaire (May 6, 1936 – November 8, 2023) was a Canadian businessman. He was the Chairman of the Board of Cascades Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of packaging products, tissue products, and fine papers products.

Biography

Born in

Drummondville, Quebec Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...

, Lemaire studied civil engineering at the

Université de Sherbrooke The Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS; Quebec English, English: ''University of Sherbrooke'') is a French-language Public university, public research university in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, with a second campus in Longueuil, a suburb on the Mont ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. In 1960, he joined the family recycling business, Drummond Pulp & Fibre. In 1963, along with his father and brother, Laurent, he founded Papier Cascades Inc. (which later became Cascades Inc.). He was President and Chief Executive Officer of the company until 1992. Under Lemaire's presidency Cascades grew from a small paper mill in Kingsey Falls, Quebec, into a multi-national company with 90 plants and 11,000 employees in Canada, the United States and France. In 1987, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

, the centrepiece of Canada's

honours system An order is a visible honour awarded by a sovereign state, monarch, dynastic house or organisation to a person, typically in recognition of individual merit, that often comes with distinctive insignia such as collars, medals, badges, and sash ...

which recognizes a lifetime of achievement and merit of a high degree, especially in service to Canada or to humanity at large. In 2002, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Upon his retirement from Cascades, Lemaire began a cattle ranch that quickly grew to 1,000 head of highland cattle. His natural, hormone-free cattle are still marketed at the local grocery stores, IGA, Avril Health Supermarkets, butchers and restaurants. Lemaire died on November 8, 2023, at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lemaire, Bernard 1936 births 2023 deaths Canadian businesspeople Officers of the Order of Canada Papermakers People from Drummondville