Joanne Millette remembers looking forward to going to Camp Peaceful Waters in Quebec’s Laurentians every summer as a Girl Guide in the 1960s. “You were always aware that it was coming, and you were excited for it,” Millette, now almost 70, tells CTV News. The tradition continues today. Every July, Girl Guide units from across Quebec, ranging in age from six to 17, gather at the Morin-Heights camp after the Guiding season, which runs from September to June. The camp, which turns 100 this year, is where girls socialize and take part in recreational and educational activities, including boating, canoeing, swimming, and life skills. The rustic property sits on the shore of Lac-Bouchette. Each campsite has about six to 10 wooden platforms that host a large four-person canvas tent, all connected by several roads and trails. Sites also have large wooden marquees for cooking, eating, and shelter. The camp’s main lodge is on a hill, complete with a full-length balcony overlooking the lake. But Millette says the best view of the lake is from the amphitheatre campfire site. “You got to spend time with your friends, sleep in a tent, and it was a way to build your confidence without even realizing you were doing it,” said Millette. “We always had a great time at camp.” Evolution of Girl Guides Girl Guides began in Canada in 1910 in St. Catharines, Ont., with Quebec’s first unit opening three years later. For Millette, Girl Guides has been part of most of her life. She joined at eight years old at a unit in Laval and, over time, advanced through various positions within the organization, including unit leader and provincial commissioner in Quebec. She eventually chaired the Girl Guides of Canada property committee. Millette is now organizing the camp’s 100-year celebration. Millette, who said she was a shy and introverted child, says joining Girl Guides shaped her life in more ways than one. “It was a terrific experience. I still have friendships I made when I was a kid, and it’s the same for girls today. In many cases, it forms your identity, and it also gives you an opportunity to learn so much that kids aren’t learning in school,” Millette said. “I am a different person because of Girl Guides. I can’t imagine what I would have been without it.” Millette admits that Girl Guides was much more popular when she was a child than it is now, possibly because it was one of the only extracurricular activities available for kids at the time. Girl Guides was also different when Millette first joined, reflecting the era, she recalls. Marching, uniform inspections and attendance were all part of the culture. Activities were also heavily influenced by the era, centred largely on teaching girls domestic duties, including sewing, cooking and setting a table. “Girl Guides was much more militaristic; it was much stricter. There were more procedures to follow,” she said. “Activities were more geared to that time when women were housekeepers. It reflected what was going on in society, but as things were evolving in society, so did Girl Guides.” Girl Guides today Today, Girl Guides of Canada offers a wide range of extracurricular activities for girls and young women, from arts and sciences to outdoor activities and leadership skills. Units meet weekly to teach girls and young women life and career skills and global awareness, allowing girls to earn badges. The five branches of Girl Guides are organized by age group: Sparks (5 to 6), Embers (7 to 8), Guides (9 to 11), Pathfinders (12 to 14) and Rangers (15 to 17). Sarah Di Milo, provincial co-commissioner of Girl Guides of Canada Quebec unit, joined Girl Guides at five in Greenfield Park on Montreal’s South Shore. Di Milo, now 40, said Girl Guides is unique because girls and young women help design weekly sessions based on what they want to learn, giving them the freedom to choose what skills and activities they want to explore. “The goal of Girl Guides is that we design a leadership program that helps support girls and youth in Quebec to really be their true selves and explore options of who they want to be and what they want to be when they get older,” Di Milo tells CTV News. “It teaches them how to be leaders within themselves, understand themselves and be leaders within their own community.” Di Milo says she was shy as a child and struggled with public speaking. However, she adds that joining Girl Guides at age five gave her the confidence to improve her public speaking and ultimately led to her career as a sixth-grade teacher — a position she’s held for the last 18 years. “I am who I am today because of Girl Guides. All the skills I’ve learnt are mostly from Girl Guides: the communication skills, leadership skills, first aid,” Di Milo said. “In the moment you’re having such a good time in your activity, or you’re camping with your friends, and you don’t realize that you’re building up all of these skills that you will take with you for the rest of your life.” Sara Ogilvie, provincial co-commissioner of Girl Guides of Canada Quebec unit, joined Girl Guides at age seven in the Lachute unit on Montreal’s North Shore and has been with the organization for 28 years. Ogilvie, now 47, also credits the skills she learned from Girl Guides with landing her a dream job as a community learning centre coordinator at a high school. “I was a really, really shy kid, but Girl Guides really helped get me out of my shell,” Ogilvie said. “We would do presentations during our meetings for badges, and I had to present in front of my group, and that was a huge step for me because you couldn’t get me to talk in class at school, but I felt comfortable enough to do so at Girl Guides.” For Ogilvie, that sense of belonging remains at the heart of the organization. “My fondest memories as a Girl Guide are what we continue to provide today: a safe space for girls to be themselves,” Ogilvie said. ‘We’re more than cookie-selling’ To celebrate Camp Peaceful Waters’ centennial, units across Canada were invited in July to take part in an array of activities. The camp will also host a special weekend of events in October for alumni and current members. Millette will be at the camp again this fall, just as she was for multiple summers as a Girl Guide. “I hope people realize the value of an organization like Girl Guides. It is so much more than just a one-hour session a week. I wish more people knew more about us,” she said. Girl Guides has been around in Canada for more than 100 years, but it isn’t nearly as popular in Quebec as it is in other provinces, Di Milo said. She says this is mainly because the organization isn’t as well known in the francophone community as it is in the anglophone one. “We always get a few comments like ‘You guys are still around?’ or ‘You guys still sell cookies?’” Di Milo said. “People still think we’re teaching little girls to be homemakers like they used to do in the 50s and 60s. While sewing is still a badge a child can earn, Girl Guides is so much more. We’re more than cookie-selling.” Girl Guide units across Canada are beginning their seasons this month, with cookie sales starting this week. It is the organization’s largest fundraiser, helping support local programs. The team in Quebec is once again working to raise awareness about the organization and ensure its legacy lives on for generations to come. “We are always looking to welcome new girls and young women into our program,“ Ogilvie said. ”There’s some magic that happens at Girl Guides, and it goes above and beyond what you think it is when you read about it.“
