On the street, he was known simply as Father Andre.
Andre Poilievre, who spent his career working with young people at risk and gang members, died earlier this week, his family confirmed. He was 88 years old.
Pailievre did not seem like a priest, favoring ball caps, sweaters and breakwaters to cassock and necklaces. He drove half a ton, and most of the days could be seen rolling through a Dru-Thru of Tim Hortons with a teenager in tow in the way to an appointment.
For those who met the rank chaplain, their faith was defined by the action.
“Father Andre, was always the true definition of defender,” said the executive director of Egadz, Don Meikle.
“He had no problem with the system … Many people don’t like to go against the police, many people are afraid to go against the system. He didn’t care.”
Prud’homme to prison
Andre Poilievre was born in Prud’homme, a small town east of Saskatoon, on August 12, 1936. In 2023, the University of Saskatchewan granted him a Doctor of Honorary Law from Saskatchewan. The ceremony included a biography.
“He was ordered as a Catholic priest. While looking for a higher education as an adult, he traveled to more than 25 countries to learn from groups that help marginalized communities. In Saskatoon, Father Poilièvre worked directly with young people at risk and the active members of the gangs through their roles as a priest, cape to his life of life inspired by his life of his life.
“In 2002, Father Poilièvre was approached by two young people who sought help to leave the life of gangs. Together, the three founded STR8 UP. The program offers advice, education and support for people who have lived criminal lifestyles, helping them make positive changes in their lives.”
Senator Tracy Muggli was at that ceremony and remembers Pailievre saying that she would feel more comfortable talking to inmates in Saskatoon prison than a call ceremony.
“You could hear a pin when he spoke, because he spoke like a real servant,” he said. “That’s what he was. He was a true servant of God.”
Muggli crossed with Pailievre when she was a director of Mental Health and Health Services of the Saskatchewan government. She remembers her compassion for people trying to leave the lifestyle of gangs.
“It is incredible that a man who had so much heart and experienced so much love for humanity has been able to create an organization to help so many people.”
Str8 above
Stan Tu’inukafe helped create STR8 with Poilievre. They met two decades ago when Tu’inukafe was working with John Howard society and began listening to a priest who worked with gang members.
They gathered to have coffee and realized that they were on the same way.
“My first impression was, you know, here is an individual who is like my grandfather,” said Tu’inukafe.
“Someone who sit with you, would talk to you without trial, who worried you, was reflective. I wanted the best for you.”
Tu’inukafe said that Pailievre’s legacy in Str8 Up is about giving voice to people who had lost their voices.
“He humanized them.”
Robert Henry is an associated professor in the Department of Indigenous Studies of the University of Saskatchewan. Henry studies matters of justice, including the lifestyle of gangs in the city and the province.
He said that Pailievre initially resisted working with him: “He simply declared that he did not trust researchers,” but finally developed a relationship.
Poilievre, he said, were about building relationships, especially with young men and women fighting with the street lifestyle.
“He really resonated with many of the members, even if they entered and left and ended up returning to the street. He would never leave them there,” he said.
“So that was always there, that kind of implacable love and hope that I was always trying to give people.”
