Two Haitian-Canadian Mayors Life-Long Friends - Michel Adrien and Ulrick Cherubin

Cherubin, almost 70, and Adrien, in his mid-60s, first got acquainted at Port-au-Prince University during the 1960s. They had each decided on a teaching career, and it was Adrien, with better math skills, who helped Cherubin meet his general education requirements.

During Cherubin and Adrien's early life, Haiti suffered under the tyrannous reigns of François Duvalier and son, Jean-Claude. Adrien left Haiti after graduation, immigrating to Montreal. Within a year, he found a teaching position in Mont-Laurier. Although a town with little racial diversity, he felt accepted at once. Cherubin, who left Haiti in 1971, also found acceptance in Amos. He arrived there on the offer of a teaching position in 1973.

Even though the friends--both born in Jacmel--lost track of each other, they met again at a city council meeting in Quebec. Both wed nurses and were representing their towns as councilmen. Then Cherubin and Adrien ran for mayor in separate campaigns in Amos and Mont-Laurier. They won by overwhelming majorities.

The backwoods of Mont-Laurier and Amos offer hunting and fishing as indigenous activities, which the friends pursue with enthusiasm. Asked if they ever think about their parallel tracks in life, Cherubin answers, "After all these years . . . it's normal."

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Read more: diaspora, canada, jacmel, Mayor, Haitian-Canadian, Michel Adrien, Ulrick Cherubin, International

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