Shawinigan-Sud, Quebec
Encyclopedia
Shawinigan-Sud is a predominantly French-speaking settlement in the Mauricie
Mauricie
Mauricie is a traditional and current administrative region of Quebec. La Mauricie National Park is contained within the region, making it a prime tourist location. The region has a land area of 35,855.22 km² and a 2006 census population of 258,928 residents...

 area 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....

, 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...

 on the Saint-Maurice River
Saint-Maurice River
The Saint-Maurice River is a river in central Quebec which flows south from Gouin Reservoir to empty into the Saint Lawrence River at Trois-Rivières, Quebec. The river is 563 km in length and has a drainage basin of 43,300 km² ....

. In 1996, its population was 11,804.

History

Shawinigan-Sud was incorporated as a village in 1912 and was called Almaville until 1948. It developed primarily as a residential hub for Shawinigan. Its status was upgraded from village to town in 1961.

Prior to the municipal reorganization in Quebec
Municipal reorganization in Quebec
The most recent episode of municipal reorganization in Quebec, Canada, was undertaken in 2002 by the Parti Québécois Government of Quebec, headed by Premier Lucien Bouchard and his successor Bernard Landry....

 in 2002, Shawinigan-Sud was a separate municipality in the Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie Regional County Municipality
Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie Regional County Municipality, Quebec
Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie is a former regional county municipality in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada. Prior to its dissolution, it consisted of:Villes* Grand-Mère* Shawinigan* Shawinigan-SudMunicipalities* Charette* Lac-à-la-Tortue...

. In January 2002, it was merged into the new City of Shawinigan.

In colloquial
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...

 language, the older and lower section of Shawinigan-Sud, closer to Saint-Maurice River, is called Almaville en bas. The rest of the community, which is built on higher ground, is known as Almaville en haut.

National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...

 player Martin Gélinas
Martin Gelinas
Martin Gélinas is a former professional ice hockey forward and the current director of player development with the Nashville Predators.-Playing career:Gelinas made a splash in 1987–88 with the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL with a 63-goal, 131-point campaign...

 grew up in Shawinigan-Sud.

Religion

Even though many of them are not church-goers, most residents of Shawinigan-Sud are Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

. Four Catholic parishes exist on Shawinigan-Sud's territory. Those parishes are:
Parish Church Location Year of Foundation Number of Parishioners
Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation (Our Lady of the Presentation) 825, 2e Avenue 1914 738
Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (Saint Joan of Arc) 1050, 5e Avenue 1923 2,750
Saint-Sauveur (Holy Savior) 615, 123e Rue 1947 5,695
Saint-André (Saint Andrew) 1795, 14e Avenue 1952 3,375


The current church building of Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation parish was completed in 1924. From 1942 to 1955, the structure was decorated with the artwork of painter Ozias Leduc
Ozias Leduc
Ozias Leduc is one of Quebec's early painters. He was born in Saint-Hilaire-de-Rouville. Leduc produced many portraits, still lives and landscapes, as well as religious works.-Biography:...

 and his assistant Gabrielle Messier.

Members of the Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 community attend church at Église Évangélique Baptiste De Shawinigan-Sud, located at 2500, route Lamothe.

A Society of St. Pius X
Society of St. Pius X
The Society of Saint Pius X is an international Traditionalist Catholic organisation, founded in 1970 by the French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre...

 retreat house can be found at 905, Rang St-Mathieu Est. It has been active since 1951.

Education

There are four public schools. All are under the supervision of the Commission scolaire de l'Énergie school board.
School Level Location Number of Students
École secondaire Val-Mauricie Secondary 1200, rue Val-Mauricie 1,372
Saint-André (Saint Andrew) Elementary 1350, 120e Rue 289
Saint-Georges (Saint George) Elementary 975, 111e Rue 175
Saint-Paul (Saint Paul) Elementary 750, 125e Rue 291

The École secondaire Val-Mauricie school has also had links with CISV International as it was used for a 4 week camp in the summer of 2004 which had children from Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Lebanon, Japan, Usa & Canada.

Mayors of Shawinigan-Sud

From 1912 until 2002, Shawinigan-Sud had its own mayor. The mayors of Shawinigan-Sud were:
# Mayor Taking Office Leaving
1 Omer Landry 1912 1913
2 Hercule Lambert 1914 1925
3 Philippe Veilleux 1925 1927
4 Georges Gauthier 1927 1929
5 Gédéon Veilleux 1929 1935
6 Napoléon Boulanger 1935 1939
4 Georges Gauthier 1939 1941
7 Omer Leblanc 1941 1946
8 Gérard Garceau 1946 1947
9 Alcide Raîche 1947 1951
10 Charles-Édouard Lambert 1951 1955
11 Bruno Sigmen 1955 1957
12 Philippe Demers
Philippe Demers
Philippe Demers was a veterinarian and a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.-Early life and career:He was born in 1919 in Saint-Sébastien, Montérégie...

 
1957 1962
11 Bruno Sigmen 1962 1964
13 Louis-Philippe Lacoursière 1964 1970
14 Albert Landry 1970 1977
15 Gilles Grondin
Gilles Grondin
Gilles Grondin was an educator and a politician from Quebec, Canada. He was a Member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1986 to 1988.-Background:...

 
1977 1985
15 Claude Pinard
Claude Pinard
Claude Pinard is a politician in Quebec, Canada. He serves as Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the riding of Saint-Maurice in the Mauricie region from 1994 to 2007 and since the 2008 provincial elections.-Background:...

1985 1989
16 Marcel Vézina 1989 1997
17 Maurice Héroux 1997 2001

Footnotes

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