The Canadian Meat Council (CMC), a major Canadian organization, paid a moving tribute to Réjean Nadeau, former Olymel President and CEO, by posthumously awarding him its Chair Award. The tribute was part of CMC’s 100th Annual Conference and General Meeting in Ottawa on Tuesday, June 14, attended by CMC members and representatives from across the Canadian meat industry. Réjean Nadeau succumbed to cancer on October 14, 2021, after having been at the head of Olymel for more than 25 years.
Chris White, CMC president and CEO, began by recalling the major milestones in Nadeau’s career, the values that drove him and the positive influence he exerted through Olymel on the evolution, modernization and growth of the meat industry in Canada. He also underscored his immense contribution to promoting the industry and its products worldwide. As a former colleague and friend of Réjean Nadeau, Sylvain Fournaise, vice president, Food Safety and Technical Services at Olymel and outgoing CMC chair, gave a personal and moving testimony highlighting Nadeau’s outstanding qualities as an entrepreneur, his vision and his humanity.
The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and Agri-Food, who was also in attendance, recalled the words Nadeau wrote to his employees in a final farewell note on paying attention to others and being open to change.
Yanick Gervais, Réjean Nadeau’s successor as president and CEO of the company, had the honor of receiving this posthumous CMC Chair Award to honour Nadeau’s career and memory on behalf of all his colleagues at Olymel. Gervais expressed his heartfelt thanks to the CMC board for their recognition and tribute to his predecessor and will be presenting this award to members of Nadeau's family in the coming days.
