Paul Demers (March 9, 1956 – October 29, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter."Singer Paul Demers wrote anthem for Franco-Ontarians"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', November 29, 2016. He was best known for writing the song " Notre Place", which came to be recognized as an anthem of the

Franco-Ontarian Franco-Ontarians ( or if female, sometimes known as ''Ontarois'' and ''Ontaroises'') are Francophone Canadians that reside in the province of Ontario. Most are French Canadians from Ontario. In 2021, according to the Government of Ontario, ther ...

community."Le chanteur Paul Demers mène son ultime combat la tête haute"

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

, October 1, 2016.

Background

Born in

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, his family moved to

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

when he was 16. He began performing as a musician in adulthood, touring music festivals across Ontario and forming the band Purlaine in 1979. Following a diagnosis of

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tire ...

in the early 1980s, however, he took several years off from music to undergo cancer treatment.

"Notre place"

He came out of retirement in 1986 to write the lyrics to "Notre place", which was originally commissioned for a gala to celebrate the passage of Ontario's 1986 ''

French Language Services Act French Language Services Act may refer to: * French Language Services Act (Ontario) The ''French Language Services Act'' () (the ''Act'') is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians, or ...

''. The song came to be adopted as the Franco-Ontarian community's unofficial anthem, and was formally designated as the community's official anthem by the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

in 2017. Following "Notre place", Demers returned to touring, both as a solo artist and with musicians Robert Paquette and

Marcel Aymar Marcel Aymar (born in Meteghan, Nova Scotia) is a Canadian musician, composer, writer and actor. He moved to Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario in 1972 as a teen and was a founding member of the popular Franco-Ontarian group CANO, playing guitar.Kuz ...

in the group Paquette-Aymar-Demers, released three albums, and worked as a theatre producer and director. A biography of him, by writer Pierre Albert, was published by Éditions Interligne in 1992."Engaging biography". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', June 27, 1992.

Death

Demers was diagnosed with

mesothelioma Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that develops from the thin layer of tissue that covers many of the internal organs (known as the mesothelium). The area most commonly affected is the lining of the lungs and chest wall. Less commonly the lini ...

in January 2016. He gave a retrospective interview from his hospital bed to the

Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of ...

program '' Grands Lacs Café'' in the fall, prior to his death on October 29.

Discography

*''Paul Demers'' (1990) *''D’hier à toujours'' (1999) *''Encore une fois'' (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demers, Paul 1956 births 2016 deaths Canadian rock singers Canadian folk singer-songwriters Canadian male singer-songwriters French-language singers of Canada Musicians from Gatineau Singers from Ottawa Franco-Ontarian people Canadian theatre directors 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male singers 21st-century Canadian male singers 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters