Quebec Simmental Association

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History

In 1978 a group of Quebec breeders decided to form an organization to help promote the Simmental breed in the province of Quebec. The operating budget then was $3,000.

Two years later (in 1980) Mr. Armand Pellerin was hired as the field person/secretary for our Simmental breeders. A trip to France was organized during which 19 members made the acquisition of a number of Simmental animals in order to improve the breed back home. At the time the organization’s motto was: "Simmental, the breed for the future".

On June 11^th, 1981 the following 9 members filed a request to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for the incorporation of "L’Association Simmental du Québec". These 9 members were:

 

Marcellin Lavoie	Jocelyn Autotte	Charles-Henri St-Pierre
Henri Couture	Claude Carrière	Renaud Fortier
Laurier Fluet	Armand Pellerin	Camille Dubois

The corporation was registered August 18^th, 1981.The provisional officers were Mr. Marcellin Lavoie, Mr. Jocelyn Autotte, and Mr. Armand Perreault. The head office was located at 438 Route Nationale 138, St-Augustin (Cte Portneuf), Qué.

The A.S.Q. was also granted a subsidy of $10,000 from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture in 1981.The A.S.Q. took part in a program promoted by the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture involving young test station bulls. The sale was conducted in collaboration with the "Association des Éleveurs de Bovins de Boucherie Pur-sang du Québec". The subsequent result was the selling of Simmental cattle at a higher price than that of the other breeds - with an average of $ 1,652.00 per animal. The A.S.Q. now had 275 members and it adopted a charter as well as membership by-laws.

In 1984, for the first time since the A.S.Q.’s inception, a woman became president of the A.S.Q. Her name was Mme. Sylvie Gouin.

The year 1985 brought with it the beginnings of the Road Map project involving the Quebec Simmental breeders. This project was sponsored by the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transports, and it had a production date set for April 1986.

Along came 1986 as well as the publishing and distribution of the Quebec Simmental road-map. Of all the purebred cattle breed associations in Quebec, the A.S.Q. was the first to accomplish such a project. The first purebred female provincial sale, sponsored by the A.S.Q. was also organized that year. 59 head of cattle were sold for an average of $1,244 per animal.

Mr. Dick Stoddard, from Waterloo, was elected President of the Canadian Simmental Association in Calgary the same year. He is known as the first Quebec member to accede to this position.

In the month of May 1988, the first issue of the "Revue Simmental Québec" was published.

In 1993 the A.S.Q., along with our national director Mr. Yves Gagnon’s support, helped organize the Annual Canadian Simmental Meeting during the Expo-Québec event in Quebec City in August 1993. A breeders’ directory for Quebec was published in time for the National Meeting, as well as an insert in the Simmental Country magazine.

In 1994, the time came to review and modify the membership by-laws of the A.S.Q. The number of directors diminished from 9 to 6. Also, out-of-province memberships and corporate memberships were added to the membership groups of the A.S.Q.

A.S.Q. Treasurers: Mrs. Diane Bischof 1994 - 1997 and Mr. Pierre Mongrain 1997 - …

The following are all the directors who have given their time and efforts during the years: