 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2022) |
 | |
| Type | Dailynewspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Coopérative Nationale de l’information indépendante |
| Editor | Marie-Claude Lortie |
| Founded | March 27, 1913 |
| Language | French |
| Headquarters | 425, boulevard Saint-Joseph Bureau 201 Gatineau,Quebec J8Y 3Z8 |
| Circulation | 35,829 weekdays 35,810 weekend days (as of 2011)[1] |
| ISSN | 0839-4865 |
| Website | ledroit |
Le Droit is a CanadianFrench-language digital weekly newspaper, published inGatineau,Quebec. Initially established and owned by theMissionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the paper was published byMartin Cauchon and his company, Capitales Médias, from 2015 - 2019, when a cooperative was formed by the employees to continue publishing the paper.
Formerly published inOttawa,Ontario, for much of its history, it was the only francophone daily newspaper published in Ontario for theFranco-Ontarian community. Amid the context of the media profitability crunch of the late 2010s, it closed its Ottawa offices in 2019, moving across the river to Gatineau in order to qualify for special tax credits being offered by the government of Quebec to preserve endangered media outlets, although the newspaper reiterated that it would continue to cover Ottawa-related news.[2]
The newspaper switched from daily to weekly publication in 2020, and dropped print issues to become digital-only at the end of 2023.[3]
The newspaper was launched on March 27, 1913 as a tool to condemnRegulation 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 theMontfort Hospital during the government of Ontario premierMike Harris.[4]
In the 1960s,Le Droit tried to extend its market intoNortheastern Ontario, including theNorth Bay,Timmins andSudbury areas, all of which have large francophone populations. However, it quickly abandoned the project due to high costs. Originally published as abroadsheet, it switched totabloid format in 1988, following an 11-week strike by the pressmen. The newspaper also had a previous strike in 1982.
In 2001,Gesca, a subsidiary ofPower Corporation owned by Franco-OntarianPaul Desmarais acquired the paper fromConrad Black'sHollinger, who owned it between 1987 and 2001. In the eighties, it belonged to Montreal-based Jacques Francoeur, the founder of Sunday weeklyDimanche-Matin, who built the Unimedia chain which includedLe Soleil (Quebec City) andLe Quotidien (Chicoutimi, now Saguenay). He acquiredLe Droit from the Oblates.
In 2015, Gesca sold six of its francophone titles, includingLe Droit, to Martin Cauchon, a former minister in theJean Chrétien government. Terms were not disclosed.[5]
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.[3]
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).
It is also read by theFranco-Ontarian community and was the fourth all-time francophone newspaper (the previous three existed in the 19th century). Its articles can also be read on theinternet in the Cyberpresse network,[6] which also includesLa Presse inMontreal,Le Soleil inQuebec City,Le Nouvelliste inTrois-Rivières,La Tribune inSherbrooke,La Voix de l'Est inGranby andLe Quotidien inSaguenay.
Its main offices were located near theByWard Market, with a second office located atLes Promenades Gatineau in Gatineau, until the move to Gatineau. It currently has about 150 employees.
In 2008, Sudbury's francophone community newspaperLe Voyageur published an editorial criticizing theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for its handling ofLe5 Communications' application to acquire two francophone radio stations,CHYC-FM in Sudbury andCHYK-FM in Timmins. The paper took issue with the fact that the CRTC's original notice of hearing was published only inLe 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.[7]