Johnny of Maillardville

Johnny of Maillardville chronicles the arrival of a group of French-Canadian lumber workers from the Gatineau region in 1909. Recruited to work at the Western Lumber Company’s mill in Coquitlam, they settled above the mill in an area they called Maillardville. Its main character is Jean-Baptiste “Johnny” Dicaire Jr., a pioneer in founding this French-Canadian enclave. Gathered from memoirs and testimonies of the first arrivals, the book describes in a series of vignettes the early life and history of this important neighbourhood. Johnny Dicaire, the main character, is representative of his time and the village’s most colourful figure. He is a role model of determination, openness, and inclusion.