The Contributions Of Yukon Francophone Women: With Angélique Bernard
Cécile Girard
Cécile Girard was born in Chénéville, in Québec. Her family moved to Laval when Cécile was 12 years old.
Cécile studied history at the Université de Montréal and completed a bachelor’s degree in graphic arts at the University du Québec à Montréal. She moved to the Yukon in 1981 to look after her sister’s children. She felt at home as soon as she arrived in the territory.
She worked with other parents to create the francophone daycare La Garderie du petit cheval blanc and chaired the organization’s first board of directors.
Cécile was the director and editor of the Yukon francophone newspaper l’Aurore boréale from 1988 to 2013.
She co-authored the book Un Jardin sur le toit about the presence of francophones in the Yukon. She wrote and illustrated J’ai mis tes mocassins, published in 1993, and co-authored the play Un boulet poids plume for the Health Community Network (PCS).
She created the Yukon francophone flag in 1986 and led the doll project De fil en histoires/Stitches in Time in 2017.
Cécile is a member of a francophone artist collective called “La bête à cinq têtes”. It presented the exhibition La Chasse-galerie at the Yukon Arts Centre in October 2023.
We can find her art in private collections in Canada, Europe and the United States. For her community involvement, Cécile received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal.
Denise Beauchamp
Denise Beauchamp was born on October 10, 1956 in Saint-Jérôme, Québec, and grew up in Sainte-Adèle.
She started a bachelor’s degree in sociology at the Université du Québec à Montréal.
Looking for adventure, Denise arrived in the Yukon in September 1980. She worked as a bilingual tour guide on the SS Klondike sternwheeler, from 1981 to 1983.
She also studied at Yukon College in the first version of the Yukon Teacher Education Program (YTEP).
She returned to Montréal to finish her studies and received a diploma in second language education with a teaching certificate in 1985 and returned to the Yukon. She also holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Alaska Southeast (Juneau).
Denise taught at the elementary and secondary levels in Whitehorse for 29 years and redesigned the F.H. Collins’ library. She went to Africa on three occasions to teach adults as part of the Overseas Service Program.
She chaired Les Esssentielle’s board of directors in 2014 and 2015 and took part in the Francophone doll creation project Stitches in time: Yukon history makers in 2017.
Now retired, Denise participates in various art workshops and activities organized by Franco 50, records articles for l’Aurore boréale, is a board member of the Yukon francophone History Society, recorded a podcast for the project Stories of our Yukon francophone elders and acted in the French play Tu te souviendras de moi. In the Yukon, Denise found a sense of well-being through nature.
Marie-Hélène Comeau
Marie-Hélène Comeau was born in January 1969 in Montréal, Québec. She spent her youth between the city, in a suburb of Montréal, and the countryside, at Sainte-Anne-de Sabrevois, on the shores of the Richelieu River.
Marie-Hélène completed a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the Université de Montréal and needed to keep moving. She arrived in the Yukon in 1992, looking for adventure. Before leaving Québec for the territory, she received a phone call offering her a position as a French monitor during the school year.
She worked at the Association franco-yukonnaise (AFY) in family literacy and as the first official journalist for l’Aurore boréale.
Marie-Hélène completed a master’s degree in anthropology on linguistic transmission in Yukon mixed families and a doctorate in Arts Studies and Practices at the Université du Québec à Montréal on the Yukon francophone identity building in a migratory context through a series of art workshops. She discovered the social role that an artist can play at the community level.
Since 2013, Marie-Hélène has been coordinating the Yukon component of the Caravane des dix mots. She also acted in several community plays in English and French and created sets.
After more than 30 years in the Yukon, Marie-Hélène has realized how privileged she is to observe and participate in the development of the Yukon francophone community. As an artist living in a minority French setting in the Yukon, she enjoys exploring various aspects of artistic creation.
Hélène Saint Onge
Hélène Saint Onge was 12 years old when she first heard about the Yukon at Camp Minogami, near Shawinigan.
In 1984, Hélène finally arrived in the territory. She worked as a French monitor and as a teacher at École Whitehorse Elementary School. She finished her education career as the principal of École Émilie-Tremblay and École Whitehorse Elementary School.
Retired for eight years now, Héléne has rediscovered her passion for travelling and enjoys discovering new countries. An avid walker, she walks the Camino de Santiago every year in Europe.
Hélène was president of the Association franco-yukonnaise, represented the Yukon on the boards of the National Francophone Parents Commission and the French-Canadian Cultural Federation, and was a board member of Nakai Theatre. She participated in the exhibition Elles se racontent in 2017.
She co-founded the educational theatre company Le Théâtre de la Pastèque in the ’90s and presented six children’s plays. She received a national award from the Canadian French Language Teachers Association for the creation of educational guides, as well as a territorial education award.
She played the role of Émilie Tremblay in a video on the life of the francophone pioneer. She produced the musical Le Petit Prince with 450 French immersion students at the Yukon Arts Centre. It is important for Hélène to see that educational and community institutions have kept pace with the francophone growth and are now welcoming a third generation of Yukon francophone children, including her grandchildren!
