Aylmer restaurateur who died in head

Aylmer restaurateur who died in head-on crash remembered as 'bon vivant'

Véronique Plourde's death 'a huge loss for the entire community,' says friend

A Gatineau, Que., businesswoman who once ran a restaurant on Aylmer's main street was one of two people who died in a crash in the city Friday, according to family members who spoke to Radio-Canada.

Véronique Plourde was "an epicurean person, a unifier, full of gentleness, tenderness and light," family member Jean-Christophe Mercier said in a French-language interview.

Mercier said Plourde, 34, was returning from an evening out with her friends when she collided with another vehicle on boulevard des Allumetières shortly after midnight Friday.

News of her death left him in shock, he said.

"It has created a gaping hole in my heart," Mercier said.

Three people were taken to hospital after the head-on crash, Gatineau police said Friday.

Both drivers were pronounced dead upon arrival, while the third person, a passenger riding with Plourde, was in critical condition.

2 dead, 1 in critical condition after boulevard des Allumettières crash

Police have not provided an update since Friday about the condition of the passenger. The identity of the other driver who died has not been made public.

Ran L'Aubergiste restaurant until 2023

Mercier described Plourde as someone who was resilient and who persevered to keep her Aylmer restaurant, L'Aubergiste, open and running after the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2021, Plourde told CBC/Radio-Canada that new COVID-19 rules were affecting her business and that she'd taken a second job to make ends meet.

At the end of 2023, L'Aubergiste finally closed. Mercier said he was there on its final day.

"I sincerely hope that people will cherish [her] memory. She was truly a bon vivant," he said in French.

"We're keeping her memory alive in our hearts, our memories, photos and anecdotes."

Plourde's death is a "huge loss for the entire community," said Guy Leblanc, general manager of the Galeries Aylmer shopping centre.

Leblanc told Radio-Canada in French that he considered himself "like a second father" to Plourde.

"For her young age, she had already accomplished a lot," recalled Leblanc, a promoter for the local business community. "I always loved the drive she had, always pushing herself."

He said he plans to organize a gathering in her honour, adding it would be a "festive" event "because that's what Véronique would have wanted."

With files from Radio-Canada's Charlotte Tremblay and Clément Lechat