Ms. Paulette Brousseau is a 23-year Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. She generously dedicates her time as a volunteer with Veterans in Petite-Vallée. She is responsible for the annual Poppy Campaign in the area, and she organizes and takes part in local Remembrance Day ceremonies. Since 1998, she has managed the funds collected by the Royal Canadian Legion to help Gaspésie Veterans. Ms. Brousseau prepares and organizes funerals for deceased Veterans in accordance with military protocol.
Ms. Brousseau took notice that the town she called home did not have a cenotaph to honour those who served Canada. Through various community fundraising efforts and with the help of local artisans, she created a mobile granite monument that can be moved from venue to venue for remembrance ceremonies in the community of La Petite-Vallée – Gaspésie. The cenotaph is a steel combat helmet resting atop an overturned rifle, inside a poppy adorned wooden box on which are inscribed the words Jamais plus la guerre, which rests under a scaled replica Sherman tank.
Ms. Brousseau planned and organized a conference to honour the memory of the actions of Canadians in the Régiment de la Chaudière on D-Day. She created and built a miniature battle scene of Juno Beach for the occasion to help spectators at the conference better understand the scope of the operation.
She also gives a number of lectures on Remembrance Day to people in the area and to elementary and high school students.