Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est, Quebec

Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est is a township municipality in Quebec, Canada near the head of the Baie de Chaleur. It is a rural township without population centres, situated along the CN Railway line which hosts the VIA Rail Ocean (train) route; the nearest VIA station is Matapedia.

Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est
Township municipality
Location within Avignon RCM.
Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est Location in eastern Quebec.
Coordinates: 48°03′N 66°52′W[1]
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Gaspésie– Îles-de-la-Madeleine
RCM	Avignon
Constituted	June 30, 1906
Government [2]
• Mayor	François Boulay
• Federal riding	Gaspésie— Îles-de-la-Madeleine
• Prov. riding	Bonaventure
Area [2][3]
• Total	53.30 km^2 (20.58 sq mi)
• Land	51.27 km^2 (19.80 sq mi)
Population  (2011)[3]
• Total	167
• Density	3.3/km^2 (9/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	3.5%
• Dwellings	91
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Postal code(s)	G0J 1V0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Route 132
Website	www.ristigouche sudest.ca

History

At the beginning of the 19th century, the voyage between Quebec and Saint John passed the Temiscouata Portage and via the Saint John River valley. After the War of 1812, it was decided to develop a new maritime route which was to be located away from the border. The Matapedia River valley was selected, and the route would be named Kempt Road, for General Sir James Kempt, then Governor-General of British North America. Construction started in 1830, under the supervision of William MacDonald, Frederic Fournier and Major Wolfe, but the route remained difficult and government decided to abandon it in 1857. A new path between Causapscal and the Restigouche was adopted in 1862, and in 1868 the Intercolonial Railway project that was to transform the British North American Colonies into Canada selected the Matapedia River road to be its route. On 1 July 1876, the Sainte-Flavie-Campbellton section was opened.

The municipality was formed in 1907 when it separated from the Township Municipality of Ristigouche (now Saint-André-de-Restigouche).[1]

On 17 April 1983, the 480ha Ristigouche Ecological Reserve was formed by the Quebec government.

In March 2013, the municipality was served notice of pursuit by the resource extractor Gastem for $1.5 million because the municipality sought to protect its drinking water source from fracking, by imposing an exclusion zone of 2 km around water wells. As of August 2014, Quebec Municipal Affairs minister Pierre Moreau declined to support mayor Francois Boulay,[4] and so in September several artists and athletes resolved to draw attention to his cause.[5] Gastem is managed by fr:Raymond Savoie, who was for 10 years a cabinet minister in the provincial government of Liberal Robert Bourassa.[6]

Gastem ceded its exploration permits to fr:Pétrolia,[7] now a subsidiary of the French multinational oil producer fr:Maurel et Prom,[8] and the legal process might not be decided until 2016 or 2017.[7] The municipality had amassed $146,000 in its charitable legal defence fund as of March 2015. Gastem offered an amicable resolution at that time for that cost.[7]

The totality of exploration permits in Quebec consists of 72,000 square kilometres as of March 2015,[7] of which Petrolia holds 20%,[9] and the law does not force the province to consult the municipalities. In October 2014, the Couillard government sent the mayor a letter, which reads in part:[7]

Vos arguments ne me permettent pas de justifier une intervention du gouvernement dans cette cause... Je vous rappelle que, par souci d’équité et dans un esprit de neutralité, le gouvernement n’intervient pas dans une cause qui fait l’objet de procédures judiciaires.

Demographics

Population

Canada census – Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est, Quebec community profile
		2011	2006
Population:		167 (-3.5% from 2006)	173 (+4.8% from 2001)
Land area:		51.27 km^2 (19.80 sq mi)	51.27 km^2 (19.80 sq mi)
Population density:		3.3/km^2 (8.5/sq mi)	3.4/km^2 (8.8/sq mi)
Median age:		52.2 (M: 52.0, F: 52.8)	47.8 (M: 45.3, F: 50.5)
Total private dwellings:		91	104
Median household income:		$.N/A	$.N/A
Notes: Income data for this area has been suppressed for data quality or confidentiality reasons. – References: 2011[3] 2006[10] earlier[11]

Historical Census Data - Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est, Quebec[12]

Year Pop. ±% 1991 154 —     1996 155 +0.6%

Year Pop. ±% 2001 165 +6.5% 2006 173 +4.8%

Year Pop. ±% 2011 167 −3.5%

Language

Mother tongue:[13]

• English as first language: 17.1%
• French as first language: 77.1%
• English and French as first language: 5.7%
• Other as first language: 0%

See also

• List of township municipalities in Quebec

References

1. "Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est (Municipalité de canton)" (in French). Commission de toponymie du Québec. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
2. "Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est". Répertoire des municipalités (in French). Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
3. "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. July 5, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-09.
4. lapresse.ca: "Affaire Ristigouche: le ministre entendra le maire", 15 Aug 2014
5. lapresse.ca: "Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est: le maire touché par les appuis qu'il reçoit", 7 Sep 2014
6. ledevoir.com: "Pierre Moreau rencontrera le maire de Ristigouche", 15 Aug 2014
7. ledevoir.com: "Poursuivie par Gastem, Ristigouche craint la faillite", 17 Mar 2015
8. radio-canada.ca: "André Proulx écarté de Pétrolia?", 17 Sep 2013
9. petrolia-inc.com: "Les projets en cours" Archived 2015-05-02 at the Wayback Machine
10. "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. March 30, 2011. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
11. "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian Census. Statistics Canada. February 17, 2012.
12. Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
13. "Ristigouche-Partie-Sud-Est community profile". 2006 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2012-01-10.

External links

• Restigouche South-East Municipality (French)