50 years later, this Quebec advocacy group is still helping anglophones thrive

CBC

2 days ago

Beyond the beehives and a grove of trees on Lynden Bechervaise's property sits the office of a regional organization that's become a familiar name on Quebec's Gaspé peninsula.
The Committee for Anglophone Social Action (CASA), founded in 1975 and rooted in New Carlisle, Que., was the first association in Quebec to serve and represent a minority English-speaking community.
Now, it's celebrating 50 years.
"Holy Hannah, we started something pretty small," said CASA founder Bechervaise, 84. "It's really taken off."
The non-profit organization has ballooned since its founding, representing people along the southern coast of the Gaspé Peninsula, from Matapedia to Port-Daniel–Gascons.
A lifelong resident of New Carlisle, Bechervaise remembers a time when many in his region felt less connected. For years, he says anglophones living in the Gaspé had few services in English, especially social services.
CASA helped fill that gap.
Fifty years after its creation, it's become a model for other organizations that serve English-speaking communities in regions across Quebec.
A region cut off from local news
It was at a budget meeting of the Gaspesian Cultural Association where Bechervaise, who was working for the regional school board, first planted the seeds for what would become CASA.
During a coffee break, Bechervaise approached Bernard St-Laurent, a former CBC journalist and the association's co-ordinator at the time, about getting involved in a new project — a newspaper focused on the needs of the English community.
"I said, 'Yeah, absolutely.' And that's essentially how it got started," said St-Laurent, recalling the conversation.
The local English weekly newspaper was called the Gaspé Spec, which is still in circulation.
At the time, if people wanted news in English, Berchervaise says they relied on radio from New Brunswick.
"I felt that we needed to do more," he said. "We had to create a community between Matapedia and Gaspé."
St-Laurent says this newspaper was a priority given the political climate and how the region was cut off from local news.
"We were in the middle of one of what would come to be called the language wars," said St-Laurent.
The Robert Bourassa government had passed Bill 22 in 1974, making French the official language in Quebec and determining who was eligible to attend English schools.
"There was social change coming to the province and we felt it was important to find a way to make this information accessible to them," said St-Laurent. "Our thinking was that the newspaper could help."
Once the Gaspé Spec was up and running, Bechervaise wanted to do even more to help his community. He stepped back from the newspaper and put his efforts into developing CASA.
' They didn't create a need, they answered the question'
Over five decades, the non-profit has developed programs relating to health and social services, culture, youth and community development. It introduced seniors' wellness centres, employability programs, literacy courses and heritage initiatives.
Bechervaise doesn't take credit for the programs or for CASA's longevity.
"It wasn't me," he said. "It was the animators, the people."
But the team didn't keep the model of the programs to themselves.
Twenty-three networks of community organizations in the province have implemented CASA's early childhood development program called Bright Beginnings, says Jennifer Johnson, the executive director of the Community Health and Social Services Network, based in Quebec City.
She said CASA's seniors' wellness centres' program has also had significant success, with more than 120 locations across the province — including 10 in Montreal.
Johnson says the organization's greatest legacy is how well CASA staff understand the people they serve.
"They have been a leader in terms of developing programming that actually has an impact on groups of vulnerable people," she said.
CASA inspired a new generation of organizations across Quebec who serve anglophones after another advocacy group, Alliance Quebec, and its regional chapters closed in 2005.
Sharleen Sullivan, the executive director of Neighbours Abitibi -Témiscamingue, one of those groups, says CASA taught her to meet people where they're at.
"The people bought into it — they weren't telling the members or the community what they needed. The community told them," she said.