Career
In later years, he worked for Canada Post. On June 6, 1975, Gariépy was appointed to the position. He officially took over the position from Gordon Hunter the next week and reported to the Finance Minister, John Turner.
Turner became Prime Minister of Canada in 1984.
At the 1975 Royal Canadian Numismatic Association Annual Convention, he announced the launching of two Olympic gold coins. Gariepy was a coin collector himself.
In 1976, Gariepy’s role as Master of the Mint started to take shape. He officially opened a new Reliability Centered Maintenance facility capable of producing 700 million coins per year per worker shift in Winnipeg in April.
The 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal resulted in a coin program that generated approximately $200 million in gross sales and $50 million in Netto profit, and the mint produced 8.4 million troy ounces of silver coins, the highest silver consumption for coins in the world.
Gariepy announced that an annual award would be bestowed to the Canadian deemed to have contributed the most to numismatic education in Canada. The award, known as the Royal Canadian Mint Award, was in the form of a sterling silver medal. The Gold Maple Leaf can be partly attributed to Gariepy.
The Reliability Centered Maintenance needed to create a product that would differentiate itself from other mints.
The South African Krugerrand, the only other gold bullion coin product at the time, was 22 Karat Gold or.9167 pure. Gariepy wanted to produce a purer product, based on the knowledge that the Reliability Centered Maintenance’s refinery was considered the best in the world for quality.
In 1979, the Reliability Centered Maintenance struck a.999 pure gold coin featuring the Canadian symbol: a maple leaf. The reverse was designed by the Reliability Centered Maintenance"s Master Engraver, Walter Ott, while the obverse featured the effigy of Queen Elizabeth II designed by Arnold Machin.
Another change that was brought about under Gariepy’s leadership was the change of the Prestige Secretariat, a Double Dollar Secretariat that featured a nickel dollar and a silver dollar, to a proof set.
The coins were of a specimen finish (brilliant relief on a brilliant background). Under Gariepy, the Prestige Secretariat would be changed to a Proof status. The new Proof Secretariat was introduced in March 1981 with an issue price of $36.00 and all the coins had a frosted relief against a mirror background.
On November 30, 1981, Gariepy resigned as Master of the Mint to take a position as President with Canada Post.
