Death of organized crime expert Pierre de Champlain

Former Royal Canadian Mounted Police analyst and organized crime expert Pierre de Champlain died Thursday evening last week at the age of 74.

Mr. de Champlain, who has written several books on organized crime in Quebec, Canada and the United States, has also made numerous appearances or been quoted many times in interviews in electronic media or in written media in during the last decades.

His works include Cosa Nostra: History of the North American Mafia (1979), Organized Crime in Montreal 1940-1980 (1986), Gangsters and Men of Honour, Decode the Mafia (2005), and History of organized crime in Montreal, volumes 1 and 2 (2014 and 2017).

Passionate about organized crime, particularly the Mafia, Mr. de Champlain was in the process of writing another book at the time of his death.

“A native of Rimouski, Pierre studied at the University of Ottawa, then worked for twenty years in the House of Commons in the field of parliamentary procedure. He ended his professional career as a civilian employee of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, where he held a position as a criminal intelligence analyst,” his family members write in the obituary that has just been published. be published.

“Under his appearance of a discreet gentleman, Mr. de Champlain, former clerk of the Federal Court in Ottawa, had two passions, the Mafia and writing, to which he devoted a good part of his life. For a time, he made frequent trips to New York to reimmerse himself in the mafia atmosphere of the restaurants, bars and shops once frequented by the famous American mafiosos. Convinced of the importance of demystifying the criminal underworld, he never refused to give his point of view in the media, whether in interviews or opinion pieces signed by him. Author of several books on the Mafia and organized crime in general, he was recognized for his great rigor and the simplicity of his writing, "said the former journalist for police affairs and organized crime at La Presse and co-author of the book Mafia inc., André Cédilot.

The funeral will be celebrated on Saturday, July 31 at the Coopérative funéraire de l'Outaouais located at 95, boulevard de la Cité-des-Jeunes in Gatineau, in the Hull sector.