The priest who got cars onto Mount Royal

   Paul Aquin was a WWII vet who found a niche as chaplain to Montreal's taxi drivers, most of whom were hard-working French Canadian Catholics. He operated an unconventional church out of a 55-foot trailer with the words Le Bon Dieu en Taxi painted on the side, which he moved around the city. His mobile mission was souped up with a snack bar, radio, TV and was open 24 hours.

   For a while he had two trailers, which by 1960 he had moved around a combined 939 times. It was said that other priests resented him because his mission was so popular that it diminished attendance elsewhere. He was vocal in speaking out against violence against drivers.
   As evidenced by the photo above, in 1959 the Holy Trailer was plopped on Mount Royal next to the Cartier monument on Park where hippie drummers now play bongos on the weekend while what look like Hare Krishna dropouts traipse around. On the night the photo was snapped, Cardinal Leger was addressing drivers who parked their 150 taxis conveniently on the adjacent field. (Don't blame Drapeau, it was Sarto Fournier's reign). Aquin would move that trailer to such places as Rachel street near the Angus Yards, shopping malls and the east and Lafontaine Park from 1955-1969.
  When the church pulled the plug on his trailer, Aquin found work with the provincial government far from the city as a public relations guy. This was no fun for such a high-profiled man-about-town who particularly enjoyed, hanging around in the Forum dressing rooms, as he was good friends with Jean Believeau (who fainted at Aquin's funeral in 2008).
   In May 1973 Aquin undertook a bit of drunk driving in Rimouski and killed two people motoring on a three-wheeled motorcycle. He ended up in jail until December 24, 1974. He presumably sobered up, as he led a detox clinic but got into some hot water in 1986 for allowing Alex Hilton out without permission for 10 days. More cool photos of the thing here.