From Humble Beginnings to Community Pillar: The Legacy of José Eustáquio – Part 3

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For decades, a narrow stereotype painted immigrants as individuals escaping poverty with little to contribute beyond manual labor. But the truth was — and remains — far more compelling. Many of these newcomers brought with them resilience, ambition, and vision. All they needed was the right environment to thrive. In Canada, they found it. Among these immigrant stories, the journey of the Portuguese community stands out. Since the arrival of just 69 individuals in Halifax in 1953, the community has grown to over half a million strong. Some members have lived quietly, shaping their families and neighborhoods behind the scenes. Others have made lasting contributions in the cultural, social, and professional fabric of Canadian life. One of the most prominent figures among them is José Eustáquio. Born in Peniche and a Nazareno at heart, Eustáquio arrived in Canada in 1974. Even when he wasn’t actively seeking it, the Portuguese community surrounded and influenced him. So when he was elected President of the Alliance of Portuguese Clubs and Associations of Ontario (ACAPO) in 1997, it came as no surprise. Over the years, his name became inseparable from the organization. A tireless leader, advocate, and champion of Portuguese culture, José Eustáquio has carved out a legacy that has made him a legend within the community. Opinions about him may vary — some praise him, others critique — but his impact is undeniable. Admiration is something he has earned across the board. In the coming days, we will be publishing a series of articles exploring the life of José Eustáquio, drawn from a recent four-hour conversation with him. Each piece is presented in the first person, transcribed directly from José Eustáquio’s own words, to preserve the authenticity and nuance of his voice across the various topics we discussed. Once the series is complete, all the articles will be compiled into a single, comprehensive narrative. Enjoy, comment, contribute. Let’s write history together!

In the third segment of the series, José Eustáquio talks about his experience leading the Alliance of Portuguese Clubs and Associations of Ontario (ACAPO), including the successes and the struggles throughout the years. He also reflects on the balance of his work and his expectations for the future of ACAPO and the Portuguese community in Canada.

Disclaimer: The opinions and statements in the article that follows are those of José Eustáquio and do not represent the position or opinions of Luso Canada Media Corp. or lusocanada.com.

ACAPO

Getting Elected the First Time

It was March of 1997, the 10th anniversary of the ACAPO and Portugal Week. In 1996, the year Álvaro Ruivo was president, who has already passed away. Quim Barreiros performed at Portugal Week. Perhaps it was, for me, in terms of success, one of the biggest celebrations of of June 10, down in the pit at Trinity Bellwoods Park, with rain and torrential weather. In June 1996 was the European Championship in England. I, on behalf of Labatt, went with a large group of clients to England, so I was not here. I left a team in charge of Portugal week. There was rain but everything went well. We sold a ton of beer. So much beer had never been sold before.

In 1997, it would be the 10^th Anniversary of the ACAPO. In late December 1996, I was invited to a lunch at Ramboia, which at that time was on Dundas and Dovercourt, with Brito Fialho, Gino Ferreira, Jorge Seixas, Fernando Rio, António Campos, President of the Alliance’s Assembly , and Álvaro Ruivo, who was the President of the Alliance. I don’t think Manuel de Carvalho was there.

“Look, next year it will be the 10th anniversary, and we need to maintain control of Labatt’s money. Symbolically, you should be the president”, they started. “Just a year?” I asked. “But we have already decided when we are going to hold the general assembly”, they said. “But when?” I asked. “On the first week of January”, they said. “I’m going to spend New Year’s Eve away, I’m leaving tomorrow, I’m going to Nazaré for New Year’s Eve. You change the assembly’s date and I accept the position.”  “No, the assembly goes forward.”

Bernardino Ferreira, president of Arsenal do Minho, was elected the new president of the ACAPO at the AGM that took place on the first week of January, 1997. He was there for a month.  The next meeting was on February 3^rd, and that month he realized that he was just going to be a symbolic president. Brito, Gino, António Campos and all those guys wanted to control everything and he would just be a figure. Bernardino rejected it. The inauguration never took place.

I come back from Portugal, there is no president. We meet in February at Ramboia again, twice, three times. “I only accept if I form my own executive.” “No, no, no. You are president, but we are the ones organizing.” I had worked with them for ten years on behalf of Labatt, but I did not want to work with them anymore. I wanted my own team. They would not accept. There was an emergency meeting, an extraordinary assembly at Casa dos Açores, on Dundas and Bathurst, on March 17, 1997. At that meeting, I presented my list and the clubs accepted it. I was elected for the first time.

The First Portugal Week as President

I called Tony da Silva from TNT the next day, Wednesday, and I told him, “tomorrow, we’re going to Lisbon. I’ll pay for your trip, three days.” We arrived in Lisbon on Friday, we had meetings with Resistência, Adelaide Ferreira, Luis Represas, José Cid, Pedro Abrunhosa, Marco Paulo, Trio Odemira, Santos e Pecadores, Delfins, and in three days we brought Pedro Abrunhosa, Xutos, Luís Represas , José Cid, Trio Odemira, and Santos e Pecadores for the 10^th Anniversary. 

At that time, Labatt controlled shows around the world with a company called CPI. Rolling Stones, U2, Pink Floyd, all organized by CPI. I knew how to manage  their budget for all this, and they, stubbornly, wanted to put the stage on the south end of the pit. The stage was always to the north. It was the only time it was on the South side. I didn’t agree. It was a horrible stage and we paid a fortune. That’s why it created a lot of problems with the neighbors because the music hit the houses. From north to south, the sound goes through the stage to Queen Street and the sound is absorbed by the park. I told them that.

I’ve been looking at photos from that day. I have a photo of me standing next to Domingos. I’m proud that we did that in two months, out of nowhere. I had enormous pressure, no one even imagines.

Untold Stories Behind Portugal Week

I have many interesting stories. In 1997, I received criticism from the Toronto City Council from a lady who lived on Gore Vale, which is the street to the East of the Park. On Friday, she made 20 calls to the City and the police, and on Saturday she made 40 calls. At the end of the event, I went to knock on her door and said, “we must be able to figure this out.” “I like Niagara-on-the-Lake,” she said. “Well, I’m going to send you there every year in June, for the weekend.” For ten years, the Alliance paid to send her away and, after she would send letters of support to the city of Toronto, “The best community festival of all time.” But it used to cost us two or three thousand dollars a year. She would stay at Queen’s Landing. By the second year, I made sure she got a massage every day and the best room. When I presented the expense to the clubs, they thought I was there spending the weekend. I’m direct, I explained everything.

There was an Azorean who lived on Crawford, south of Dundas. The man’s backyard backed onto the park and he complained every year that there was graffiti on his garage. I had a painting company paint the man’s house and garage every year.

Youth Night

In 1997, we introduced the youth night, on Friday. It started with Pedro Abrunhosa. It was one of the biggest hits of all time, and unfortunately that ended, but it should continue. The parade was in the morning, on Saturday, and at the end we stopped there in the park and we started the folklore festival. Saturday and Sunday. Nothing was ever done on Friday before. When I joined the Alliance, I said, let’s do it on Friday. It was another night, another expense, and what for, they asked.

At that time, there were two other events similar to the Alliance’s, which were the CIRV Summerfest and the CHIN International Picnic. The trend at that time was Emanuel, Marco Paulo, Jorge Ferreira. When the Alliance entered with a youth night, everything changed and the Summerfest and the Chin Festival began to invite Portuguese artists that the ACAPO introduced, that José Eustáquio launched. It wasn’t the vision of Manuel de Carvalho or anyone before me. José Eustáquio was the one who was stubborn and wanted different music.

From 1990 to 1997, I was lucky enough to be proud to be Portuguese and go to Portugal to see the finals of the Portuguese Cup. I was a Benfica fanatic at the time. I traveled all over Europe to see Benfica. I took clients with me. I start to realize that there is a lot of good music in Portugal. There is a bar on Rua Augusta da Nazaré called Bota Abaixo, which belonged to my cousin Hélio, I was listening to music by Santos e Pecadores and Trovante. I’d like to take these guys to Toronto, I thought. This gave me the courage to do certain things that others didn’t think was possible. I value Tony da Silva a lot. Tony was known in Portugal as a good soundman and they were comfortable with Tony doing the sound. But Joe from Labatt shows up. I say, don’t worry about the money. This changed a lot of things. We opened many doors that were not possible at that time. The difference was that we created personal relationships.

Struggles Behind the Scenes

Yes, I was a great friend of Olavo Bilac, Fernando Cunha, Paulo Gonzo… the list is long. Has it been easy? No. Do I have good memories? Undoubtedly. But everything is paid for. The Alliance gave me the privilege of meeting certain personalities. Pedro Abrunhosa, for example.

In 1997, I brought Pedro Abunhosa here. Basílio Fernandes, who was from Timor and the manager of Pedro Abrunhosa and had a restaurant in Lisbon. I’m Pedro’s friend. We spoke in English. “Pedro, everything’s good?” “Oh, yeah.” And Basilio, “Look, Pedro is not happy at all. This is going wrong. ”Good cop, bad cop. Eventually I realized it was Pedro, not Basilio. Pedro, a friend of mine, with whom I spent vacations. I invited him in 1999 and Pedro didn’t show up in Toronto. I was at the airport waiting for him and he didn’t show up.

I think José Eustáquio is sometimes complicated, he doesn’t work within the rules. Therefore, nowadays, CHIN does not support Portugal week. When the ACAPO supported the Frank Alvarez Way before the opening of the parade, on Dundas, they at CHIN were outraged with me and the ACAPO and boycotted Portugal Week to this day. I find it interesting that Frank Alvarez was honoured on the Portuguese Walk of Fame by the same people who criticize the ACAPO.

Finding New Sponsors

The ACAPO had major significant changes as far as marketing sponsors and monetary support. The beer companies Molson and Labatt supported for 10 years. The money from Labatt disappeared in 2001 but, all of a sudden, I understood that there was a major interest from the financial sector and banks. At that time, many of the Portuguese banks had branches in Toronto, and Canadian banks wanted clientele from the Portuguese community. So, the 50 to 80 thousand dollars that we lost from Labatt I was able to get from Scotiabank, BMO, TD Bank, CIBC, BCP, Millennium, SottoMayor, Banco Espirito Santo, Banco Comercial dos Açores…they were all giving me money.

People can say whatever they want, but I worked for it. Nobody is going to give you money unless you go look for it. It took me a lot of work. In 2001 and 2002, I went looking and I understood where the community was changing. People have to value that. What’s more important is that the financial industry was not only giving money to Portugal week. I was forcing them to also give money to radio stations, and to TV stations, and to newspapers, and to the clubs, because when I created an agreement, I created an agreement for everybody. A lot of clubs forget that. They were all getting a flow.

Official Visit Organized by ACAPO

We were celebrating 50 years of Portuguese immigration to Canada. The biggest moment in the life of the ACAPO was the official visit of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio, in 2001. We will never equate that in the next 100 years because the Portuguese Government realized the power of the ACAPO, what the Alliance represented, and also the Portuguese authorities and the Embassy and the Consulate…and the Canadian authorities because he was here on an official visit, and the ACAPO organized all of it. They allowed us to develop the program. “Do things responsibly and we will support you”, they said.

It was the most amazing, perfect, visit ever. The first time I was recognized by the Portuguese Government with a commendation, was because of that visit. I said, when I received it at that time, that I was not receiving it as José Eustáquio, but on behalf of the Portuguese community in Toronto. They gave me a second one because they forgot they had given me one previously.

Looking back on 27 years at ACAPO

To me, the ultimate was 1997 because it was the 10^th anniversary, 2001 with Sampaio, 2003 because of the difficulties, 2017 because after 20 years I had been fighting to bring the band Resistência to Toronto and I was able to do it. And it was the best weekend ever, in my opinion, not that I am a fan, but I had friends my age with tears in their eyes who said, “Joe, I never through I would see this in Toronto.”

I should have left that night and never come back. That night, I said on stage, “I’m done”. I should have walked away with Resistência.

In 2002 was Carlos César from the Regional Government of the Azores who visited Toronto, and the theme of the parade was the autonomous regions of Portugal. Mário Silva was running for the federal elections in Ottawa, he was of Azorean origin, and Nellie Pedro was running for the provincial elections, Azorean too.

In a meeting at the consulate, in March of that year, between me, the Consul General, who was Perestrelo at the time, Vice-Consul Crescêncio Ferreira, Mário Silva, Nellie Pedro and Tony Dionisio of Local 183. We talked about Portugal Week. Dionisio said: “We’re going to do a fundraiser for Nellie and Mário’s campaigns at 183, on Saturday night after the parade.”

 We officially invited Carlos César to be at the head of the Parade. Between March and June, I went back to my contacts at Labatt and we had the Portuguese Night at Skydome with Xutos e Pontapés on Friday. I went back to Dionisio, “look, I’m doing Portuguese Night at the skydome after the baseball game, folk groups dancing, tickets bought by Labatt to raise funds for the clubs, eight dollars from each ticket goes to the clubs and I would like 183 buy some tickets.” In the end, Local 183 bought 400 tickets. All good. It was a success. Friday night, with great difficulty, Xutos closed, the Alliance paid a fortune, but it was a unique event that no one talks about. Many unique things that happened organized by the Alliance, people forgot, but Xutos played at the skydome after the Blue Jays game. I give a lot of value to Tony from TNT who did a lot of work to organize this production, but the leadership was provided by this president of the ACAPO.

Saturday was the parade. Carlos César, Mário Silva, Nellie Pedro, Dionisio, all the politicians, and everything went well. I went back to the park and, meanwhile, the dinner at 183 was a big success. Everything was a success the whole weekend.

In 1997, what was your vision for ACAPO?

I accepted the position on the 10th anniversary. I wanted to make it a year, leave the Alliance well positioned with a youth night on Friday, a protocol with Labatt on the financial side, secured for the next 10 years. I called an assembly on September 17^th, 1997, at Casa do Alentejo where at the start of the presentation of the financial statements, I said that from then on, symbolically, the Alliance would create a professional body. There would be an office, one or two secretaries, and a president with a symbolic salary. 

The Portuguese community would be in a better situation if they had accepted my proposal. Let’s use the example of the Mississauga club. It is the symbol of everything that is perfect with the associative movement, but the Mississauga club still today has a president who is a volunteer, a board made up of volunteers. Everyone works at dinners and lunches and is a volunteer. Why? There is no reason for that.

PORTUGAL WEEK – Moving out of Trinity Bellwoods Park

It’s not just Portugal week, it’s what’s happening in Toronto. So, we went from Mel Lastman do David Miller. Mel was about free enterprise, promote Toronto. Then, David Miller was more about green spaces…So, not just Portugal week at Trinity-Bellwoods, all of Toronto went from doing festivals in the park to getting out of the park and going to the street and, throughout, forcing people out of the park to promote businesses, which I respect because it’s visionary, but it was a quick transition. You have to educate people. It’s like bicycle lanes. You can’t just force it on them. You have to create a generational movement to bicycle lanes.

We were forced out of green spaces to go to the street. Over three or four years we stayed at Trinity-Bellwoods Park only because of me because they created a residential group called Friends of Trinity-Bellwoods Park. I wouldn’t go to just one meeting in May before Portugal week. I would go to nine meetings starting in September, every month. And every meeting with the local Council, which was Joe Pantalone and Michael Layton. There would be 80 residents saying that they wanted us out of their park. “You don’t live here anymore.” I would say: “What are you talking about? Your houses on Gore Vale, on Crawford, you bought for 380 thousand are worth a million and half today. Why? I understand that you’re educated and artistic because you have the privilege to walk up the street and you have multicultural flair. You can have Italian or Portuguese restaurants, you can buy groceries, you can go to an opera or an art gallery. You invested in this community because of the multiculturalism we offer. This celebration remains here. There’s a church across the street that is Portuguese. The Portuguese may not live here, but they still own a lot of the real estate in the area.”

For three or four years, they fought and eventually got the politicians onside by doing one simple thing: they created, in the amphitheatre of the park, a dog free leash area. All of a sudden, my dogs can run around all year round without a leash but for two days in June because of your festival my dog doesn’t have a right? That’s when the politicians said we cannot do the festival there anymore. I communicated this to the clubs for four years and to some members of the media. “Look, we’re going to lose the park.” And during those four years, the cost kept going up. They charged us for everything. A little bit of grass, $18,000, a tree branch, $27,000…

Before St. Clair, we ran the event at Downsview Park. Why? Because I took family day from Ontario Place to Downsview. And at the same I also took Portugal Week. We had one of the best Portugal Weeks at Downsview and one of the worst the year after. One of the best with Shawn Desman, Amor Electro, and Portuguese bullfighting with Hélio Leal. The next year, Emanuel, freezing cold, it was almost zero in June and we never went back. Earlscourt was supposed to be automatic. For me, Earlscourt is the one that has logic. The night of the Resistance and Xutos. It was Beautiful.

If I am the president next year [the interview was conducted before the last election] it will be at St. Clair. I’m done…I volunteer and I fight 20 or 30 hours a week. Nobody values ​​it, nobody supports it. I don’t have a merchant on Dundas who supports Portugal Week, not a dollar is given. Why am I doing it? It doesn’t mean that it will be different on St. Clair, but the Portuguese who live near St. Clair can grab their chairs and be in the park in five minutes. We will get more people to show up at the festival on St. Clair. Why would anyone go down to Dundas today?

Government Support

Federal Funds? Nothing! Never. For 10 years, we received money from the province of Ontario. Last year, we received 60 thousand, it was called Celebrate Ontario, and last year it changed to Experience Ontario. I understand that this year we received nothing, that the proposal, the application made by Dundas Due West was identical to our program and that they received the funds and we received nothing. It only confirms the fact that this marriage is not working and 60 thousand dollars for us is a lot of money.

Going back to 2003 with the cancellation of Prime Minister Durao Barroso’s visit, because of SARS, we then had $380,000 in losses, and the Portuguese Government six months later sent a symbolic check for 25 thousand Euros. We called an extraordinary general meeting in which we decided to send the money back to Portugal, despite the difficulties we were having because we realized that the Portuguese Government needed the money more than us. It was the only time they gave us money.

Balance of work at ACAPO

I have been the best and the worse president of the Alliance of Clubs. The worse for the same reasons that I have been the best. My tenacity, my stubbornness, my individualism and my tunnel focus of getting things done has led to my success. But all of those examples have also led to the criticism why I failed because I have never been able to create a team. I don’t think anyone has any idea of how much work this entails. I am a team player. I know when to defend, when to attack and when to hold, but the reality is, not everybody has common sense. Common sense means I don’t have to explain it to you. It’s common sense. I don’t have to hold your hand. You either see it or you don’t, and I understand that when it comes to volunteering, you are either passionate or you’re doing it to fill a gap or achieving recognition. Most people don’t have the passion that I have. Very few. And I am extreme. I sent out 18 emails today between me, David, and Katia. Simple things.

What would you do differently?

If I could go back to 1997, where would I be today? I wouldn’t do it. But I tell you, I’ve had some amazing waves…I’ve done so much, but I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t do it. Some of us try to do everything.

The difference between Jose Eustaquio in 1997 and today? There have been four different José Eustáquios ever since. There’s nothing in common. I don’t know if I have the same drive. I am not disappointed with the community, but with myself. I am actually more hopeful with the community than I’ve ever been. Today, the biggest concern is finding the energy to get up every day.

The role of President of ACAPO

If I was to create a template for the next president, I would say take 8 months. Take July and August and go to Portugal. You work from September to June. From September to December, take care of the licences, permits, meetings, bureaucracy. And then between December 15 and January 15 give yourself a month to be with your family, to enjoy Christmas. Either the week before December 15 or the week after January 15, start bombarding all the businesses for sponsorship, for June. Organize yourself, focus, and send out 800 requests because only 10% will respond. Do that until June. Just money, because you’ll have one day a week that you still must do all the things that you did from September to December. Respond to licences, City officials because they will bury you in paperwork. I dedicate 30 hours a week to this. Minimum.

What is the future of the Alliance without José Eustáquio?

We’re living in Toronto. Name me another organization in Toronto that’s identical to the ACAPO. They are all professionals. Gay Pride, Caribbana, Taste of the Danforth, Toronto Jazz Festival. All Professional.

In the last 27 years, I had people run against me three or 4 times. I wasn’t president every year, but I was always in charge of Portugal Week. Laurentino Esteves, Rosa de Sousa and Tony Arruda were presidents. We choose what is least complicated for us. Less personal responsibility.

I am one of the owners of the Sporting FC Academy. Our report at the end of the year is 138 to 150 thousand dollars. I sometimes ask one of the owners questions about how the money was spent. I don’t think there are many clubs in our community that have a report upwards of 300 thousand. If you have assets, it is possible.

The Alliance is a little different. I am transparent and put everything within the Alliance financial report. For example, everything that is exchange, services, media. You give me sponsorship in kind, I give you sponsorship in return. It must go on the financial statements because it’s an exchange of services. That’s how financial statements work. So, when you look at the Alliance’s financial statements, you see 780 or 800 thousand dollars, where actual cash Exchange is probably around 280 or 300. I’m transparent.   

Future of ACAPO

The ACAPO will never die. The problem is that the clubs don’t respect the bylaws of the Alliance of Clubs. They have to start to understand what the Acapo delivers to them. If you respect the foundation of the family, then the family has roots and will exist forever. People can say I’ve been there for 27 years and don’t want to leave and that I’m a dictator. But if you look at Eustáquio in 1997, he is not the same Eustáquio in 2024. He is completely different. I’ve rode the waves and survived with it. 

Emotionally, it is not going to take a toll on me when I leave the ACAPO. If I didn’t have to prepare for Portugal Week, I would be in Nazaré. I would be at the beach. The Alliance owes no money to anyone. I have a responsibility because I am president of the Alliance. If I take on a responsibility, I will pay for it. I will not leave the Alliance and the Portuguese community in a bad light. On the contrary. I pay everybody in advance. But it’s a huge pressure.

Why is it that the Alliance does not have a credit card, was a question I was asked recently. “Well,” I said, “do you know how non-profits work in Ontario? Go to any financial institution as a non-profit organization, which financial institution is going to give you a line of credit, never mind a credit card? They’ll give it to you under your name.” So, would I sign a personal line of credit to give to ACAPO when I can just use my own credit card?

Why doesn’t the ACAPO have more members outside Toronto?

Here I give credit to Martinho Silva, founder of the Alliance, Jorge Ribeiro and the others…there were five or six. There was a nucleus that was outside of Toronto. If you look at the Alliance’s record of clubs, there were 14 clubs. It was the Portuguese Club of London, the Club of Chatham, Leamington, Sault Ste. Marie, Lusitania of Ottawa…they were all charter members of the Alliance. I don’t think it continued because of the distance. I think even at that time there was no connection.

When the Portuguese Canadian Congress was created, they represented everyone across Canada and that’s the only time they ever got together. I think it was led by Tomás Ferreira. It was symbolic. I tried. There were years that we had events in Cambridge financed by the Alliance, in Hamilton, in Leamington, and in London. In the first ten years of my presidency, I sent seven invitations to philharmonic bands from Windsor to up here and, look, I paid for transport and a thousand dollars symbolically for them to participate in the parade. One year, and it was recently, I went to Leamington to support the rodeo organized by João Pavão, who continues to be a great friend of mine. He used to do the rodeo there like the Calgary Stampede. He was the ‘mordomo’ there at the Leamington club and the religious festivals. I spent 10 thousand dollars on sponsorship, I got Liuna to give 10 thousand dollars for his rodeo and two weeks later he showed up here on Dundas with cows and horses. He called me on his way. It was beautiful.

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