In the York region, north of Toronto, a group of volunteers wants to create a French-speaking village for seniors. The project, led by the White Trille Community (CTB), aims to build a gathering place where French-speakers and Francophiles can receive medical care in their language, without being uprooted.
“Our elderly people must be taken care of, and they deserve to age with dignity, in their language,” says Duty the vice-president of the BTC board of directors, Carole Drouin. “We must remember that in Ontario, we are from the generation of those who are 50 and over, who benefited from the struggle of our parents, because they were the ones who stood up to demand schools French-speaking the first. So we owe these people a place where they can grow old in French. »
The idea was born in 2018, during a speech by the man who would become president of the BTC, Jean Bouchard. After a career of more than 30 years in French-speaking education in Alberta and Ontario, the Quebecer by birth declared, before the pandemic, that “we do not take enough care of our elders, and that it would be good if people in become aware.” The declaration resonated in the room, so much so that a dinner was organized between Franco-Ontarian figures to make the project a reality.
Inspired by trips to Europe, he gradually transformed the “living space” plan into that of a “village”. For the moment, the BTC does not plan to create a village in the legal sense of the term, that is to say with “a mayor or mayor”. It focuses instead on the “village mentality,” says M.me Drouin. “We can imagine that between neighbors […]we take care of each other. […] When we move a person, there is a significant disruption, often in orientation. And as we age, we are more sensitive to these changes. »
” In the heart [du projet], health services,” she says. The NPO, founded in 2019, and the provincial government have already agreed to create 160 long-term care places. There will also be dental services, x-rays and even physiotherapy. All this, in French, because “the mother tongue is fundamental,” assures Mr. Bouchard. “In the end, we need it to express ourselves, because our cognition is not at its best. […] The older we get, the more we go back to basics. »
At least fifty years old, residents who are still independent will be able to choose between 300 units, which will take the form of condos, townhouses and affordable housing, without “ghettoization,” assures M.me Drouin. The village will therefore be “adapted to each stage of aging, ranging from autonomy, to almost total loss of autonomy, and obviously, until death,” adds Mr. Bouchard.
The Ford government and Ottawa support the BTC “in setting up the village” and direct it in “searching for funding”. Some $20,000 was notably raised during a first benefit gala in September.
Still in discussions with nine municipalities to purchase land, the BTC hopes, “if everything goes as we want”, to begin construction “in stages […] in a year”, prioritizing the long-term care home.
Already a craze
Beyond the board of directors – some members of which intend to take up residence in the village – several Franco-Ontarians have already expressed their enthusiasm for the project, indicates Carole Drouin. “We know that when we open the village, the village will fill up. […] If we could, we would already have a waiting list. »
A group of seniors, from the Trille Blanc Friendly Club, already meets regularly to do outdoor activities, crafts, or even have dinner with Francophones and Francophiles.
Interest is also marked in the various municipalities in the region, which could host the project, says Mme Drouin. “It doesn’t take long to understand that when the village takes its place, it will have a significant economic impact in the region,” she said, emphasizing that the project “could very well be replicated elsewhere” in the country.
“An important source of employment”, she also believes that the village will be a “place of training for personnel who will work in the field of health in French”. A partnership with Collège La Cité, Collège Boréal and the Université de l’Ontario français is being considered.
Not a “closed village”
More than a medical services center, the BTC sees this project as an opportunity to create a “crossroads of services in French”, open to all generations. “We don’t want a closed village, where there will only be elderly people,” says M.me Drouin. “The people who will live in the village are seniors aged fifty-five and over. But during the day, the village belongs to the entire community,” underlines Mr. Bouchard.
For Franco-Ontarians in the region, there will be, on the nearly 5 hectare site, a school, a daycare, businesses, but also a cultural center. A day camp, pickleball courts and walking trails are also on the table. “We want to nourish the environment with things that appeal to French-speakers. »
“When we let ourselves go a little too much, we start to dream,” says Mme Drouin smiling, imagining a “story time” given by the village elders to the “little ones in the daycare”.
She “fundamentally believes that the people who choose to live there will have a taste for living in French”, she explains that the village will also be open to Francophiles. “The portrait of French speakers [de la région], it is also mixed couples. So an elderly person who is married to someone of another language. »
Discussions are underway regarding ways to “ensure Frenchness”. Meetings with the French Language Services Commissioner of Ontario, Carl Bouchard, took place in particular to ensure the provision of services in French, while remaining “welcoming”, the BTC not wanting to “put itself in the majority community on the back”.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.