Acadian group praises life of man who resisted expropriation
FREDERICTON — An Acadian man who fought to remain in his home on New Brunswick’s eastern shore is being recalled as a symbol of the francophone minority’s resistance to unjust expropriation of their lands.
Jackie Vautour died on Sunday at the age of 92 after being hospitalized with liver cancer and pneumonia.
He was known for battling against the federal expropriation of land from Acadian and other local families to create Kouchibouguac National Park in the late 1960s.
Alexandre Cedric Doucet, president of New Brunswick’s Acadian Society, said in an interview Monday that Vautour never gave up on his battle to remain on his family’s land, and he became a symbol that inspired generations who followed.
“It was easy to detect the determination and strength of this man the moment he entered a room,” said Doucet. “He fought his whole life.”
About 250 families were displaced from villages to create the coastal park north of Moncton, which was authorized under the signature of Jean Chretien, who at the time was minister of Indian affairs and northern development.
The federal government proclaimed Kouchibouguac National Park on Jan. 15, 1979, just over two years after the Vautour family home was bulldozed on orders from the New Brunswick government.
The creation of the park meant the destruction of seven Acadian fishing villages and the relocation of families, with only Vautour continuing to resist.
Vautour wasn’t able to get any satisfaction from the courts, but in 1987 he accepted 50 hectares of Crown land near the park, a $228,000 cash payment, and another $50,000 to cover his legal bills.