Gil Courtemanche (August 18, 1943 – August 19, 2011)[1] was a Canadianprogressive journalist and novelist in third-world andinternational politics. He wrote for theMontreal newspaperLe Devoir.
Courtemanche was born inMontreal, Quebec. He began his career as a journalist in 1962, with several collaborations withRadio-Canada includingLe 60,Métro Magazine andPrésent National. He later createdL'Évènement, a television program with Radio-Canada which he also hosted between 1978 and 1980. During the same period, he was also an editorialist with CBOT, an Ottawa radio station. In 1978, he hostedContact, the first public affairs magazine forTélé-Québec. Between 1980 and 1986, he worked as a host, analyst and correspondent for the programsTélémag,Première Page andLe Point with Radio-Canada.
Courtemanche helped found thesovereigntist andsocial democrat newspaperLe Jour, and also worked as a journalist withLa Presse. From 1986, he worked on various publications such as Alternatives and Le Libraire. He published columns on international politics inLe Soleil,Le Droit, andLe Devoir.
He participated in making documentaries, including the seriesSoleil dans la nuit for TV5 Europe-Afrique-Canada, on the first anniversary of theRwandan genocide. He also filmed a documentary on AIDS entitledThe Gospel of AIDS. Furthermore, he helped produced various documentaries and advertisements on the third-world forLe Cardinal Léger et ses œuvres andOXFAM-Québec: leprosy in Haiti, the politics of water, agricultural development in the Philippines, education for disabled children in Thailand, etc.
His first novel,Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali, which documents the Rwandan genocide of 1994, was published in 2000. It was chosen for inclusion in the French version ofCanada Reads, broadcast on Radio-Canada in 2004, where it was defended by writer, environmentalist and activistLaure Waridel.Un dimanche à la piscine à Kigali eventually won the contest. It was filmed asA Sunday in Kigali (Un dimanche à Kigali).
Courtemanche died August 19, 2011, from cancer, one day after his 68th birthday.
