CBC Nova Scotia | Features | Adieu L'Acadie… Hello Alberta

Adieu L'Acadie… Hello Alberta

CBC Radio | Oct. 2, 2006

Adieu l'Acadie … Hello Alberta is a series of stories about the large number of Acadians from the municipalities of Clare and Cheticamp in Nova Scotia who are working in Alberta.

The flow of workers from Atlantic Canada started several years ago. There are many economic reasons pushing them toward the West.

The series explores the anguish of the people who decide to leave, their arrival in Calgary and Fort McMurray, as well as the perception of Westerners toward the new arrivals, and the consequences that such an exodus have on the rural Acadian communities.

From Oct. 2, 2006

From left to right: William Thériault,
John Saulnier, Dawn Comeau and son

The anguish

Listen to Part One (runs 12:44)

For several years workers have been travelling to Alberta to find work. Until recently, most were anglophones from communities in Newfoundland and Cape Breton, along with a few francophones from northern New Brunswick.

Recently, Acadians from southwestern Nova Scotia and Cheticamp have also started heading west, looking for better-paying jobs and a better future. This story deals with their anguish at leaving their families, their culture and a relaxed way of life.

From Oct. 3, 2006

The arrival

Listen to Part Two (runs 9:59)

Over the past 18 months, more than 150 residents of Clare in southwest Nova Scotia and 50 residents from Cheticamp in Cape Breton have moved west.

They’re lobster fishermen, truck drivers, fish plant workers and tradespeople. They want a better life, something they don’t think they can find in Nova Scotia. The prospect of making more money in a week in Alberta than in a month back home is irresistible.

How will these workers adapt to a completely different environment from their rural communities back home?

From Oct. 4, 2006

Fort Make Money

Listen to Part Three (runs 9:13)

The Acadians from southwest Nova Scotia have found ways to preserve their identity and their culture while making a living in Calgary and Red Deer. Meanwhile, dreams of making lots of money are coming true to the north of Edmonton, in Fort McMurray.

Alberta businesses offer high salaries and benefits that Acadians in Nova Scotia wouldn't dare ask for back home. Fort McMurray is a new Eldorado, which some have nicknamed Fort Make Money.

From Oct. 5, 2006

Bums and creeps

Listen to Part Four (runs 7:48)

Remember the comment "Let the Eastern bastards freeze in the dark"? It was very popular in 1980 in Alberta. The prime minister at the time, Pierre Trudeau, had just created the National Energy Program (NEP) to protect Canadians from rising oil prices.

Albertans detested the program because it stopped them from competing on the world oil market during the energy crisis. At the same time, workers from the East, victims of the North American recession, were arriving looking for jobs.

Albertans weren't happy with the new arrivals. Many felt that the East profited from the NEP at the expense of the West. How have relations between the two groups evolved between then and now?

From Oct. 6, 2006

Fighting for the soul of l'Acadie

Listen to Part five (runs 11:20)

Every week, small groups of workers leave their villages to head to Calgary, Red Deer, Fort McMurray and even Grande Prairie. For some, the adventure has been a success, but for others the dream hasn't come true.

What happens when a community is drained of its workforce, its' families, its strength? Acadians have lived in this part of the world for 400 years, but some people are wondering whether l'Acadie can survive this profound exodus.