Pierreville, Quebec

Pierreville, Quebec
—  Municipality  —
Location within Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality.
Coordinates (26, rue Ally [1]):
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
Region Centre-du-Québec
RCM Nicolet-Yamaska
Municipality June 13, 2001
Electoral Districts
Federal
Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour
Provincial Nicolet-Yamaska
Government[1][2][3]
 • Mayor André Descôteaux
 • Federal MP(s) Louis Plamondon (BQ)
 • Quebec MNA(s) Jean-Martin Aussant (PQ)
Area[4]
 • Land 78.31 km2 (30.2 sq mi)
Population (2006)[4]
 • Total 2,337
 • Density 29.8/km2 (77.2/sq mi)
 • Change (2001-06) 2.7%
 • Dwellings 1,174
Time zone EST (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
Postal code(s) J0G
Area code(s) 450
Access Routes[5] Route 132
Route 226

Pierreville is a community in Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, located at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Saint-François rivers, at the edge of Lac Saint-Pierre. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,337.

Pierreville faces the town of Saint-François-du-Lac across the Saint-François river, and lies at the junction of Route 132 and Route 226. Part of the Abenaki Indian reserve of Odanak is an enclave within the city limits of Pierreville. The limits of the reserve begin only a short walk away from the town's main street.

Contents

History

On 21 August 1991, an F3 tornado, the "tornade de Maskinongé", touched down in the town's Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville neighbourhood, destroying a number of summer homes in the area and injuring 15 people.[6]

Demographics

Population

Population trend[7]

Census Population Change (%)
2006 2,337 2.7%
Merger (+) 2,402 60.4%
2001 950 10.0%
Boundary change 1,055 7.5%
1996 976 9.1%
1991 1,074 N/A

(+) Amalgamation of the Parishes of Notre-Dame-de-Pierreville, Saint-Thomas-de-Pierreville, and the Village of Pierreville on June 13, 2001.

Language

Mother tongue language (2006)[4]

Language Population Pct (%)
French only 2,235 97.60%
English only 10 0.44%
Both English and French 0 0.00%
Other languages 45 1.96%

Economy

Manufacturing

Pierreville is a major centre for the manufacturing of fire trucks. Local company Thibault Fire Engines, Inc., first established at the turn of the 20th century, was the first fire truck company to be established in Canada.[8]

During the visit of Pope John Paul II to Canada in 1984, the company modified a GMC Sierra truck for use as a Popemobile, a secure form of transport built to withstand a commando attack. It was subsequently used for the 1998 papal visit to Cuba and was displayed at the Canada Museum of Science and Technology in 2005. The second truck built by the Thibault Fire Engine Company[9] was sent back to the Vatican in 1984.[10][11]

Agriculture

Like the rest of the Centre-du-Quebec region, agriculture plays an important role in Pierreville's economy, with a number of dairy, vegetable, grain and other farms based in the area. In the mid-2000s, however, the town gained notoriety owing to the increasingly widespread industry of illicit cannabis culture. One group of observers reported spotting at least $10 million CAD worth of cannabis plants during an aerial flyby.[12] The ubiquity of marijuana culture earned Pierreville the nicknames of "Cocotteville" (Budtown) and "la Petite Colombie" (Little Colombia),[13] as high school students are routinely recruited to work in the fields—with parents sometimes recruiting their own children—and local politicians begrudgingly welcoming the economic prosperity the pot industry brings, with workers being paid $25 CAD per hour to harvest the crop.[14]

Climate

Climate data for Pierreville
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 14.5
(58.1)		 11.5
(52.7)		 16.5
(61.7)		 31.5
(88.7)		 31
(88)		 34
(93)		 34
(93)		 33.5
(92.3)		 31.5
(88.7)		 25.5
(77.9)		 21
(70)		 14.5
(58.1)		 34
(93)
Average high °C (°F) −6.5
(20.3)		 −4.1
(24.6)		 1.4
(34.5)		 10.3
(50.5)		 18.7
(65.7)		 23.6
(74.5)		 25.8
(78.4)		 24.6
(76.3)		 19.3
(66.7)		 12.3
(54.1)		 4.3
(39.7)		 −2.9
(26.8)		 10.6
(51.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) −11.6
(11.1)		 −9.3
(15.3)		 −3.5
(25.7)		 5.4
(41.7)		 12.9
(55.2)		 18
(64)		 20.3
(68.5)		 19.1
(66.4)		 14.2
(57.6)		 7.8
(46.0)		 0.8
(33.4)		 −7.2
(19.0)		 5.6
(42.1)
Average low °C (°F) −16.6
(2.1)		 −14.4
(6.1)		 −8.3
(17.1)		 0.5
(32.9)		 7.2
(45.0)		 12.4
(54.3)		 14.7
(58.5)		 13.7
(56.7)		 9
(48)		 3.3
(37.9)		 −2.8
(27.0)		 −11.4
(11.5)		 0.6
(33.1)
Record low °C (°F) −38
(−36)		 −34
(−29)		 −32
(−26)		 −15
(5)		 −3
(27)		 0
(32)		 4.5
(40.1)		 2
(36)		 −3
(27)		 −7
(19)		 −20
(−4)		 −37.5
(−35.5)		 −38
(−36)
Precipitation mm (inches) 76.7
(3.02)		 57
(2.24)		 64.8
(2.551)		 73.5
(2.894)		 87.1
(3.429)		 91.1
(3.587)		 97.4
(3.835)		 94.7
(3.728)		 79.2
(3.118)		 81
(3.19)		 95.4
(3.756)		 69.5
(2.736)		 967.5
(38.091)
Source: Environment Canada[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Ministère des Affaires Municipales et Régions: Pierreville
  2. ^ Parliament of Canada Federal Riding History: BAS-RICHELIEU--NICOLET--BÉCANCOUR (Quebec)
  3. ^ Chief Electoral Officer of Québec - 40th General Election Riding Results: NICOLET-YAMASKA
  4. ^ a b c 2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Pierreville, Quebec
  5. ^ Official Transport Quebec Road Map
  6. ^ (French)"Principales tornades au Canada, section Fleuve Saint-Laurent-1991". Ressources naturelles Canada. 5 mars 2009. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/francais/maps/environment/naturalhazards/naturalhazards1999/majortornadoes/tornadoes_stats_new.html. Retrieved 2010-07-22. 
  7. ^ Statistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006 census
  8. ^ http://www.thibaultfiretrucks.com/aboutus.asp?s=20
  9. ^ 'Popemobile' Plush, Impervious Thibault Fire Engines
  10. ^ Canadian Popemobile going on display CBC News, April 7 2005
  11. ^ http://books.google.ca/books?id=eU-iNvwywHQC&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=thibault+fire+trucks+popemobile&source=bl&ots=bU_8bSjPia&sig=9BguaRe5yRUj-vK-OwH1R0TwMvg&hl=en&ei=FS_cTo6NEIHb0QHlxuzLDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=thibault%20fire%20trucks%20popemobile&f=false
  12. ^ À Pierreville, la marijuana devient une industrie ! Radio-Canada Estrie.
  13. ^ Un impact social majeur Radio-Canada Estrie.
  14. ^ La politique régionale en bref Le Sorel-Tracy Magazine, December 2004.
  15. ^ Environment Canada Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000, accessed 23 July 2010
Lac Saint-Pierre
Saint-François River /
Odanak / Saint-François-du-Lac		 Baie-du-Febvre
   Pierreville    
Saint-Elphège
 Administrative divisions of Centre-du-Québec  (Region 17)
Regional county municipalities
and equivalent territories
Municipalities