[ENTREVUE EXPRESS]
WHO :
Marc Despatie is the president of the board of directors of the Société historique du Nouvel-Ontario (SHNO).
CONTEXT :
After years of lower activity marked by the pandemic, it is time for renewal for the SHNO.
STAKE :
The organization founded in 1942 by Jesuits from Sudbury and Northern Ontario wants to change its image in order to attract people from all backgrounds and develop its mission.
« Where does this need for the SHNO to renew itself come from?
I think it is first of all the fact that several of our board members have left and the historians too, due to the fact that there is no longer a history department with the crisis at Laurentian.
We said to ourselves that we are civilians who are interested in history, but that it would be a good time to rethink the Société historique du Nouvel-Ontario and breathe new life into it. And that’s when we had the idea of getting Lynne Dupuis as a consultant, of preparing an evening where we would invite the population of the region to come and give us their opinion on our organization and to see if there was an interest in continuing the work and, if so, in what way.
Have you had the success you expected?
Yes, people answered the call. There were nearly 75 of us at Collège Boréal for that evening. People we hadn’t seen for a long time came out, like Dominique Chivot, who had already been part of the society and was a history teacher at Collège Notre-Dame, but also other teachers, young teachers, families. Personalities like Patrick Breton from the Centre franco-ontarien de folklore or Stéphane Gauthier from the Carrefour francophone also showed interest.
Several young people came to participate in the evening. We had 15 people who asked to join our working group. At the moment, we have two working groups, one on official matters and another that works more on marketing, with the idea of regaining control of our website, among other things.
The SHNO was present at the Greater Sudbury Book Fair at Place des Arts last May. Source: Pierre Riopel/Facebook
What was the public’s feedback, precisely??
People told us that it’s good to publish historical documents, but that they don’t necessarily have to be just scholarly works.
We could also think about publishing oral history works or what we call, in the field, short stories, like people meeting or unpublished facts. This allowed us to see that we should perhaps think a little about the mission and vision of the Historical Society, because we are ready to accept all takers.
If people are interested and want to contribute, why do we have to limit ourselves to one kind of story? So, after that evening, we prepared a little work plan.
Would you also like to join newcomers eager to learn about the history of the region?
Of course, we want to popularize this story a little. We want people to learn more about who we are, where we come from. Let’s not kid ourselves, in the beginning, it was Jesuits who founded the Society and, when we read older documents, we have to put things into perspective. There are many references to models or concepts of French-Canadian society at the time, which was Catholic. But it can also be useful for newcomers.
Our society has become very secularized, but it is important to understand that the basic institutions in Sudbury were created by many Jesuits and that gives them a particular character. This means that we must eventually consider, when we rebuild our society, letting go of certain things, opening our horizons. It will be interesting, eventually, for newcomers to tell us about their stories in the region.
The SHNO was created at the Collège du Sacré-Cœur, which became the University of Sudbury. Source: Site de l’Amérique française
Financially, how is SHNO doing?
We are currently operating with a team of volunteers. We are not in a critical situation in terms of finances, but we certainly do not have the means to hire someone. This is another aspect of the work we want to do, namely to determine whether we would need a permanent employee or a temporary employee, but also to know if we could apply for subsidies, for example.
To do this, we first need to get our affairs in order, such as having a duly elected board of directors and knowing whether we are, in fact, an incorporated company, an official non-profit corporation. But also, we need to be sure to update our bylaws to reflect the current needs and directions of the corporation, because we realize that our statutes and bylaws are 20-25 years old.
What are the next steps?
We are working all summer on the issue of regulations. In the fall, we would call the community together again to propose a new vision, a new mandate and a new regulation.
A second phase of the work plan would be to organize conferences, potentially a publication and to have an official general assembly during which we could ask a researcher to come and talk to us about his work, as in the old tradition, with a little historical candy.
