Canada/Dieppe names trails in honor of its residents
Dieppe has unveiled trail names in honor of women who have made a significant contribution to the community. The municipality's goal is to increase female representation in its toponymy.
The Toponym'ielle project aims to recognize the contribution of women to Dieppe's history by naming the municipality's outdoor trails after outstanding female residents.
The women honored were active in a variety of fields, including politics, sports, ecology, the Canadian armed forces, intercultural relations, creativity, health and entrepreneurship.
Eight women were honoured on Saturday by the City of Dieppe.
Such was the case of Johanne LeBlanc, who now has a trail named in her honor in the municipality.
She distinguished herself as a softball athlete at national and world level, participating in the Canada Games and various championships in the 1980s.
It's a great honour... now when I ride my bike along the trails, I'll be able to see my sign," says Johanne Leblanc.
Novelist France Daigle was also honored as part of this City of Dieppe project.
With over a dozen books to her credit, she is considered a major figure in Acadian literature.
Proud, in a way, because the first... the pioneers of Dieppe decided to bank on the Francophonie... and I'm certainly working in that wave," explained the writer.
Dieppe's mayor, Yvon Lapierre, was equally proud to recognize the contribution of these women to the city he leads.
You don't always have to look forward, sometimes you have to look back to recognize the work that has been done by the citizens of Dieppe over the years.
The city began this project last year, asking its population to nominate women who have contributed to the community. The municipality says it received 62 nominations.
Trails have also been named in honor of Ada Forbes, Brenda LeBalnc, Dorothy Nye, Laure Bradley and Rebecca LeBlanc.
A sign will be installed at the entrance to each trail in the coming days to pay tribute to these women.
Source: ici.radio-canada.ca/
