Quebec’s first education minister is dead

If you thought the Grand Noirceur was ancient history, ponder this: Quebec’s first ever education minister has just died. Paul Gérin-Lajoie was 98. He created the first education ministry under Jean Lesage in the 1960s. He’s credited with making education free and mandatory till age 16, among a list of other achievements.

I’m seeing tweets that Gérin-Lajoie will get a national funeral. Le Devoir collects a scroll of elegiac tweets.