Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 1999-10-21
Invested on: 2000-02-09
Throughout his career he has combined law, geography, political science and linguistics. This multilingual, well-travelled geography professor with the Université Laval is recognized as a political geography specialist and an expert in toponymy. His accomplishments include the illustrated dictionary Noms et lieux du Québec, a reference book which constitutes a veritable encyclopedia of the province, and the officialization of thousands of Aboriginal and Inuit place names. A great humanist, he feels there is a story hidden behind each name.