Port-Cartier

Port-Cartier is a Québécois Ville located in the regional Municipalité of county of the Seven-Rivers at the north of the parallel 50e and in the administrative area of the Coast-North.

History

Creation of Shelter Bay

The area of Port-Cartier “was initially discovered” by the French explorer Samuel de Champlain in 1603, the same explorer who will found later the establishments of Tadoussac and Quebec. With the sight of the delta formed by the two rivers which run between several islands with the rock shore (today in the middle of Port-Cartier), Samuel de Champlain named this area “River-with-Rocks”. This name is still used today, but indicates largest of the two rivers, the other river bearing the name of Dominique River.

The origins of Port-Cartier strictly speaking go back to 1918, whereas the village of Shelter Bay was founded, of the name of the open post office in 1916. The village was founded on the initiative of colonel Robert R. McCormick, then owner of the Chicago Tribune , which founded a sawmill there in order to feed out of wood the factory providing the newspaper to the American daily newspaper. A factory of barking was also established by Ontario Paper Company. The activities of these companies ceased in 1955 because of a limitation of the rights of cut in the area.

Birth and rise of Port-Cartier

During the Years 1960, Port-Cartier known an economic advancement some with the arrival of the Quebec Cartier Mining (then subsidiary of the American company United Steel) in 1957, which is known today like the Mining Compagnie Quebec Cartier. It was the time of the construction of a line of Railroad towards the iron mine of the Lac Jeannine (which was later wide towards the mine of the Mont Wright and the town of Fermont). At that time, the Company developed a port out of deep water dug in the rock in order to export the iron ore, in the form of concentrate, towards the worldwide markets. In 1968, another company built an elevator with grain near the port. The grain can thus be transhipped boats coming from the Big lakes on larger vessels making course on the Atlantic.

The initial development of the district of Port-Cartier-Was developed at that time. It extends to the east from the Rivière Dominique, therefore in the east of the Rivière to the Rocks and Shelter Bay. A sporting center, the sporting center Cartier, was also founded with a external Piscine which is not any more of use today. The adjacent ground of soccer still is used and acted as external Patinoire during the Hiver.

During the Years 1970, company ITT Rayonier built a new factory intended for the production of dissolved paste to the sulphite (1972-1974) and develops a vast network of forest roads which exist still to date, in particular in the Faunal Reserve Port-Cartier-Seven-Islands (in the north of Port-Cartier). In 1976, a consortium between the mining company of State Sidbec-Dosco, British Steel and the Mining Company Quebec Cartier began the exploitation from the iron layer of Lake Fire (close to the town of Gagnon), and built a factory of pelletizing in Port-Cartier. The pellet is exported partly towards the iron and steel plants of Sidbec unwillingly, thus completing a secondary transformation in Quebec.

The city then took a considerable expansion at Western Port-Cartier East and Port-Cartier, where it exceeded the borders of Shelter Bay. The landing strip is moved more in north in order to make place with a new district (the " New Développement"). 14.000 people live then in Port-Cartier, and the city is sifted several blocks apartments built quickly to adapt the boom of the population during the phase of construction of Sidbec and Rayonnier. A secondary school is built in order to replace the obsolete installations of the Tortellier school (in fact, an assembly of adjacent temporary roulottes at the school D' Youville connected of an end to the other and whose breaches in the roof force the use of seals). The request obliging, the Tortellier school will however continue to be occupied by the nursery school, first and second year of Western Port-Cartier during first half of the years 1980.

Lean years

The fall of the price of iron and the closing of Rayonnier to the beginning of the year 1980 give an hard blow to the economy port-cartoise. The population decreases by half and is possibly stabilized with nearly 7.000 inhabitants. Sidbec-Normines suspends its operations with the factory of pelletizing - the Mining Company Quebec Cartier will only rent the factory of pelletizing of Sidbec-Normines for the sum symbolic system of $1 in 1985.

Port-Cartier knows then lean years. Several of the blocks apartments are condemned and will remain unoccupied during years - after one decade, several (those located close to the street Shelter Bay and the Lemoine boulevard) will be destroyed. Several houses (of which the value fell in a spectacular way) are abandoned at the banks and remain deserted during a good part of the years 1980.

In 1985, at the time of a passage to Port-Cartier, the preserving federal deputy and Prime Minister for Canada, Brian Mulroney, announces that the black bread of the Port-Cartois is finished (need for a quotation) and makes the advertisement of the establishment of a penitentiary with maximum safety in the north of Port-Cartier, close to the airport and the installations of maintenance of the railway. Later, in 1988, a formed consortium of the company of State Rexfor and paper Cascades buy the factory of ITT-Rayonnier and revival the factory. The factory is used then with the production as paste chimico-thermo-mechanics bleached instead of the dissolved paste with sulphite - part of the factory will not be used, and consequently, this one will employ much less people than at the time of ITT. The vast garage of the factory is used later by a new company, Maghemite, which seeks to exploit certain mining residues coming from Quebec Cartier. The company will close a few years later.

The Nineties are remembered by the continuation of the economic uncertainty which began during the Eighties. In 1990, the Mining Company Quebec Cartier passes to the hands of Canadian Dofasco, with Japanese woman Mitsui and the Brazilian CAEMI as minority shareholders. In 1991, the mill with paper of Cascades/Rexfor ceases its operations. Cascades Port-Cartier declares bankruptcy, and tries to sell the equipment of production, of which kettles. The population mobilizes and puts the seat in front of the factory, supported by the deputy pequist Denis Perron. In 1993, the town of Port-Cartier (mayor: Anthony Detroio) repurchases the factory and the adjacent installations, like the quay, and is put in the search of a new operator.

In 1994, a second revival of the factory of paste is tried, with the Uniforêt company with the orders.

Port-Cartier with the 21e century

The economic guigne continued to be baited on the town of Port-Cartier at the beginning of the new millenium. In 2001, Uniforêt closes its installations of Port-Cartier temporarily, then declares bankruptcy. Quebec Cartier faces head winds: the price of iron is weak. The employees see themselves imposed a lockout. The wages will be lowered in 2003 and 2004, but following the hardening of the courses of iron, will be raised in 2005.

In 2004, the factory of paste and paper know its third revival in less than 20 years: the sawmill is rented for 11 years with Katahdin Pulp Quebec, an American company whose majority owner is Brascan Financial Corp. The paper factory is rented for 11 years with an American company of Vermont. The factory will once again be closed during the summer 2006.

In 2005, the municipality of River-Pentecost (western of Port-Cartier) is amalgamated in Port-Cartier, but that of Gallix (is city) is amalgamated in Seven-Islands, even if this one is located more far from Seven-Islands than of Port-Cartier.

In addition, the rise of the prices of iron and steel continued so far (2007), ensuring the perenniality of the factory of pelletizing and the operations of the port.

Geography

Port-Cartier is located on bank of Coast-North, practically with horse on the 50e parallel north. The city is divided into two parts - Western Port-Cartier East and Port-Cartier - by a short delta formed by the Rivière with the Rocks and the Rivière Dominique, a delta cash some islands.

The islands are not inhabited, but act as municipal park. One can see there the remainders of an old stopping on the Rivière with the Rocks, of foundations scattered on the Patterson island, of an old bridge of the Patterson island in the island with the Starlets, and of one quay in the island with the Starlets. These works were carried out for the old sawmill. There are today a pedestrian park on the Patterson island, a sociocultural coffee on the McCormick island, and an adjacent camp-site with the Dominique river.

Shelter Bay is the oldest part of Port-Cartier. The district is located in the southern part of Port-Cartier West. The town hall and the Sacré-coeur church are located there. The center of interior purchase is located in the vicinity, just as the school Mother-with Youville.

The remainder of Western Port-Cartier comprises a northern part extending to the road 138 (and including the district New-Development, in the west of the street Shelter Bay - which, incidentally, is not located inside Shelter Bay). This part includes the secondary school of Port-Cartier, the educational center the Shelter, which also acts as sporting center including a gymnasium, an interior swimming pool, an interior skating rink, and a center of external tennis.

Port-Cartier West also extends to north from road 138 in a park from mobile houses (the Brunel park). For a few years, the police station of the Safety of Quebec has been located at the entry of the Brunel park, on road 138.

Port-Cartier East comprises a more modest sporting center with an external swimming pool (which are not any more used), a gymnasium and a ground of baseball (which acts as external skating rink during the winter). There is a public beach - the beach of Rochelois - where one can bathe there and also see the remainders of a Greek ship which ran aground in not very deep bay facing the beach.

Still more to the east extends the industrial park, which concentrates practically all the industrial activities of Port-Cartier. At the end of the industrial park are located the factory of pastes and papers, the installations of the Mine Quebec Cartier, the quay, the port and the grain silo.

All these districts are joined by only one road, the boulevard of the Islands (which bears the Bearing-of-Foam name to the east of the rivers), which extends in parallel from road 138.

There are some houses and country cottages located more at the west close to road 138, in particular with River-Vachon. The municipality exploits since years a base of sport, the base of Sport the Seagulls, in the west of the Vachon river.

Since 2005, the municipality of Port-Cartier also comprises several new districts to about thirty kilometers in the east of the city since fusion with River-Pentecost. The districts all are located close to road 138, along bank, and include Bay-of-Lobsters, Pentecost, River-Pentecost and Point-With-English, where an English forwarding in News-France ran.

Toponymy

Although the name of Port-Cartier can point out the explorer Jacques Cartier, the name of the city refers much more to the Quebec Cartier Mining, which exploited the iron layers of Gagnon and which exploits those of Fermont now.

Municipalities bordering

Sources

Official site of Port-Cartier
the mining company of Port-Cartier
Repertory of the municipalities of Quebec
Commission of toponymy of Quebec
municipal Businesses and areas - regional charts

Notes and references of the article

Random links: