People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec
This “People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec” project looks at English-speaking Quebecers from the 1600s to the present. It highlights underrepresented groups—both in and outside Montreal—including ethnocultural communities, workers, and women. It focuses on how these groups organized and engaged in collective action for positive social change. The project shows that English-speaking Quebec organizations have been sites of inclusion, diversity, and debate that contributed to Quebec and Canada. It challenges simplistic narratives that depict Quebec’s English speakers as a wealthy, dominant elite.
For more details about the ongoing project, which includes oral history videos, an upcoming book, and other products, see our working paper.
The Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN) at Concordia University, Montreal, runs this project.
Oral History Videos
This oral history video series is a component of the People’s History project. It showcases interviews with community leaders and influential figures, offering valuable firsthand accounts that will serve as primary source material for the upcoming book. The videos are available for viewing below.
Please note that the videos below are presented as raw, rough, and largely unedited recordings to preserve the integrity of the testimonies. They are intended as research material, not as polished documentaries.
Sam Boskey
Sam Boskey spent most of his life in Montreal’s Notre Dame de Grâce (NDG) neighbourhood. A McGill University social sciences and law graduate, he reflects on 1960s student politics and frustration with conventional politics under Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau. He discusses the rise of Montreal municipal political parties, namely Front d'action politique des salariés (FRAP) and the Montreal Citizens’ Movement (MCM). A municipal councillor from 1982 to 1998, Boskey grew disillusioned with MCM. From 1979 to 2016, he also worked in Quebec’s civil service, eventually focusing on English-language education for the Ministère de l’Éducation. He explores contrasts between the English- and French-speaking left, then and now.
Boskey, Sam. “Interview with Sam Boskey by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, June 11, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daOA7yDTBKE&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL.
Kevin Callahan
Kevin Callahan, born in the USA, moved to Toronto at 17 before settling in Montreal. A retired English as a second or foreign language (ESL) teacher, he was also active in unions and the Quebec-Ireland Committee. His organizing work led to involvement in the Verdun, Quebec-based Black Rock group, which focused on working-class Irish Quebec history, culture and politics. The group’s activities included putting on plays and inviting Irish speakers to Montreal. Callahan says it transitioned into the Cultural Workers’ Alliance. He highlights key figures in Black Rock, particularly David Fennario.
Callahan, Kevin. “Interview with Kevin Callahan by Lorraine O’Donnell [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 29, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHFOhn41Smo&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=9.
Joan Carr
Joan Carr, formerly Joan Richards, was born in Prince Edward Island and has lived across North America including the Magdalen Islands and Gaspé. In 1975, she became involved with the Committee for Anglophone Social Action (CASA), initially formed to produce the newspaper "The Spec" in the Gaspé. Carr joined CASA's board in 1980 and worked for them from 1981 to 2000. CASA evolved from focusing on the newspaper to addressing political issues and community services. Carr discusses Alliance Quebec and other community organizations, Quebec referenda, and her role in uniting the English-speaking community and advocating for its needs.
Carr, Joan. “Interview with Joan Carr by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 27, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXeG83zrUxE&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=7.
Linton Garner
Linton Garner, raised in Montclair, New Jersey, moved to Montreal in the 1960s. He began working with English-speaking youth at the Federation of Catholic Charities, later with the YMCA, and eventually as a community organizer for Alliance Quebec. Garner discusses connecting community groups across Montreal and Quebec, noting challenges in uniting minority groups under a broader English-speaking community and addressing the tendency to exclude non-white minorities’ interests. He eventually served as Executive Director of the Regional Association of West Quebecers in the Outaouais and discusses some of the issues there.
Garner, Linton. “Interview with Linton Garner by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 30, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08ruQ6M1GA8.
Marjorie Goodfellow
Marjorie Goodfellow, born in Sherbrooke, trained in Library Science and worked as a librarian in Ottawa and Montreal before returning to her home town in 1971. A founding member and early president of Townshippers’ Association, she recounts its beginnings and contrasts its organizational culture with Montreal-based Alliance Quebec. She later volunteered in Sherbrooke’s hospitals and served on the Comité provincial pour la prestation de services en langue anglaise, addressing health service issues for English speakers. Goodfellow passed away at her home in Sherbrooke on October 26, 2024, at age 86.
Goodfellow, Marjorie. “Interview with Marjorie Goodfellow by Anita Aloisio [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, June 10, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRSAQDZHetg&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=4.
Joe Lonergan
Joe Lonergan grew up in Quebec City’s Montcalm neighbourhood, descended from Irish families who settled there in the 1820s. Raised in a working-class household, he was active in Irish republican advocacy from the 1960s onward. He taught for 35 years at Saint Patrick’s High School in Quebec. In the 2000s, he became president of Irish Heritage Quebec, and was at the forefront of an effort to take down a plaque commemorating a British regiment’s participation in the 1759 Battle of the Plains of Abraham from the high school walls. He reflects on how Irish identity in Quebec City has evolved over his lifetime.
Lonergan, Joe. “Interview with Joe Lonergan by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, December 9, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqb4Y-x2QFIgfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=4.
Ralph Mastromonaco
Ralph Mastromonaco, born in Montreal, is a longtime advocate for education and community rights. A former school commissioner and provisional chair of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, his involvement stemmed from his own positive experiences in English Catholic schools. Because he and others experienced exclusion from Montreal’s French-language schools due to their Italian heritage, he is now advocating for a public apology. Mastromonaco views school board involvement as community organizing and believes Quebec's history curriculum should reflect minority realities. He also addresses Quebec language and education policy and the Italian community’s role in education.
Mastromonaco, Ralph. “Interview with Ralph Mastromonaco by Anita Aloisio [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 29, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySyPde_SAo0&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=3.
Royal Orr
Royal Orr grew up on a farm in the Eastern Townships and became a sheep farmer before transitioning into community organizing and radio journalism. He was an early executive director of the Townshippers’ Association. Later he was president of Alliance Quebec during a turbulent time in the 1980s: his office was firebombed and he was falsely accused of the attack. In this interview, Orr reflects on the political climate of the era and Alliance Quebec’s work building up the English-speaking community in a spirit of cooperation with Francophone Quebec.
Orr, Royal. “Interview with Royal Orr by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 30, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-Pf9mXZtNw&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=2.
Ruth Pelletier
Ruth Pelletier was raised in the Lower Laurentians. She worked in health, advocacy and media and then, between 1987 and 1999, at Alliance Quebec, where she rose to the role of Executive Director. She explains how the organization addressed priorities in Quebec regions outside Montreal. She also explains the 1990s leadership struggles and tensions which eventually led to Alliance Quebec’s dissolution. She later worked with the Quebec Community Groups Network and founded Seniors Action Quebec.
Pelletier, Ruth. “Interview with Ruth Pelletier by Lorraine O’Donnell [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 28, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFgts7f-fiE&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=6.
Sharleen Sullivan
Sharleen Sullivan, from Rouyn-Noranda in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, has been active in English-language community organizing since the late 1970s. At Alliance Quebec, she started as a youth delegate and later took a leading role in its regional Abitibi-Temiscamingue chapter, which evolved into Neighbours Regional Association. As Executive Director of Neighbours in 2024, Sullivan discusses the English-speaking population in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, its relationship with the Francophone majority, and ongoing challenges.
Sullivan, Sharleen. “Interview with Sharleen Sullivan by Anita Aloisio [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, May 30, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHJHrC1lxhI&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=8.
Richard Walling
Richard Walling grew up outside Quebec City in the English-speaking community of Shannon, QC, near the Valcartier military base. He later studied social psychology at McGill, focusing on language use and minority relations in Quebec. Returning to Quebec City in the early 1980s, he joined Voice of English-speaking Québec (VEQ), where he worked to document the community and improve access to health and social services. Building on this experience, Walling helped found the Holland Centre (now Jeffery Hale Community Partners), developing partnerships that strengthened ties between community organizations and the public system to expand support for English-speakers in the region.
Walling, Richard. “Interview with Richard Walling by Patrick Donovan [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, December 9, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H1YUMaYlNA.
Keith Wilcox
Keith Wilcox was born in Verdun, Quebec, and lived there until he was 24. He worked as a high school teacher and later taught student teachers until 2018. Wilcox was active in the Provincial Association of Protestant Teachers (PAPT), now the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT). In the 1980s, he became involved with the Verdun, Quebec-based Black Rock group through his awareness of David Fennario’s plays. He discusses the group’s composition, politics, activities, and mission of preserving the history and culture of Verdun's working-class community. Wilcox also discusses Alliance Quebec and its relationship to PAPT and the Quebec-Ireland Committee.
Wilcox, Keith. “Interview with Keith Wilcox by Lorraine O’Donnell [Video].” Quebec English-Speaking Communities Research Network (QUESCREN), Concordia University (Montreal), People’s History of English-Speaking Quebec oral history interview series, June 11, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xc1gnC-uYA&list=PL0iUepVZGB-ujl-gfaLnvsjRNz5h71nlL&index=5.
Credits
Lorraine O’Donnell
Affiliate Professor, School of Community and Public Affairs
Senior Research Manager, QUESCREN
Patrick Donovan
Affiliate Professor, Department of History
Research and Operations Manager, QUESCREN
Anita Aloisio
Research Associate, QUESCREN
