Pouce Coupe, British Columbia

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Pouce Coupe
Location of Pouce Coupe within the Peace River Regional District in British Columbia, Canada
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Location of Pouce Coupe within the Peace River Regional District in British Columbia, Canada
Area 2.06 km²
Population 887
Location 55°42′57.3″N, 120°08′02.1″W
Altitude 655 metres
Incorporation 1932
Province British Columbia
Regional District Peace River
MP Jay Hill
MLA Blair Lekstrom
Mayor Barb Smith
Time zone MST (UTC-7)
Postal code V0C 2C0
Area Code 250
Official website: Village of Pouce Coupe


The Village of Pouce Coupe (French for "cut-off thumb") is a small town in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Peace River Regional District. The 2.06 km² (0.80 mi²) municipality is home to around 887 residents.[1]

The community was settled by European immigrant Hector Tremblay in 1898. Pouce Coupe is approximately 10 km (6 miles) southeast of Dawson Creek along Highway 2. It is approximately 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the Alberta border along Highway 2. The village is at an elevation of 655 metres (2168 ft) in the Peace River Country.

Pouce Coupe's main industries today are petroleum, agriculture, and tourism. Popular recreational activities in the area include cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, fishing, hiking, and hunting.

Contents

[edit] History

After the native Beaver tribe, Hector Tremblay became the first white settler in the Pouce Coupe Prairie. He came to the area along with Joe Bissette and a group of prospectors from Kamloops on their way to the Yukon in search of gold. After spending the winter near Chetwynd and Moberly Lake all the men turned back except for Tremblay and Bissette who ventured eastwards and built log cabins near present-day Pouce Coupe. Bissette built his cabin at the spot where the Bissette Creek empties into the Pouce Coupé River, in the present day Pouce Coupe Regional Park, before moving on to Dunvegan, Alberta. Tremblay, joined by his wife in 1908, built his cabin at the mouth of the Dawson Creek where it enters the Pouce Coupé River and helped cut a trail to south to Grande Prairie and north to Fort St. John. Tremblay made his cabin into a trading post and resting place for travellers during the Gold Rush, and after the Peace River Block was opened to homesteading in 1912, a post office.[2]

A village began to emerge out of the growing number of businesses and other facilities opened for travellers on their way to homestead land. In March 1913 Frank Haskins opened a general store in a tent, which was moved into a log cabin in 1915. Ed Bazare opened a restaurant in 1914 and Robert Baxter opened a restaurant and rooming house in 1916. The federal government established an office in the emerging village in 1915 and provincial government opened an office in 1921. A bank opened next to the Haskins' store in 1916. A police station was opened in 1917. In 1921 the Alberta Red Cross opened a hospital in the village. The 16 room Hart Hotel was opened in 1928 by George Hart and as of 2006 maintains 5 rooms. An electricity generator was brought to Pouce Coupe in 1930 and the Pouce Coupe Light and Power Co. was established in 1931. On 13 January 1932 the village was incorporated.[3]

[edit] Demographics

Pouce Coupe’s population trend, 1976–2005, BC Stats.
Enlarge
Pouce Coupe’s population trend, 1976–2005, BC Stats.[4] [5] [6]

According to the 2001 Canadian census,[7] Pouce Coupe had 833 residents living in 275 households. Among these, 31% were married couples with children, 20% were married couples without children, and 29% were one-person households. Of 190 reported families, 63% were married couples (with an average 3.2 persons per family), 21% were lone parents (3.0 persons per family), and 18% were common-law couples (3.3 persons per family). Pouce Coupe residents' median age — 39.6 years — is a little higher than the provincial average of 38.4 years; indeed 21.7% of residents are over 65 years old, which is more than the 13.6% province-wide average. In fact, 16% of residents over 20 years old are widowed, which is much higher than the provincial average of 6%. Protestantism (31%) and Catholicism (22%) are Pouce Coupe’s dominant religions. About 3% of residents reported themselves as being visible minorities (significantly lower than the 21% provincial average).

[edit] Transportation and infrastructure

British Columbia provincial highway 2 runs north-south through Pouce Coupe, connecting the town to Dawson Creek (10 km (6 mi) northwest) and Alberta (x km (xx mi) southeast). Pouce Coupe's internal street network has 14 km (9 mi) of paved and 5 km (3 mi) of unpaved road.[8] The village's commercial activities are centered around the bend in highway. The residential areas are located mostly south of the highway with a gridiron layout. Industry is located north of the highway and agriculture to the west.

Pouce Coupe does not have rail, air, and bus services within its borders but uses those services as they are available in Dawson Creek. The rail lines actually goes through Pouce Coupe, through the north beside by the highway and southwestern corner, but does not stop. The next place the train stops, after leaving Dawson Creek and going south through Pouce Coupe, is in Hythe, Alberta. Pouce Coupe is serviced by the Dawson Creek Airport (IATA codeYDQ) which is located in the southeastern corner of the Dawson Creek municipal borders. The airport was built in 1963 and had its 1,524 m (5,000 ft) runway paved in 1966. Regional bus service, as offered byGreyhound Bus Lines, is accessed through Dawson Creek.

The Village's drinking water is supplied by the City of Dawson Creek. The water is drawn from the Kiskatinaw River 16 km west of the city and pumped through a booster pump station, a settling pond, a storage pond and a water treatment plant where it is chlorinated. The Village's sewage is collected by 7 kilometres (4 mi) of sanitary sewers and processed through a two-cell lagoon system.[8]

The only school in the village is the Pouce Coupe Elementary School. The school has the capacity for 450 students but the enrollment was only 113 students in 2005.[9] It is one of the worst elementary schools in the province in terms of academic performance.[10] Pouce Coupe students commute to South Peace Secondary School in Dawson Creek for high school education. Northern Lights College, also in Dawson Creek, is the closest post-secondary school.

[edit] Geography and climate

The village is located in the westen portion of the Peace River Country amidst the Pouce Coupe Prairie. The area can be subject to droughts in the summer and very heavy winds year round. The general area experiences a cool continental climate, including frigid winters and warm summers. Pouce Coupe's 170.7 cm (67.2 in) average annual snowfall with a January average temperature of −14.9 °C (5.2 °F). Pouce Coupe gets 327.8 mm (12.9 in) of precipitation on average per year with an annual average temperature of 1.4 °C (34.5 °F). Because it experiences long daylight hours in summer and short daylight hours in winter, the village uses Mountain Standard Time year-round.[11]

[edit] Economy

The 2001 Canadian census recorded 315 income-earners over the age of 15 residing in Pouce Coupe; of these, 110 worked full time throughout the year. The village's 15.0% unemployment rate exceeds the provincial rate of 8.5% while the participation rate of 56.6% is below the provincial rate of 65.2%. The low participation rate reflects the relatively old population which consists of retired rural farmers and residents. The village's 20.8% poverty rate compares unfavourably to the provincial average of 17.8%. The male-female income gap, in 2001 by full time-full year income-earners was CAD$50,721 for males (higher than the CAD$50,191 provincial average) and CAD$24,181 for females (lower than the CAD$35,895 provincial average).[7]

[edit] Government and politics

The Village of Pouce Coupe's council-manager form of municipal government is headed by a mayor (who also represents Pouce Coupe on the Peace River Regional District's governing board) and a four-member council; these positions are subject to at-large elections every three years. Current mayor, Barb Smith, was first elected in November 2005 defeating Sandy Hull who was acting-mayor following the death of Mayor Doyle McNabb in April 2005.[12]. One school board trustee, for representation on school district #59,[13] is also elected by the village and much of the surrounding rural area. The village funds a 15 member volunteer fire department, which services the village and nearby rural areas.

Pouce Coupe is part of the Peace River South provincial electoral district, represented by Blair Lekstrom in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. In the 2001 provincial election, he was elected as the district's Member of the Legislative Assembly with 57% support from the city's polls[14] and re-elected in 2005 with 50% support.[15] Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented by Jack Weisgerber. Weisgerber represented the riding between 1986 and 2001 as a member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which made him Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and Minister of Native Affairs before becoming party leader between 1992 and 1993. In 1996 as leader of the Reform Party of British Columbia, Weisgerber won re-election even though Pouce Coupe polls put him in third place behind the losing BC Liberal Party and New Democratic Party candidates.[16]

Federally, Pouce Coupe is located in the Prince George—Peace River riding, represented in the Canadian House of Commons by Conservative Party Member of Parliament Jay Hill. Before Hill, who was first elected in 1993, the riding was represented by former Chetwynd mayor Frank Oberle of the Progressive Conservative Party who served as Minister of Science and Technology and later as Minister of Forestry.

B.C. election 2005: Pouce Coupe polls in

Peace River South[15]
Party Candidate Votes village % riding %
     BC Liberal Blair Lekstrom 175 50.14% 57.74%
     New Democrat Pat Shaw 129 36.96% 32.76%
     Green Ariel Lade 45 12.89% 9.50%
Turnout 349 61.23% 56.30%
Canadian federal election 2004: Pouce Coupe polls in

Prince George—Peace River*[35]
Party Candidate Votes village % riding %
     Conservative Jay Hill 381 69.02% 58.71%
     New Democrat Michael Hunter 87 15.76% 20.69%
     Liberal Arleene Thorpe 37 6.70% 13.76%
     Green Hilary Crowley 29 5.25% 5.71%
     Canadian Action Harley J. Harasym 16 2.90% 0.83%
     Marxist-Leninist Tara Rimstad 2 0.36% 0.27%
Turnout 552 54.44% 53.56%
*Results include some voters from nearby rural areas south of the village.

[edit] References

  1. ^ BC Stats (March 22, 2006). "Pouce Coupe Village" (pdf), Community Facts, Retrieved 30 March 2006.
  2. ^ Frost, Lilla (1982) "Hector and Melena Tremblay" in Lure of the South Peace, pg 11-13.
  3. ^ "The Pouce Coupe Story" in Lure of the South Peace, pg 848-853.
  4. ^ BC Stats, British Columbia Municipal Census Populations, 1976–1986, Retrieved March 30, 2006.
  5. ^ BC Stats, British Columbia Municipal Census Populations, 1986–1996, Retrieved March 30, 2006.
  6. ^ BC Stats, British Columbia Municipal Census Populations, 1996–2005, Retrieved March 30, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Statistics Canada, Community Highlights for Pouce Coupe, 2001 Community Profiles, November 27, 2005.
  8. ^ a b Reed Construction (2005), Municipal redbook: an authoritative reference guide to local government in British Columbia, Burnaby, BC, 56. ISBN 0068-161X
  9. ^ Dawson Creek Catholic Social Services (2005) Pouce Coupe Elementary School Dawson Creek: In the News. Vol. III. pg 14.
  10. ^ Cowley, Peter, Stephen T. Easton, and The Fraser Institute (April 2005) Ranking the schools Report Card on British Columbia’s Elementary Schools — 2005 Edition. pg 123.
  11. ^ The South Peace Regional Profile, pg. 62
  12. ^ Rusack, Gary (8 April 2005) Pouce Coupe Mayor Dies Peace River Block News. URL accessed April 18, 2006.
  13. ^ School District 59 (British Columbia) Board of School Trustees, School District 59 (Peace River South). URL accessed April 18, 2006.
  14. ^ Elections BC (2001) Peace River South Electoral District (pdf), Statement of Votes, 2001. URL accessed April 18, 2006.
  15. ^ a b Elections BC (2005) Peace River South Electoral District (pdf), Statement of Votes, 2005. URL accessed April 18, 2006.
  16. ^ Elections BC (1996) Peace River South Electoral District, 36th Provincial General Election - May 28, 1996, 5. URL accessed April 18, 2006.

[edit] External links

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