Ulrick Chérubin (December 24, 1943 – September 25, 2014) was a Canadian politician, who served as mayor of Amos, Quebec, from 2002 until his death in 2014.[2] He was one of the first Black Canadians to be elected a mayor in Quebec. Like other black mayors in Quebec history, Chérubin led a municipality which is virtually entirely white and Québécois.[3]
Ulrick Chérubin | |
|---|---|
 Ulrick Chérubin during an event associated to Amos' centennial celebration. | |
| Mayor of Amos, Quebec | |
| In office 2002 – September 25, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Murielle Angers-Turpin |
| Succeeded by | Donald Blanchet |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 24, 1943 Jacmel, Haiti |
| Died | September 25, 2014 (aged 70) Amos, Quebec, Canada |
| Spouse | Immacula Morriset[1] |
| Profession | Teacher |
Early life
editThe youngest of five children, Chérubin was born in Jacmel, Haiti, in 1943.[4] He was educated in Haiti, where he was a childhood friend and classmate of Michel Adrien, who would later become mayor of Mont-Laurier, Quebec.[3]
Fleeing the dictatorship regime of François Duvalier, Chérubin left Haiti while he was still studying mathematics in a Port-au-Prince university.[5] He moved to Canada in 1970 to study education at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières,[6] and subsequently taught religion in Cap-de-la-Madeleine.[6] In 1971, he married Immacula Morriset, a nurse also originally from Haiti.
Chérubin continued to teach in 1973, and also studied administration and English as a Second Language teaching at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue.[3] He moved to Amos in 1974.
Political career
editChérubin was first elected as a municipal councillor in Amos in 1994, winning his seat with a five-hundred vote majority.[6] After being re-elected unopposed as a councillor in 1998, Chérubin was elected to the position of mayor of Amos. In 2004, he was awarded the Jackie Robinson Award, in honour of his status as a pioneering Black Canadian, by the Montreal Association of Black Business Persons and Professionals.[7]
In 2009, city councillors Charles Yancey and Chuck Turner of Boston, Massachusetts, sponsored a motion declaring January 2, 2010, to be Ulrick Chérubin Day in the City of Boston, when he visited the city.[1]
Chérubin was most recently re-elected in 2013, winning his fourth consecutive term, winning 73% of the vote in a victory over Amos municipal councillor Éric Mathieu.[8]
On November 10, 2013, Chérubin appeared on Le Banquier, the Quebec version of Deal or No Deal, where he won a total of $222,500. Chérubin, who was selected to take part in the program out of a pool of eight thousand initial applicants, appeared in order to promote and raise funds for the centennial celebration of the town of Amos.[9]
Death
editOn September 25, 2014, Chérubin died in Amos, aged 70 from cardiac failure.[2][10]
References
edit- ^ a b "Honorable Ulrick Chérubin" (PDF). Office of the City Clerk, Boston, Massachusetts. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ a b "Le maire d'Amos, Ulrick Chérubin, est mort". Radio-Canada. 25 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Blatchford, Andy (31 March 2013). "How two Haitian friends became Quebec mayors". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Ulrick Chérubin". Cape Breton Post (in French). 7 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Politique | Actualités | L'Écho Abitibien et Le Citoyen de la Vallée de l'or et Le Citoyen de l'Harricana". www.lechoabitibien.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24.
- ^ a b c Pierre, Samuel (2007). Ces Québécois venus d'Haïti (in French). Presses inter Polytechnique. pp. 451–453. ISBN 978-2553014116.
- ^ "Three honoured with Jackie Robinson Awards". The Gazette, May 9, 2004.
- ^ "Ulrick Chérubin récolte un quatrième mandat à la mairie d'Amos". Radio-Canada (in French). 3 November 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ Guindon, Martin (10 November 2013). "Ulrick Chérubin gagne 222 500 $ au Banquier". Abitibi Express (in French). Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ^ "Ulrick Cherubin, one of Canada's first black mayors, dead at 70". Sun News Network, September 25, 2014.