Embrun, Ontario
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Embrun, Ontario | |||
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| Motto: Fibri Ad Exemplar | |||
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| Country | Canada  |
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| Province | Ontario  |
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| Counties | Prescott and Russell United | ||
| Township | Russell Township | ||
| Settlement | 1845 | ||
| Named | 1857 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Ken Hill | ||
| - Governing Body | Russell Township | ||
| - MPs | Pierre Lemieux | ||
| Area [1] | |||
| - Community | 81.694 km² (31.5 sq mi) | ||
| - Urban | 9.05 km² (3.5 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 60 m (197 ft) | ||
| Population (2006 Census)[2] [3] | |||
| - Community | 8,048 | ||
| - Urban | 5,655 | ||
| Time zone | EST (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) | ||
| Postal Code | K0A 1W0 and K0A 1W1 | ||
| Area code(s) | 613 | ||
Embrun (pronounced /ˈɛmbɹʌn̩/ in Canadian English and /ɑ̃.bʁœ̃/ in Canadian French), UN/LOCODE: CA EBU, is a community in the Canadian province of Ontario in the Eastern Ontario region. Embrun is part of the larger Russell Township in Prescott and Russell United Counties. With a population of 8,048 (entire town)[2] or 5,655 (urban area)[3], it is the largest community in Russell Township. Embrun is largely (but not exclusively) francophone. The urban area grew by 26.6% from 2001 to 2006[3].
The community is located approximately a forty minute drive from Ottawa, an hour and a half from Montreal, and a five hour drive from Toronto. Embrun is located near Trans-Canada Highway 417.
Politically, the community is situated in the electoral district of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell both provincially and federally.
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[edit] History
The first residents of Embrun settled the town in 1845 [4]. François Michel named the town in 1857 after Embrun, France [4]. A railroad was built in 1898 that contributed to the growth of Embrun [4].
However, much of the 20th century was spent in a period of economic stagnation [4]. Embrun has since recovered and is now experiencing economic prosperity [4]. The population of the town was 8,048 in 2006[2].
[edit] Economy
Embrun's economy is largely agricultural. It is one of the major distributors of dairy products and bovine in the region. These farms also include hundreds of sheep, corn (sold to local grocery stores and markets) and numerous other products. Despite the importance of agriculture to the region's economy, the majority of the town's residents now work in the service industry [5].
[edit] Media
Three newspapers[6] are published in Embrun: La Nouvelle[6] (weekly French language newspaper), Le Reflet[6][7] (another weekly French language newspaper) and The Prescott-Russell News[6] (in both English and French).
A newspaper that is published in Rockland called Vision is delivered in Embrun as well. The Villager, a newspaper that is published in the neighbouring town of Russell, is also delivered in Embrun. Unlike Vision, The Villager is a paper that people must subscribe to or buy at a local store.
[edit] Education
Being a primarily French-Canadian community, the community is well-served with francophone schools. There are three French-Catholic schools in Embrun: École St. Jean is an elementary school, La Croisée is a middle school, and École Secondaire d'Embrun is a high school. There is also a French public school: École Publique de la Rivière Castor. There is no French public secondary school in Embrun. Instead, a French Public High School in nearby Casselman serves Embrun.
The anglophone minority in Embrun typically relies on the primarily English speaking nearby town of Russell for education. English Catholic students in Embrun attend Mother Theresa Elementary School and St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, both in Russell. Non-Catholic anglophones in Embrun go to Russell High School. When attending elementary school, they have the choice of attending either Russell Public School or Cambridge Public School (the latter of which is in Embrun[8]), depending on whether they would prefer French Immersion or Core French[9] (Russell Public provides French immersion, while Cambridge Public provides Core French).
The Ottawa Carleton E-School is based out of Embrun.
[edit] Neighbourhoods
Embrun has several distinct neighbourhoods and several smaller neighbourhoods.
In the map to the right, the neighbourhoods of Embrun are colour-coded. Below is a legend as to what neighbourhood each colour represents.
- Industrial Park: Yellow
- Business Park: Red
- Chantal Development: Green
- Town Centre/Centre-Ville: Sky Blue
- Bourdeau Development: Blue
- Lapointe Development: Purple
- Maplevale: Orange
The smaller community of Brisson may be considered part of Embrun, as it is no longer recognized by any municipal entity. [10]
[edit] Business Park
The Embrun Business Park is located in the extreme western part of Embrun, west of the Chantal Development. The area is home to nearly all of the town's major businesses. In this area is the Place d'Embrun Shopping Centre as well as several chain restaurants (e.g., Tim Hortons, Dairy Queen and Subway) and large businesses such as renovators, grocery stores and automobile garages. However, this part of Embrun lacks small businesses. Most of the small businesses are in other parts of Embrun.
This part of Embrun, however, has almost no permanent residents due to the fact that it is almost exclusively commercial. There are a few people living on Notre-Dame Street in this area, however, these people are counted as part of the Chantal Development in population counts. The area is paved with many asphalt roads crisscrossing the area. However, these "roads" don't have official names, and aren't registered in the Russell Township list of roads. Instead, the businesses here are addressed to as being on Notre-Dame Street, even though some are over a kilometre from it.
[edit] Industrial Park
Embrun also has an Industrial Park. Despite the name, the Industrial Park doesn't really have any industry, just semi-industrial commerce such as warehouses. The Ontario Provincial Police Station is also located here. The Industrial Park is located just to the north of the Embrun Business Park.
The Industrial Park is one of the westernmost areas of Embrun. It has three streets: Industriel Street, New York Central Avenue, and Bay Street.
[edit] Chantal Development
Chantal Development is a rather quiet residential area in the Western part of Embrun. To the east of Chantal Development lies the town centre (officially called Town Centre-Ville). To the west lies the Business Park and the Industrial Park.
There are several streets in the Chantal Development: Olympic Street, Domaine Street, Menard Street, Isabelle Street, Loiselle Street, Chantal Crescent, Promenade Boulevard, and Chateau Crescent.
[edit] Town Centre/Centre-Ville
Town Centre/Centre-Ville is home to three of the town's schools (École Publique de la Rivière Castor, St. Jean and La Croisée). Also, the Église St. Jacques is in this part of town. To the west of Town Centre/Centre-Ville is Chantal Development. To the east is Lapointe Development. To the south is the neighbourhood of Embrun South. To the north is Brisson.
The Town Centre/Centre-Ville area has many streets, too many to list here. The major ones are: Ste Jeanne d'Arc Street, Blais Street, Centenaire Street (also in Lapointe Development), St Jean Baptiste Street, Castlebeau Street and Lamadeleine Boulevard.
[edit] Lapointe Development
The Lapointe Development is in the eastern part of Embrun. To the west is Town Centre/Centre-Ville and to the south is the small neighbourhood of Maplevale. To the north is Brisson. The Lapointe Development is currently undergoing expansion.
There are several streets in the Lapointe Development: Lapointe Boulevard, Fleurette Street, Sophie Street, Alain Street, Chateauguay Road, Filion Street, La Prairie Street, Centenaire Street (also in Town Centre/Centre-Ville), Frontenac Boulevard, Citadelle Street, Louis Riel Street, La Croisée Street, Radisson Drive and Normandie Street.
[edit] Embrun South
The neighbourhood in the southern part of Embrun is called Embrun South. The area has several streets. To the north lies Town Centre/Centre-Ville. To the east, west and south lies Forget. The area is near the Embrun Water Tower. Also, École secondaire catholique Embrun is in this area.
[edit] Maplevale
The small neighbourhood of Maplevale, located to the immediate south of the Lapointe Development, can be defined as a more upscale and elite neighbourhood than the Lapointe Development, with features such as 19th century streetlights and high-class style homes.
[edit] Politics
In the 2006 Russell Township election, citizens of Embrun showed a particularly strong support for current mayor Ken Hill[11], with 1,431 Embrun voters voting for Ken Hill compared with 678 for Denis Bourdeau and 560 for Michael McHugh [11].
Lorraine Dicaire, Jean-Paul St. Pierre, Donald St. Pierre and Jamie Laurin received the most votes in Embrun for councillors, in order of most votes to least votes [11]. These four councillors were also the ones who received the most votes in the township as a whole [11]. The candidates that ran for councillor, but didn't get into council were Charlie Harland, Jean-Serge Brisson, Pierre Brulotte, and Marthe Lepine.
The newly elected mayor was tested when major blackout (caused by a freezing rain storm which was part of the Early Winter 2006 North American Storm Complex) affected the town from December 1-2, 2006, which left virtually the entire town without electricity. Hill declared a state of emergency, which lasted for several days[12].
[edit] Traffic
As the community of Embrun grows, traffic concerns also grow. The community's primary road, Notre-Dame Street, is projected to reach a level of traffic volume beyond its design capacity in the near future [13]. The municipal council considered either expanding Notre-Dame Street into a 4-lane roadway or by re-routing traffic on Notre-Dame Streets' collector roads[13]. The latter option is considered preferable by the municipal government[13].
St. Guillaume Road, which connects Notre-Dame Street with Trans-Canada Highway 417, is projected to start nearing its design maximum capacity in the near future as well. Widening St. Guillaume Road was discussed as an option during a study by the Prescott and Russell United Counties government, as well as introducing a new corridor to connect Notre-Dame Road with Highway 417.
[edit] Climate
Although Embrun is situated in Canada, which has a reputation for being very cold, Embrun is located in the "Long Summer/Short Winter" belt of Southeastern Ontario and Southwestern Quebec, which is the only part of Canada in which the summer is significantly longer than the winter.
Summers in Embrun usually last about 5-6 months long, and winters are about 4-4 1/2 months long. Autumn and spring are very short (especially Autumn).
The first snowfalls of the year usually occur in mid-to-late November, but snow doesn't actually cover the ground until December. Before that, snow usually melts as soon as it hits the ground.
In the spring, the snow usually starts melting in March, although occasional "warm breaks" with temperatures as high as 10°C (50°F) usually occur once or twice in January and February.
Also, in the spring, the area tends to smell of cow manure, and the run-off into the Castor River begins.
In recent years, winters have gotten much warmer, so often in the winter freezing rain will occur. This makes driving very hazardous and often cancels school buses and makes the roads very icy for a few days.
In the summer, humidity is often common, especially in July. Although temperatures are usually just under 30°C (86°F), with the humidity it can feel as hot as 35°C or higher.
[edit] See also
[edit] References and Footnotes
- ^ Industry Canada (2006). Broadband Canada. Broadband Canada, Industry Canada. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
- ^ a b c Embrun This Year. The Future of Embrun (2007). Retrieved on August-21-2007.
- ^ a b c Statistics Canada
- ^ a b c d e (French)Paroisse St. Jacques (2007). Historique (History). Paroisse St. Jacques. Retrieved on January-15-2007.
- ^ Russell Township (2006). Our Comunities: Embrun. Russell Township Municipal Government. Retrieved on January-15-2006.
- ^ a b c d Russell Township web site
- ^ La Reflet Website
- ^ Government of Ontario (2007). School Board Profiles - Upper Canada District School Board - Cambridge Public School. Government of Ontario. Retrieved on July-11-2007.
- ^ Students in a Core French program take a French class that is of normal length, while students in a French Immersion program study French far more extensively.
- ^ Brisson is not on the list of communities supplied by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell at this url and is not recognized as a community by Russell Township according to this url.
- ^ a b c d The candidate with the second most votes in Embrun was Russell Township's previous mayor, Denis Bourdeau. The candidate with the least amount of votes in Embrun was Michael McHugh, the previous mayorOfficial Results
- ^ Ottawa Sun
- ^ a b c Township of Russell (2007). Township of Russell, Master Plan, Transportation chapter. Township of Russell Municipal Council. Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
[edit] External links
- Embrun (Ontario) travel guide from Wikitravel
- Community grassroots website
- Embrun, Ontario in the cities wiki
- Le Reflet biweekly French-language journal
- Embrun and Russell library
- Russell Township
- Embrun Arena
- Au Boisé Bed and Breakfast
- Embrun high school
- Ottawa Carleton E-school
- Lucky seven
- Pierre et fils
- About Embrun
- Vision Newspaper
- Local Media Information
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