Jean‑Paul Losier
Jean-Paul Losier was born in Rivière Ă la Truite, New Brunswick in 1931. He attended the Nazareth Institute for the Blind in Montreal and Halifax School for the Blind before graduating from Queen Elizabeth High School. He went on to pilipiliÂţ» and received a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degree in 1964.
After these accomplishments and determined to succeed, Jean-Paul enrolled in summer courses at the Collège de Bathurst in order to obtain a bachelor’s degree in education. He received his degree from the Université de Moncton and in September 1968, he began a career as an accomplished teacher of mathematics. He was much loved by his students.
Along with teaching, Jean-Paul operated a farm. At the outset, he raised laying hens and kept a small herd of dairy cattle. When the market for cream in Moncton disappeared and milking cows became less profitable, emphasis shifted to raising beef cattle and growing hay.
Improvements to the farm continued over time. In 1977 a building for farm implements was constructed and in 1978 a hay dryer was installed in the barn. This addition made it possible to start haying earlier and have two harvests per year.
Jean-Paul always had a keen interest in new crop development in a number of areas including field crops, mustard and hemp for fiber. Always willing to try new things, Jean-Paul began to grow asparagus as a cash crop in 1979 and has since focused on horticultural crop production. Today he remains the largest producer of asparagus in the province.
When the Tracadie-Sheila downtown market was founded and incorporated in 1993, Jean-Paul was one of its earliest members and went on to be president of the group.
Jean-Paul joined the Fédération des agriculteurs et agricultrices francophones du Nouveau-Brunswick as a regional representative and served as its president between 1996 and 1999. During that time Jean-Paul maintained open communication between the Federation and the Agriculture Producers Association, two general farm organizations that would eventually merge to form the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick.
In 1997, Jean-Paul was a founding member and co-president of the New Brunswick Agricultural Council.
In addition to his love of agriculture, Jean-Paul has a passion for music. As a founding member of la Chorale Lafrance, he has been an active choir member for over 40 years and served as its president and vice-president during that time.
Jean-Paul has always excelled and has been recognized for his many accomplishments. The New Brunswick Institute of Agrologists honoured Jean-Paul’s agricultural leadership and awarded him the Louis Hébert Trophy in May 1998. On September 1998, he received a recognition award from the Société des enseignants retraités francophones. That same year, he received a “retiree of the year” certificate for his contribution to the cause of the education of New Brunswick Acadians and Francophones. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind presented him with the Arthur Napier Magill Award in 2002, its most prestigious award offered to a Canadian, in recognition of his outstanding dedication.
Jean-Paul and his wife Hélène have five children; Marcel, Michel, Bernard, Louis and Joël.
Nominated by the Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick in recognition of his triumph over adversity and for his contribution to the agricultural industry, Jean-Paul Losier is indeed a worthy inductee into the Atlantic Agricultural Hall of Fame.