The year 2023 marks the 52e anniversary of Operations Dignity, a social movement which is an integral part of the historiography of Bas-Saint-Laurent, even of Quebec. The slogan “Master at home”, which accompanied the return of Jean Lesage’s Liberals to power, probably describes very well the feeling that the protesters of this unilateral relocation strategy advocated by the State could have had.
It is important to remember that many rural communities in eastern Quebec were facing major demographic and economic challenges. Unlike Quebec, whose population showed a gain of 206,680 people between 1971 and 1976, Bas-Saint-Laurent suffered a loss of 5,859 inhabitants. In the space of just five years, localities such as Routhierville, Saint-Guy, Saint-Médard or Saint-Marcellin, which are still part of the Lower Laurentian landscape, had lost more than a third of their population.
Furthermore, at the same time, the effect of peri-urbanization had begun to appear in Notre-Dame-du-Portage, Saint-Antonin and Saint-Anaclet, which experienced a substantial increase in their numbers. Economically, while the average income of Quebec families reached $7,429 in 1971, it was less than $5,000 in 38 rural communities in Bas-Saint-Laurent. The feeling was therefore that it was necessary to act to reverse these serious trends, which, for the State, involved the closure of so-called “marginal” localities and the relocation of their residents to the small urban centers of the region, in return for a slight retribution.
We know what happened next, the emergence of an outcry to avoid further closures by exploiting and developing resources in an integrated manner in the hope of encouraging the occupation of the territory and stimulating the economy.
Five decades later, what remains of this movement? It must be recognized that Operations Dignity has strengthened the power of rural people to take control of the levers of their development. Leadership, largely assumed and supported by the rural clergy, undoubtedly has something to do with it. This strengthening also resulted in exemplary citizen mobilization and participation, extraordinary resilience as well as the consolidation of the feeling of belonging and social cohesion.
The fact that flowers are still placed on the tombstones of the deceased buried in village cemeteries closed at the time constitutes a strong symbol at the heart of the rural landscape. Moreover, in some cases, such as Saint-René-Goupil or Saint-Nil, all that remains of the village is the cemetery, which is still maintained to this day. Such a ritual testifies to the spirit of identity and the importance of symbols in a fragile rural environment.
This social movement also encouraged the deployment of new management tools geared towards the social economy and entrepreneurship. In this regard, several rural localities in Bas-Saint-Laurent have exemplary value having seen the birth of numerous small businesses, some of which still contribute today to diversifying their economy, particularly in the areas of forestry, maple sugaring and agrotourism.
Dignity Operations have certainly contributed to solidifying community dynamics, relational life and social capital. Are the multiple forms of mutual aid that have emerged everywhere in Bas-Saint-Laurent as elsewhere during the pandemic not a reflection of this same dynamism? But above all, Operations Dignity mobilized popular will and forced the government to review its development strategies. This is one of the most notable aspects of the legacy of this solidarity movement.
When it comes to demographics, however, the results are less rosy. Several small municipalities in eastern Quebec are still affected by depopulation. In fact, among the 21 rural localities in the province which have continued to lose numbers since 1971, four (Sainte-Florence, La Rédemption, Saint-Charles-Garnier and Les Hauteurs) are in Bas-Saint-Laurent. Some are also among those most affected by aging.
Economically, among the 25 poorest localities in Quebec, given their income level, seven are located in Bas-Saint-Laurent. An emblematic figure of resistance in rural areas, JAL (Lejeune, Auclair, Saint-Juste-du-Lac) lost more than 40% of its population between 1981 and 2021, 685 young people under 24 and 155 jobs. Finally, a Center for promoting Dignity Operations was established in Esprit-Saint in 2009.
Despite the persistence of such disparities which have been evident for more than fifty years, it is unlikely that we will see the emergence of Operation Dignity IV. It is true that despite such inequalities, the localities in the worst socio-economic situation are not, in the short term, threatened with closure. Furthermore, it must be admitted that even if they are still present, certain values such as solidarity and social cohesion, which prevailed during Operations Dignity, have eroded over time. In addition, several active forces, still present fifty years ago, young families and adults, have taken the path of exodus towards urban centers, thanks to demographic aging.
In a context where local development does not seem to have contributed to reversing the demographic and economic trajectory of several small, fragile rural localities, it is important to put in place a rural development policy based on correcting the structural problems of these environments. The consolidation of their framework of services to support an aging population, initiatives to combat food, financial or health service deserts, job creation, measures intended to encourage immigrants and young families to come installing there, financial support modulated according to their socio-economic reality, the strengthening of their road infrastructures and the small urban centers which surround them are only a few examples of the means which could be implemented to help them continue their march towards development and to make rural Quebec a more egalitarian space.