A fire fighters brigade was also formed, and the church bells served to sound the alarm in case of fire. Emery Paré, established his office at home with two prison cells built behind the house. No time was lost in setting up a Catholic francophone school. Edmond Maillard o.m.i., a young priest from France who stayed with the pioneers for two years, left an indelible trace: the community was baptised in his honour in 1912.Ĭommunity services were organized quickly with whatever means the pioneers had at their disposal on their arrival. By 1910, thanks to everyone’s efforts, the parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes were able to celebrate Christmas mass in the church they had erected on Laval Square. The management at Fraser Mills understood this and they offered the settlers the site and the materials needed to build a Catholic Church. Religion held a very important place in the hearts of the pioneers. On the contrary, the newcomers encouraged their distant families to come out to join them. The group of pioneers was quick to learn what a hard lifestyle awaited them, where everything needed to be built from scratch, but they must have seen the good side too, since very few of them returned East. The first contingent of approximately 100 adventurers arrived at the Fraser Mills Station on September 26th, 1909, on a train called the “Honeymoon Special” because so many couples got married the night before they left. They were even told they could leave their umbrellas behind in Quebec the weather was so fine in their new homeland! In addition, they were promised access to land for their families to settle, wood for building a house and the freedom to preserve their language. It was the know-how of the French Canadians in the forest industry along with their powerful work ethic that incited Fraser Mills – which was to become the largest saw mill operation in the British Empire – to recruit manpower all the way from Eastern Canada for their logging operations in B.C.įor a Quebecer in those days, the offer was very attractive: a steady job, daily wages of $2.50 for a 10-hour workday, 6 days a week. The first French Canadians who settled in what was to become Maillardville crossed Canada all the way from Rockland, Ontario, as well as Hull and Sherbrooke in Quebec.
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