Open Letter from the Dean of Campus Saint-Jean to the President of the Société historique francophone de l'Alberta (SHFA)

Open Letter to Jason Carey, PhD, P.Eng, Dean of the Saint-Jean Campus, University of Alberta

To: Ms. Claudette D. Roy, C.M., President, and the members of the Board of Directors of the Société historique francophone de l’Alberta (SHFA)

Subject: Acknowledgment of receipt and institutional position regarding the 2027–2034 strategic plan for Campus Saint-Jean

Madam President,

I acknowledge receipt of your letter dated June 11, 2026, in which the Société historique francophone de l'Alberta (SHFA) informs us of its decision not to participate in the individual consultations as part of our 2027–2034 strategic planning process. We sincerely regret this absence, as your organization’s contribution is invaluable to our community.

The receipt of your letter coincides with June 11, a highly symbolic date marking the anniversary of the official apology issued in 2008 by the federal government to former students of residential schools. This coincidence reinforces, in our view, the importance and resonance of the truth-seeking process in which Campus Saint-Jean is currently engaged.

Campus Saint-Jean has initiated this reflection with all of its institutional and community partners in a spirit of openness, transparency, and constructive dialogue. Our shared ambition remains to build an inclusive, pluralistic, and rigorous future. However, we remain convinced that such a dialogue benefits from being grounded in a shared foundation of recognition of history, in all its complexity.

While we acknowledge your decision, we feel it is important to reaffirm our position: we find it difficult to envision strategic planning for the future without fully acknowledging the historical links—now documented—between certain members of the Saint-Jean institution’s staff and the Indigenous residential school system.

The duty to remember to which we subscribe is based on the rigorous work and findings of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), which highlight the movement of clergy between Saint-Jean College and various residential schools in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. Furthermore, the Congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate itself has explicitly and publicly acknowledged, since its 1991 statement, its central role in the administration of this system and the suffering that resulted from it, admitting that this project aimed at the assimilation of Indigenous peoples. It is in the interest of scientific rigor and transparency that we present the following individual and factual accounts, drawn from our archival research:

• Teaching and administrative staff: Key figures in the administration of Collège Saint-Jean played significant roles in Indigenous residential schools. Father Antonio Duhaime (bursar at Saint-Jean in 1951–1952) and Father Georges Chevrier (teacher at Collège Saint-Jean from 1945 to 1949) were both missionaries and directors of St. Michael’s Residential School in Duck Lake, Saskatchewan. Like other members, they are mentioned in documented investigations involving allegations of abuse. Reverend Émeric Drouin (assistant at Saint-Jean in 1951–1952) was also a head teacher at Ste-Marie Residential School in Cardston.
  
  
• Clergy from the institution: Several priests who had been students or administrators at Saint-Jean College worked for extended periods within the residential school system. Father Antoine Kacl, active at Saint-Jean between 1927 and 1953, served as both a missionary and an employee at the residential schools in Dunbow, Duck Lake, Ermineskin (Hobbema), and Blue Quills (St. Paul). Father James Michael McGrath (a 1940 graduate of the College) became director of the Cariboo residential school in Williams Lake, while Father Auguste Husson (who retired to Saint-Jean in 1926) had previously served in Grouard, Smoky River, and Duck Lake.
  
  
• Testimonies and investigations: Historical research and survivor testimonies brought to light by journalistic work raise allegations of abuse involving individuals whose careers were linked to Saint-Jean, notably Fathers Gilles Gauthier (who left the College in 1959) and Laurent Houde (who left in 1950), the latter being the subject of allegations by survivors of the Duck Lake residential school.

This information, derived from preliminary research in public archives, represents a systemic reality that Campus Saint-Jean, as a component of the University of Alberta, has a duty to analyze. That is why we are committed to pursuing this historical research in depth and to publishing all of its findings. In light of these facts, our university must move irreversibly along the path of truth and reconciliation.

Alongside this necessary work of remembrance, we look to the future of Campus Saint-Jean with deep confidence. Our institution is experiencing remarkable growth and is poised to significantly increase its student body over the coming years. This historic development represents a major step forward for the sustainability of Alberta’s Francophone community.

This growth rests entirely on the unifying role that the Campus must play within our society. Our institution has a responsibility to be a space of absolute openness, capable of welcoming every student, regardless of their background, origins, or identity, so that they feel fully respected and safe within our walls. We believe that we cannot bring together the community of tomorrow without shedding light on the history of yesterday.

Faced with the promising horizons opening up before us, our administration remains fully focused on its primary mission. Despite the debates and pressures that may sometimes surround these issues at the national level, our absolute focus remains on academic excellence, scientific innovation, and service to the community. We will continue to bring to life a vision of the Francophonie that is open, inclusive, and resolutely forward-looking.

The 50th anniversary of the Faculté Saint-Jean in 2027 will reflect this trajectory of growth and rigor. This milestone will allow us to celebrate our academic achievements while honoring our duty to remember. Decisions regarding the management of our spaces and our heritage will always be guided by this commitment to truth, decolonization, and respect for contemporary ethical protocols.

We aspire to represent a vibrant, diverse Francophonie united around universal values.

While we regret that the SHFA is not participating in this process that will shape the Campus for the next seven years, we wish to assure you that the door to dialogue will always remain open. We sincerely hope that, in the future, we can move forward together on the basis of mutual recognition of the historical facts established by research

Jason Carey, PhD, P.Eng
Dean, Saint-Jean Campus
University of Alberta

c.c.:

Nathalie Lachance, President of the ACFA
William Flanagan, President of the University of Alberta
Verna Yiu, Provost of the University of Alberta