La Sarre () is a town in northwestern

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada, and is the most populous town and seat of the

Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality (, ''Abitibi West'') is a regional county municipality located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec. Its seat is La Sarre. Subdivisions There are 23 subdivisions within the RCM: ;Cities & T ...

. It is located at the intersection of Routes 111 and

393 __NOTOC__ Year 393 ( CCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Augustus (or, less frequently, year 1146 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...

, on the La Sarre River, a tributary of

Lake Abitibi Lake Abitibi (, ) is a shallow lake in northeastern Ontario and western Quebec, Canada. The lake, which lies within the vast Clay Belt, is separated in two distinct portions by a short narrows, making it actually two lakes. Its total area is , a ...

. In addition to La Sarre itself, the town's territory also includes the community of Bienvenu, located along Route 111 west of the La Sarre River.

History

Before colonization, the area was home to the indigenous

Algonquin Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to: Languages and peoples *Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia **Algonquin la ...

who called the place ''Wabakin'', from ''wàba'' and ''akin'' meaning "there is a mountain of hardwood", and called the La Sarre River ''Adikameg Sibi'', which was also identified as ''Amikitik''. The first white settlers, six in number, settled as squatters on the land in the late 19th century and were discovered during the survey of the township in 1908. Real colonization began at the time when the

National Transcontinental Railway The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Moncton, New Brunswick, in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway. The Grand Trunk partnership The completion o ...

running through the Abitibi region was completed. The first permanent pioneer family arrived in 1912, followed by more settlers and development drawn to the area for its mining, forestry, and agricultural potential, and resulted in the formation of the settlement. In 1915, the post office opened, and a year later, the La Sarre Township was proclaimed, named after the La Sarre Regiment that was recognized for its part in the

Battle of Carillon The Battle of Carillon, also known as the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga, was fought on July 8, 1758, during the French and Indian War (which was part of the global Seven Years' War). It was fought near Fort Carillon (now known as Fort Ticonderog ...

and the capture of Fort Oswego. In 1917, the Township Municipality of La Sarre was established, the same year as the Parish of Saint-André-de-la-Sarre. The Hudson's Bay Company opened a post in 1932, and only operated until 1941. In 1937, the village separated from the township and was incorporated as the Village Municipality of La Sarre. It gained town (''ville'') status on 17 August 1949. In April 1980, the town and township municipality merged to form the current municipality.

Geography

Climate

La Sarre has a borderline

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb''), close to a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(''Dfc''). Winters are very cold and snowy, with an annual snowfall of , although thaws due to inflows of warm air from the southeast can raise temperatures above freezing and on 6 February 1988 temperatures rose to a remarkable . The hotter half of the year is pleasantly warm, though it can rain frequently.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, La Sarre had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

The main local resource is the forest, which covers over and provides lumber to the town's main employers Norbord and

Tembec Tembec Industries Inc., known as Tembec, was a paper company in Canada, founded by Frank Dottori. In 2011, Tembec had approximately 3000 employees,La Sarre Airport La Sarre Airport is located northeast of La Sarre, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean ...

Government

Municipal council

* Mayor: Yves Dubé * Councillors: Pierre Bourget, Steve Fontaine, Réjean Fournier, Victor Fournier, Karine Goulet, Renée Thiboutot

List of mayors

Former mayors of La Sarre were: * Adélard Cousineau 1917 * Félix Brousseau 1919 * Léonidas Boisvert 1920 * Hormidas Gauthier 1921–23 * Jules Lavigne 1923–31 * Edmond Mercier 1931–33 * Oscar Létourneau 1933–36 * Adrien Mercier 1936–39 * Gustave Rheault 1939–41 * Paul Bélanger 1941–44 * G. Eugène Lambert 1944–47 * Arthur Fortin 1947 * Fernand Doyon 1947–48 * Gérard Mercier 1948 * François-Xavier Martel 1948–51 * Gérard Mercier 1951–53 * Adélard Pelletier 1953–55 * Clément Déry 1955–63 * Hector Gagné 1963–68 * Roger Cousineau 1968–69 * Yves Baltazard 1969–72 * Raymond Thibault 1972–77 * Paul-Aurèle St-Pierre 1977–92 * Guy Carignan 1992–93 * Guillaume Marquis 1993–96 * J-Horace Lessard 1996–2003 * Normand Houde 2003–2017 * Yves Dubé (2017–present)

Notable people

* Aurèle Audet, (1920-2015), former Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

Marie-Claude Audet Marie-Claude Audet (born 20 January 1962) is a Canadian former cyclist. She competed in the women's road race event at the 1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los ...

, former cyclist * Yvan Bordeleau, former Member of the

* Gérard Laprise, (1925-2000), former Member of Parliament *

Bob Mongrain Robert Julien Mongrain (born August 31, 1959) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey League with the Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings between 1979 and 1986. The rest of his career, which lasted f ...

, former ice hockey player * Christine Moore, former Member of Parliament * Doris Piché, badminton player *

Sébastien Piché Sébastien Piché (born February 4, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently playing for CSM Corona Brasov in the Erste Liga. Piché most recently iced with Sheffield Steelers, and was previously with HK Olimpija and E ...

, ice hockey player *

Pierre St-Amand Joseph Pierre Julien St-Amand is a retired Royal Canadian Air Force Lieutenant-General. St-Amand served as deputy commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command and led its Canadian Element between 2015 and 2018. He previously commanded ...

, ,

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was normall ...

* Gilles Ste-Croix, vice president and co-creator of

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

References

External links

Ville de La Sarre (French only)

Vidéo : La Sarre en 1976

Vidéo : La Sarre en 1989
{{DEFAULTSORT:La Sarre Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Hudson's Bay Company trading posts Populated places established in 1912 1912 establishments in Quebec