Richard G. Gervais R.I.P.

Richard G. Gervais passed away in Montreal on March 10, 2025, surrounded by members of his family.

He was the son of Aurette and J. Gaston Gervais. He is survived by his wife and lifelong companion, Marie Chevrier, lawyer and administrative judge, whom he married in 1975, his sister Sonya (late Paul Lajoie), his sister Caroline (late Michel Salbaing), his uncle Claude-André Piquette, his nephews Pierre Salbaing (Chantal Perron) and André Salbaing (Patricia Girard) and their children Ema, Michelle, Eve-Emanuelle, and Pierre-Olivier. He is also survived by his brothers-in-law Robert Chevrier, Bernard Chevrier, Jean Chevrier and his sisters-in-law Adèle Besner (late Jean Besner) and Lucie Chevrier (Pierre Thomas), as well as their many children and grandchildren, and many friends in France, the United States, Mauritius, and across Canada.

Richard G. Gervais, political scientist, inveterate globetrotter, amateur historian, art-loving oenophile, great collector, and patron of the arts, began his career in politics under the Right Honorable Pierre Elliott-Trudeau in the late 1960s. After studying political science in Montreal, New York, and Paris, he arrived in Ottawa and served as a political assistant to three ministers, most notably the Honorable Mitchell Sharp, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and his mentor, for nearly four years. He was fortunate to participate in several state visits and meetings of the United Nations General Assembly in New York and NATO in Washington. He was a candidate at the Liberal Party of Canada nomination meeting for the riding of Lafontaine in 1972, and again in 1974, when he was defeated by 9 votes despite being declared elected by the national press.

He then decided to return to Montreal and practice the profession of public affairs. For seven years, he was director of public affairs for French Canada at the multinational Esso; later, he became senior vice-president of PIR, the largest public affairs firm in Canada at the time; then majority shareholder and CEO of GGA Communications for 25 years. There, he developed an international practice, both for Canada and other countries, supported by the World Bank. GGA had offices in Hanoi, Niamey, Abidjan, and Libreville, as well as in Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto. In 2010, he founded Wagram, a strategic public affairs consultancy that he ran until a few years before his death.

Over the course of his career, Richard Gervais supported a number of cultural organizations on a volunteer basis. He was a member of numerous boards of directors and fundraising campaigns. He was particularly proud to have been Chairman of the Board of Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and a member of the Board for ten years of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; as he was to have been Governor of the Festival de Lanaudière and the Théâtre du Bois de-Coulonge at Quebec.

He has also been a director of several companies and organizations, including Renault Canada, Club Mont-Royal, the Canadiana Fund in Ottawa, and Vie des Arts magazine. For ten years, he was Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Enders Endowment in Washington and New York. For over 35 years, he was a member of the Board of the Maison des étudiants canadiens at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris, later becoming an honorary member. He was a student at Science Po and President of the Paris Student Committee in 1966/1967.

He has donated numerous artifacts and works of art, and financially supported many museums and institutions, most notably the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the McCord Museum of Canadian History. In 2007, he presented the Bibliothèque de l’Assemblée nationale du Québec with more than 3,000 historical and political photos and artifacts from Montreal, Quebec, and Canada, as well as from the Francophonie and the Commonwealth, the largest donation in its history and for which he received the Assembly’s Medal of Honor.

For his volunteer work, particularly in the cultural field, he was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec in 2010. In 1967, he was awarded the Canadian Centennial Medal for his contribution to centennial celebrations in France. In 1981, he was elevated to the rank of Commander of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem. In 1986, he was made a member of the Order of St. John, a decoration awarded by the Right Honorable Jeanne Sauvé, Governor General. In 1992, he received the 125th Anniversary of Confederation Medal from the Speaker of the Senate, the Honorable Guy Charbonneau. In 2002, he received the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Medal, and in 2012 the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Honorable Serge Joyal, Senator.

Richard Gervais was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Mauritius in 1993. He served as such for several decades, devoting himself to this community which has seen its Canadian diaspora grow from 1,000 to over 40,000 citizens in 25 years. In 2009, in recognition of this volunteer dedication, the President of the Republic of Mauritius elevated him to the rank of Grand Officer of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (G.O.S.K.).

A great wine enthusiast, he was for decades a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux, Montreal Chapter, becoming its Grand Master. He was inducted into most of the brotherhoods grouped under the Grand Conseil de Bordeaux. He also became, with the Right Honorable Jeanne Sauvé and her husband Maurice, Mousquetaire de l’Armagnac, a brotherhood with few Canadians.

A funeral service will be held at St-Léon Church in Westmount on Friday, April 04, 2025, at 11 a.m. A reception will follow. Donations in his memory to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, – “Fond Richard G. Gervais” – would be appreciated.