Inspired by the citizens' committee pushing for a name change for the University of Moncton, a group of residents is calling on the city of Quebec to rename Moncton Avenue.
Gaëtan Ruest, a graduate of the University of Moncton in the late 1960s, is the initiator of the movement aimed at erasing the name of the British officer Robert Monckton from the landscape of the Quebec capital.
If his name is controversial today, it is because this colonel played an active role in the deportation of the Acadians and took part in several battles in Quebec. Robert Monckton caused damage from Gaspé to Quebec. He fought alongside James Wolfe in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. It devastated the southern coast of Quebec. Houses, barns and crops burned down, explains Gaëtan Ruest.
Open in full screen mode
Gaëtan Ruest was mayor of Amqui for 19 years.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jean-François Deschênes
For the Quebec committee spokesman, her request is not a whim. You must not be afraid to take action to free yourself. For too long we have walked with bent knees, bent backs and on all fours to please those who impose their contempt on us, he continues.
The group is preparing to present its complaints to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and hopes to convince them to change the name of this avenue, which runs from the Chemin Sainte-Foy to the Plain of Abraham and crosses René-Levesque Boulevard .
The committee's members include Jacques Joli-Cœur, who was deputy mayor of the Quebec capital in the early 2000s, and Marie-Anne LeBlanc of the Quebec Region Acadian Association.
This is the fourth time in 25 years that a group has tried to change the name of Moncton Avenue, which was named in 1932, says the Quebec spokesman.
Replaced by Beausoleil Broussard
The committee does not come empty-handed. He proposed changing Moncton's name to Beausoleil Broussard, emphasizing its national historical significance.
Open in full screen mode
The arrival of Joseph Broussard in Louisiana at the head of a group of Acadians, artistic interpretation by Robert Dafford from 1995.
Photo: Acadian Memorial Foundation/Robert Dafford
It holds a special place in the collective memory of Indigenous peoples and Acadians. He was an Acadian leader of the resistance to deportation. His behavior was the exact opposite of the genocidal behavior of Robert Monckton, claims the man who was mayor of Amqui for 19 years.
Interested observers in Acadia
This movement is being closely followed by the Citizens' Committee for the University of Moncton's new name, whose most recent application was rejected by the institution last December. The university's name has been discussed at least 13 times since its founding in 1963.
Lise Ouellette, co-spokesperson for the committee, finds the Quebec approach interesting.
It shows that we are not alone. […] It's part of a trend toward affirming decolonization and affirming linguistic identity, she says.
The two groups explain that they do not have a coordinated strategy and that neither group has supported the other. If the University of Moncton committee wants to support us, we will be happy to accept it, emphasizes Gaëtan Ruest.