Mr. Speaker, a week ago, a legend in my riding passed away: Jackie Vautour. To some, he was a national hero. In 1969, with his family and 250 other families, he resisted expropriation from the tiny Acadian community of Claire-Fontaine by the provincial and federal governments for the creation of Kouchibouguac National Park.
In 1976, Jackie and his family, having refused to leave, were forcibly removed from their homes and their houses and properties were bulldozed to the ground. Jackie and some of his family returned to live in the park in scruffy huts and outbuildings where he remained for most of the rest of his life.
Historians have said that the battle waged by Jackie and other former residents against the Kouchibouguac expropriation helped shift Parks Canada policies such that people are no longer forced off their land to make way for national parks.
Jackie is back home. May he rest in peace.