Mr. André Boudreau, C.M., President of the Centre culturel Marie-Anne-Gaboury, will deliver in person, to Buckingham Palace in London, on August 15th, National Acadian Day, a letter in support of a petition set forward by Warren Perrin in January of 1990.

Mr. Perrin is a respected supporter of the Acadian cause in the United States, a pillar of his community and well-known in the French international community. Mr. Perrin presented to the British government a petition demanding recognition of the wrongs imposed on Acadians at the time of the deportation ordered by the British Crown beginning in 1755.

In his petition, Mr. Perrin holds that the deportation took place in times of peace and in violation of laws in force of that era. Based on current definitions, the exile of the Acadians is a violation of human rights. Therefore, the order of exile is still in force at this time because the Treaty of Paris excluded the Acadians from the terms of surrender. Mr. Boudreau believes, therefore, that this petition is very important and completely justified. You can find details on the petition and a profile on Mr. Perrin on the Internet at http://www.acadianmuseum.com/petition.html .

Mr. Boudreau seized the opportunity conferred by his recent nomination as member of the Order of Canada to make this gesture of support, one of the reasons behind his nomination being he was founder and president of the First Acadian World Congress. Held in 1994, this event was chosen by UNESCO to be an official event of the Fourth United Nations Development Decade.

Mr. Boudreau invites all Canadians to support this cause by signing the Guestbook on the recently-created Web site at http://www.virtuelle.ca/reine.

Boudreau is also the founder of the Centre culturel Marie-Anne-Gaboury (CMAG), located in Edmonton, Alberta. The CMAG, which was the birthplace of the First Acadian World Congress, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. It houses several organisations dedicated to many aspects of community development. You are invited to visit them at http://www.virtuelle.ca .