Shawville, Quebec

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shawville is a village in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality in western Quebec, approximately 75 km west of Gatineau. Its population in 2001 was 1,582. [1]

An overwhelmingly anglophone (with 85 per cent of its residents listing English as their first language in the 2001 Census [2]) and Protestant (75 per cent [3]) community in a province that is overwhelmingly French-speaking and Catholic, Shawville is not only unusual for a Quebec town in that it does not have a Catholic church, it has also been the site of several conflicts between local shopkeepers and the Office québécois de la langue française over the province's language laws. [4], [5]

Characterized by its red-brick buildings, Shawville is home to an elementary school, a high school, and the regional hospital. Its businesses are mostly small and family run. The Shawville Fair, held the first weekend in September, is the town's major event; in recent years, it has drawn headline entertainers such as Terri Clark, Stompin' Tom Connors, and Paul Brandt, with total attendance at around 50,000.

Famous people from Shawville include the current head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Bryan Murray, his brother Terry Murray (an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers), NHL legend Frank "The Shawville Express" Finnigan.

• Shawville (Pontiac Regional County Municipality site)