The Contributions Of Yukon Francophone Women: With Angélique Bernard
Jeanne Beaudoin
Jeanne Beaudoin was born on May 30, 1958, in Malartic, in Québec. She arrived in the Yukon in 1982 to work as a bilingual guide interpreter in Dawson City and then as a French instructor in the territory’s schools, while giving French classes to adults in the evenings.
Jeanne worked relentlessly, as an employee and volunteer, to establish the institutions and organizations invaluable to the development of the Yukon francophone community: school, daycare, school board, media, economic development, job searches, arts and culture, support for parents, and immigration. She is a founding member of les Essentielles, the Yukon francophone women’s group.
She joined the Yukon public service at the end of her career as Policy and Communications Officer at the French Language Services Directorate.
She was named volunteer of the year of the Association franco-yukonnaise in 1987, 1995 and 1997, was recognized by the Yukon Women’s Directorate in 1995, was named Woman of the Year by les Essentielles in 2001 and received the Public Volunteer Service Award from the Commissioner of Yukon in 1999.
She was the recipient of the Ordre des francophones d’Amérique in 2012, and the Prix boréal of the Federation of Acadian and Francophone Communities (FCFA) in 2017 and was inducted into the Order of Yukon in 2022.
In the territory, Jeanne was surprised by the vitality of the francophone community. She is still moved by the fact that the Yukon francophone community keeps growing and thriving.
Louise Gagné
Louise Gagné was born on September 14, 1960, in Arthabaska, Québec. On the family farm, she learned early to assume responsibility, such as driving the tractor, leading the herd to the stable and feeding the calves.
She spent her summers outside, near the trees and in the fields. She knew the best berry picking spots and loved to garden. In winter, she built forts and played hockey.
Louise completed a program in psychoeducation at the Université de Trois-Rivières in 1979 and worked for more than thirty years in Québec’s schools.
She arrived in the Yukon in 2011, at 50 years of age. For three months, she took intensive English language courses and found the confidence to become comfortable in the language.
Louise worked as a psychoeducator at the École Émilie-Tremblay. Her career was full of discovery, and she had the feeling of constantly learning.
She worked closely with the Health Community Network and helped develop various tools, symposiums and conferences on early childhood, adolescence and family.
Now retired, Louise tries to participate more often in activities organized by the Association franco-yukonnaise and the comité Franco 50 (Yukon Francophone Seniors’ Group). She devotes her time to her family, her new life as granny Lou and her friends.
The Yukon allowed Louise to reconnect with her wild and free spirit. As life is beautiful and precious, Louise tries to live in the present and enjoy every moment by surrounding herself with inspiring, optimistic, curious, open-minded and happy people.
Monique Levesque
Monique Levesque was born in Charlesbourg, in Québec, on August 11, 1965.
Highlights from her youth proudly come from her time spent in nature, snowshoeing, fishing, gardening and helping at the family sugar shack as well as school and extracurricular sports (swimming, running, basketball and ringette). At the age of six years old, she knew she wanted to become a teacher.
Monique completed her bachelor’s degree in preschool and primary education at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi in April 1987. After teaching in Montréal and in British Columbia, she accepted a one-year teaching contract in Whitehorse in 1991.
That year, she came to the Yukon during spring break with her boyfriend to ski and totally fell under the spell of the vast landscapes and limitless possibilities of a small community with a larger-than-life heart.
She also holds a master’s degree in school administration from the Université de Saint-Boniface in Manitoba (2012). Today, she works in the field of school administration in Whitehorse.
Her life in the Yukon includes hiking, canoeing, biking, camping, fishing, skiing, singing, acting in plays, sewing, reading and volunteering.
Her presence in the Yukon has been guided by her love for life and particularly through meeting Indigenous elders from the territory who have welcomed her as another First Nation (Huron-Wendat), far from her roots, and have allowed her to continue to live, learn, teach and work towards truth and reconciliation in their wonderful traditional territories.
Thérèse Lacroix
Marie Claudette Thérèse Rhéaume was born on April 15, 1950, in Notre-Dame-des-Laurentides, in Québec. In 1968, Thérèse married Bertrand Lacroix. The following year, the couple moved to Ontario.
In 1985, she received the Ontario Lieutenant Governor Award for her leadership skills with the Guides in Northeastern Ontario.
The Lacroix family moved to Whitehorse in 1986. Thérèse started the “French Fries” program for the City of Whitehorse and taught French to children aged 3 to 5 in her house, combining the joy of singing with playing. During the winter festival, she built Fort French Fries in her yard with hundreds of blocks of coloured ice.
Thérèse started a francophone Guide movement in Whitehorse. For her ten years of involvement with the Guides, she received a medal from the Girl Guides of Canada.
She sat on the school council at the beginning of the École Émilie-Tremblay.
In 1990, she received the Yukon Women of the Year Award for her generosity, kindness, volunteering and quality of her work with the French Fries program. She was the first francophone woman to win this award.
She was a cycling enthusiast and travelled through New Zealand with her husband for five weeks and the various islands of the Inside Passage. She explored the Yukon and Alaska on camping trips.
In retirement, she engaged in reading, quilting, line dancing, tai chi and walking.
Thérèse lived a full life in the Yukon with her family. She died of cancer on December 18, 2009.
