Le Progrès was not the only French newspaper to see the light of day in the Windsor area in the latter part of the 19th century. In fact, a dozen papers competed with the Pacaud brothers for the soul (and subscription money) of the local French-Canadian population. Most of them were conservative papers, providing opposition to Le Progrès’s liberal views. Most of them were also fairly short-lived, rarely lasting more than a few months. In fact, if it weren’t for passing (and usually mocking) references in Le Progrès, some of these papers would have vanished without a trace.

The first and most serious competitor appears to have been Le Courrier d’Essex (which would later become Le Courrier de l’Ouest). At its inception, at least, it was every bit the equal of Le Progrès. Le Courrier was launched with the express purpose of running Le Progrès out of town; it’s motto, “Windsor’s only French-Canadian newspaper” gave fair warning of the bitter fight that was to ensue. This conflict was in large measure personal. We must recall that initially, in 1881, Le Progrès had declared itself to be a Conservative paper. This was no doubt a ruse, for there is every indication that the Pacaud brothers had been sent by Wilfrid Laurier to establish a Liberal front in Ontario. In March 1882, Le Progrès hired Hipolyte Girardot as editor-in-chief. Girardot was a member of Windsor’s Conservative clique. Was this a way for the Pacauds to infiltrate the Conservative party, to get to better know the enemy? We will never know for sure, but the move certainly allowed Girardot to proclaim his party’s views , . This may have been the journalistic equivalent of giving a man enough rope to hang himself. Girardot only lasted three months as editor. The Pacauds claimed he had failed to fulfil his duties on the job, stating they had to wait for the half-hour a week he showed up at the office before being able to fire him . Whatever the case, no sooner had Girardot left in disgrace than did the Pacaud brothers show their true (red) colours. The following week, Le Progrès proclaimed itself a Liberal paper.

On August 8, 1884, Girardot and his “clique” launched their own paper, Le Courrier d’Essex . They wasted no time in attacking “the other paper.” At first, neither side is willing to even name its adversary; Le Progrès goes no further than mentioning “the gentleman who took it upon himself to found a second French newspaper.” But soon the gloves come off and Windsor’s Francophone readers have ring-side seats to a full-blown newspaper war which they can follow in weekly instalments. Insults, slanders and accusations fly back and forth as the two sides attack not only each others’ politics but also each others’ moral character. A. Bodard, editor-in-chief of Le Courrier d’Essex, accuses the Pacaud brothers of being Free-masons and of publishing “obsceneties” in their paper . The Pacauds accuse Bodard (whom they always refer to as “The Baby”) of being a traitor and an idiot . While Le Progrès no doubt receives help from Laurier’s Liberals, it becomes clear that Le Courrier is being fed copy by the eastern Conservatives; as the battle intensifies, more and more of its pages are printed elsewhere. Eventually the only local content is a two or four-page insert printed in Windsor by Bodard. These pages become more and more obsessed with the various misdeeds of the Pacaud brothers , .

Bodard and his supporters gradually begin to weaken; towards the end, there is practically no local content in the paper. In June 1885, the paper changes its name to Le Courrier de l’Ouest; this too is basically a Quebec paper with one or two pages of local inserts , . The war with Le Progrès is apparently over. The Pacaud brothers permit themselves a bit of generosity towards their defeated adversary . It must be said, however, the tone is decidedly less conciliatory when Le Progrès prints an official obituary for Le Courrier de l’Ouest in September 1886 .

Le Courrier d’Essex/de l’Ouest had nevertheless gone toe to toe with Le Progrès longer and with more verve than any future competitor ever would. Strengthened by their victory, the Pacaud brothers from now on would be able to haughtily dismiss all journalistic competition. We read in Le Progrès of the brief existence of Télésphore Saint-Pierre’s Detroit newspaper, Le Canadien . (Saint-Pierre was a Quebec writer who lived in Detroit for several years. He his best known for his book Histoire des Canadiens français du Michigan et du comté d’Essex, Ontario, published in 1895 - http://www.septentrion.qc.ca/fr/Auteurs/auteur.asp?DevID=217.

Other papers that came and went included Dr. Casgrain’s Cultivateur , Le Drapeau National and a bilingual journal named The Weekly Bulletin. A local distiller named Pat Bénéteau, member of the Casgrain/Odette/Girardot clique, started a newspaper called L’Indépendant, which apparently sometimes ran as The Independant. The Pacaud brothers seemed to have nothing but contempt for him and his publication , , . In 1902, after more than twenty years in Windsor, Gaspard and Aurèle published a list of all the Conservative papers who had tried - without success - to establish themselves in South-Western Ontario. Le Progrès even occasionally took swipes at Windsor’s leading English newspaper, The Windsor Record, even though the latter shared the Pacaud brothers’s Liberal affiliation , .

In July 1908, F.-X. Chauvin started a new French newspaper, Le Courrier . This publication had nothing to do with the earlier Courriers - in fact, Chauvin’s journal was very much a Liberal party paper , . The editor supported the same causes as Le Progrès and even expressed his admiration for Gaspard Pacaud . Le Courrier made a point of publishing lots of local news , , and, like its predecessors, claimed to be “the only truly French-Canadian newspaper in Western Ontario” , . At least, it can be said that it was produced by local French-Canadians.

But was there really room for two French newspapers in Windsor? Apparently not. F.-X. Chauvin left (or was pushed from) his position at the end of the year and management of the paper was assumed by Paul Caty (editor-in-chief) and W.T. Jacques (managing editor). The new team tried to give the paper more of literary focus than a political one . At the beginning of of 1909, Le Courrier began publishing in English and then in a bilingual format . The editor justified this move by saying that Le Courrier had to include English texts in order not to become like Le Progrès, which “filled [its] columns with ads and clichés.” This was apparently in response to the Pacaud brothers having printed a notice announcing Le Courrier’s demise; although we have no issues of Le Progrès at this late date, it is clear that the Pacaud brothers had not changed their tactics. In any case, the death notice, though a few weeks premature, turned out to be quite accurate.

Our own collection of Le Progrès ends in 1902, so unfortunately we cannot read both sides of the battle with Le Courrier. The Pacaud brothers apparently stopped publishing their paper around 1919. We don’t know exactly why or under what circumstances. We do know that after 1912, many other French newspapers sprang up in the Windsor area to mobilize the resistance agains Bill 17 (among them, Le Clairon and La Défense). The journalistic tradition begun by the Pacaud brothers continued. In 1931, Gustave Lacasse founded La Feuille d’Érable in Tecumseh (scan from microfilm). This paper stayed in circulation until 1958. In 1960, local Francophones started up Le Rempart, which still functions as the Windsor area’s Francophone weekly http://apf.ca/lerempart/.