With a very heavy heart, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) informs you that our dearest comrade Pierre Chénier passed away from acute heart failure on Thursday May 18, at 69 years old.

Comrade Pierre was a beloved member of the Central Committee of the Party and its National Executive Committee, Secretary of the Party’s Workers’ Centre and President of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec (PMLQ).

We are all reeling from this great loss for the Party, for the Canadian working class of which he was a tireless champion, and for the Quebec people for whom he was a worthy patriot son.

We extend our most sincere condolences to his sister Nicole, his brothers Robert and Michel and their spouses and children whom he loved dearly and of whom he was very proud. Pierre was predeceased by his dear life companion France Tremblay in 2008.

The Central Committee also sends heartfelt condolences to all his comrades, friends, colleagues and fellow workers with whom Pierre shared weal and woe and who we know will be shocked with this sudden news.

All who interacted with Pierre know well how he worked with a passion to advance the cause of the working class to constitute the nation and vest sovereignty in the people. Born to a working class family in Montreal, he lived a wonderful life filled with the challenges the Party and he himself took up, which were many.

At the height of the Quebec student movement in the seventies, Pierre as a student activist at the Université du Québec à Montréal joined the Party in 1975. From 1977 he played an important role as organizer and leader of the Communist Youth Union of Canada (Marxist-Leninist). He participated in the resistance movement against racist and fascist violence helping found the People’s Front and travelled across the country in a people’s caravan stopping in every city on a learn-from-the-people campaign.

Pierre encouraged the working class to speak out on its own behalf. As a worker politician he was a Party candidate in several elections federally as well as in Quebec and Ontario. He was actively involved in all stages of the life of the Party and the people of Canada and Quebec until his untimely death.

A very talented person, he participated in various fields of endeavour simultaneously. In the mid-eighties he joined the technical base of the Party press and became a first pressman. He took up the work to develop the enlightenment movement through writing for the mass Party and non-Party press. In the recent period this included his commitment as a journalist for the Party press, TML Monthly and Workers’ Forum.

He pursued his hobby as a music critic with enthusiasm attending musical performances of all kinds and collaborating with the Montreal magazine La Scena Musicale. Culture and music in particular for Pierre were important to further the cause of social justice, international solidarity, peace, freedom and democracy the world over and make Canada and Quebec zones of peace.

As a Party leader he participated in conferences to elaborate matters of concern to the working class and people. As a journalist, he interviewed communists, trade unionists, rank-and-file workers and social activists about their activities and conditions. He skillfully rendered what they had to say about their concerns and their contribution to opening society’s path to progress. Pierre was very determined when he set his mind on something. Always modest and kind, the workers with whom he stayed in touch saw a person who put his heart and soul into everything he undertook, always doing his best to master his subject with loyalty, integrity and a great sense of humour. He cared for his fellow workers with profound social love and attention to detail, making sure he grasped their situation.

With dedication, Pierre paid first rate attention to doing his best to make sure the voice of the workers could be heard from coast to coast to coast so that their unity could be forged, their common cause appreciated and the workers’ movement strengthened. He also paid close attention to exchanging views with young people and had many friends who visited him often. He will also always be known for encouraging everyone through his own example to take up political responsibility to humanize the social and natural environment.

As President of the PMLQ, he fought to democratize the electoral law, end the situation whereby political parties are made appendages of the state, stop state-organized violation of the privacy of the citizenry, put an end to the situation whereby some parties are given privileges over others, and where the right to an informed vote is negated and citizens are blocked from setting the government’s agenda.

Of considerable significance to our lives was Pierre’s voice, which never failed to give us joy. Even as a student, he would passionately sing his favorite arias in the elevator at the Read Pavilion of the University and when the doors opened the waiting students would burst into applause. His entire life, whenever the opportunity presented itself, he revelled in singing the songs of the Party, the Canadian working class, Quebec nation, and peoples of the world, along with his favorite arias, inspiring everyone to join in. Who can forget seeing Pierre singing with boundless enthusiasm his beloved Quebec folk and Party songs and favourite arias by himself or in a choir.

Pierre, we will forever cherish the sound of your voice. We will forever cherish the content of your song in all its forms of expression. May you rest in peace.

Central Committee
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
May 23, 2023

A memorial service will be held in Pierre’s honour on Saturday, June 10 at 3:00 pm at the Cabaret Lion d’Or, 1676 Ontario Street East, Montreal H2L 1S7. Messages and remembrances of Pierre can be sent to the Party and Pierre’s family to: remembrances@cpcml.ca and souvenirs_de_pierre@pmlq.qc.ca

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