Deadline passes, but family of Jackie Vautour remains in Kouchibouguac National Park

Some members of the 67 families who continue the fight with Parks Canada over expropriation are shown in Kouchibouguac National Park in New Brunswick on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Kevin Bissett

FREDERICTON -

The deadline imposed by Parks Canada for the family of the late Jackie Vautour to abandon its land claim and leave Kouchibouguac National Park has passed, but the family says it is not leaving peacefully.

Parks Canada, meanwhile, said Friday it would "bring a conclusion to the illegal occupation" of the park on New Brunswick's east coast.

The department has stated that the deal allowing the family to remain on the territory ended when the elder Vautour died in February 2021, and the deadline to vacate the property was Thursday.

For more than 50 years, the Vautours have claimed they are Acadian-Metis and have the permission of Steven Augustine, a hereditary chief of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council, to remain on the property.

Vautour's son, Edmond, said in an interview Friday he has not received an eviction order, adding that nothing should happen while they attempt to challenge the issue in court. He said he doesn't know what will happen if Parks Canada tries to remove them.

"That's what I'm scared of," he said. "I'm scared that we lose it and we go a little bit crazy. I don't want my family to get hurt. I don't want the RCMP to get hurt.

"Nobody is going to leave peacefully from there. That's for sure."

Last week, Mi'kmaq chiefs in New Brunswick voiced their opposition to the Vautours' land claim. They said the Mi'kmaq hold title to the land that includes the park and the rights have not been extended to the Vautour family or the Acadian-Metis.

The chiefs said it is wrong for the Vautours to claim they have a right to the lands in Kouchibouguac through the Mi'kmaq.

About 250 families were displaced through expropriation when the park was created in 1969.

"Parks Canada acknowledges that the past practice of expropriation in the establishment of national parks and national historic sites greatly affected many families and individuals," the department said in a statement Friday. "The families and communities of what is now Kouchibouguac National Park remain an important part of the history of this region of Canada.

"Parks Canada identified March 31, 2022, as the deadline for the Vautour family to remove their belongings from the national park. With the deadline now passed, Parks Canada will take the necessary steps -- at an appropriate and safe time -- to bring a conclusion to the illegal occupation of Kouchibouguac National Park."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2022.