A prominent figure in Quebec politics for several decades who was en route to his elderly father's funeral died Tuesday in a plane crash in the Magdalen Islands.
Jean Lapierre, 59, a former member of Parliament, was among seven people killed in the crash, CTV News Channel reported. The crash occurred in the Ilies-de-la-Madeleine off eastern Quebec amid wind and heavy snow, the station said.
Lapierre, who had served as Liberal transport minister, had been working for the TVA network as a political analyst whose commentary filled the airwaves.
Lapierre tweeted on Monday that his 83-year-old father had died after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.
The tragedy triggered an outpouring on social media for the popular political pundit. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Lapierre's death "a great loss to the political world."
Former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper tweeted that Lapierre "was a great Quebecer and a great Canadian."
Other members of Lapierre's family were also believed to be among the victims, the Associated Press reported. “The crash took place in a field on approach to the airport,” said Quebec provincial police Sgt. Daniel Thibodeau, who described the weather conditions as “not ideal” for flying, according to AP.
A witness, Antonin Valiquette, described to CTV News Channel how the plane hit the ground, bounced over a hill, then crashed a second time.
"I saw the plane hit the ground, went up the hill … there was a lot of parts flying around … and the condition of the plane after that was a wreck, honestly," Valiquette told CTV News. "The second hit really took its toll on the plane."
LaPierre originally served in the House of Commons as a Liberal from 1979 to 1993. After leaving the Liberals he became an independent and helped found the Block Quebecois, a federal political party that promoted Quebec sovereignty. In 1992, he retired from politics and shed affiliation with the Bloc. He returned to office as a Liberal from 2004 to 2007. After retirement he embraced a career as a high-profile political analyst on television and radio.
"There are a lot of people who can be quite cynical of politics.… but Jean was one of the people who saw that politics was more than that and because of his passion for it, was able to communicate it," Bernard St-Laurent, who covered Lapierre as CBC News' chief political correspondent for Quebec, told the network.
