GATINEAU – Friends of Alain Gourd say the Canadian media industry has lost a humanist and optimist, a fierce defender of Canadian talent, as well as a persuasive debater who often earned the respect of his opponents – and a dedicated family man who made time to comfort those with cancer even as he fought the same disease.
Gourd passed away at the age of 66 this past Saturday. After battling cancer for nearly a decade, which was in remission, he died last weekend of complications due to pneumonia.
Andrée Noël, national chair of the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council calls Gourd one of the most knowledgeable persons she’s ever met in the broadcasting industry and someone he called friend for more than 20 years. “He was a humanist. He had a strong mind and an iron determination which helped him in his 10-year fight with a stage four colorectal cancer. He was dedicated, to his family, to his work, to his country. When he was deputy minister of communications, he helped us [when Noel was with early telephony competitor Fonorola] by providing crucial support from our Embassy in Washington to obtain the first resale licence issued by the FCC back in the early ’90s,” recalls Noël.
“He helped people with cancer live through their ordeal. He was warm, faithful, funny, witty, he got along with everyone, even his opponents in the marketplace. I will miss him. The broadcast industry will miss him. And above all, his family will miss him.”
Former chairman of the CRTC Konrad Von Finckenstein said he was impressed both with Gourd’s intellect and personality. “I worked with him on and off over 30 years, when he was deputy minister of the department of Communications when he ran Bell Media and most recently as head of the Broadcasting Summit,” he told Cartt.ca. “Given his keen intellect, sensitivity and ability to innovate he was always able to find a solution between the cultural demands and dynamics of the Canadian broadcasting world and the realities of the market place.
Finckenstein added that he found Gourd (right) to be a “charming and persuasive debater in both official languages. Even if one did not agree with him, one never felt any rancour or ill feeling after a debate with him. Consequently he found solutions and compromise where many others failed.”
Gourd is also remembered as a strong supporter of Canadian creative talent and Canadian business in “every facet of his multi-layered private and public sector career,” said Glenn O'Farrell , Groupe Média TFO's president and CEO. “He was well known for the tireless work he devoted to developing and forging consensus among players of varying interests, always seeking the quintessential win-win outcome,” added O’Farrell.
A lawyer by training, he began his career in the family broadcasting business in Rouyn-Noranda, in Northwest Quebec and was appointed president and CEO of Radio-Nord, in 1973. In 1981 he left to become president and CEO of Radiomutuel and then in ’82, he was appointed senior assistant deputy minister, then deputy minister, at the Federal Department of Communications, successively working with Ministers Marcel Masse, Flora MacDonald and Perrin Beatty, where he participated in the development of several policies dealing with communications and Canadian culture. In 1992, he became deputy minister of public affairs at the Federal-Provincial Relations Office.
Between 1992 and 1994, Gourd became the associate secretary to the Cabinet and deputy clerk of the Privy Council.
In 1994, he returned to the private sector as president and CEO of Cancom, and then held the same position at Bell Satellite Services from 1998 to 1999. From 1999 to 2001, he was chairman and CEO of Bell ExpressVu and president and CEO of BCE Media. Between 2001 and 2004, he was executive vice-president corporate at Bell Globemedia, with responsibilities that included government and regulatory affairs.
Gourd was a dynamic presence in his capacity as member of several committees and boards of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), in particular as chair of the Television Board in the early 1980s, as well as chairman of the board of the CAB in 2003 and 2004. From 1976 to 1978, he was also successively a member of the board of directors, a member of the executive committee, vice-president and then president of the Association canadienne de la radio et de la télévision de langue française (ACRTF).
In addition to his work in broadcasting and communications, Gourd sat on the boards of directors of numerous non-profit organizations, including the Banff Television Festival Foundation, the Canadian Broadcasting Museum Foundation, the Canadian Film Centre, chair of the Hexagram (Institute for Research / Creation in Media Arts and Technologies), chair of the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, the International Institute of Communications (London), where he was chair (1991-1994), the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada, where he was also president, the Canadian Museum Construction Corporation, the Conseil régional de développement de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where he was president, and the Conseil de presse du Québec.
He has also sat as a Director at the University of Ottawa and was chairman of the board at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. Later he became Chairman of Telesat Canada, a director of Regional Cablesystems, a member of the executive committee of the TVA Network and vice-chairman at Télévision Quatre-Saisons (TQS), in Montreal.
In 2004, Alain launched Alain Gourd Communications Inc. in Gatineau, a consulting firm specializing in strategic, regulatory and government affairs.
He was also awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Université du Québec en Outaouais, for his volunteer work in the fields of education and the battle against cancer as well as to honour all his career achievements. In 2006 he was inducted into the CAB Hall of Fame.
Gourd leaves behind his wife Jacinthe Theberge, his son Frederic, his daughters Catherine, Elaine and Ariane, his grandchildren Pierre, Jeanne, Madeleine, Gabrielle, Zachary and Victoria, as well as several brothers and sisters, other relatives, colleagues and friends. The visitation for Alan Gourd will be held at the Serge Legault funeral home in Gatineau this Sunday, December 16, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. and from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., and Monday, December 17, from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. The funeral will be held Monday, December 17 at 11:00 a.m. at St-Joseph de Hull church.
