Le Droit: A new co-operative

By Michel Rossignol

On December 13, 2019, the francophone newspaper Le Droit, which has been a part of Lowertown’s history for more than a century, became a co-operative. The newspaper was bought by its employees as part of a restructuring plan which will allow six newspapers, including Le Droit, to continue their operations. These newspapers were part of a media group, Groupe Capitales Médias, on the brink of bankruptcy, which has been replaced by a cooperative, Coopérative nationale de l’information indépendante (CN2I).

The newspaper Le Droit published its first edition on March 27, 1913, right in the middle of the crisis concerning Regulation 17 of the Government of Ontario. The regulation limited the teaching of the French language and the use of that language for communication to only the first two years of schooling. The newspaper was established to defend the rights of Franco-Ontarians, including those in Ottawa. Indeed, Lowertown schools including École Guigues and École Brébeuf were at the centre of protest demonstrations against the regulation. After the crisis, Le Droit continued to speak on behalf of Franco-Ontarians while becoming one of the main sources of information on events and politics in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.

Le Droit has been directly involved in Lowertown’s social and economic development since 1913, not only as a newspaper, but also as a business, an employer and a sponsor of many events. Its first offices were in two buildings on George Street at the corner of Dalhousie. The big printing presses were in the basement of the small building  at 98 George Street (today the Giant Tiger store). In 1955, everything was moved to a new building on Rideau Street next to the Rideau Street branch of the Ottawa Public Library. Le Droit was in a building, since demolished, where the Loblaws store is now located. In 1990, the newspaper’s offices were moved to 47 Clarence Street in the ByWard Market. The newspaper took this opportunity to equip itself with the most up-to-date editing and page-layout technology.

Since 1990, a lot has changed in the world of journalism and print newspapers because people now rely more and more on social media and other sources to get their information. Le Droit has not escaped  the uncertainties faced by the newspaper industry as it made the transition from a paper edition to a digital platform. Because of its new circumstances, there have been rumours that Le Droit might move many of its offices from the ByWard Market to Gatineau or elsewhere in the region. In short, while Le Droit continues to be an important source of information, there could be significant developments in its long association with the ByWard Market and Lowertown  in the coming months.