Le Droit
This article needs to be updated.(September 2022) |
ISSN 0839-4865 | | |
Website | ledroit |
---|
Le Droit is a Canadian
History
The newspaper was launched on March 27, 1913 as a tool to condemn Regulation 17, an Ontario law that restricted education in French at that time. Today, it defends federalism in Canada as well as provincial jurisdictions. It is still involved in the protection of francophone rights in Ontario, notably advocating for the survival of the Montfort Hospital during the government of Ontario premier Mike Harris.[2]
In the 1960s, Le Droit tried to extend its market into Northeastern Ontario, including the North Bay, Timmins and Sudbury areas, all of which have large francophone populations. However, it quickly abandoned the project due to high costs. Originally published as a broadsheet, it switched to tabloid format in 1988, following an 11-week strike by the pressmen. The newspaper also had a previous strike in 1982.
In 2001,
In 2015, Gesca sold six of its francophone titles, including Le Droit, to Martin Cauchon, a former minister in the Jean Chrétien government. Terms were not disclosed.[3]
In 2020, the paper switched from printing six times a week to once a week on Saturdays. Three years later the last print edition of the newspaper was published on December 30, 2023. Moving forward the publication will be entirely digital.[4]
The publisher since 2007 is Jacques Pronovost. Before him, it was led by Claude Gagnon (2002–2007), Pierre Bergeron (1993–2002), Gilbert Lacasse (1987–1993) and Jean-Robert Bélanger (c. 1953 – 1987). Managing editors have included Jean Gagnon (?), André Larocque (2006–2010), Michel Gauthier (2001–2006), François Roy (1994–2001), Claude Beauregard (1994), Gilbert Lavoie (1991–1994), and André Préfontaine (1989–1991).
Today
It is the only
Its main offices were located near the ByWard Market with a second office located at Les Promenades Gatineau in Gatineau until the move to Gatineau. It currently has about 150 employees.
Controversy
In 2008, Sudbury's francophone community newspaper Le Voyageur published an editorial criticizing the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for its handling of Le5 Communications' application to acquire two francophone radio stations, CHYC-FM in Sudbury and CHYK-FM in Timmins. The paper took issue with the fact that the CRTC's original notice of hearing was published only in Le Droit, and not in any of the region's local media—thereby giving the francophone community in Northeastern Ontario little notice of either the pending transaction or the deadlines for reviewing and submitting comments regarding the application.[6]
Notable staff
- Marcel Desjardins, political correspondent and sports journalist[7]
- Pierre Dufault, political correspondent and sports journalist[8]
See also
References
- for the six months ending September 30, 2011. Retrieved February 16, 2012.
- ^ "This Week in Canadian Media History: Le Droit founded in 1913 | J-Source". www.j-source.ca.
- ^ "Ottawa's Le Droit among six regional dailies sold by Gesca". Ottawa Citizen. 18 March 2015.
- ^ "Le Droit goes digital after more than a century in print". CBC.ca. December 30, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
- ^ "Home". cyberpresse.ca.
- ^ (in French) "Le CRTC au service des gens, vraiment?"[permanent dead link], Le Voyageur, September 24, 2008.
- ^ "Décès de Marcel Desjardins". Le Devoir (in French). 11 February 2003. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
- ^ Gratton, Denis (June 22, 2018). "Pierre Dufault, le dernier des grands". Le Droit (in French). Retrieved November 8, 2020.