Cantley 1889 Articles

Le Projet Neufbourg – Creating a New Life

Michael Rosen, in grateful collaboration with Lucie Smeltzer and Michel Legault

Eight simple houses, with a newer one in the middle, artfully arranged around a circle off rue Bouchette marks Place du Neufbourg, a seemingly ordinary Cantley development. But I know differently.

In 1995 as a new resident, I hiked behind my backyard where I found a freshly dug frog pond in the forest, a splendid sugar shack, and plaques with the names of the trees in French and Latin. I asked a neighbour about it. “Oh, that’s the Neufbourg Project,” he said. “They are special people.”

Special indeed. In 1979 four couples: Claudette Dionne/ Bernard Bouthillette, Lucille Plourde/Marc-André Tardif, Yvon Belle Isle/Irene Dicaire and Benoit Bégin/Monique Telmosse decided to move to the country together to “grow a community.” They purchased 17 acres and spontaneously called it “Neufbourg” – “bourg” meaning a rural village and “Neuf” because of its recent creation. They sought to create a community of “mutual aid, sharing, personal growth and spirituality.” “Spirituality” was loosely defined – some of the residents were affiliated with the church, others not. Many identified with various nationalist and social causes. They were ahead of their time, especially for 1979 Cantley.

Infrastructure came next: a road, a culvert for a major stream, artesian wells, etc. The original plan of a multi-units building with a common basement was categorically refused by Gatineau (Cantley was part of Gatineau at that time) with “one home on one acre” being the basic tenet of rural planning. Finally, Gatineau accepted the new plan. Eight separate 1.5-acre properties arranged like pieces of pizza radiating from a circle with a communal park in the middle. After a legal survey, engineer plan and hydro, all was in place. Lots sold for $10,000 each to acquaintances who shared the “Projet Neufbourg” vision.

By 1982, houses and the common park with its swings and above-ground pool were created. Neufbourg was a reality. Residents signed a legal “Charter” (with a stipulation of no fencing between properties). L’Association des propriétaires de Place Neufbourg was formed. Four more couples moved there during the following years: Michel Legault/Lucie Smeltzer, André Loranger/ Raymonde Fortin, Jean-Marie Morin/Pauline Bouchard, and Clarisse Olivier/Yolande Mainville.

What followed was 20 years of mostly community bliss with what seemed like an endless series of celebrations: the Project’s 10th and 20th anniversaries, International Women’s Day March 8 (men prepared the feast), La Fête des Rois, each January (medieval garb and proclamations), la Fête de St-Jean, and many memorable suppers, birthdays and anniversaries. The sugar shack was a particular attraction for the community, reminding Marc-André Tardif (one of the founders) of his Beauce roots. The accomplishments and milestones were many as Neufbourg helped propel Cantley from a “rural backwater” to a modern Quebec community. These included:

• Contributing to the renewal of St-Elisabeth parish – by helping the church grow its membership especially amongst francophones
• Promoting the de-merger of Cantley from Gatineau
• Electing Cantley’s first Mayor – Bernard Bouthillette, one of the Neufbourg founders, a man of great honesty and conviction, on March 19, 1989
• Founding Solidarité Haïti – an organization of support after the fall of the brutal Duvalier regime led by Benoît Bégin and Helena Kelly with the support of most of the Neufbourgeois

But, as Marc-André Tardif noted in his memoirs, Le Projet Neufbourg, all things must end or evolve. Residents started selling their homes beginning in the 1990’s to move closer to grandchildren or aging parents, and many have passed away. Today, 43 years later, only Michel Legault and Lucie Smeltzer remain of the original residents, proud to be part of one of Cantley’s most unique and most significant historical “projects”.