Aylmer, Quebec
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Aylmer is a former city of Quebec that on January 1, 2002 became a western sector of Gatineau, Canada. It is located on the Ottawa River and Quebec route 148. Population (2006): 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau. It is named after Lord Aylmer, who was a Governor General of British North America and a Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada from 1830 to 1835. It remains primarily a suburb of Hull and Ottawa.
It bills itself the "Recreation Capital of the National Capital" given its many golf courses, green spaces, spas, marina and bicycle paths. There is little industry in the sector, the area being mainly a residential area. Virtually, all the major shops, services and restaurants are located along Chemin d'Aylmer. The sector's newly-opened swimming pool is also located on that road.
Aylmer's population is about 40% anglophone and 60% francophone; much of its workforce commutes across the river to Ottawa. As such it tends to be a very federalist area, with much of the population being bilingual.
Prior to the merger, Aylmer's residents and municipal laws had strongly opposed extensive construction programs. Following the amalgamation, many of the sector's prized green spaces were cut down for residential construction. Ex-Aylmer neighbourhoods like Wychwood and Village Lucerne have seen their cherished wilderness sold to contractors. As a result of this unchecked development, there is a strong resentment of the current municipal administration among Aylmer Sector citizens.[citation needed]
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[edit] Transportation
[edit] Roads and Recreational Pathways
Aylmer is served by provincial highway 148 (known as the Boulevard de l'Outaouais within city limits) which extends from Shawville where it becomes the 301, through all of Gatineau, to Montréal, about two hours away. Other main roads include the Chemin d'Aylmer (formerly Rue Principale), Lucerne Blvd., Vanier, Eardley, Broad/Klock, and Wilfrid-Lavigne. Ch. Aylmer, Lucerne, Mountain Rd., Pink Rd., and the Boul. de l'Outaouais all lead into neighbouring Hull. Aylmer is connected to Tunney's Pasture and Westboro in Ottawa by the Champlain Bridge, in the southeast corner of the sector.
It has been proposed to build an extension from highway 50 in the Gatineau sector that would come though Chelsea and central Aylmer to become a bridge between Deschênes and Brittania, but the plan is only tentative.
Aylmer is home to an effective and generally well-maintained network of bicycle paths that encircle the central portion of the sector and run past many scenic locations, such as the Aylmer Marina and the Deschênes Rapids. The bike path system is maintained by the National Capital Commission.
[edit] Public Transit
Public transit is provided by the Société de transport de l'Outaouais or STO, which runs twelve bus lines through the sector (although many only during rush hour). The STO has been criticized by Aylmer residents -- particularly youth -- for not providing enough service to the area, and for not providing enough inter-sector bus lines (the eastern terminus for most Aylmer lines in the Rideau Centre in downtown Ottawa). The STO is planning a bus rapid transit system known as Rapibus that would connect the Hull and Gatineau sectors, with the possibility of an expansion to Aylmer.
The railroad bedding still exists from Aylmer's now-defunct rail line, and pressure has been put on the STO to set up a light rail system in Gatineau that could connect to Ottawa's O-Train network via the Prince of Wales Bridge. If this were to happen, Aylmer could theoretically be served by light rail as well, but at present this appears highly unlikely.
[edit] Politics
[edit] Federal
In terms of population, Aylmer makes up about one third of the riding of Hull—Aylmer, which has elected a Liberal member of parliament in every federal election since its conception in 1984 — its predecessors, the ridings of Hull and Wright, in place from 1892 to 1984, also only ever elected Liberals. The riding is currently represented in the house of commons by MP Marcel Proulx, who narrowly beat Bloc Québécois runner-up Alain Charette by 17,573 to 15,788 votes (or 33.7 to 29.4 percent) in the 2006 federal election. With its large anglophone population and many of its residents working for the federal government and/or commuting to Ottawa, Aylmer has traditionally been and remains a federalist stronghold, although support for sovereignty has risen in the last decade.
[edit] Municipal
In the 2005 Gatineau municipal election, Aylmer voters showed particularly strong support for current mayor Marc Bureau, over incumbent and former mayor of "old" Hull Yves Ducharme. Similar voting patterns appeared in the sectors of Buckingham and Masson-Angers, the other two "outlying" regions of Gatineau. This could be due to a perception among residents that the Ducharme administration was more focused on the urban core of the new city, as opposed to the periphery, as well as the rapid development of green-spaces into residential subdivisions. However, six months after the November election, residents are showing the highest level of dissatisfaction with the Bureau administration out of all the sectors, citing Aylmer's being left out of municipal processes, poor quality of municipal services, and little to no action to halt suburban sprawl. Interestingly, Masson-Angers and Buckingham residents are presently showing the most support for the new government.
Recently, the City of Gatineau administration had plans to reuse a former landfill site on Cook Road in the north end of the sector to build a new composting plant. A deal was planned with a non-profit organisation called La Ressourcerie to operate the site. However, local residents are strongly opposed with health and environmental concerns especially due to the past of the landfill site.[1] Despite displaying their fierce opposition, which included acts of intimidation and threats towards some councillors, at a Gatineau City Council Meeting, Mayor Marc Bureau mentioned that he will still build the plant at the Cook site, and that according to him it was the best possible site.[2] He later added that he will study other possibilities for the plant.
Aylmer's three wards are presently represented on the Gatineau city council by Frank Thérien, André Laframboise and Alain Riel.
[edit] Amalgamation and De-Amalgamation
In 2002 the City of Aylmer became a part of Gatineau when the then-Parti Québécois government forcibly merged several clusters of cities and metropolitan areas throughout Québec. Residents of Aylmer were particularly against the amalgamation, citing fears of reduced municipal services, more suburban development, and a loss of cultural identity, as well as geographic differences (Hull and Gatineau arguably constitute a region of conurbation, whereas Aylmer was at the time separated by an expanse of sparsely-inhabited green-space).
A movement was started to halt the "forced fusion" of five cities surrounding Gatineau. The movement had particularly strong support in Aylmer. Signs reading "Je me souviendrai des fusions forcées" (literally, "I will remember forced fusions," a play on Québec's motto "Je me souviens") were a common sight.
When the Québec Liberal Party won the 2003 provincial election, the newly amalgamated former cities were given the opportunity to demerge. A referendum was held to decide the fate of the City of Gatineau which required a double majority: at least 35% of eligible voters from a given sector had to cast ballots, and more than 50% of these had to be in favour of de-amalgamation. Aylmer voters chose to separate from Gatineau but not enough ballots were cast, meaning Aylmer remained a sector of the larger city.
[edit] Education
[edit] English School Board
Western Quebec School Board
Provides English and French immersion education to primary and secondary students.
[edit] Primary schools
South Hull: Immersion primary school, located in Lakeview Terrace.
Rapides Deschênes: A francophone primary school, located on Vanier road. Comprised of three buildings, it teaches school from kindergarten to grade 6.
Vieux-Verger: A francophone primary school, located on Wilfrid-Lavigne boulevard. It teaches school from kindergarten to grade 6. Before the school was built, an orchard was present on that lot, which inspired the name for the school, which is French for "Old Orchard".
Euclide-Lanthier: A francophone primary school, located on Elizabeth street. It teaches kindergarten to grade 6.
Trois-Portages: A francophone primary school, located on Broad street, in the lot next to École Secondaire Grande-Rivière. It teaches kindergarten to grade 6.
St-Paul: A francophone primary school, located on Dalhousie street. It teaches kindergarten to grade 6.
Lord Aylmer School : Re-named after the amalgamation of Saint Mark's Elementary and Aylmer Elementary. The school has two campuses (located only across the street from each other). The former St. Mark's (known as the "Junior Campus") teaches students from kindergarten to grade 3. Aylmer Elementary (the "Senior Campus") teaches grades 4 to 6. Lord Aylmer Elementary has a program in English and French immersion. Located on Frank Robinson street.(Historical note: Aylmer Elementary was previously Aylmer High School, an English-language secondary school which was de-commissioned with the opening of the Philemon Wright High School in Hull in 1969.)
[edit] Secondary schools
École secondaire Grande-Rivière: a francophone high school, located on Broad street, this school teaches nearly 1900 students, and supports an additionnal 100+ staff members, including teachers, administrators, janitors, and other service personnel. It is the largest secondary school in the sector. It sports a standard programme, a musical concentration programme, an artistic concentration programme, an IB Middle Years Programme, the International Programme (P.E.I) , and several support programmes for students in difficulty. It also has a small community of highly active students who participate in the organization of school activities.
Other secondary schools are École intermédiaire Symmes Junior High School (grades 7 and 8) and the recently constructed École secondaire D'Arcy McGee High School (grades 9, 10 and 11), both located on Blvd. du Plateau.
[edit] Notable Aylmer individuals
- Paul Duchesnay
- Isabelle Duchesnay
- Peter Mach
- Charlie Major (country musician) born in Aylmer.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2006/09/19/compost-gatineau.html
- ^ Duquette, Patrick, Gatineau fera son compostage dans l'ancien depotoir Cook, (Gatineau will do its compositing plant at former Cook landfill site), Le Droit, Ottawa, September 20, 2006, page 3.
