By Marc Aubin
Only a large weathered cornerstone remains of what was one of the most important co-operative organizations in Ottawa French-Canadian history. It now sits outside the entrance to the City of Ottawa Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive. It was placed there in 2014 after our community’s Heritage Committee alerted authorities that the rest of the building on Dalhousie St was being destroyed by a wrecking crane.
Quebec Archives
Founded in 1863, in the early days of Ottawa when the French-Canadian community was still establishing itself, the Union du Canada (first called l’Union Saint-Joseph) was a form of co-operative that responded to a very precarious problem. In a time wwhen there were very few social supports, an illness or sudden death in the family could completely destroy its source of income. If people did not work, they did not get paid and their families could suffer significantly. Life insurance companies provided help, but their rates were prohibitively expensive for many working class people. This was the purpose of the Union du Canada in its early days – to provide health and life insurance for its members.
Unlike regular life- insurance companies, the premiums of the Union were lower, and the targeted demographic in those early days was the working class. The organization had a form of not-for-profit co-operative approach that allowed for lower life-insurance rates. Just as important, it also provided a form of community solidarity for its members.
The Union du Canada first had its meetings in an old 2.5 story brick house on Murray Street that served as a French-Catholic school. In 1884, a significant increase in membership permitted the purchase of an old Methodist church at the corner of Dalhousie and York streets. Many other French-Canadian organizations used the church as a meeting space. It was replaced by a four-storey purpose-built office building in 1907, which was designed by famous Ottawa architects Noffke and Turgeon. The building was later renovated and the exterior replaced. However, a fire gutted the building in 1966, leading to the construction of a new office tower.
In 1895, partly due to the evolution of laws and pressures on local cooperative mutual benefit societies, the Union du Canada re-organized on a national scale. This is where the organization moved from being administered by the working class to a more professional elite. Other branches were opened in Ottawa and throughout Canada and parts of the United States. Some were built through annexation of others. In 1900, the organization name was changed to the Union Saint-Joseph du Canada, and then again in 1959 to Union du Canada.
The organization was deeply embedded in the Ottawa francophone community. Many prominent Lowertown francophones helped establish and run the organization. It was an exceptional example of the trend towards creation of self-help benevolent societies. It was closely aligned with other Lowertown and Franco-Ontarian groups in the fight against Regulation 17, and in protecting francophone linguistic rights. It fully participated in, contributed to and hosted cultural and religious events and celebrations in the Lowertown area in a significant way over its 150-year history.
The Union du Canada was led from 1980 to 2011 by Gérard Desjardins. He started as an insurance salesman at the organization in 1954, and moved up the ranks. Following his departure, on the eve of its 150th anniversary, the Union du Canada ceased to exist. In January 2012, the Union du Canada applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for restructuring. In response, the Court found that the organization had insufficient funds to ensure long-term viability and ordered that it be liquidated.
The last and sad chapter in the history of the Union du Canada was the proposed demolition of the building itself at 325 Dalhousie Street. Despite a solid case by the Lowertown Heritage Committee for protection of the building under the Ontario Heritage Act, city and provincial officials refused to even consider a thorough designation request submitted by the Lowertown Community Association. There is no mechanism to force the city to consider designation, which is yet another football-field example of the loopholes available to developers and City Ccouncil.
The Union du Canada building was the best example of local modern architecture in Lowertown. Unfortunately, the vintage of the building along with its run-down state, did not lend itself to supportive public opinion or political capital. Almost all of Lowertown’s mid-century modern architecture has been lost over the past twenty years, but this was the biggest loss. With appropriate restoration, re-adaptation, and some new elements, the building would have been a shining monument to the grand French-Canadian organization that it once housed.
As a concession, it was promised that a display commemorating the Union du Canada would be displayed in the hotel on the site, but to date there is no evidence of any display. For more information on the building itself, it is featured on the local website, Capital Modern, at http://www.capitalmodern.ca/demolition/union-du-canada-building-demolition-finished/.