There are three new members on the Manitoba Francophone Affairs Advisory Council..
“The new appointees – Angela Cassie, Normand Gousseau and Daniel Lussier – bring a wealth of knowledge and a proven commitment to the francophone community,” said Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for francophone affairs,. “Each of these individuals has demonstrated strong leadership qualities, and we are confident they have the experience, energy and focus to support the important work of the advisory council.”
Cassie is the vice-president of la Société de la francophonie manitobaine. She previously served as the Canadian Human Rights Museum’s senior vice-president of programs, exhibitions and public affairs, as well as the director of communications and external relations. Cassie was also a member of the Canadian Tourism Commission Youth Travel Advisory Council, Springfield Heights French Immersion Parents Advisory Council and National Council for Visible Minorities.
Gousseau is the executive director of Entreprises Riel. He previously served as the director of economic development at Entreprises Riel, and executive director of Festival du Voyageur. He has served on the boards of Economic Development Winnipeg Inc., Canada Summer Games Host Society and Abri Marguerite, and he currently serves on the board of St. Boniface Hospital.
Lussier is the executive director of the Corporation catholique de la santé du Manitoba. He has previously served as the executive director of Festival du Voyageur, and the employee manager of the City of Winnipeg Mayor’s Cabinet. Lussier is the current president of the Catholic Health Alliance of Canada and the Catholic Health Association of Manitoba. He also serves on the board of St. Boniface Hospital and Abri Marguerite.
The Francophone Affairs Advisory Council provides advice and recommendations to the minister on ways to develop and enrich Manitoba’s francophone community.
St Lazare unique in area
St. Lazare is unique in the area of Western Manitoba near the Saskatchewan border as a francophone and Métis community which traces its history back to the fur trading days long before the rail brought settlers to the area in 1882.
St. Lazare is at the forks of the Qu’Appelle and Assiniboine Rivers, where fur traders travelled starting in the 1700s and Fort Ellice was built in the 1800s. A Métis community grew up around Fort Ellice during the fur trade era.
Richard Fiola, Principal at École St. Lazare and President of the Chamber of Commerce in St. Lazare is happy to see the new appointments to the Francophone Advisory Council.
“The three new members on the council will help us get more grants and get things moving, because we are the only French community north of Brandon and we are sometimes far away from Winnipeg so things seem to get lost.”
Born and raised in the Francophone community of La Broquerie, MB, Fiola spent 30 years in Montreal before returning to the province to help a new generation of French speaking and bilingual families.
“People that were born and raised here are returning and establishing themselves in town.” says Fiola. He hopes the new appointees to the Francophone Affairs Council will help the local CDEM — Economic Development Council for Manitoba Bilingual Municipalities — fast-track some projects that St. Lazare is hoping to get going.
Some of the projects that Fiola and the community hopes to get off the ground include establishing a tourist attraction at the site of historic Fort Ellice, reviving some buildings in town and setting up a daycare centre. The tourist attraction is a bit complicated since Nature Conservancy Canada, which owns the Fort Ellice site, won’t allow any permanent structures to be raised on the site.
“We can’t build anything there so we will have a tourist panel, a walkway and a parking lot. People will go there to see nature. We want to identify the four corners of the old Fort and have a walkway that can point out the location of old graveyards because there is nothing to see, since nature took over.”
Fiola also hopes to get some assistance from the Francophone Advisory Council to revitalize some old buildings on the main street and attract some new services to the community. To even further support new families moving to town, Fiola also wants to establish a daycare centre. This he hopes will also help preserve the Francophone identity of St. Lazare.
“The school is a big part of it and we are hoping that with the daycare centre we will have kids instead of coming in at the age of four come in at age one.” says Fiola.
Even during the pandemic, Fiola and the school made sure that no child would be deprived of their French education.
“We kept teaching all the way, and we gave iPads and computers to anyone who didn’t have it at home.”
The school is a stronghold of the French language in town since even the church has had a few English speaking priests come through. Most of the businesses are English or bilingual so whatever help the Francophone Affairs Advisory Council can give Fiola and St. Lazare will help preserve this unique little village.
