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The French Canadian Club of British Columbia
On April 21st,1941, six French Canadians met at the home of Joseph Tremblay and decided to found an association that they named the French Canadian Club of British Columbia with the following objectives:
- To try to identify French Canadians in English speaking British Columbia
- To group them together, to organize meetings, to develop the “cult” of the French language and to help its members in any way possible.
Determined pioneers as we shall see; their numbers grew at each meeting. The President, Mr. George Therrien, had the following mandate: find all the French Canadians on the Island, invite them to join the Club, and keep them united and involved.
In addition to membership drives, a home had to be found for the Club. In the meantime, the meetings were held here and there. The Club met in private homes, in rented halls in the Library of the Diosese, and in summer, the gardens of Loretto Hall.
Since this was during the Second World War, many members of the Armed Forces came from Quebec to Victoria and Esquimalt for their military training. The Club, in an effort to lessen their feelings of isolation, organized picnics and get-togethers. In September 1942, 1600 soldiers arrived from the east, and the members were delighted to entertain them.
On June 24th ,1945, the first congress of the French language was held in Victoria, British Columbia. At this time the French Canadians of British Columbia adopted the idea of a “federation of the different francophone groups in British Columbia”. At the founding meeting for the Federation, held on September 2nd and 3rd, 1945, the francophones of Victoria who already had a provincial charter, were asked to cede it to the newly founded Federation. Victoria accepted the request on August 27th, 1946, and changed its name to “Le Cercle des Canadien-français de Victoria”. Four years later, in 1950, the Federation returned the charter to Victoria and the members took back their former name of the French Canadian Club of British Columbia.
In 1957, the Club bought the property of the Anglican Church at 301 Richmond, where meetings were henceforth held. Subsequently, the Club rented venues in various Victoria locations: Herald St., Pandora Ave., Bay and Douglas Sts., Victor-Brodeur School, Constance Ave., then back to Victor-Brodeur School and finally Yates St. in 1999.
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The French Canadian Club of Victoria
The 1970's started with a name change: the Club became the French Canadian Club of Victoria on September 8th, 1970. This was the beginning of a new era of grants from the State Secretary of Ottawa. The grants from Ottawa allowed the Club to expand its influence on Vancouver Island.
There followed an extension of the French fact by opening a socio-cultural Centre, and by hiring animators - artists from Quebec, the Prairies, Vancouver and Maillardville who brought their shows to Victoria. Meanwhile, the francophones of the Capital formed glee clubs, theatre groups and artisan workshops. They met for coffee and for cooking classes. They became involved in televison programs, a historical committee, put out a newsletter and organized many more activities.
TThe Francophone Society of Victoria
In 1982, the Club changed its name once more to become the Francophone Society of Victoria.
1984 is an important year for francophone associations in Canada. The Canada-Community agreement provided further funding from Heritage Canada for greater development.
In 1998, the Francophone Society of Victoria, in partnership with Educacentre and the Ministry of Development and Human Resources, opened a Welcome Centre and an Employment Centre. The Francophone Society of Victoria continues to grow and develop each year.
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The Echo of Columbia, Le Phare, Le Réverbère... éclairé and Le Réverbère
Every community or organization needs a means of communication: The French-Canadian Club of Victoria was no exception. In 1964, the Club felt the need to found The Echo of Columbia which served as a sort of platform for the French-Canadian Club in its demands.
Having disappeared in 1966, the hardy little news bulletin reappeared in February 1967 and was published for the last time in October 1968. After a temporary revival in 1974, the last edition- the fifth – came out in February 1976.
All these publications and their editors led the way for The Lighthouse which benefited from the tenacity and devotion of its predecessors. The Lighthouse was first published in the mid 80's and changed its name to The Réverbère in 1990.
In 1997, this newsletter took the form of a magazine with many articles and titles and became the Réverbère...enlightened until January 2003. From February 2003 and on, it has been called The Réverbère, and has remained the principal mouthpiece for francophones and francophiles of Victoria.
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French Canadians and the construction of Fort Victoria
In the 1800's The Hudson's Bay Company was looking for a site to build a trading post for furs which would be under the control of the British Empire. The uncertainty concerning the limits of the border with the U.S. posed problems for the governors of the Hudson's Bay Company. James Douglas, their main trader, was assigned the task of exploring possibilities for the establishment of the trading post on the Island. He especially noticed the land which he described to his employers as, “The place itself appears a perfect Eden”.
In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company built Fort Victoria which is the site of present day Victoria. Approximately 15 French Canadians took part in the construction of the Fort. As the company was under British control, the authorities were English-speaking. However, many of them were bilingual. The employee contracts were drawn up in French. The forms came from Montreal, headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Comapany. The sector in which the Fort was located is now known as the Inner Harbour and runs through to Bastion Square from Government to Fort street. This Fort is not to be confused with Fort Victoria along Route #1 which is a tourist attraction. In remembrance of Fort Victoria, stones bearing the pioneers' names were laid at the edge of the sidewalk on Government Street between Broad and Bastion Square. In 1995, the Francophone Historical Society of Victoria added the names of the francophones who had not been included. From 1843 to 1858, Fort Victoria served as headquarters for the Hudson's Bay Campany for its fur trading activities. However, at the time of the Gold Rush in 1858, it was tranformed into a governmental and commercial centre.
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The Gold Rush and the francophones
In 1854, Joseph Morel, a carter working for the Hudson's Bay Company, had noticed flecks of gold no bigger than a pinhead in the merging waters of the Columbia and Pend d'Oreille rivers. He brought half a cup of this black sand to the Fort Colville trading post.
The following spring a few French Canadians and Métis had installed tippers on the spot and could make a salary of about three dollars a day. Many went up the Pend d'Oreille river and brought back three or four ounces of the precious metal. This was the start of the Gold Rush. Later came the discovery by an Indian in 1856 of a large gold nugget in the Nicomen river. By April 25th, 1856, 450 men reached Fort Victoria aboard the Commodore at a time when the regular population of the Fort was only 400.
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The Migration of the French in California to British Columbia
At the time France was embroiled in yet another revolution and suffered from financial difficulties. This explains why between November 1849 and April 1851, 4,000 French people immigrated to California. It is estimated that 30,000 gold seekers left California for British Columbia. All means of navigation were good and all had to stop in Victoria before they reached their destination. Proof positive of a considerable number of French people in Victoria was the launching of a French newspaper called Le Courrier de la Nouvelle Calédonie on September 11th, 1858. The French in the colony wished to preserve their arts and culture. In January 1861, they organized their own choir under the name 'La Société des Enfants de Paris'.
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The Founding of St-Jean-Baptiste Parish
In answer to the needs of the francophone population, Bishop Modeste Demers - who was himself a French Canadian - had recruited French-speaking friars and nuns. On April 14th, 1858, four nuns from the Sisters of St. Ann arrived in Victoria. In addition to the nuns and the lay auxiliary, Bishop Demers brought with him two priests: Fathers Pierre Rondeau and Charles Vary, and two brothers of the 'Clercs de St-Viateur': Brothers Joseph Michaud and Gédéon Thibodeau. The first convent of the Sisters of St-Ann is now situated near the Provincial Museum and is open to the public on certain days. The first part of St. Ann's Academy was built in1871 and then added to in 1886. When the first Cathedral, built in 1858 was deemed too small, it became the chapel of St. Ann's Academy. It was given to the nuns for all the services rendered by the sisters. The architect and builder of the first cathedral was Brother Joseph Michaud of the 'Clercs de St.-Viateur'. The francophones were present in Victoria from the beginning and are still here.
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The founding of St-Jean-Baptiste Parish
Since its inception, the 'Club de Victoria' had been actively regrouping the French-Canadians of its city by make-shift means: meetings, entertainment, and get-togethers. However, the time had come to reach higher, to seriously think of their own parish - a French-speaking parish. A Quebecois adage, having nearly become dogma, maintained that language was the guardian of the faith. In Victoria, during the 50's, faith became the guardian of the language. Moving forward, it is around the steeple that the French-Canadians would rally to preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage.
At its October 8th meeting, the Club decided to open a bank account at the Perpetual Help Credit Union to deposit the funds it intended to collect to buy a church.
On March 4th, 1957, Bishop Hill phoned M.O.W. Chrétien to tell him that he had obtained Rome's approval for the creation of a new French-speaking parish. In reality, the Club Canadien-français de la Colombie-Britannique had already bought the church to give it to the francophones of Victoria.
The first pastor of the French parish in the provincial capital, Father Clément Lépine O.F.M was introduced to the people at a General Meeting of the 'Club' held on November 29, 1957. Mission accomplished, the 'Club' formulated other objectives and went on with its activities.
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Victor-Brodeur School
Just as1957 is an important date for the foundation of the French parish, so too is 1985 an important year regarding a French school in Victoria. The new Canadian constitution gave francophone minorities rights over education that they had not had before. Taking advantage of these new rights, the Programme Cadre de français was applied in the newly opened Uplands Elementary School in September 1979. There already existed a French school for the children of the military called École Brodeur. It is on May 23rd, 1984, a memorable date in the annals of La Société francophone de Victoria, that the Honourable Jean-Jacques Blais, Minister of Defense, spoke of the possibility of joining together both of the French schools of Victoria. The Programme Cadre and the school for the children of the military merged to form L'École Victor-Brodeur, a French school for the francophone community.
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Homage to the founders and pioneers
Mrs Marie Côté
Dr Gérald Moreau
Mrs Françoise Quillévéré
Mr. Claude Gaudet
Mr. Roger Nédelec
Mr. Jean-Baptiste Quillévéré
Mr. Clément Gaudet
Mrs Denise Péron
Mrs Jeannette Schiller
Mrs Doris Gaudet
Mr. René Péron
Mrs Mary Whitehead
Mrs Léonie Gaudet
Mr. François Quillévéré
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