Jackie Vautour

John L. "Jackie" Vautour is a Canadian fisherman, born about 1930 in Claire-Fontaine, New Brunswick. He is best known for his fight against the expropriation of 250 families in the early 1970s to create Kouchibouguac National Park on land formerly occupied by eight villages.

Jackie Vautour was born circa 1930 in Claire-Fontaine, New Brunswick. He and his wife Yvonne have nine children (Roy, Ronny, Rocky, Jeanne, Linda, Simonne, Maureen & Rachelle). He is nicknamed the "Eastern Louis Riel" and "Rebel of Kouchibouguac."

In the late 1960s, the Acadians of Kent County, New Brunswick were the poorest people of the province, and Louis Robichaud—who was both the MLA for Kent, and the Premier of New Brunswick—sought to eliminate poverty by creating a national park.

Kouchibouguac National Park was established in 1969 during the expansion of the national parks network in Atlantic Canada. An agreement was signed between the provincial government of Louis Robichaud and the federal government of Pierre Elliott Trudeau to create the park. However, a requirement was that land be expropriated for park creation. The private properties within the future park area were evaluated by professional evaluators working for or hired by the Department of Natural Resources. When they reported the estimated value of the properties to be expropriated, Louis Robichaud decided to cut the total estimate in half. A provincial civil servant, who had been involved in a similar expropriation for military Camp Gagetown, stated the original Kouchibouquac estimates were approximately half of those for Camp Gagetown for equivalent properties.

Seven villages were expropriated, comprising 228 families, representing 1200 people. These families, mostly all Métis fishermen and farmers, had inhabited the area for several generations and were mostly poorly educated and less fortunate.

Auguste Landry negotiated the purchase of homes and land by the government. Families received an average of $10,000 to $12,000 depending on the value of properties. Nearly half accepted the offer. Some of the expropriated residents complained because they received much less than others. The expropriated residents also felt cramped in the new, more expensive, communities where they settled. Forced to sell their fishing rights, they also lost their profession.

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