 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for companies and organizations .(July 2021) |
The St-Albert Cheese Co-operative (French : Fromagerie St-Albert) is a Franco-Ontarian co-operative that specialises in making cheese. One of the oldest co-operatives in Canada, it is known for its cheddar and its poutine curds and was named Grand Champion at the 2013 and 2014 British Empire Cheese Shows. [1] [2] [3]
In early January 1894, a group of Franco-Ontarian cheesemakers in St. Albert, Ontario gathered together to launch a cheesemaking co-operative, named "The St-Albert Co-Operative Cheese Manufacturing Association." Led by Louis Génier, the group included Joseph Forgues, Moïse Scheffer, Joseph Labelle, Antoine Quesnel, Joseph Pinsonneault, Godfroy Clément, Jean-Baptiste Ouimet, Cyril Richer, and Adrien Trudeau. [4]
In 1931, the Co-op was sold to a private businessman. However, the private ownership did not last long, and in 1939, the Co-op's workers raised a sum of $8,500 to buy it back. [5]
In 1995, Réjean Ouimet, the great-grandson of founder Jean-Baptiste Ouimet, was named general manager of the Co-op, a post he held for the following two decades.
In 2009, the Co-op brought the Fromagerie Mirabel in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec. [6] Later that year, the Co-op announced an expansion of its facilities, funded in party by $1.4 million in development funds from the government of Ontario, that would theoretically allow it to double its production, depending on Canadian Dairy Commission quotas. [7]
On 3 February 2013, the Co-op was struck by a fire, resulting in widespread destruction of its facilities and tens of millions of property damage, including over $3 million worth of cheese and numerous historical archives of the Co-op. [8] The mayor of The Nation, Ontario, the municipality that includes St-Albert, stated that the fire was "more than the loss of the building. It's a page of history that's been ripped out." [9]
In the weeks following the fire, Ontario was struck by a shortage of cheese curds, with deals being made with several Québec fromageries to increase production to temporarily service the region. A small online black market popping up, with a bag of St-Albert cheese that usually cost $7 being resold on sites such as Kijiji for as much as $55. [10]
A number of the Co-op's workers were temporarily transferred to jobs at other fromageries while reconstruction began, while other workers were tasked with helping the reconstruction. [11]
In 2014, the Co-op was able to restart some production on site. In 2015, it fully opened its rebuilt facilities. The government of Ontario also provided some funds to help the Co-op rebuild. [12]
In March 2015, the Co-op announced that it would sue a number of electric companies and regulators, including the Electrical Safety Authority and Eaton Corporation, alleging that electrical equipment that was badly manufactured and installed, and had been missed during safety inspections, had caused the fire. [13]
By 2018, the Co-op's production levels had returned to the level from before the fire. [14]
In 2019, the Co-op celebrated its 125th anniversary with several events being held in St-Albert. [15] [16] On 25 September 2019, Franco-Ontarian Day in Ontario, the 17th Monument to Ontario Francophonie was inaugurated next to the Co-op. [17] It received a $1.5 million grant from the Dairy Processing Investment Fund. [18]
In February 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the Co-op was forced to temporarily close after three workers tested positive for the disease. [19] After further testing by the Eastern Ontario Health Unit, the outbreak was contained, and the Co-op was able to re-open in March. [20]
Cheddar cheese is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset.
Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec, in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its exact origins are uncertain and there are several competing claims regarding its invention. For many years, it was used by some to mock Quebec society. Poutine later became celebrated as a symbol of Québécois culture and the province of Quebec. It has long been associated with Quebec cuisine, and its rise in prominence has led to its growing popularity throughout the rest of Canada.
TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is owned by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario and operating as Groupe Média TFO. It is the only French-language television service in Canada that operates entirely outside Quebec. The network airs cultural programming, including blocks of French-language children's programs, along with original series, documentaries, and films.
École secondaire Le Caron is the only French first language high school located in Penetanguishene, Ontario, Canada. It serves the French population of Simcoe County, and it is managed by Conseil scolaire Viamonde.
Bothwell Cheese is Canada's largest independently owned cheese maker, known for its cheeses which are branded under the same name. The company, located in New Bothwell, Manitoba, was founded in 1936 as a co-operative by local farmers. It operated as such until 2002, when it was purchased by a group of private investors.
Altomédia is a Canadian media company, which publishes several French-language community weekly newspapers in the Central and Southwestern regions of Ontario for the Franco-Ontarian community. The company's publications include Le Métropolitain in the Greater Toronto Area, L'Action in London, Le Rempart in Windsor and Le Régional in Hamilton-Niagara, as well as Bonjour Ontario, a monthly magazine which reprints content from the weekly publications for distribution outside the company's primary service area.
Linda Cardinal is a Franco-Ontarian political scientist. She is a University Professor and a Canada Research Chair in Canadian Francophonie and Public Policies at the University of Ottawa. Cardinal was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2013 and honoured with the Ordre des Palmes Académiques and Member of the Order of Canada. She was also the first coordinator of the francophone studies program at the University of Ottawa.
C'est l'temps was a Franco-Ontarian civil disobedience movement in the mid-to-late-1970s over the lack of Ontario government services in French. Over two dozen people were arrested, as activists monopolised police time on trivial traffic infractions, refused to pay fines, and sabotaged computer systems.
The Université de l’Ontario français is a French-language public university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university campus is situated in the East Bayfront neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, near the Toronto waterfront.
S.O.S. Montfort was a Franco-Ontarian movement that fought to save Montfort Hospital, the only primarily francophone hospital in Ontario, after the Mike Harris government announced it would be shutting down the hospital in 1997. One of the largest mass movements in Franco-Ontarian history, the level of mobilisation it saw and the ultimate success of the campaign has been noted as a significant moment in the struggle for French-language rights in Ontario and in the wider Canada.
The 2018 Franco-Ontarian Black Thursday occurred on 15 November 2018, when the government of Ontario, led by Doug Ford, announced a number of cuts to Franco-Ontarian institutions in the province, notably the elimination of the office of the French Language Services Commissioner and of the soon-to-be-opened Université de l'Ontario français. The cuts provoked a significant backlash from the Franco-Ontarian community, leading to the largest mass mobilisations in Franco-Ontarian history, surpassing those of SOS Montfort two decades earlier, and leading to the government of Ontario mostly backing down from the cuts.
Nous Sommes, Nous Serons is a slogan often used by the Franco-Ontarian community in Canada. Signifying that the Franco-Ontarian community has long existed in Ontario, continues to exist, and will exist in the future, it has especially been used as a symbol of resistance against attempts to suppress the French language in Ontario.
"Notre Place" is the official community anthem of the Franco-Ontarian people in the province of Ontario, Canada.
Almanda Walker-Marchand was a Canadian feminist and founder of the Fédération des femmes canadiennes-françaises.
Mélissa Ouimet is a Franco-Ontarian singer and songwriter.
The Summit on the Rapprochement of Canadian Francophonies was a summit between the different francophone communities in Canada in June 2021.
The Sturgeon Falls Education Crisis was a 1971 language-rights conflict in Ontario centered on the provision of French-language education for the Franco-Ontarian community in Sturgeon Falls, Northern Ontario.
La Poutine Week is an annual food festival which celebrates poutine, a Québécois dish of french fries, cheddar cheese curds and brown gravy, which is popular throughout Canada and has spread internationally. It is the world's largest poutine festival, with over 700 restaurants serving poutines to more than 350,000 customers. The festival has been held 1–7 February, with double-sized 1–14 February editions beginning in 2022.
Abel Maxwell is a singer-songwriter, author, and artist born in Dakar, Senegal that grew up in Europe and is now residing in Toronto.
Edith Dumont is a Canadian educator who has served as the lieutenant governor of Ontario since November 14, 2023, the 30th since Confederation.