municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in northwestern
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, in the
Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality
Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality (''English: 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:
;Citi ...
. It had a population of 778 in the
2021 Canadian census
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 sl ...
.
History
In 1923, zinc and copper was discovered near the Calamité River and two years later, the Abana Mine Company obtained the mining rights. The new settlement, formed by families from Saint-Eustache, Portneuf, Bellechasse and the
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 35,860.05 km² (13,845.64 sq mi) and a popu ...
, was therefore first called Abana. In 1931, the Normetal Mining Corporation acquired the mine and brought it to full operation six years later. In 1939, the railway and road to Dupuy was completed. In 1945, the place was incorporated, taking the name of the mining corporation whose name in turn is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words
In 1949, street lighting was installed in Normétal. In 1950, the mining corporation came under control of
Noranda Noranda may refer to:
*Noranda (mining company)
* Noranda Caldera, an Archean caldera in Canada
*Noranda, Western Australia
Noranda is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Bayswater.
The suburb was named in 1977 after N ...
(which became
Falconbridge Ltd.
Falconbridge Limited was a Toronto, Ontario-based natural resources company with operations in 18 countries, involved in the exploration, mining, processing, and marketing of metal and mineral products, including nickel, copper, cobalt, and plati ...
and bought by Xstrata in 2006). In 1956, the mine had a peak production of 900 tons of ore per day and employed over 600 persons. In 1961, the town reached a population of 2519, its largest number of residents. But in 1975, after reaching a depth of , the copper mine closed, resulting in a large exodus of people from the community with many going to the mines of Matagami and
Joutel
Joutel is a ghost town in the Canadian province of Quebec, located in the municipality of Baie-James off Route 109 between Amos and Matagami.
that had just opened. By the following year, the population had dropped to 1455.
The Normetmar Mine closed in 1990. In 2005, work began on rehabilitation of the mine site by removing the tailings and planting vegetation.
Demographics
Population
Language
Arts and culture
The town of Normétal is the setting of an award-winning movie, ''
The Legacy The Legacy may refer to:
* '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux
* The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment
* ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament
...
'' from filmmaker Bernard Émond (2009), in which a family medicine physician from Montreal takes over the practice of an aging physician in need of respite.
Government
Municipal council (2023):
* Interim Mayor: Ghislain Desbiens
* Councillors: Nestor Dubé, Patrice Morin, Monique Bouchard, Steve Lamoureux, Lise Bégin
List of mayors
The former mayors of Normétal were:
* Albert Lafond 1945–47
* Georges Barré 1947–55
* Roméo Morin 1955–56
* Lucien Trottier 1956–61
* Lionel Mayer 1961–63
* Samuel Petitclerc 1963–65, 1975–76
* Régis Comeau 1965–68
* Philippe Doire 1968–75
* Réal Gamache 1976–81
* Maurice Moisan 1981
* André Rivest 1981
* Normand Beaupré 1981–2005
* Daniel Therrien 2005–2007
* Jean Bergeron 2007–2010
* Louise Quesnel 2010–2012
* Rachel Bureau 2012–2013
* Jacques Dickey 2013–2017
* Roger Lévesque 2017–2022
* Ghislain Desbiens (interim) 2022–present
See also
*
List of municipalities in Quebec
__FORCETOC__
Quebec is the second-most populous province in Canada with 8,501,833 residents as of 2021 and is the largest in land area at . For statistical purposes, the province is divided into 1,282 census subdivisions, which are m ...