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Alberta Online Encyclopedia

Timeline:

1948

  • Fundraising campaign for French radio station CHFA

1949

  • April, First Sugar House in Edmonton
  • 29 May, Edmonton French Choral Festival
  • July. The Choir from Collège Saint Jean tours Québec
  • November, Inauguration of CHFA radio station.

1950

  • The French-Canadian Association of Alberta (Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta) celebrates its first 25 years of existence.
  • A group of young singers from the Collège Saint-Jean establish “Les Gais Troubadours”, an ensemble which is active until 1961.

1951

  • A fund raising campaign is organized for the Collège Saint-Jean.

1952

  • A constitution is established for La Relève Albertaine, a youth group.
  • Sainte-Anne Parish in Jasper Place is organized by Fr.Jean Patoine.
  • 19 October, Radio station CHFA is officially connected to the Radio-Canada network.

1953

  • Fr. Guy Michaud becomes parish priest for St. Joachim parish (1953-1956) and provincial superior for the Oblate province of Alberta-Saskatchewan.
  • The new wing of the Collège Saint-Jean is inaugurated.

1954

  • 5 November, First convention of the youth group “La Relève”

1955

  • The Studio Theatre at the University of Alberta hosts a French play.

1956

  • St. Joseph Seminary is built.
  • For the St-Jean-Baptiste Day, the troop of the Théatre français d’Edmonton puts on “Le voyage de Perrichon”.
  • The Conseil albertain de la cooperation (a council overseeing all French cooperative projects in Alberta) is established.
  • A Royal Commission Inquiry is established to look into the school system in Alberta.

1959-1960

  • 23 March: CHFA’s new studios are inaugurated.
  • Fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Collège Saint-Jean.
  • A bilingual bookstore, Les Éditions Fides, is established in Edmonton. It replaces the bookstore jointly managed by the ACFA and the AEBA (Association des éducateurs bilingues de l’Alberta). It will eventually change management and be renamed Librairie Schola.
  • 2 December: The French-catholic parish of Saint-Thomas d’Aquin is established in the Bonny Doon area.

1962

  • The ACFA collects funds for bursaries for francophone students. A funding organisation for student loans is created by the ACFA in January.

1963

  • Establishment of the French Council of the Alberta Teachers’ Association
  • The Collège de pédagogie Saint-Jean (education) is affiliated to the University of Alberta.
  • Establishment of the first mixed choir at the Collège Saint-Jean under the direction of Albert La France.

1964

  • May: Establishment of the “Club Parlez-Vous” for those wishing to practice their conversational French. There are 200 persons at the first meeting at the Collège Saint-Jean.
  • Mr. Jean Letourneau is the musical director of the Edmonton Professional Opera Association.
  • Mr. Roger Motut is named assistant dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta

1965

  • A new hotel is built in Edmonton; it is named “Château Lacombe” in honour of Fr. Albert Lacombe.
  • The ACFA puts forth a Franco-Albertan biographical dictionary project.

1966

  • Dr. Joseph Moreau is elected president of the ACFA
  • The ACFA once again puts forward an official request to obtain a French-language television station. The request is once again refused.
  • Librairie Schola, the French bookstore is closed.
  • The weekly French language newspaper, La SurvivanceI is renamed and becomes Le Franco-Albertain.

1970

  • 1 March -The first French language television station in Edmonton, CBXFT begins broadcasting.

1971

  • J. H. Picard catholic bilingual secondary school is built; it is the 28th bilingual school in Alberta.
  • Un acte de vandalisme endommage le bibliobus de l’ACFA, un centre culturel mobile.

1972-1973

  • Radio station CHFA is sold to Radio-Canada Corporation in October.

1974

  • Establishment of the “Salon d’histoire franco-albertain” by Sr. Alice Trottier and Mr. Kenneth Munro of the Department of History of the University of Alberta.
  • The ACFA assumes ownership of the printer “Imprimerie La Survivance Ltée” and of the Franco-Albertain.
  • 50th Anniversary of the ACFA.
  • The Collège Saint-Jean becomes the property of the University of Alberta. The University takes over the management of the buildings and of the grounds 1 May after signing the agreement on 14 April.
  • Vandalism damages the ACFA’s mobile cultural centre, which is a touring bus.

1977

  • Avril - Un incendie dévaste les locaux de l’édifice de Francalta.
  • Un deuxième local de la librairie Le Carrefour d’Edmonton est ouvert sur la rive droite de la Saskatchewan, dans les nouveaux locaux de FrancAlta. Le premier local de la librairie est toujours situé au 11217, avenue Jasper.

1978-1977

  • April: Fire damages the Francalta building on the South Side of Edmonton.
  • June : A second Librairie Le Carrefour bookstore is opened on the South Side, in the FrancAlta building. « Librairie Le Carrefour d’Edmonton » is still located on 11217 Jasper Avenue.

1978

  • The Province of Alberta theoretically recognizes the right of Francophones to be educated in their language.
  • The Chorale Saint-Jean celebrates its 25 years of existence.
  • The establishment of the professional theatre troupe “La Boîte à Popicos”.

1979-1980

  • The Carrefour of Edmonton is incorporated and becomes La librairie Le Carrefour Bookstore Ltd-Ltée.
  • Launch, in Edmonton, of the first educational guide for the teaching of French from grade one to twelve.
  • There are three French folk dance troupes in Edmonton : «Les Alouettes», «Les Arc-en-ciel» and «La Girandole».
  • Establishment of the theatre troupe « Le théâtre à la carte » by Pierre Bokor, drama professor at the Faculté Saint-Jean.

1982

  • The Franco-Albertan flag is unveiled at the Rond-Point, the annual provincial ACFA conference, by Francophonie-Jeunesse de l’Alberta (FJA). It was created by Jean-Pierre Grégoire, a student at the Faculté Saint-Jean.
  • Un incendie dévaste la Libraire le Carrefour sur la 10012, 106e rue. Il y a 17,000 $ de dommages.

1984

  • Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the religious order of Les Filles de Jésus (Daugthers of Jesus) at the provincial-house in Edmonton, Maison Saint-Joseph.
  • Maurice Lavallée School opens its doors.

1985

  • Saint-Thomas d’Aquin parish celebrates the 25th anniversary of its establishment.
  • Professor Jean-Antoine Bour is named dean of the Faculté Saint-Jean and serves in this capacity until 1995.
  • A fire devastates the Librairie le Carrefour at its 10012-109 Street location. There is $17,000 damage to the stock.

1986

  • 6 December: Establishment of the « Société acadienne de l’Alberta » (Acadian Society of Alberta) by André Boudreau.
  • Purchase of “Centre 82” by a group of Francophone investors; it becomes the site of several head offices (Provincial and regional ACFA, Le Franco, La Girandole, FJA, the Scouts and Girl Guides.
  • 20th anniversary of the choir Les Chantamis.

1988

  • 7 March: Frank McMahon, president of the « Société des parents francophones » (French parents society) with the support of the FJA invites the Francophones to occupy the office of the Catholic School Council of Edmonton in order to pressure the commissionners to establish a French secondary school to which they have the right according to Article 23 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A favourable reply is forthcoming on 5 December.

1989

  • The French school Maurice Lavallée opens its doors to children from kindergarten to grade 12 for the first time.
  • Shaw Cable of Edmonton makes the French Television channel TV5 available to its clients.
  • 14 September: Establishment of the Centre Marie-Anne-Gaboury in Edmonton whose mission is to assist in the full development of French-Canadians, to promote French culture in western Canada and to help introduce Franco-Albertan communities and Acadians to computer and on-line technology.

1991

  • « La Guinguette » opens, it is Edmonton’s first Francophone pub.
  • La Librairie le Carrefour moves to a new location at the Centre 82 on Whyte Avenue.

1992

  • A Master’s Degree in Education becomes available at the Faculté Saint-Jean.
  • A coalition is created between the Théatre français d’Edmonton and the Boîte à Popicos. They become “l’Unithéatre”.

1993-1994

  • After the winning the Mahé -Bugnet Supreme Court Challenge, Franco-Albertans gain the right to manage their own schools.

1996

  • The Catholic Diocese of Edmonton celebrates its 125th anniversary.
  • The Francalta website is created in May.

1997

  • A society to promote the visual arts is established, the Société francophone du centre d’arts visuels.
  • The new library at the Faculté Saint-Jean is opened.
  • The French interprovincial song festival, the Gala interprovincial de l’Ouest becomes Chant-Ouest.

2000

  • Two compact discs are released by young francophone singers, Pierre Sabourin and Marie-Josée Ouimet. They were preceded on the musical scene by recording artists such as Crystal Plamondon, Yvon Loiselle, Jacques Chauvin, Gabrielle Bugeaud, Marc Baudin et les Twés.

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