Jackie Vautour's family home demolished inside Kouchibouguac National Park

The home of a man who laid claim to land in New Brunswick's Kouchibouguac National Park for decades has been torn down.

Parks Canada said Tuesday that workers would pack up items belonging to the late Jackie Vautour and place them outside the park.

The demolition of the Vautour home happened sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. Jackie’s son, John “Rocky” Vautour, had been living in the home but was away when it happened.

He says he wasn’t able to get any of his things.

"What I have is on my back," Vautour said. "We couldn't get no information from the RCMP or Parks Canada.”

As he stood in front of the lot where his home used to be, he reflected on the past.

“We went through the same thing back in 1976. So I've lost everything more than once in my life.”

Vautour's lifelong fight centred around the expropriation of land from 1,200 families -- including his own -- to create the national park in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

After being removed from the area in 1976, Jackie returned to the park in 1978 -- vowing never to leave.

Threats and efforts to remove him and his family boiled over in 1980 when protests temporarily closed the park.

The Vautours 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 for more than 50 years.

But Mi'kmaq chiefs in New Brunswick have said they hold title to the land that includes the park and the rights have not been extended to the Vautours or the Acadian-Metis.

The Crown agency said Vautour was compensated by the New Brunswick government for the expropriated land in 1987 and was given two parcels of land totalling 44.5 hectares outside of Kouchibouguac National Park and $228,000.

Vautour lived in the park until he died in 2021. Parks Canada said it would ensure his family had the details on how to retrieve their belongings.

Rocky said having his house torn down again will make him stronger. "Because a bigger battle is coming.”

Dozens of people were on the scene Tuesday, most supporters of the family.

RCMP had been stationed at the park entrance, while Parks Canada employees patrolled a few kilometres away.

Rocky's siblings were also there Tuesday, including his sister Maureen who sat across the street from where her former home stood.

"I felt like I died again. I feel like I died like in 1976 when they bulldozed our house the first time," she said. "It tears at our soul."

"We are harassed, we are bullied and we are made fun of by the RCMP and by Parks Canada," she said. "And this has been going on for too long. These are our lands."

Angry with Parks Canada and RCMP -- the Vautours said they had no right to tear down the home.

"Just because our father passed away, Parks Canada thinks we're going to give up. We are the Vautours and we will continue the fight," she said. "We are not done yet, by a long shot."

With files from the Canadian Press