The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation CanadaMay 2009

POINTING NORTHEASTThe Quebec-Labrador Foundation

(QLF) exists to support the rural

communities and environment of

eastern Canada and New England

Crossroads: The Five Cultures of Bonne Esperance, Quebec

QLF CANADA www.QLF.org901-505 René-Lévesque Blvd West, Montreal QC, H2Z 1Y7Tel.: 514.395.6020 Fax: 514.395.4505montreal@qlf.org

FIELD DESKSTrish Nash, Senior BiologistSophia Foley, Co-ordinator, MSAR Serena Etheridge, Director, TSN P.O. Box 495, Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon QC P.O. Box 456, L’Anse au Clair NL G0G 1W0 A0K 3K0Fax: 418.461.3691 Tel./Fax: 709.931.2291tnash@qlf.org Tel.: 418.461.3427 setheridge@qlf.org

sfoley@qlf.org Tel.: 418.461.3691

QLF’S MAIN PROJECTS/PROGRAMSIN CANADA IN 2009

COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATIONMarine Species at Risk Program (MSAR) (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador)Discover Science Summer Day Camps (Quebec)Ducks Unlimited Common Eider Duck Research Initiative (Newfoundland and Labrador)Greenly Island Ecotourism Feasibility Study (Quebec)Quebec Commercial Fish Harvester’s Guide to Government Services and Support Organizations (Quebec)North American Sea Duck Conference (Quebec)Rivers Canada Foundation (Canada)

CULTURE AND HERITAGEChamplain Valley National Heritage Partnership (Quebec, New York and Vermont)Cow Head Interpretation Project (Newfoundland)GIS Support to Heritage Organizations (Newfoundland and Labrador)Heritage Rivers Conference 2009 (Ontario and Quebec)Innu Banner Project (Labrador)Land of First Contact Online Historical Atlas (Newfoundland and Labrador)Middle Bay Interpretation Centre (Quebec)Northern Tourism Partnership (Newfoundland)Seal Fishery Heritage Interpretation (Quebec)St. Augustine Exhibit (Quebec)Traditional Skills Network (TSN) (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador)Trail Mapping along the Viking Trail (Newfoundland and Labrador)Tourism Asset Mapping (Labrador)

LEADERSHIP PROGRAMInterns and Volunteers (Eastern Canada) Scholarship Program (Eastern Canada)

and to create models for stewardship of natural

resources and cultural heritage that can be applied

worldwide. We work across borders to link community, culture, and conservation.

Our programs aim to ensure continuity by fostering leadership

development and taking a community-based approach.

Pointing Northeast is available in both print and electronic format. To join either distribution list, please e-mail us at montreal@qlf.org.

PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH AND LET US KNOW IF YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGES.

QLF and the Bonne Esperance Tourism Development Foundation are excited to announce the grand opening of the Middle Bay Interpretation Centre on the Lower North Shore, Quebec, set for June 2009. With more than a year’s work invested in preparing the exhibit, there are a variety of unique artefacts, interpretive panels and special features that link 9,000 years of history and heritage. Visitors can expect to discover many fascinating facts, images, and stories about the Innu, Inuit, Basque, French, and English, and how each culture adapted to the landscapes of the Bonne Esperance, Quebec region. The Centre also includes a Settler Exhibit, themed craft shop, café, and media room for both residents and visitors to enjoy.

A brochure for the Centre is now in circulation, and an upcoming web site (www.middlebay9000.com) will provide a glimpse of the exciting history to be explored at the Middle Bay Interpretation Centre and surrounding region!

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QLF Accepts Online DonationsYou can now donate to QLF more easily, through PayPal, an online payment service. It’s simple and secure. Just go to www.QLF.org and click “Support Us.” Thank you, in advance, for your generous support of QLF.

POINTING NORTHEAST

QLF’s Leadership Program (Interns and Volunteers)“It’s wonderful to see all the QLF Volunteers and Interns – it’s like the old days when we looked forward to the American students coming here and spending their summers with us.” - Resident of Blanc-Sablon, Quebec.

QLF’s Leadership Program began with founder Ven. Robert A. Bryan’s youth Programs on the Coast in the early 1960s, making it QLF’s longest-running Program. It now exists to inspire and equip young people to become tomorrow’s conservation leaders. It offers meaningful work experiences in a wide range of areas associated with our community-based natural and cultural heritage.

Last summer, twenty-four students from Canada, the United States, and France worked on a number of QLF Programs from Cartwright, Labrador to Kegaska, Quebec. Interns were sponsored by Princeton University, Brooks School, Ducks Unlimited, the Harrington Harbour Recreation Committee, Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador, Young Canada Works, and Services Canada. From teaching swimming lessons, collecting research data on the common eider duck, working with fishers on the recovery of species at risk, celebrating the history of the Coast, to educating children about the important role science plays in their lives, these young people touched and were moved by many on the “Coast.”

Shaping Our Future

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada© 2009 Quebec-Labrador Foundation4 May 2009

QLF staff meet volunteers and interns on the wharf in Blanc-Sablon following a two-day boat ride down the Coast from Sept-Iles on the Relais Nordik cargo vessel.

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Scholarship ProgramCongratulations to all students in Atlantic Canada who received scholarships this year. Vanessa Newcombe was the Robert A. Bryan scholarship recipient this year and is now a fully-trained fisheries officer. The scholarship enabled Vanessa to travel across Canada as part of her training. She is now posted in Iqualuit, Nunavut, in Northern Canada. Vanessa extends her gratitude to QLF for helping her to achieve her life-long goal.

The Rev. Dr. Patricia (Peacock) Bryan, who ran QLF’s Scholarship Program and spearheaded a “fun run fundraiser” over the past few years, retired in February 2009. She will continue to stay involved with many aspects of QLF, while carrying out her responsibilities as an ordained Anglican Minister in the Eastern Townships, Quebec.

We thank Patricia for her dedication to this Program and wish her a fulfilling retirement.

Tara Despault, QLF Intern, hosts QLF’s weekly conservation-themed “Down to Earth” program on CFBS radio in Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon. You can now listen to CFBS online at www.cfbsradio.com

Down to Earth Radio Show

“When I leave, I know I’ll be taking away with me some of the best experi-ences of my life,” commented Tara Despault, QLF Intern (2008), based in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec and Cartwright, Labrador.

“This trip has been a life changing experience for me and I have been privi-leged to be a part of it,” enthused Spencer Weisner, a second generation QLF volunteer based in St. Paul’s River, Quebec, 2008.

Each volunteer and intern left this summer a different person as the result of their placements with QLF. The QLF intern and volunteer blog, initiated last summer by volunteer Kendrick Wilson, provides narratives of each student’s experience. Read about all the experiences at www.QLF.org/leadership/intern_blogV2.htm

During fall 2008 and winter 2009, there were five interns and volunteers placed in the Montreal office and one intern in the Magdalen Islands,

Quebec. They worked on projects ranging from heritage interpretation on the Lower North Shore, Quebec to marine conservation in the Middle East. QLF positions are offered year-round, with most running during summer months. Open positions are posted on our web site on an on-going basis. To learn more, please visit www.QLF.org

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ContributorsWriters: Adrienne Blattel, Candace Cochrane, Serena Etheridge, Sophia Foley, Danielle Lewchuk, and Patricia NashFrench Translation: Christine DiguerGraphic Design: Simon Laguë and Christine Diguer Printing: RAM Printing

QLF is helping to organize an important river heritage and conservation conference in June 2009, hosted by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. For information or to register, please visit www.riversconference.ca

Discover Science Summer CampsThis past summer, QLF and the Coasters Association held seven Discover Science summer camps in communities on the Quebec Lower North Shore. The camps focused on improving science literacy in youth from 6 to 12 years of age through hands-on, place-based educational activities. Weekly themes included

This Ivory Gull, considered an endangered species in Canada, was reported by an observer in Pinware, Labrador. Very little is known about where ivory gulls spend their winters. To learn more, QLF staff are working with residents on Quebec’s Lower North Shore, Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula, and in Labrador to properly identify and report sightings of this rare gull.

POINTING NORTHEAST

The Marine Species at Risk Program Expands (again!) to the Magdalen IslandsOver the last year, QLF staff were busy working with many community partners on three regional Marine Species at Risk projects. Four years ago, this Program was initiated on the Quebec Lower North Shore. In 2006, the geographic scope increased to include Southern Labrador and Western Newfoundland. This year, the Magdalen Islands (located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence) became part of the Program.

The MSAR Program includes public education and outreach, reducing the impacts of accidental catch in fishing gear and documenting MSAR sightings information. Through this Program, information is collected about the fourteen species designated as “at risk” in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean. These animals include cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), sea turtles, sharks, wolffish, ivory gulls, and polar bears.

Observers are key to the success of the Program. They are fishers, marine tour operators, marine transport (ferries and cargo ships) staff, sealers, and hunters. These volunteers document and report information about their MSAR observations. Observers can be found as far north as Cartwright, Labrador and south to Anticosti Island, Quebec. The information collected by observers each year is assembled into a database, analyzed, and shared with Program participants, scientists, and conservation organizations across Canada involved with species at risk recovery.

Community-based Conservation

A child from the Chevery Discover Science camp on a field trip to St. Mary’s Islands Federal Bird Sanctuary.

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada2 May 2009

In spring 2009, QLF completed a study recommending the creation of a Rivers Canada Foundation, a granting organisation that would support on-the-ground river conservation in Canada. QLF has presented the study to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board and will present the case for the Foundation at the Canadian River Heritage Conference in June 2009.

The Quebec Commercial Fish Harvester’s Guide to Government Services and Community Support OrganizationsThe commercial fishery is extremely complex. Recent consultations with fishers from across Quebec revealed that both fishers and government staff found it difficult to identify information and support available to commercial fishers. QLF recognized the need for a comprehensive guide, conducted research, held meetings, and solicited input from numerous partners to produce a seventy page guide to existing programs and services.

The Guide includes information on running a commercial fishing business, marine conditions and navigation, vessels and harbours, health and safety, fisheries management and harvesting, healthy and sustainable fish and seafood, human resources and education, communications, and acts and regulations. It also provides a complete list of fishers’ associations in the province of Quebec. Printed in both official languages, two guides will be available: one for fishers in the Magdalen Islands and Gaspé Peninsula region and a second for the Quebec Lower North Shore. Funding was provided by the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Program. Please look for the Guide on the QLF web site in May 2009.

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exploring the land, wilderness survival, oceanography, special birds on the Lower North Shore, boating and sailing, and protecting our environment.

The camps engaged a total of ninety youth and created employment for eleven students from the region. This project was supported in part by funding from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Promoscience Program.

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Heritage Rivers Rivers Canada Foundation

Interpreting the History of the Seal Fishery on the Quebec Lower North ShoreDuring the 19th century, the settlers of La Tabatière, Quebec and neighbouring villages of the Lower North Shore, Quebec perfected the technique of fishing for seals using nets. The seal fishery was the main source of income for many villages, providing seal oil and pelts for sale, meat for local consumption, and food for sled dogs. This practice ended in the 1980s. A new initiative funded by Canadian Heritage and Air Labrador allowed Mecatina School, Association touristique Gros Mecatina, the Municipality of Gros Mecatina, Blue Metropolis Foundation, and QLF to partner together to preserve and interpret this important historic practice through interpretation panels, a booklet, and a podcast.

POINTING NORTHEAST

Timeless Traditions on the Quebec Lower North ShoreWith the goal of preserving knowledge of local traditions before it is lost, QLF has recently completed several heritage initiatives between the communities of Old Fort and Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Beginning in October 2008, Priscilla Griffin was hired to help coordinate heritage activities for theyouth, a special cookbook with traditional stories and recipes, a regionalold-fashioned event known as a “time,” a youth heritage day, and for the firsttime ever, the production of a double CD with more than 60 songs contributed by local musicians. A sincere thank you to the many volunteers and participants who made this initiative such a great success and to Canadian Heritage for their generous financial support.

Culture and Heritage

Seal fishermen with barrels of seal oil, La Tabatière, Quebec.(Early 20th century)

The Land of First Contact: Online Historical Atlas, Northern Gulf of St. LawrenceThe Strait of Belle Isle separates Newfoundland from the Quebec-LabradorPeninsula. To celebrate the historic significance of the region and encourage tourists to visit its special places, QLF is creating an internet-based historical atlas. As the gateway to North America, the Strait of Belle Isle has been the site of a very long human history and a symbolic first meeting place of Indigenous and European peoples at L’Anse aux Meadows. Using interactive technology, the web site will include short historical descriptions, photographs and illustrations, maps, and localstories. Watch for its debut in August 2009!

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada3 May 2009

New Community Heritage ExhibitsIn summer 2009, QLF and the Native Alliance of the Lower North Shore will be launching an exciting new exhibit at the Auberge Riverside in the village of St. Augustine, Quebec. The exhibit showcases local history and the Inuit heritage of the region through interpretative panels and traditional Inuit articles and artefacts used by the region’s settlers. Last summer, QLF and partners developed a community exhibit in the village of Ship Cove on the northern tip of Newfoundland about famous French photographer Paul-Émile Miot. In the mid-19th century, Miot travelled to Ship Cove to document the French cod fishery for diplomatic purposes. He took some of the earliest photographs of Atlantic Canada.

A New National Heritage Area Around Lake ChamplainThe U.S. federal government recently designated a new national heritage area in Vermont and New York called the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP). QLF is helping to connect CVNHP with partners in Quebec to protect and promote shared cultural and natural heritage along the connected waterways of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, Quebec. Please see www.champlainvalleynhp.org for more information.

Replica of an early Norse boat at L’Anse aux Meadows.

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Paul-Émile Miot took this photograph of “Album Rock” in Ship Cove, Newfoundland in 1858. The photograph was acquired with the financial support of the Ministry of Heritage under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.

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QLF is helping to organize an important river heritage and conservation conference in June 2009, hosted by the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. For information or to register, please visit www.riversconference.ca

Discover Science Summer CampsThis past summer, QLF and the Coasters Association held seven Discover Science summer camps in communities on the Quebec Lower North Shore. The camps focused on improving science literacy in youth from 6 to 12 years of age through hands-on, place-based educational activities. Weekly themes included

This Ivory Gull, considered an endangered species in Canada, was reported by an observer in Pinware, Labrador. Very little is known about where ivory gulls spend their winters. To learn more, QLF staff are working with residents on Quebec’s Lower North Shore, Newfoundland’s Northern Peninsula, and in Labrador to properly identify and report sightings of this rare gull.

POINTING NORTHEAST

The Marine Species at Risk Program Expands (again!) to the Magdalen IslandsOver the last year, QLF staff were busy working with many community partners on three regional Marine Species at Risk projects. Four years ago, this Program was initiated on the Quebec Lower North Shore. In 2006, the geographic scope increased to include Southern Labrador and Western Newfoundland. This year, the Magdalen Islands (located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence) became part of the Program.

The MSAR Program includes public education and outreach, reducing the impacts of accidental catch in fishing gear and documenting MSAR sightings information. Through this Program, information is collected about the fourteen species designated as “at risk” in the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean. These animals include cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), sea turtles, sharks, wolffish, ivory gulls, and polar bears.

Observers are key to the success of the Program. They are fishers, marine tour operators, marine transport (ferries and cargo ships) staff, sealers, and hunters. These volunteers document and report information about their MSAR observations. Observers can be found as far north as Cartwright, Labrador and south to Anticosti Island, Quebec. The information collected by observers each year is assembled into a database, analyzed, and shared with Program participants, scientists, and conservation organizations across Canada involved with species at risk recovery.

Community-based Conservation

A child from the Chevery Discover Science camp on a field trip to St. Mary’s Islands Federal Bird Sanctuary.

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada2 May 2009

In spring 2009, QLF completed a study recommending the creation of a Rivers Canada Foundation, a granting organisation that would support on-the-ground river conservation in Canada. QLF has presented the study to the Canadian Heritage Rivers Board and will present the case for the Foundation at the Canadian River Heritage Conference in June 2009.

The Quebec Commercial Fish Harvester’s Guide to Government Services and Community Support OrganizationsThe commercial fishery is extremely complex. Recent consultations with fishers from across Quebec revealed that both fishers and government staff found it difficult to identify information and support available to commercial fishers. QLF recognized the need for a comprehensive guide, conducted research, held meetings, and solicited input from numerous partners to produce a seventy page guide to existing programs and services.

The Guide includes information on running a commercial fishing business, marine conditions and navigation, vessels and harbours, health and safety, fisheries management and harvesting, healthy and sustainable fish and seafood, human resources and education, communications, and acts and regulations. It also provides a complete list of fishers’ associations in the province of Quebec. Printed in both official languages, two guides will be available: one for fishers in the Magdalen Islands and Gaspé Peninsula region and a second for the Quebec Lower North Shore. Funding was provided by the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Canadian Heritage’s Official Languages Program. Please look for the Guide on the QLF web site in May 2009.

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Pa

tric

ia N

ash

exploring the land, wilderness survival, oceanography, special birds on the Lower North Shore, boating and sailing, and protecting our environment.

The camps engaged a total of ninety youth and created employment for eleven students from the region. This project was supported in part by funding from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada’s Promoscience Program.

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Cu

rtis

Wal

sh

Heritage Rivers Rivers Canada Foundation

Interpreting the History of the Seal Fishery on the Quebec Lower North ShoreDuring the 19th century, the settlers of La Tabatière, Quebec and neighbouring villages of the Lower North Shore, Quebec perfected the technique of fishing for seals using nets. The seal fishery was the main source of income for many villages, providing seal oil and pelts for sale, meat for local consumption, and food for sled dogs. This practice ended in the 1980s. A new initiative funded by Canadian Heritage and Air Labrador allowed Mecatina School, Association touristique Gros Mecatina, the Municipality of Gros Mecatina, Blue Metropolis Foundation, and QLF to partner together to preserve and interpret this important historic practice through interpretation panels, a booklet, and a podcast.

POINTING NORTHEAST

Timeless Traditions on the Quebec Lower North ShoreWith the goal of preserving knowledge of local traditions before it is lost, QLF has recently completed several heritage initiatives between the communities of Old Fort and Blanc Sablon, Quebec. Beginning in October 2008, Priscilla Griffin was hired to help coordinate heritage activities for theyouth, a special cookbook with traditional stories and recipes, a regionalold-fashioned event known as a “time,” a youth heritage day, and for the firsttime ever, the production of a double CD with more than 60 songs contributed by local musicians. A sincere thank you to the many volunteers and participants who made this initiative such a great success and to Canadian Heritage for their generous financial support.

Culture and Heritage

Seal fishermen with barrels of seal oil, La Tabatière, Quebec.(Early 20th century)

The Land of First Contact: Online Historical Atlas, Northern Gulf of St. LawrenceThe Strait of Belle Isle separates Newfoundland from the Quebec-LabradorPeninsula. To celebrate the historic significance of the region and encourage tourists to visit its special places, QLF is creating an internet-based historical atlas. As the gateway to North America, the Strait of Belle Isle has been the site of a very long human history and a symbolic first meeting place of Indigenous and European peoples at L’Anse aux Meadows. Using interactive technology, the web site will include short historical descriptions, photographs and illustrations, maps, and localstories. Watch for its debut in August 2009!

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada3 May 2009

New Community Heritage ExhibitsIn summer 2009, QLF and the Native Alliance of the Lower North Shore will be launching an exciting new exhibit at the Auberge Riverside in the village of St. Augustine, Quebec. The exhibit showcases local history and the Inuit heritage of the region through interpretative panels and traditional Inuit articles and artefacts used by the region’s settlers. Last summer, QLF and partners developed a community exhibit in the village of Ship Cove on the northern tip of Newfoundland about famous French photographer Paul-Émile Miot. In the mid-19th century, Miot travelled to Ship Cove to document the French cod fishery for diplomatic purposes. He took some of the earliest photographs of Atlantic Canada.

A New National Heritage Area Around Lake ChamplainThe U.S. federal government recently designated a new national heritage area in Vermont and New York called the Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership (CVNHP). QLF is helping to connect CVNHP with partners in Quebec to protect and promote shared cultural and natural heritage along the connected waterways of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River, Quebec. Please see www.champlainvalleynhp.org for more information.

Replica of an early Norse boat at L’Anse aux Meadows.

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Ca

ndac

e Co

chra

ne

Paul-Émile Miot took this photograph of “Album Rock” in Ship Cove, Newfoundland in 1858. The photograph was acquired with the financial support of the Ministry of Heritage under the Cultural Property Export and Import Act.

Phot

ogra

ph fr

om th

e Co

llect

ion

of S

haro

n Ch

ubbs

-Ran

som

, Dire

ctor

, QLF

Can

ada

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Pa

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mile

Mio

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8821

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The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation CanadaMay 2009

POINTING NORTHEASTThe Quebec-Labrador Foundation

(QLF) exists to support the rural

communities and environment of

eastern Canada and New England

Crossroads: The Five Cultures of Bonne Esperance, Quebec

QLF CANADA www.QLF.org901-505 René-Lévesque Blvd West, Montreal QC, H2Z 1Y7Tel.: 514.395.6020 Fax: 514.395.4505montreal@qlf.org

FIELD DESKSTrish Nash, Senior BiologistSophia Foley, Co-ordinator, MSAR Serena Etheridge, Director, TSN P.O. Box 495, Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon QC P.O. Box 456, L’Anse au Clair NL G0G 1W0 A0K 3K0Fax: 418.461.3691 Tel./Fax: 709.931.2291tnash@qlf.org Tel.: 418.461.3427 setheridge@qlf.org

sfoley@qlf.org Tel.: 418.461.3691

QLF’S MAIN PROJECTS/PROGRAMSIN CANADA IN 2009

COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATIONMarine Species at Risk Program (MSAR) (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador)Discover Science Summer Day Camps (Quebec)Ducks Unlimited Common Eider Duck Research Initiative (Newfoundland and Labrador)Greenly Island Ecotourism Feasibility Study (Quebec)Quebec Commercial Fish Harvester’s Guide to Government Services and Support Organizations (Quebec)North American Sea Duck Conference (Quebec)Rivers Canada Foundation (Canada)

CULTURE AND HERITAGEChamplain Valley National Heritage Partnership (Quebec, New York and Vermont)Cow Head Interpretation Project (Newfoundland)GIS Support to Heritage Organizations (Newfoundland and Labrador)Heritage Rivers Conference 2009 (Ontario and Quebec)Innu Banner Project (Labrador)Land of First Contact Online Historical Atlas (Newfoundland and Labrador)Middle Bay Interpretation Centre (Quebec)Northern Tourism Partnership (Newfoundland)Seal Fishery Heritage Interpretation (Quebec)St. Augustine Exhibit (Quebec)Traditional Skills Network (TSN) (Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador)Trail Mapping along the Viking Trail (Newfoundland and Labrador)Tourism Asset Mapping (Labrador)

LEADERSHIP PROGRAMInterns and Volunteers (Eastern Canada) Scholarship Program (Eastern Canada)

and to create models for stewardship of natural

resources and cultural heritage that can be applied

worldwide. We work across borders to link community, culture, and conservation.

Our programs aim to ensure continuity by fostering leadership

development and taking a community-based approach.

Pointing Northeast is available in both print and electronic format. To join either distribution list, please e-mail us at montreal@qlf.org.

PLEASE KEEP IN TOUCH AND LET US KNOW IF YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION CHANGES.

QLF and the Bonne Esperance Tourism Development Foundation are excited to announce the grand opening of the Middle Bay Interpretation Centre on the Lower North Shore, Quebec, set for June 2009. With more than a year’s work invested in preparing the exhibit, there are a variety of unique artefacts, interpretive panels and special features that link 9,000 years of history and heritage. Visitors can expect to discover many fascinating facts, images, and stories about the Innu, Inuit, Basque, French, and English, and how each culture adapted to the landscapes of the Bonne Esperance, Quebec region. The Centre also includes a Settler Exhibit, themed craft shop, café, and media room for both residents and visitors to enjoy.

A brochure for the Centre is now in circulation, and an upcoming web site (www.middlebay9000.com) will provide a glimpse of the exciting history to be explored at the Middle Bay Interpretation Centre and surrounding region!

Phot

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ph b

y Se

rena

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QLF Accepts Online DonationsYou can now donate to QLF more easily, through PayPal, an online payment service. It’s simple and secure. Just go to www.QLF.org and click “Support Us.” Thank you, in advance, for your generous support of QLF.

POINTING NORTHEAST

QLF’s Leadership Program (Interns and Volunteers)“It’s wonderful to see all the QLF Volunteers and Interns – it’s like the old days when we looked forward to the American students coming here and spending their summers with us.” - Resident of Blanc-Sablon, Quebec.

QLF’s Leadership Program began with founder Ven. Robert A. Bryan’s youth Programs on the Coast in the early 1960s, making it QLF’s longest-running Program. It now exists to inspire and equip young people to become tomorrow’s conservation leaders. It offers meaningful work experiences in a wide range of areas associated with our community-based natural and cultural heritage.

Last summer, twenty-four students from Canada, the United States, and France worked on a number of QLF Programs from Cartwright, Labrador to Kegaska, Quebec. Interns were sponsored by Princeton University, Brooks School, Ducks Unlimited, the Harrington Harbour Recreation Committee, Conservation Corps of Newfoundland and Labrador, Young Canada Works, and Services Canada. From teaching swimming lessons, collecting research data on the common eider duck, working with fishers on the recovery of species at risk, celebrating the history of the Coast, to educating children about the important role science plays in their lives, these young people touched and were moved by many on the “Coast.”

Shaping Our Future

The Annual Newsletter of the Quebec-Labrador Foundation Canada© 2009 Quebec-Labrador Foundation4 May 2009

QLF staff meet volunteers and interns on the wharf in Blanc-Sablon following a two-day boat ride down the Coast from Sept-Iles on the Relais Nordik cargo vessel.

Phot

ogra

ph b

y Pa

tric

ia N

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Scholarship ProgramCongratulations to all students in Atlantic Canada who received scholarships this year. Vanessa Newcombe was the Robert A. Bryan scholarship recipient this year and is now a fully-trained fisheries officer. The scholarship enabled Vanessa to travel across Canada as part of her training. She is now posted in Iqualuit, Nunavut, in Northern Canada. Vanessa extends her gratitude to QLF for helping her to achieve her life-long goal.

The Rev. Dr. Patricia (Peacock) Bryan, who ran QLF’s Scholarship Program and spearheaded a “fun run fundraiser” over the past few years, retired in February 2009. She will continue to stay involved with many aspects of QLF, while carrying out her responsibilities as an ordained Anglican Minister in the Eastern Townships, Quebec.

We thank Patricia for her dedication to this Program and wish her a fulfilling retirement.

Tara Despault, QLF Intern, hosts QLF’s weekly conservation-themed “Down to Earth” program on CFBS radio in Lourdes-de-Blanc-Sablon. You can now listen to CFBS online at www.cfbsradio.com

Down to Earth Radio Show

“When I leave, I know I’ll be taking away with me some of the best experi-ences of my life,” commented Tara Despault, QLF Intern (2008), based in Blanc-Sablon, Quebec and Cartwright, Labrador.

“This trip has been a life changing experience for me and I have been privi-leged to be a part of it,” enthused Spencer Weisner, a second generation QLF volunteer based in St. Paul’s River, Quebec, 2008.

Each volunteer and intern left this summer a different person as the result of their placements with QLF. The QLF intern and volunteer blog, initiated last summer by volunteer Kendrick Wilson, provides narratives of each student’s experience. Read about all the experiences at www.QLF.org/leadership/intern_blogV2.htm

During fall 2008 and winter 2009, there were five interns and volunteers placed in the Montreal office and one intern in the Magdalen Islands,

Quebec. They worked on projects ranging from heritage interpretation on the Lower North Shore, Quebec to marine conservation in the Middle East. QLF positions are offered year-round, with most running during summer months. Open positions are posted on our web site on an on-going basis. To learn more, please visit www.QLF.org

Phot

ogra

ph b

y N

ancy

Jone

s

ContributorsWriters: Adrienne Blattel, Candace Cochrane, Serena Etheridge, Sophia Foley, Danielle Lewchuk, and Patricia NashFrench Translation: Christine DiguerGraphic Design: Simon Laguë and Christine Diguer Printing: RAM Printing