Bob Petit is to snowmobiling what the St. Lawrence River is to Quebec: a tireless ambassador who stops at nothing to reach his destination. At 81 years old, the creator of the first marked snowmobile trail in Quebec still has projects, which he carries with strength.
In 1939, as the Second World War broke out, little Robert was born in Montreal. His mother was a seamstress and his father was a lithographer at The Gazette. With his brother Jacques and his sister Fernande, Bob had an urban childhood, with no motors nearby. His schooling was relatively short.
When he was fourteen, his father opened the doors of The Gazette for a summer job, and he would rather start working than wear out his pants in school.
He is already attracted by nature and wide open spaces in winter and likes to pitch his tent in the snow, in the yard of the family home, to escape from the concrete.
At a young age, Robert enjoyed organizing and creating leisure activities. At 18, he was president of the Fiesta ski club, named after a Montreal restaurant he frequented. He took dozens of skiers by bus to the Mont-Saint-Sauveur and Val David ski resorts.
A colleague from the Gazette invited him to his family in Saint-Jean-de-Matha, a place he quickly appreciated and where he still lives today. So he rented a cottage in this Lanaudière village to enjoy it more often. In winter, he has to walk to his cottage in the snow, sometimes up to his waist. He needs a winter vehicle.
That’s how, at 25 years old, Bob discovered snowmobiles, or rather snowmobiles as they were still called in 1964. He had an agreement to leave it during the week in the garage of a hotel in Saint-Jean-de-Matha and he picked it up on weekends to access his cottage at Lac Noir.
It’s time for the first races. Bob is always present when it comes to organizing. He meets Denis Drouin, a well-known artist and snowmobile enthusiast who will become his accomplice and a tireless spokesperson for snowmobiles and trails.
In 1967, a carnival is organized at Black Lake. Bob is naturally part of it. He goes to the SKI-DOO dealer to get the trophies. And here he is at 50 miles an hour on his Olympique. A ski blade breaks and it’s a tragedy. He is thrown 15 feet into a ravine and hits a concrete pillar. Fractures of the pelvis, femur, internal bleeding, perforation of the kidney, broken femur. Coma, three weeks in hospital, six months of convalescence, the bill is heavy. But this did not discourage him.
He uses this downtime to develop this idea of marked trails.
It begins with a 3 kilometer section between Lac-Noir and Saint-Jean-de-Matha.
Since 1965, he is administrator of the Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon snowmobile club and in 1968, he creates a marked trail between Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon and Saint-Jean-de-Matha, the famous trail #3. It’s only a few kilometers, but everything has to be created: Obtaining the rights of way (with the help of famous artist Denis Drouin), maintaining the trail, creating the signage. Bob makes the signs himself!
Each villa or community begins to develop its own path. But it is not connected to anything. There is even a reluctance, for fear that club members will go elsewhere.
A ride that was covered by the media with a program on channel 10, now TVA, and Denis Drouin, would open a connection between Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and Saint-Gabriel-de-Brandon. Bob found the time less long by sharing his snowmobile with his friend Brigitte.
The whole of the early 70’s will be devoted to promoting the creation of trails, and the agreement between the clubs which have a pronounced parochial spirit. Snowmobiles became snowmobiles, and there were over 100 brands on the market. Bob continues to work at The Gazette in addition to his volunteer work.
He even asked his father Ferdinand and his mother Marguerite to make the 960 signs for 800 kilometers of trails.
He is now president of Sentiers de Motoneige Trans-Québec inc. In 1975, the Trans-Québec trail # 3 is inaugurated with great success, with a 6-stage route from Mont-Laurier to Quebec City. Several personalities participated, including Denis Drouin, Serge Dionne and Philippe Dacier. On this occasion, the well known journalist Pierre Lecours will write: “We owe a huge debt to Bob Petit”.
In 1976, his work is recognized by the snowmobile community. He was named VP of the young Fédération des Clubs de Motoneigistes du Québec, then executive director, and he is now paid to develop his passion. This is a great gift.
But a poisoned gift. Because passion comes at a price. He gave up his job at The Gazette after 19 years, losing his pension fund that required 20 years of participation.
His weekly salary was reduced from $700 to $287, but the Federation president at the time promised him a higher salary once the organization received government funding. Bob is on all cylinders. There are now 421 licensed and affiliated snowmobile clubs. He manages the Sentiers de Motoneige Trans Québec Inc., creates the Federation’s Motoneige Québec magazine, manages the Soleil de nos hivers Inc. promotions and the Quebec Snowmobile Racing Circuit Inc.
In 1978, the grant arrived ($92,000), and it was the cold shower, the betrayal of his life. The president in place fired Bob from his job as director in March. Then he resigned as president to take his salaried position. At a much higher salary of course.
What a disappointment for Bob Petit. All the work he had done was hardly rewarded. And one misfortune never comes alone, his great friend Denis Drouin dies of cancer in April. It was a time of depression for the passionate man who found himself alone and had to rethink his professional future.
He rebounds by becoming the representative of the O’Keefe brewery for Lanaudière. He gives out trophies at various snowmobile events and takes the opportunity to create a map for snowmobilers, which will be taken over by Tourisme Lanaudière.
Bob is always present to promote snowmobiling, trails and racing. He has been hosting a radio show for 16 years for snowmobilers and ATV riders. He is a columnist on RDS sports television. His capsules are produced at Motoneiges Illimitées in Terrebonne.
In 2008, he received the medal of the National Assembly thanks to the deputy of Berthier François Benjamin as a visionary of tourism development, and for his qualities as a unifier and communicator. He is accompanied that day by Jacques “Mon’onc” Villeneuve, also honored.
After 40 years, in 2015, the Transquébec 3 trail was renamed Bob Petit trail, a well-deserved honor for the developer of a concept that weighs heavily in the economic benefits of snowmobiling. It is now a 3 billion dollar market, the annual arrival of 30,000 foreign tourists and 100,000 annual members of the Fédération des Clubs de Motoneigistes du Québec
In 2016, a tragedy deeply saddened Bob Petit. His friend Robert Poliquin died in a snowmobile accident while crossing a road. The stop sign put up by the club was not visible, covered by the snow. Bob Petit went to the site the same day and found the cause of the problem. He suggested that the Ministère des Transports du Québec install road signs for better visibility and solidity.
He asked the snowmobile and quad federations, the Ministry of Transport, and created a petition, but the file did not progress. He talks to his friend Joé Deslauriers, mayor of Saint-Donat and president of the caucus of the Union des municipalités du Québec. The latter presents the file and the principle is finally integrated into the new law VHR 71 implemented in late 2020.
What a beautiful victory, what a beautiful salute to the memory of his friend, and all the other deceased victims of these fender-benders on OHV trails.
But Bob Petit has yet another vision, the International Motorsports Center of Quebec. A building that would be the embassy and gathering place for tourism and motorsports lovers. Ideally located on Highway 640, between the Laurentian and Lanaudiere regions, it would bring together different aspects of the activity. A snowmobile and ATV hall of fame, with a motorcycle and car extension. A museum of old-time beauties, an electric karting track. The tourist part would host a large round room to present the tourist regions of Quebec on 360 degrees. An education room with virtual helmets would be used for quad or snowmobile rides. For communication, a radio and TV studio, a conference room, would allow to publish motorized information. Restaurants, commercial spaces, everything is imaginable. And why not pass here the famous obligatory trainings for the guides of excursions, the participating tenants, the young people of less than 18 years and the drivers of modified two-seater quads?
Recently, Bob saw that Alexandre Tagliani was building an electric parking track in Sainte-Thérèse. Maybe a connection to make?
To carry out this project, we would need investors, the will and help of the ministries of tourism and transportation, the support of the federations that receive an amount on each of the 200,000 registered snowmobiles, not to mention quads and off-road motorcycles. In the 3 billion annual spin-offs, there might be a tiny part to give back to a building that could eventually pay for itself. The message is out!
In his busy life, he has seen a lot of people. Like Jacques Proulx, the famous “morning man” of CKC Montreal, whom he met with his daughter in Saint-Jean-de-Matha. This little girl was called Caroline Proulx, and she is currently the deputy of Berthier, minister of tourism of Quebec. Saint-Jean-de-Matha is small, as the saying goes!
The year 2020 has not been good for tourism, but Bob has plenty of ideas in his head, as soon as everything gets back on track.
At 81, Bob gave his life for snowmobiling. He was rewarded less than a retired Lieutenant-Governor General, but he accomplished a mission that was bigger than himself. He knew how to federate, convince, imagine, and transmit this flame to thousands of passionate people like him. The famous club volunteers, and the users who, thanks to him, were able to experience adventures on one of the longest federated trails in the world, the TransQuébec snowmobile trail network.
Bob doesn’t look his age, and when asked if he’s going to retire, he has only one phrase in his mouth: “I haven’t said my last word!”
His book : https://online.fliphtml5.com/onwtl/ijwr/
The Bob Petit page : http://bobpetit.derytele.com/
