Témiscouata

Témiscouata is a regional Municipalité of county (MRC) of the Quebec, in the administrative area of the Low-Saint-Laurent, created on January 1st, 1982. Its chief town is the town of Our-Lady-of-Lake. Of a surface of 3921 km ², it is made up of 20 municipalities: 4 cities, 11 municipalities and 5 parishes with a total population of 21993 inhabitants, in 2005. Its current prefect is Serge Fortin (since 2005).

Presentation of the natural area

Located in the the Appalachian Mountains, the MRC of Témiscouata includes/understands multiple hills and mountains, intersected with valleys at the bottom of which long lakes are often found. The chain of the Monts Notre-Dame (constituent of the Appalachian Mountains) crosses the MRC of south-west to the North-East. The tops of Notre-Dame often reach the 500 meters in the area, the highest point of the MRC being located on the territory of Pohénégamook, where one finds the Bleu mount which culminates with 660 meters.

The principal lakes are the Squatec lakes, Touladi, Sugar loaf, Pohénégamook, Length, Lavoie, Dole, Témiscouata; however there is approximately a hundred.

The lake Témiscouata is one of largest southern bank of Quebec. It measures 42 km length and 3 to 6 km of width. In winter, the lake freezes on all its surface. Between the localities of Our-Lady-of-Lake and Saint-Juste-of-Lake, a Pont of Glace suitable for motor vehicles is created to replace the cross bar. In summer a vat is used.

The hydrographic Réseau of Témiscouata is divided in two principal basins: that of the River the St. Lawrence and that of the River Midsummer's Day. The Midsummer's Day river counts among its affluents the Rivière Madawaska which takes its source with the Lac Témiscouata, itself fed, inter alia, by the Rivière Cabano and the network of the rivers and lakes Squatec and Touladi. On the whole, the various under-basins of the Midsummer's Day river cover more than 90% of the territory of the MRC.

Space organization

The space organization of Témiscouata is characterized by one weak density of occupation and a great parcelling out of the inhabited territory. One distinguishes there indeed from the territorial units more or less well defined which, because of certain discontinuities of the inhabited territory, form distinct mediums of membership. The economic links and social inside these units are more important than the bonds which exist between the various units.

Most important of these units is that which is articulated around the axis of the Route transcanadienne. This road plays the part of one spinal column to which are connected, sometimes via a minor road, half of the municipalities of the MRC. Saint-Louis-of-ha! Ha!, Cabano, Our-Lady-of-Lake and Dégelis are the 4 municipalities which form the heart of this unit. This part of Témiscouata is also that which is subject to most directly the influence of the two urban centres located at the ends of this portion of the road transcanadienne, that is to say River-of-Wolf and Edmundston.

The second unit is formed of the 4 municipalities located length or in margin of the axis of the road 289. This part of Témiscouata is called the Transcontinental one, of the name of the railroad which initiated there the colonization and which always crosses this area. This unit is dominated by the municipality of Pohénégamook, formed by the fusion of three old parishes (Saint-Éleuthère, Estcourt and Sully), which plays the part of pole of services for the sector.

In the east of the MRC, one distinguishes two smaller, but well defined units since isolated by topography or surrounded by the large public forest. On bank is lake Témiscouata what is called begins the JAL, formed by the municipalities of Saint-Juste-of-Lake, Auclair and Lejeune. This unit, strongly wedged, remains marked by the experiments of social solidarity which its population lived in the Années 1970 in answer to the threats of closing of their villages. Lastly, at the northern end of the MRC are the municipalities of Biencourt, Lake-of-Eagles and Squatec. This unit is slightly attached to the remainder of the MRC and fits in the area of influence of the town of Rimouski. The municipality of Squatec plays the part of center of service serving this unit.

History

Area of passage between the River the St. Lawrence and the Acadie, Témiscouata is attended very early in the history by the Amerindians then by Europeans. The first attempts at occupation however take place only in first half of the 19th century. One then seeks to sit there British sovereignty vis-a-vis the American territorial claims. The population resident remains however very weak until in the years 1860*, at the time of the completion of a new road connecting the St. Lawrence to the Madawaska.

A colonization with the service of forest industry

The opening of the way of Témiscouata coincides with the emergence of a novel mode of economic development resulting from the Industrial revolution and resting on the expansion of the large company. It is the forest industry, attracted by an accessible resource from now on, which will give the impulse necessary to the development of Témiscouata and which will establish a mode of occupation of the territory based on the system agro-forester.

The system agro-forester rests on the economic complementarity, in the same space, between an agriculture of subsistence and forest industry. This complementarity serves as much the colonist who finds in work in forest the means of having incomes that cannot get the farm to him, that the forest industry which thus finds in the vicinity an abundant labor for work in forest. The system agro-forester is also characterized by an expansive occupation of the territory, the dispersed establishment of villages and a discontinuous ecumene. It is on this system which all the development of Témiscouata between 1860 and 1940 rests.

By its particular characteristics, the system agro-forester does not support the development of a diversified local economy. The system aims before all the exploitation of the forest resource and its export towards the exterior markets. This development “induces” rather than “endogenous”, remains very depend on the economy of the great centers and the intermediate centers like River-of-Wolf (Fraserville) or Edmundston. The inhabitants, captive of socio-economic reports/ratios dominated by big industry, have neither time nor the incomes to invest on their own ground. The agriculture of Témiscouata, an agriculture of subsistence, only evolves very slowly, in this context, to a profitable production activity. The system agro-forester not generating so to speak local economy ready to generate its own expansion, the first cores of settlement located along the road then railroad of Témiscouata see their population stagnating and becoming in their turn of the hearths of emigration towards the new parishes created on the same mode. The predominance of the system agro-forester and the economic specialization of the area accelerate with the construction of the railroads of Témiscouata in 1889 and Transcontinental into 1914 which facilitate the exploitation and the export of the forest resource.

The collapse of the system agro-forester

After the Second world war, technological changes and in the economic and industrial structure of the country involve the collapse of the system agro-forester in less than two decades. The forestry development evolves to modes of production requiring less labor and does not manage any more to provide employment for these thousands of part-time farmers of the area. Agriculture, on its side, also evolves to larger Productivité. This passage towards a more productive agriculture often requires a great investment in capital on behalf of the farmers, to increase the surface of the farms and to mechanize their production. In the youngest parishes of Témiscouata, hardly colonized earlier, the farmers had thirty years not had time in only one generation, and inside a system developing the agriculture of subsistence, to accumulate the capital necessary to this transformation, contrary to those of the older parishes.

Without uses in forest, without money to consolidate their farms, people leave in great number Témiscouata between 1956 and 1976, often for the great centers or the New England. The population passes then from: 34660 with: 25260, a fall of 27%. In particular for the reasons mentioned above, the most touched parishes are the founded last, whereas oldest, of which the economy also is diversified, resist the decline better. Thus the center of the MRC, formed of the unit Saint-Louis-of-ha! Ha!, Cabano, Our-Lady-of-Lake and Dégelis have lost only 7% of its population for 40 years, whereas many villages lost more half of their residents for this period.

The decline of agriculture is one of the most spectacular consequences of the end of the system agro-forester. Between 1956 and 2001, the number of firm passes from 2640 to 437. For the same period 58% of the grounds in culture are given up, that is to say nearly 30000 [[hectare]] S.

The governmental answer and Operation-dignity

Vis-a-vis the stakes of this transformation of the territory which one then observes in Témiscouata, but also elsewhere in Quebec, the Gouvernement of Quebec undertakes a new exercise of planning as regards installation, by taking as area-pilot the Low-Saint-Laurent - Gaspésie. The creation of the Office of installation of the east of Quebec (BAEQ) and the publication of its development plan in 1966 had important repercussions in the area. The successive reports/ratios of the BAEQ and the organizations created to succeed to him went until proposing the complete closing of the isolated parishes. For the persons in charge of the time, the territorial organization inherited the system agro-forester had become ineffective compared to the new economic context and the maintenance of this form of occupation represented a brake with the development.

The popular reaction which was followed from there affirmed high and strong, through what one called at the time the Operation-Dignity, will of the population to continue to live and thrive on these grounds that one wanted to close. In the tread, several local initiatives are born. Co-operatives and social companies of all kinds are created, of which some, like the forest groupings, became successes which made school.

So after 1970-1975 the government does not advance any more the idea but it is necessary to consolidate the occupation of the territory by withdrawing sectors with difficult accessibility and where the population density is less, certain economic policies adopted for this time have had the same effect more or less.

LIST PUBLICATIONS a historian comments on: Expeditious closing being proven a means electorally risked and socially difficult of application, attrition appeared quite naturally as the best technique of management of what does not appear any more, to the eyes of several, which an unhappy vestige of a past of mislaying. Death with small fire became a policy of closing.

Instead of closing the parishes of only one blow, one let them be drained gradually. Indeed, the deterioration of several villages, which appeared inevitable into 1966 with the eyes of the BAEQ, was sometimes concretized in the decades which followed, in spite of the movements of social solidarity or return to the ground which slowed down it without stopping it.

Since, the recent history of Témiscouata is only one succession of fights of all kinds, to try to safeguard such company, to preserve such asset or to obtain the realization of a vital project. Several successes encouraged the population to continue these fights, in spite of certain reverses. Today, Témiscouatains remain given to occupy this territory and to make it thrive towards and against all.

Socio-demographic portrait

Demography

Témiscouata sees its population decreasing constantly since the census of 1956, because mainly of the exodus of young people towards the great centers. In 1996, Témiscouata counted 3.280 young ages between 15 and 24 years. In 2005, this same old troop maintaining between 25 and 34 years, counts nothing any more but 2.245 people. They is thus 1.035 young people of this troop who left the area in 10 years, that is to say a starting rate of 32%. This phenomenon accentuates veillissement natural population témiscouataine.

The population forecasts published by the Statistical office of Quebec (BSQ) suggest that the fall of the population is a phenomenon which will still continue several years in Témiscouata.

Schooling

As many outlying areas, the MRC of Témiscouata presents a particular profile of schooling. One finds there here, all things considered, 80% more slightly provided education for people (nine years of schooling or less) and 2,6 times less very provided education for people (with studies and/or university degrees) that in the whole of Quebec. Such a situation can be explained by the low number in area of industries requiring a great part of very qualified labor. The young people who leave the territory to continue collegial or university studies outside have few possibilities of returning in the area, unless directing themselves towards the professions connected to the governmental services or to succeed in unearthing a requiring use of the particular qualifications in one of local industries.

Incomes

The average revenue by economic family rose in 2000 to 37.183$ for the MRC compared to 49.998$ for the whole of Quebec. The variation is significant: the whole of the Québécois households gain on average 34,5% more than one household témiscouatain.

Economy

Between 1991 and 2001, the economy of Témiscouata showed an interesting dynamism. For this period, the rate of employment climbed from 42,9% to 46,8%, which represents a profit of 815 employment in 10 years. In spite of this rise, the rate of use of the MRC remains well below the provincial average which accounts for 58,9%. This variation means that it would miss 2180 employment in Témiscouata to reach the same employment level as in the whole of Quebec.

The economy of the MRC of Témiscouata presents the typical profile of a saving known as “in area”. The primary sector (agriculture and exploitation of the natural resources) occupies a place much more important in the regional economy than for the Québécois economy as a whole. The proportion of employment resulting from the primary sector compared to the full number of employment amounts to 17,9% for Témiscouata compared to only 3,9% for Quebec in entirety. The tertiary sector contrary under-is represented compared to the Québécois average.

Agriculture

Agriculture provides more than 600 employment in the MRC, distributed between 450 companies. The farms occupy one the third of the surface of the private grounds of Témiscouata and the grounds cultivated nearly 10% of those. Agriculture témiscouataine is still and since always largely present in the dairy breeding and beef animals. However, for more than 15 years, the Acériculture has known a remarkable expansion of its activities. The maple syrup thus became the principal agricultural production of the territory.

Forest industry

The forest production represents for Témiscouata an essential economic contribution. More than 660 employment rise directly from the exploitation from the forest, which covers 87% of the territory of the MRC. One finds nearly 50 processing industries of wood (sawing, shingles, paper, pieces of furniture, etc) which employ nearly 1300 people. forest industry thus generates nearly 2000 employment in the area; an appreciable total in relation to 8750 some employment which one finds on the territory. Unfortunately, the factories carry out only the first transformation on the territory and dispatch the semi-finished product towards outside. The area thus sees private repercussions related to a transformation of the resource.

In addition to the processing industry of wood, let us note also the presence of an important activity of exploitation and transformation of the Ardoise for export overseas.

Municipalities of the MRC

Cities

Municipalities

Parishes

External bonds

Tourism

  • the site of the MRC of Témiscouata
  • the Lodging of the Dreamer, with screens of day before and funds screen of landscapes of the area, information tourist on the area

Festival S

  • the festival the Springboard
  • the Festival of the Paperboard

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