Baie-Comeau, Quebec

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Baie-Comeau, Québec is the hometown of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It is a small town located approximately 420 kilometers north-east of Quebec City in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Québec, Canada. Its population was of 25,554 at the 1996 census, and 23,079 at that of 2001. This slight decrease in population in the last decade is partly explained by the fact that many baby-boomers get retired then move elsewhere, often looking for warmer temperatures. The absence of University and many college-level courses force the youth to get their education elsewhere; many of them will not find employement in their hometown (e.g. military, high-tech, etc.) or will prefer to establish themselves closer to a urban area (Usually Montreal or Quebec city). Baie-Comeau is also the seat of Manicouagan Regional County Municipality

1 Introduction
2 Location
3 City Council
4 Education
5 Sports
6 External links

[edit] Introduction

Baie-Comeau is located on the shores of the St. Lawrence River and of the Manicouagan River, which is home to several hydroelectric dams. The most important Manicouagan hydroelectric dam is Manic 5 located about 230 kilometers north of Baie-Comeau. Those dams are owned by Hydro-Québec and they create the Manicouagan Reservoir. The town was named after Napoléon-Alexandre Comeau, a local naturalist and was founded in 1936 by Colonel Robert R. McCormick, the publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The region is a major center of lumbering for the pulp and paper industry, owned by Abitibi Consolidated, as of October 2006. Alongside hydro-electricity and the paper industry, an aluminum plant has fed the employment for decades.

In June 1982, Baie-Comeau was merged with the small town of Hauterive located about 6 kilometers west of Baie-Comeau. The eastern sector of Baie-Comeau is now known as Marquette, while the western sector of Baie-Comeau is entitled Mingan. They are separated by the 4km long boulevard Pierre-Ouellet, which has been called the boulevard de la mort (boulevard of death) by the locals for many decades. In the early 2000's, a guide rail has been installed between the two opposite directions, reducing the number of deadly accidents.

Baie-Comeau native Brian Mulroney was elected Prime Minister of Canada in 1984, serving in that office until his 1993 resignation.

[edit] Location

The town is located on Quebec route 138 about 100 kilometers east of Forestville and about 230 kilometers west of Sept-Îles. A ferry service also links the town to Matane on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River. The town is also connected to Quebec route 389, which leads to Manic 5, the town of Fermont, and the region of Labrador, part of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

[edit] City Council

The Baie-Comeau city council consists of the mayor of Baie-Comeau and eight elected city councilors, four from each of the two sectors of town.

The current mayor of Baie-Comeau is Ivo Di Piazza, who was elected by acclamation on October 11, 2002. He was re-elected in the fall of 2005 for a four years term.

[edit] Education

Baie-Comeau is home to several French language public elementary schools, two French language public high schools, one French language private high school, and one English language public school that includes both the elementary and high school level of education.

The town is also home to one French language CEGEP called the CEGEP de Baie-Comeau.

List of schools in Baie-Comeau:

School Name	Level	Sector
École Bois-Du-Nord	Elementary	Western
École Boisvert	Elementary	Eastern
École Jean-Paul II ^[1]	High School	Eastern
École Leventoux	Elementary	Eastern
École Mgr-Bélanger	Elementary	Western
École Saint-Coeur-de-Marie	Elementary	Western
École Serge-Bouchard ^[2]	High School	Western
École Trudel	Elementary	Western
Polyvalente des Baies	High School	Eastern
Baie-Comeau High School ^[3]	Elementary and high school	Eastern

^[1] Only private school in Baie-Comeau
^[2] Formerly known as Polyvalente des Rives
^[3] Only English language school in Baie-Comeau

[edit] Sports

The 1993 Quebec Winter Games were played in Baie-Comeau.

Many different sports are played in Baie-Comeau. The town offers many different spaces for a variety of sports. This section introduces some of them.

Hockey

Baie-Comeau is home to the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, an ice hockey team playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League since 1997. They play in the Centre Henry-Leonard located in the eastern sector of the town.

Skiing

Skiing is a very popular sport in Baie-Comeau. The Centre de ski du Mont-Tibasse is the alpine ski centre located a few kilometers north of the town. It offers twelve slopes. Cross-country skiing is also popular.

Golf

An 18 hole golf course is available un the western sector of the town. It is a semi-private golf club and is open for most of the summer.

Swimming

The two major high schools of the city each offer an indoor swimming pool. They are open to the public year round. Two outdoor swimming pools are also available to the public. These are open from the end of June until the end of August each summer.

Some beaches are also available in the summer. One of them, the Plage Lac Aber, is on the shore of the lake that bears the same name. The beach offers many other activities such as tennis and volleyball. Some other beaches are along the shore of the St. Lawrence river: The Plage Champlain and the Plage Pointe-Lebel, among others.

Tennis

Several outdoor tennis courts are available to be used by anyone in the different parks across town. They are open for most of the summer.

Football

The Baie-Comeau Vikings proudly defend the honor of the Polyvalente des Baies in the Eastern Quebec High School Football League. They won championships in 2003 and 2004 and were finalists in 2005.