Loss of a radio legend

Michel Mathieu was just 14 when he wired his own radio transmitter, broadcasting his very own radio station to the blocks surrounding his home - no license, but heaps of confidence in his own remarkable aptitude for the art of radio.

It’s fitting, then, that Mathieu’s legacy is cemented at the end of his life too, in the radio tower erected in Kanesatake last year to strengthen the signal of Reviving Kanehsatà:ke Radio (RKR), the community’s local station that he dedicated years to helping support.

The tower, erected in October of last year, stands in his memory, as the Mike “The Bear” Mathieu Radio Tower.

“I let him know before he passed that we were dedicating the tower in his name, and he was really, really proud of that,” said Karahkóhare Syd Gaspé, who is the president of Mohawk Multi Media, the nonprofit that oversees RKR.

“He was always saying that the Mohawks are the most generous and friendly people he’s ever met and treated him so well, and he was really proud to work for us, for the Mohawk people.”

On February 20, Mathieu passed away at the age of 78, after a battle with cancer that led to various other health complications. His partner, Ginette Ricard, said that homages to Mathieu have come from near and far.

“He was someone passionate, you could see it, and he always wanted the best,” she said.

Mathieu spent some of his career working at Radio-Canada, but his heart was always with the “little guy.”

As well as working at RKR and K1037 Radio, Mathieu dedicated his time to work with stations like Concordia University’s CJLO 1690 AM, Laval’s CJLV 1570 AM, and the multi-lingual Radio Humsafar 1610 AM.

“Sometimes the stations didn’t have a lot of money, so he’d do it for free or for little money,” said Ricard. “He didn’t like Radio-Canada because it was so big, he came back to his independent work to service little stations.”

When he was stretched thin consulting for what felt like every radio station in Quebec, Mathieu would rarely turn down someone in need of help.

“Even if he didn’t have a lot of time to take on extra things, he would always say yes, because of his passions,” Ricard said. “Radio interested him more than anything. He knew all of the stations pretty much all over.”

He was known for fighting for what he believed was right at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), where he helped RKR after their license came under threat from another radio station trying to take over their frequency.

Gaspé, who considers Mathieu his mentor, said that it was thanks to Mathieu that the CRTC sided with Kanesatake.

“If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have the radio station,” he said.

Throughout the process of getting RKR back on the airwaves, Mathieu was there, helping to guide the ship. Over the past year, with Mathieu’s health declining, Gaspé has been able to continue that work, equipped with the knowledge that he’s built up over years of Mathieu’s mentorship.

“He was just a wealth of knowledge. I think I learned maybe an eighth of what he knew, but I’m trying to at least help continue his legacy,” Gaspé said.

Every station was special to Mathieu, and Kahnawa’kehró:non Joe Delaronde remembers how willing to help Mathieu was when K1037 started planning their new tower and transmitter.

He worked with Mathieu throughout the years at the station, including in the 1980s, when much of the equipment was second-hand and held together with “duct tape, WD-40, and whatever else we could find to stay on the air.”

“When we called him back, he was thrilled, he said it was like coming home. He remembered how much work he did in the old days, and he was working day and night to get us ready to make the switch when we moved to our new building,” Delaronde said.

“He was working sometimes until two or three in the morning, just to make sure everything was done. That was Mike.”

Though he was deeply serious about his work, Mathieu was also known for his jokes, earning the nickname “The Bear” in reference to his imitations of the popular Radio-Canada show Pépinot et Capucine, which aired on Radio-Canada in the 1950s. He was a “walking telephone book” and memorized everyone’s phone number, ever reluctant to use a modern cell phone to keep track of his contacts.

“He was a really, really, wonderful man, and a great human being,” Delaronde said.

Mathieu will be missed by all who crossed his path professionally and personally, but his impact will remain obvious for generations to come.

“I’m lucky to have shared 44 years of my life with an exceptional man who knew how to bring out the best in everyone,” said Ricard.

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