Queen acknowledges Acadian deportation
The Queen is acknowledging the wrongs caused by the deportation of Acadians from the Maritimes nearly two and a half centuries ago.
In what was likely its final meeting, the federal cabinet endorsed the proclamation earlier this week, said Euclide Chiasson, head of the Societe Nationale des Acadiens.
After decades of asking for an apology from the British Crown, the society wrote to Queen Elizabeth several months ago looking for an acknowledgement of what happened.
Beginning in 1755 and ending about eight years later, Acadians were forced to leave what would later become Atlantic Canada. Some went to France, but most were scattered throughout the Americas.
The response came back from Buckingham Palace that the Queen would defer to the judgment of her ministers in Canada.
The cabinet endorsed the idea this week. Chiasson said the proclamation would acknowledge the deportation and the wrongs it caused, and would recognize July 28 as the anniversary of the deportation order beginning in 2005.
"I think this recognition, this proclamation is very important for our people," he said.
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Gov. Gen Adrienne Clarkson will sign the declaration next week.
Chiasson said he would like to see the Queen herself come in 2005 to mark 250 years since the deportation by reading the declaration.
Heritage Minister Sheila Copps played a key role in getting the cabinet to deal with the issue. She has ancestors on her mother's side among the approximately 11,000 Acadians deported.