Personal Life
Desmarais has two sons: Paul Jr. and André (who is married to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's daughter France) and two daughters, Sophie and Louise. Sophie Desmarais' ex-husband, Eric Le Moyne de Sérigny, is involved in a political financing scandal in France known as the Bettencourt case widely covered by the French media. French President Nicolas Sarkozy came under fire after allegations that his presidential campaign was illegally funded by Liliane Bettencourt, L'Oréal heiress and France's wealthiest woman. Sérigny is close to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, heads numerous companies, and a member of the board of directors of Imerys, a mining company partially owned by a subsidiary of the Power Corporation of Canada and majority owned by the Desmarais family and tycoon Albert Frère, the richest man in Belgium who was involved in the UN Oil-for-Food scandal.
He has a large family estate in Sagard, Quebec, Canada between the villages of Saint Simeon and Petit-Saguenay: the field Laforest. His area of over 75 square kilometers has an estimated value of more than $ 50 million (Canadian dollars). The architecture of the mansion was designed and overseen primarily by Sylvain Larouche, head of his team of 18 prominent architects. Desmarais also owns homes in Palm Beach, Florida and New York. Paul Desmarais or his sons belong to associations such as the Bilderberg Group, the North American Competitiveness Council which designed the Security and Prosperity Partnership, as well as the Council on Foreign Relations.
He is a staunch opponent of the Quebec sovereignty movement. On February 2, 2009, French president Nicolas Sarkozy made comments asking Quebec sovereigntists to focus on unity and not separation from Canada, and to put their goals of sovereignty on hold during tough economic times. This angered many sovereigntists who claimed that Sarkozy was acting under the influence of Desmarais.
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