11/04/2026
Protecting Forillon Park also means protecting our history
In 1970, the government chose our land to create a national park, because the fauna, flora and sea were remarkably well preserved. In his eyes, all that remained was to erase all trace of human life.
Over One thousand people — 225 families — have been expelled from five sectors which make up Forillon, away from their extended family, villages, houses, schools, churches and community life have disappeared. They lost sight of the sea, the whales, their fruit trees and their wooded lands.
For 300 years, our ancestors, grandparents and parents watched over this territory, developed in harmony with nature. They took only what was necessary to feed their families and transmitted to their descendants respect for nature and its living beings.
After the expropriation, everything was forbidden to us: hunting, fishing, picking the berries and fruits of our trees. Even taking a sprig of our grandparents' rose, as a souvenir, to replant it at home was forbidden.
Who took care of the territory after us? The employees of Forillon National Park. We did not always agree with their work, but most did not make the decisions: they carried them out. For more than 50 years, they were even forbidden to talk about expropriation at work.
Employment was promised for 3,000 positions in 1970, these employees are only about 110 to do everything. On the ground, they took over from our ancestors.
How can the federal government can cut jobs again, after having expropriating our lands and history for almost nothing, impoverishing many expropriated people and depriving their descendants of their inheritance?
These cuts will still affect families and weaken the regional economy, in total contradiction with the very purpose of this park. This unjustified decision contradicts the one that has already turned the lives of over 1,000 people, upside down forever.
After 40 years of silence, the Group of Expropriated persons has undertaken a reconciliation with Parks Canada, with ongoing and upcoming commemoration projects. Without the current field workers, what will become of these projects, our history and its future?
Forillon is not a park like any other in Canada: it is a place of history for Gaspé, Quebecers and Canadians. Fifty-six years later, anger and sadness resurface among the expropriated: we would have taken care of our lands, like our ancestors did.
To protect the park and continue to welcome more than 150,000 visitors each year, these jobs must be maintained. Otherwise, everything will deteriorate and our story will disappear.
The Committee is amplifying the steps to push back the governments cutbacks. We hope for the support of all Gaspé’s population and Forillon lovers.
Thank you for standing by our side. This time, we will fight for what remains of the territory of our families and ancestors.
