The Creation of The Park
The creation of the Park in 1970 was preceded by the removal through expropriation of approximately 100 families that had settled within the boundaries of the proposed area. Several of the foundations of the demolished houses remain today hidden in the underbrush of several sections of the park. Several families in the Gaspé Peninsula region were forced to re-settle in the surrounding areas and hold a vivid memory of the events that unfolded during those times. Forillon National Park does not mention these events anywhere within their exhibits and fails to acknowledge the existence of a community within the park. When preparing to create the new park, the Government of Canada requested that the Quebec government expropriate the homes of these families. The Quebec government sub-contracted the appropriation and negotiations to a private firm. This firm allegedly used various bullying tactics to scare the residents into agreeing to settlements of reduced value. This stratagem ensured a larger profit margin for the contractor. On February 14, 2011 the House of Commons adopted a motion which issued an official apology to the people whose properties were expropriated to create Forillon Park. The motion read:
That this House issue an official apology to the people whose properties were expropriated to create Forillon Park for the unconscionable manner in which they were treated, and that the Speaker of the House send the representatives of the people whose properties were expropriated and of their descendants an official copy of the Journals of the House of Commons indicating the adoption of this motion.
Read more about this topic: Forillon National Park
Famous quotes containing the words creation and/or park:
“We should always remember that the work of art is invariably the creation of a new world, so that the first thing we should do is to study that new world as closely as possible, approaching it as something brand new, having no obvious connection with the worlds we already know. When this new world has been closely studied, then and only then let us examine its links with other worlds, other branches of knowledge.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)