The Fair Folk of Mullarkey Inspiration - The Pontiac

This is a discussion article for Black Annis Year. If you haven’t read the book yet, please skip this article  for now. There will be spoilers. 
 

The Pontiac Region of Quebec falls along the Ottawa River (known as the Outaouais River in Quebec—pronounced oo-ta-way) and spans several townships. It’s a beautiful area, very rural, dotted with many small towns and villages and rich in history. And it has a few unique qualities.

First, it’s an English-speaking pocket in a French province. To anyone who isn’t familiar with Canadian politics, this might not seem like a big deal, but the Quebec Government has tried for over 40 years to eradicate all English from the province with policies such as Bill 101, which makes it illegal to have English store signage that is bigger than French signage. Or the more recent and draconian Bill 96 which tries to force all government employees to speak ONLY French in the workplace. This includes doctors, nurses and social workers, a fact that could put patients at risk. 

I grew up in Montreal which has a good mix of French and English speakers, but even I was surprised at how Anglophone the Pontiac Region is when I moved here. There are children growing up here who don’t speak any French. Recently, a local town featured a seminar about the “Lost Pontiac.” Apparently Francophones think we are all lost sheep that somehow never came into the French fold. I find that hilarious.

I heard a story about Shawville (the largest town in the Pontiac) back in the days of Bill 101 (1980s) when the language police (yes, that’s actually a thing here) came around to give out fines for any shop not complying with the new signage laws. Apparently, the shop-owners of Shawville banded together and refused to pay the fines. When the Quebec government sent ministers to enforce it, the citizens of Pontiac barricaded the highway into Shawville with farm trucks, tractors, semis—anything they could find. It was such a large turnout, that the government minister changed his mind about visiting Shawville that day. 

Now I heard that bit of history from neighbors and I haven’t corroborated it, but what a great story! Maybe I should write a story about Auntie Clare in her younger days and include the blockade of Shawville. What do you think?

The second interesting fact about the Pontiac Region is that it was settled mainly by Irish and German immigrants. That means we have a fabulous 3-day Oktoberfest every fall only a few minutes up the road. But it’s the Irish connection that interested me when writing Black Annis Year. It allowed me to tap into the rich Irish culture of fairies. 

One fascinating historical note is that this region is the only one in Quebec that doesn’t have a Catholic Church. In fact, I believe it is still on the books that it is illegal to open a Catholic Church here. That has something to do with the fighting between Irish Catholics and Protestants back in the day. For centuries, the Catholic Church held almost as much power and influence as the government in Quebec. Its absence here may be one of the reasons that English flourished.