Parks Canada

Nelson Sergerie, LJI Journalist

GASPÉ – Thirteen members of the group representing the expropriated people of Forillon and their decendants, along with the group’s founding president, Marie-Laure Rochefort, received quite an honour: an Award of Excellence from the Director General of Parks Canada. 

Four members of the Forillon Park team also received this distinction. The group of expropriated people distinguished itself in the “Spirit of Collaboration” category, when three of its members received the award of excellence from Parks Canada President and CEO Ron Hallman on June 7 in Gatineau. 

Parks Canada wanted to highlight this fact during a meeting held at the Cap-des-Rosiers Discovery Centre on September 19. 

“I am absolutely overwhelmed. I think it’s a lot,” said Ms. Rochefort, who was the initiator on June 14, 2009, in Grande-Grave of what would become the Regroupment of expropriated people of Forillon and their descendants, whose mandate is to represent the expropriated persons in all consultative bodies of Forillon National Park and to inscribe the history of expropriation in the history of Gaspésie, Quebec and Canada. 

“I never imagined it would happen this way. We were a team of girls and we had our guy. We worked together and we had very specific goals. We developed the testimonies of the expropriated persons. I imagine that the people who were there had the same opinion and what was ultimately done is huge,” says Ms. Rochefort, who follows the work of the group. 

“I want to see the new things they are proposing so that the memory lives on. It’s important. It was difficult for my parents who had to live it and endure it,” says Ms. Rochefort with emotion. 

During the ceremony, tears ran down the cheeks of the 40 or so people on site on several occasions. 

Since 2010, the group has been an essential partner for Parks Canada. “Today’s event was intended to recognize the relationship with the group of expropriated persons. It was also Marie-Laure Rochefort’s recognition for all her commitment from the very beginning to have sparked the relationship with Parks Canada and especially to have given us the opportunity to enter into her vision and, today, let’s hope that we do better than we did at the time,” explains Hugues Michaud, Executive Director for Quebec and Nunavut for Parks Canada. 

In June 1970, Forillon became the first national park in Quebec within the Canadian network in order to ensure the protection of a territory of 244.8 square kilometres, including a marine strip more than 150 metres wide. 

To proceed with its creation, some 225 families had to leave their properties and nearly 1,200 owners lost their woodlots and parts of their cultivated land. This expropriation caused major upheavals in the family, economic and social lives of these residents and the community. 

“The relationship in the Gaspésie is a model and is probably the most advanced in the country,” notes Mr. Michaud. 

“The park is full of extraordinary natural resources, but this park is first and foremost a human story. The history of occupation by different generations and by different nations including the Micmac people and the grouping of expropriated people and their descendants. It is a priority and is moving towards greater emphasis. It is certainly not the flavour of the month,” says Mr. Michaud. 

The group is consulted at various strategic moments and sits on the park’s advisory committee. In recognition of this exceptional contribution. Parks Canada has granted $25,000 to the group to support the completion of projects aimed at commemorating the expropriated people so that their history can be documented, told and recorded in the collective memory. 

“In order to be able to recognize your commitment and to be able to continue this important collaborative project for several years, I have the honour of announcing that Parks Canada will give the grouping of expropriated people $25,000 in grants to continue the work of remembrance,” said Mr. Michaud during the ceremony. “This is just the first of many gestures we’ve made, but we must continue to believe in the future and say that the best is yet to come,” believes Mr. Michaud. 

“It has often been a problem to find funds to move forward with our projects. This $25,000 will certainly help us realize projects that have been on the back burner for a long time. I also want to say that during all these years what has helped us a lot is the fact that the door to Forillon Park has always been open and increasingly open. We have always been welcomed with a lot of respect and collaboration,” said the current president of the group, Hermeline Smith, who hinted that something would be announced next year, which would coincide with the park’s 55th anniversary. 

“It’s a great mark of respect for all these people, from Ms. Rochefort and her group, who campaigned for the recognition of the rights of the people of Forillon, so that they would have respect commented Gaspé Mayor Daniel Côté. The group has led to significant connections and mutually beneficial achievements, including the Park Pass Program to provide access to six generations of expropriated persons, the creation of commemorative panels for families who occupied different areas of the park territory and, more recently, the Grande-Grave Heritage Accommodation Project. 

The 13 members of expropriated families who received the award are: Marie-Laure Rochefort, Amanda Roberts, Andrée Bouchard, Claudine Noël, Debbie Phillips, Eileen Perry, Elizabeth Tuzo McGregor, Hermeline Smith, Kathleen Langlais, Lynn-Ann Smith, Pierre O’Connor, Pierrette Perry and Sarah-Émilie Fournier. 

The four Parks Canada employees are: Michel Queenton, Émilie Devoe, Élisabeth Lacoursière and Stéphane Marchand. They were chosen to highlight the “Creation of a lasting relationship between the expropriated persons of Forillon and Parks Canada.”