Early Life

Thelma Julia Chalifoux was born in 1929 in Calgary, Alberta to Paul Villeneuve and Helene Ingwersen. Chalifoux is Métis from her father’s side of the family, with her family lineage rooted in the early Métis communities of St. Albert and Lac Ste. Anne.

“Born just before the Great Depression, Chalifoux grew up during a challenging economic time, one from which she learned the value of hard work early on in life. Always looking to help others, Chalifoux volunteered in soup kitchens during the Second World War. She also joined the military reserve force and worked in a Salvation Army canteen.”  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/thelma-chalifoux

In 1958 Chalifoux was a single mother of four children looking for support from social services, instead her children were taken away from her in what became known as the Sixties Scoop.  During this time, she gave birth to another daughter and finished her high school education while working. Chalifoux worked tirelessly to regain her children, which happened in 1965. She would eventually go on to have more children.

She also went on to study sociology at Lethbridge College and then studied at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).

All of these experiences would help shape Chalifoux’s activist work later in her life.

Image credit:  Courtesy of Sharon Morin