OBITUARY: Cable pioneer, the "Hero of Magog", Omer Girard (updated)

MAGOG, QC – Omer Girard, one of the founding fathers of Canadian cable television, died Saturday at his home in Magog, Que. A remarkable entrepreneur in Canada’s telecommunications industry who made a name for himself in the 1960s and ’70s with his epic battle for open access to telecom infrastructure was 92. In 1957, Girard founded Transvision Magog, one of the most storied cable companies in Canadian history. Between 1960 and 1967, he launched five other cable businesses and cofounded the Canadian Cable Television Association, of which he became president in 1968. However, Girard stood out as the one who...