Buckingham, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Buckingham was a city located in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. Since January 1, 2002, it has been part of the amalgamated
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...

 city of Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...

 which merged five former municipalities, including Masson-Angers
Masson-Angers, Quebec
Masson-Angers is a former municipality and now a sector within the City of Gatineau, located on the north shore of the Ottawa River, in Quebec, Canada, approximately northeast of downtown Ottawa.-History:...

, Buckingham, Hull
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...

, Aylmer
Aylmer, Quebec
Aylmer is a former city in Quebec, Canada. It became a sector of the City of Gatineau on January 1, 2002. Located on the Ottawa River and Route 148 it is a part of the National Capital Region. The population in 2006 was 41 882 — approx. 16% of Gatineau...

 and Gatineau
Gatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...

, into a single entity. The 2006 population according to the 2006 Census is 22,078

First years

It was in 1799, that land in this area was granted to John Robertson, a former member of a British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 regiment. The first people settled in Buckingham in 1823 and the first mill was built. More people would move to Buckingham in the years that followed.

The launch of the lumber industry

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte initiated a continental blockade
Continental System
The Continental System or Continental Blockade was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the Napoleonic Wars. It was a large-scale embargo against British trade, which began on November 21, 1806...

 which forced Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 to look to other sources for importing lumber. Soon, large wooded areas were discovered in Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...

, including the area that would become the Outaouais region. The lumber industry would be central to the region's economic development for over a century with wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 continuing to be important for several decades afterwards. It was only in 1837 that the first sawmill was built by the Bigelow group.

The MacLaren dynasty

Source:

Throughout its history, the city of Buckingham's economy has been dominated by the MacLaren dynasty, which controlled several spheres of activities.

The MacLaren family, who have resided in the region since 1840, have dominated the lumber industry in the Outaouais for over a century. It was in 1864, that James MacLaren
James Maclaren
James MacLaren was an early settler and entrepreneur in western Quebec.He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1818. He came to Richmond in Upper Canada with his family in 1822. The family then settled in Torobolton Township and then moved to Wakefield in Lower Canada in the 1840s...

 launched the family's activities in Buckingham by building a sawmill. The company became J. MacLaren & Co. and later The James McLaren Company Limited. James' two brothers later acquired the company after his death in 1892 and then launched a match
Match
A match is a tool for starting a fire under controlled conditions. A typical modern match is made of a small wooden stick or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by frictional heat generated by striking the match against a suitable surface...

 company in Buckingham in 1894 which was incorporated a year later. The MacLarens later gained control of the hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 market in the community and also real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...

 development and sports facilities. The company would build a hydro dam along the Du Lièvre River
Du Lièvre River
The du Lièvre River is a river in western Quebec which flows south from the Mitchinamécus reservoir and empties into the Ottawa River at Masson-Angers. The river is 330 km in length and drains an area of 10,400 km²...

, just north of Buckingham, at the start of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

. They would later built another one near Masson during the 1950s.

In 1902, the MacLaren group added the wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...

 industry to its activities by building a mill. They would later expand their activities across the region, adding mills in Masson
Masson-Angers, Quebec
Masson-Angers is a former municipality and now a sector within the City of Gatineau, located on the north shore of the Ottawa River, in Quebec, Canada, approximately northeast of downtown Ottawa.-History:...

, Mont-Laurier
Mont-Laurier, Quebec
Mont-Laurier is a town and incorporated municipality in northwest Quebec, Canada, located on the banks of the Rivière du Lièvre, a tributary of the Ottawa River. Known as the “Capital of the Haute-Laurentides”, the motto of the town is Laurus elationis praemium, which translates to “Lift the...

 and Thurso
Thurso, Quebec
Thurso is a city in the Papineau Regional County Municipality in the Outaouais region of western Quebec. It is located on the Ottawa River, and is within Canada's National Capital Region...

 located not to far from the Du Lièvre River. The Buckingham mill would close shortly before 1960.

On October 8, 1906 in Buckingham, Quebec, two trade union leaders were murdered by agents hired by the Maclaren Company. Thomas Belanger and Francois Theriault were president and secretary treasurer of the union local which was organized at Maclaren only a few months earlier. This event is an important part of the history of the struggle of workers for their rights in the Outaouais.

During the summer of 1906 workers at the Maclaren Sawmill in Buckingham began to organize themselves into a trade union. On July 15 of that year they held their first meeting and the union was founded on the July 29. More than 300 of the 400 workers at Maclaren became members. The union presented its demands on two separate occasions to the manager of the company, John Edward Valallee, who was also the mayor of Buckingham.

The union had three main demands:

1) recognition of the union;
2) reduction of the hours of work from 11 to 10 hours per day;
3) an increase in wages of 2.5 cents an hour (at this time the workers were paid 12.5 cents per hour).

All of the demands of the workers were immediately rejected. On September 12, 1906, the leaders of the union were fired and the company locked-out the workers. The union asked to meet with the company again for further discussion and the Quebec government sent a mediator to intervene. After some discussion with union representatives, the mediator, Felix Marois, met with the company to inform them that the union had reduced its demands so that the 2.5 cent increase would only apply to those workers making less than $1.25 per day.

Albert Maclaren replied that he would not agree to any increase in wages and furthermore he was not ready to take the workers back at their present wages. The Maclarens not only refused any further discussions but used everything at their disposal to attack the workers and their representatives. Articles appeared in the Buckingham Post and the Ottawa Citizen spreading lies and rumours and attacking the reputation of the union activists, saying that they were financed by "outside interests" and that they had "secret bank accounts."

At the same time the company hired "detectives" from the Thiel Detective Service Company who were secretly sworn in as members of the local police force. Police officers were also hired by the Maclarens from Ottawa and this entire force was armed and let loose on the town to harass and terrorize the workers and their families. Workers were followed around and treated like criminals and raids were carried out at the workers' homes.

On October 8, 1906 the Maclarens organized 13 strike breakers to clear some logs from the river near the Landing. This was an organized provocation with all the police forces armed to the teeth who were also at the Landing. Led by Thomas Belanger, about 200 men marched towards the Landing to ask that the work be stopped. Belanger, first vice-president of the union, spoke to the company representatives who dismissed the union demands and as the workers began to march the command was clearly heard: "Shoot them!" As the company goons fired on the unarmed workers, Belanger and Theriault were killed on the spot and dozens of others were injured. Enraged by this unprovoked attack the workers chased away the company goons and returned to pick up the bodies of their fallen comrades and treat the wounded. At this time the workers also discovered that the murder of the union leaders was premeditated. Several of the "detectives" caught by the workers after the shooting had pictures of Thomas Belanger in their pockets and it was clear from their wounds that the union leaders had been specifically targeted.

On the same day around midnight, 117 soldiers were brought to Buckingham to protect the property of the company. On October 10, 38 mounted soldiers from the Royal Canadian Dragoons of St. Jean were also added. The military occupation of Buckingham continued until October 23, 1906.

The attack against the workers continued even after the military occupation ended. On the orders of the Maclaren family the city of Buckingham was forced to rewrite its history. All the events which had just taken place were to be forgotten. The minutes of the city council did not mention a word about the strike or the lock-out, nor was there any mention of a military occupation. The Maclarens also interfered in the judicial proceedings which followed. Coroners and juries were replaced if they did not favour the company and the Maclarens used the offices of the Premier of Quebec, Lomer Gouin, to make sure that the company and the "detectives" were exonerated of all blame while the workers and their supporters were found guilty of participating in a riot and sentenced to two months imprisonment.

The Maclarens also blacklisted all the members of the union and enforced it with such vindictiveness that none of the 262 workers involved in the union were allowed to work. As well, the black list was maintained for several generations and was officially enforced until 1944 when the union was finally certified both at Maclaren and at the Electric Reduction Company (ERCO). During this period the population of Buckingham went from 4,425 to 3,850, as many workers had to move to Cobalt, Fassett, Bathurst and other towns to be able to work.

In their struggle against the Maclaren capitalists, the workers had the support of the vast majority of the population of Buckingham. On the day of the funerals of Belanger and Theriault, businesses closed in mourning and people lined the route to pay their respects to the workers who marched to Saint Gregoire church. The church was unable to hold all the people who had marched along with the workers. After the funeral, a monument was erected at the graves of Belanger and Theriault to honour their ultimate sacrifice for the cause of the workers.

Letters were received from all corners of Quebec, Canada and the U.S. expressing solidarity with the struggle of the workers in Buckingham. Since that time the workers at Maclaren have continued their struggle against the poor working and living conditions imposed by the company and one important element of their struggle has always been to keep alive the memory of those heroes who laid down their lives and brought honour to the working class.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, the MacLaren companies began their decline, selling some assets to Noranda Inc. in the early 1980s.In 2000, the company sold its remaining assets to Nexfor a Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

-based institution.

Today, the MacLaren dynasty still retains its legacy, with a street and a park named after them. However, because of the 1906 labour dispute and incidents, union groups such as the FTQ
Fédération des travailleurs du Québec
The Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec , or FTQ, is the largest labour federation in Quebec in terms of its membership. It has over 500,000 members, who account for 44% of the unionised workers in Quebec. This ratio is 60% in the private sector, in which most members work...

 demanded that the city change the name of the street to Rue du 8 octobre 1906 (October 8, 1906 street) in honour of the victims of the shooting. Many citizens were opposed to the change and launched a petition of their own to prevent the change.

Former Amalgamation

From 1975 to 1980 the township of Buckingham, Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, L'Ange-Gardien, Buckingham-Sud-Est, Buckingham-Ouest, Angers, and Masson were amalgamated.

Development

Population growth has been relatively slow because of its location about 30 km from Downtown
Downtown Ottawa
Downtown Ottawa is the central area of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Like other downtowns it is the commercial and economic centre of the city. It is sometimes referred to as the Central Business District and contains Ottawa's financial district. It is bordered by the Ottawa River to the north, the...

 Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

. However, due to suburban growth and amalgamation of the town in 2002, several residential developments were created and the population increased. Buckingham is becoming more of a suburban town while still keeping its traditional characteristics in the centre-town area.

Amalgamation with the city of Gatineau

On January 1, 2002, the city of Buckingham with its 12,000 residents became part of the new city of Gatineau. This was part of a massive merger movement created by the Parti Québécois
Parti Québécois
The Parti Québécois is a centre-left political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Quebec and secession from Canada. The Party traditionally has support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social-democratic parties, its ties with the labour movement are informal...

' Bill 180, which was introduced in 2000 by Municipal Affairs Minister
Minister (government)
A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

 Louise Harel
Louise Harel
Louise Harel is a Québec politician. In 2005 she served as interim leader of the Parti Québécois following the resignation of Bernard Landry. She was also interim leader of the opposition in the National Assembly of Quebec. She represented the riding of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve in the Montreal region...

 after studies conducted by public agents.

In 2003, the Quebec Liberal Party, with Jean Charest
Jean Charest
John James "Jean" Charest, PC, MNA is a Canadian politician who has been the 29th Premier of Quebec since 2003. He was leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1993 to 1998 and has been leader of the Quebec Liberal Party since 1998....

 as the leader won the 2003 provincial election
Quebec general election, 2003
The Quebec general election of 2003 was held on April 14, 2003, to elect members of the National Assembly of Quebec . The Parti libéral du Québec , led by Jean Charest, defeated the incumbent Parti Québécois, led by Bernard Landry.-Unfolding:...

 and promised a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...

 would be held for the possibility of demerging municipalities. The referendum was held on June 20, 2004, but the majority of the population voted against the demerger and Buckingham thus remained part of the city of Gatineau.

Chateau dairy

The dairy industry was also a major economy asset in the community with Le Chateau having some of its operations in Buckingham. However, in 2006, Agrodor, a Saguenay-based
Saguenay, Quebec
Saguenay is a city in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec, Canada, on the Saguenay River, about north of Quebec City....

 company which owns the Chateau brand announced the shut-down of its operations in the Outaouais. The local business sector had launched measures to save the company which has operated in the region since 1943.

Buckingham en Fete

Each year since 1991, during the month of July, the Buckingham sector hosts Buckingham en Fete, its biggest annual event, which is held in the town's MacLaren Park. Several well-known artists in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 and in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 including Eric Lapointe
Éric Lapointe (singer)
Éric Lapointe is one of Québec's most popular francophone lead rock singers. His signature sound is characterized by very strong emotional lyrics, a rich, deep gravelly voice and the virtuoso guitar work by Stéphane Dufour...

, Marjo
Marjo
Marjolène Morin , professionally known as Marjo, is a francophone Canadian singer-songwriter.-Biography:...

, Jean Leloup La Chicane
La Chicane
La Chicane is a francophone rock band from Québec, Canada. They performed at the 2003 Toronto Rocks SARS benefit concert.-Past & Present Members:* Dany Bédar, bassist * Martin Bédard, drummer and Dany Bedar brother...

, Amanda Marshall
Amanda Marshall
Amanda Meta Marshall is a Canadian pop-rock singer.She grew up in Toronto in a biracial family to a White Canadian father and a Black Trinidadian mother...

 and April Wine
April Wine
April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969. According to the band, they chose the name 'April Wine' simply because members thought the two words sounded good together...

have performed over the years at the festival. However, due to financial difficulties, the festival nearly disappeared. According to the festival's website the 17th edition in 2007 is still expected to go underway as planned.

Over its history, the festival has received numerous distinctions and awards both regionally and provincially.

External links

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