A Quebec pastor admired for his generosity, who came to the aid of many asylum seekers, perished in a plane crash in Haiti a few months following his son died in a terrible work accident at the Grande Roue de Montréal .
• Read also: Grande Roue de Montréal: vigil in memory of Riley Valcin, victim of a work accident
“I would tell you that I won the lottery of bad luck,” confided to the Journal Joey Valcin, son of Gamaniel Valcin, who is among the six victims of the crash of a small aircraft on Wednesday, near Port-au-Prince.
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Gamaniel Valcin, who died in a plane crash Wednesday in Haiti, had read a note at the vigil honoring his son Riley in January.
A few months earlier, on Christmas Day, his brother Riley Valcin died at the age of 22 in a work accident at the Grande Roue de Montréal, while clearing snow from the tourist attraction.
A week ago Mr. Valcin was also present at the presentation of a medal of the National Assembly by the Liberal MNA for Bourassa-Sauvé, Paule Robitaille, awarded posthumously to Riley for his perseverance.
Relatives of Gamaniel Valcin are full of praise for him.
“He might leave his business to take care of those of others. I have never met someone as generous as him, ”argues a friend for 35 years Jean-Fritz Odné, the other pastor of the Montreal church where Mr. Valcin worked.
He describes him, among other things, as an “extroverted and extraordinarily sincere” man.
Ready for everything
Mr. Valcin is also praised for his commitment to the asylum seekers who have arrived in Montreal by the thousands in recent years.
Frantz André, of the Action Committee for People Without Status, says that he has often endorsed asylum seekers who wanted to rent accommodation, in addition to accompanying them in their procedures with border services.
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The 22-year-old died in a work accident at the Grande Roue de Montréal on Christmas Day.
“He was ready to go to the extreme of what he might do to help others,” he sums up.
Despite this double drama which “devastated” his family, Joey Valcin had the courage to appear before the media on Thursday morning.
“I want everyone to remember my father for the great man he was,” he said calmly. If I’m able to be so strong today, it’s thanks to him. »
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Joey Valcin, son of Gamaniel Valcin, believes that his father’s remains were not “respected” because people allegedly looted what was left of the small device in which the Quebec pastor perished.
Ottawa’s help requested
He said he didn’t like what he saw in videos on social media showing the scene following the crash. According to him, the body of his father “was not respected”, because several people would have looted what was left of the device.
He later had confirmation that his father’s body had been taken to a morgue. He still asks the federal government to facilitate his repatriation, because the unstable situation in Haiti “does not allow him to go there”.
Minister Mélanie Joly’s press attaché, Adrien Blanchard, contented himself with answering the Journal “that the representatives of Global Affairs Canada are in contact with the family and the local authorities”.