Browse "Francophones"

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Ordre de Jacques-Cartier

The Ordre de Jacques-Cartier (OJC), commonly known as “La Patente,” was a secret society founded in 1926 in Vanier (now Ottawa), Ontario, to further the religious, social and economic interests of French Canadians. At the forefront of the conflicts over language and nationalism until the 1960s, it discreetly wielded its influence by infiltrating various associations, and it mobilized its members within a strict authoritarian structure. The rise of Québécois nationalism and internal tensions led to its dissolution in 1965.

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Panet Family

Established in Québec City by Jean-Claude Panet (1719-78) in 1740, and in Montréal by his brother, Pierre-Méru Panet (1731-1804) in 1746, for generations the Panet family has made a remarkable contribution to Canadian legal, political, religious and above all, military life.

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Paul Bruchési

Louis-Joseph-Paul-Napoléon Bruchési, Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Montréal from 1897 to 1939 (born 29 October 1855 in Montréal, Québec; died 20 September 1939 in Montréal). Paul Bruchési actively supported the Church’s involvement in education, health and welfare, and helped secure the establishment of many of the city’s leading institutions in these fields. He was also engaged in many public issues of the day, often taking a congenial approach with politicians and fellow prelates. In 1919, he began to suffer from a mysterious illness which by 1921, left him largely debilitated until his death in 1939.

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Paul Rose

Paul Rose, Québecois indépendantiste leader, terrorist, unionist (born 16 October 1943 in Montreal, Quebec; died 14 March 2013 in Montreal). He was a member of the Chénier Cell, also known as the South Shore Gang, of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) and a key player in the October Crisis. On 13 March 1971, he was sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte, a minister in the government of Quebec.

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Pierre Cossette

Pierre Maurice Joseph Cossette, talent agent, producer, record label executive (born 15 December 1923 in Valleyfield, QC; died 11 September 2009 in Ormstown, QC). Pierre Cossette was an influential talent agent, manager, music mogul and producer for television and Broadway. He is best known for bringing the Grammy Awards to TV. He served as executive producer of the telecast from 1971 until his retirement in 2005. He also launched the Latin Grammy Awards broadcast and produced the Broadway hit The Will Rogers Follies. It won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Cossette has a star on both Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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Pierre Perrault

Pierre Perrault, OQ, film director, poet, writer (born 29 June 1927 in Montréal, QC; died 23 June 1999 in Montréal). Pierre Perrault was one of Quebec’s most significant and celebrated artists. His collective work in radio, film, television and print explores the genesis and nature of French Canadian culture and identity. A pioneer of direct cinema, his elegiac 1963 documentary Pour la suite du monde, co-directed with Michel Brault, is a landmark in Canadian cinema. His writing received three Governor General’s Literary Awards: for poetry, theatre and non-fiction. An Officer of the Ordre national du Québec, Perrault received the Prix Ludger-Duvernay, Prix Albert-Tessier, Prix Victor-Barbeau, the Médaille des Arts et des Lettres from the Government of France, and the Médaille d’argent du Mouvement national des Québécois et Québécoises.

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Roland Galarneau

Roland Galarneau, CM, machinist and inventor (born 16 February 1922 in Hull, Quebec; died 22 May 2011 in Hull). In the late 1960s, Galarneau invented the Converto-Braille, a computerized printer capable of transcribing text into Braille at 100 words per minute. This was a landmark innovation for people with visual impairments, as it increased their access to textbooks and other written information. Galarneau developed faster versions of the Converto-Braille in the 1970s. The company he founded eventually adapted the machine into software for IBM computers in the 1980s. This software was a precursor of the Braille software used today.

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Rosaire Morin

Rosaire Morin, CQ, author and militant nationalist (born 2 September 1922 in St-Honoré de Témiscouata, QC; died 14 April 1999 in Montréal, QC). Editor-in-chief of L’Action nationale, Rosaire Morin was involved in the Québec nationalist movement throughout his life.

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Rose-Anna Vachon

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Simonne Monet-Chartrand

Simonne Monet-Chartrand, unionist, social activist, pacifist, feminist, speaker, writer (born 4 November 1919 in Montreal, QC; died 18 January 1993 in Richelieu, QC). A woman of passion and conviction, Simonne Monet-Chartrand actively supported many causes, including labour and union rights, feminism, human rights, and pacifism. She co-founded the Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) and Concordia University’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute and was associate director of the League of Human Rights and the League of Rights and Freedoms. A writer and panellist for Radio-Canada, she also wrote many magazine articles and published books on pacifism and the history of women in Québec, as well as a four-volume autobiography.

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Sugar Sammy

Samir Khullar (a.k.a. Sugar Sammy), comedian (born 29 February 1976 in Montreal, QC). Sugar Sammy is an award-winning multi-ethnic and multilingual comedian. He is best known for his observations about Canada’s Francophone and Anglophone communities from his vantage point as the child of immigrants who settled in Montreal. His groundbreaking 2012 bilingual tour, You're Gonna Rire, sold more than 371,000 tickets and grossed over $17 million. Sammy is also a star in France. He was hailed as the “funniest man in France” in 2017 and has been a judge on the French version of America’s Got Talent since 2018.

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Suzie LeBlanc

Suzie LeBlanc. Soprano, teacher, actress, harpsichordist, born Edmunston, NB, 27 Oct 1961; honorary D LL (Mount Allison) 2009, honorary D CL (King’s College University, Halifax) 2008.  Suzie LeBlanc is of Acadian heritage, but grew up listening to and practicing classical music.

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Viola Léger

Viola P. Léger, OC, ONB, senator, actor, director, teacher (born 29 June 1930 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; died 28 January 2023 in Dieppe, NB). Viola Léger served in the Senate from 2001 to 2005. She is perhaps best known for her career as an actor and for her performance as La Sagouine in Antonine Maillet’s play of the same name. Léger performed the role 3,000 times between 1971 and 2016. Widely considered the greatest Acadian actress of all time, she was also a prominent advocate and global ambassador for Acadian people and Acadian culture. She was made a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France and a Member of the Ordre des Francophones d’Amérique. She also received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in theatre.

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Yolande Grisé

Yolande Grisé, CM, FRSC, academic, writer, advocate for French language, arts and culture (born 1944 in Montreal, QC). Throughout her career, Grisé has promoted French language and culture in Canada. She supervised the first doctoral thesis on French literature at the University of Ottawa in 1983, developed the first cultural policy for Francophones living in Ontario in the early 1990s and was the first director at the Office of Francophone and Francophile Affairs at Simon Fraser University, which oversaw the first bilingual degree program in British Columbia. Grisé was also president of the Ontario Arts Council (1991–94) and the Royal Society of Canada (2011–13).

Video

Heritage Minutes: Acadian Deportation