Lac-Mégantic anniversary forcing loved ones to revisit their grief: ‘It makes the pain last’

Yolande Boulet-Boulanger says this is a very difficult time for her and her family.

The 10-year anniversary of the July 6, 2013, Lac-Mégantic train derailment tragedy is being marked with a series of commemorations in the southeastern Quebec town.

For Boulet-Boulanger, it will force her to revisit her grief a decade after her grandson’s death. Nineteen-year-old Frédéric Boutin was among the 47 killed.

“That night he was at the Musi-Café,” recalled Boulet-Boulanger. “But he left early ‘cause he was working at 4 a.m. His apartment was downtown across the street from the Musi-Café.”

In the early morning hours, a train carrying crude oil derailed in the heart of Lac-Mégantic, triggering the fatal explosion. It was one of the worst rail disasters in Canadian history. Many of those who died were at the Musi-Café, a local bar and restaurant.

“We think the sound woke him up and he tried to escape from the emergency exit at the back of the building because they found his body in the back alley,” Boulet-Boulanger told CityNews. “He was the first to be found, the second to be identified, and it was the first funeral.”

A younger photo of Frederic Boutin, who was 19 years old when he lost his life July 6, 2013, during the Lac-Megantic train derailment tragedy. (Submitted by: Yolande Boulet-Boulanger)

With the anniversary approaching, Boulet-Boulanger couldn’t help but feel emotional thinking of the life her grandson never got to live.

“He had signed up to go back to school to become an industrial mechanic like his dad, he was starting school Aug. 19,” said his grandmother. “He had come to visit me at the hospital because… I was hospitalized before the tragedy and he came to see me and we were chatting.”

“And he said, ‘I’m going to go back to school because at $19 an hour, I can’t think about starting a family.’ He had a girlfriend and he would have been responsible for that.

“He was a beautiful young man. He was 19 years old.”

Expropriation for Lac-Mégantic rail bypass

Last month Boulet-Boulanger found out she is among those being expropriated for the Lac-Mégantic rail bypass, which would run through her family farm. It’s a project that’s dividing the community.

Boulet-Boulanger is firmly against it and has been fighting for several years.

“I’m not angry, I’m disappointed. Very disappointed,” she said. “I think there is an incredible lack of awareness from authorities.

“A five-year-old could have known there was danger there … and why was there never a public inquiry?

“I think it’s not the government that controls CP (Canadian Pacific), it’s CP that controls the government.

MORE ON LAC-MÉGANTIC:

• Lac-Mégantic prepares for 10th anniversary of Canada’s worst train disaster
• Nearing 10th anniversary of Lac-Mégantic rail disaster, what’s changed?
• Philippe Falardeau confronts rail industry with docuseries on Lac-Mégantic tragedy

With the anniversary commemorations around the corner, Boulet-Boulanger says she feels the municipality is doing too much. Her son – Frédéric Boutin’s uncle – agrees.

“I feel they’re doing too much. It makes the pain last,” said Boulet-Boulanger.

“You have to turn the page and keep it personal. You don’t have to go for a big show,” her son, Richard Boulanger added.