There is another article at
https://www.journallenord.com/actua...-west-en-estrie-pour-oublier-le-mauvais-sort/ which Google translates as the following:
Fire at Canots Nor-West: In the Eastern Townships to forget bad luck
By Luc Robert
Members of the Gariépy clan, whose famous business Canots Nor-West recently burned down in Prévost, put the test behind them by going to support a kid at the Bantam A hockey tournament in Windsor.
Grandson of Jean Gariépy, Frédéric Thouin also saw his aunt Brigitte Gariépy come to brave the freezing temperatures at the J.A. Lemay Sports Center to encourage the A1 Lions of Saint-Jérôme, who reached the semi-finals.
"There's probably over a million dollars in fire damage. It remains to be seen how the insurance companies will assess all of this. Carle (current manager) will then decide whether to rebuild or not. It's a big piece of history that has gone up in smoke. I myself worked there in my youth,” recalled Brigitte Gariépy.
Emotional, his father Jean was looking for the right words to describe the drama, he who took over from the founder Augustin in 1994, with his brothers Robert, Roger and François, in the making of custom canoes.
“The sharing of knowledge has been passed down from one generation to the next. The grandsons of Augustin (my father), Carle and Dominique, carried on the tradition. The molds and jigs have gone through it. We would have to start all over again,” he testified.
Through the ages
The beautiful history and fame of Canots Nor-West go beyond Quebec borders. The company has risen to the challenge of various eras to become the largest cedar canoe builder in Canada.
“We do not yet know if the blaze is due to an electrical cause or another. It's a shame to end like this. My father's company was founded in 1945, to meet the demands of hunting and fishing enthusiasts, sportsmen, prospectors and cruise guides, etc., also for the transport of goods in the Canadian Arctic. When we arrived in the Laurentians, we built the first house on Route 11 (now Route 117), in Lesage (Prévost),” recalled Mr. Gariépy with nostalgia.