HOF138: Vicky Baril

In the late 1970s, images of the Vietnamese boat people were on the nightly news. At the Lady of Mercy Catholic Church, west of Edmonton, Alberta, Father Gilles Gauthier spoke to parishioners about sponsoring a refugee family. The group didn’t sponsor just any family, however. As parishioner Vicky Baril recounts, the priest urged the congregation to sponsor refugees whom others had rejected and who’s chances of resettling in Canada were remote. Consequently, the parish welcomed a widow with six children and, along the way, built friendships that would last for decades.