Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours is a municipality in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts and the Papineau region. Geographically, it is located on the north side of the Ottawa ...

region of

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 ...

. It is located along the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...

, about east of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

. It was formerly known as Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-Partie-Nord. It is the least populated municipality in the

Papineau Regional County Municipality Papineau is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. The seat is Papineauville. Subdivisions There are 24 subdivisions within the RCM: Demographics Mother tongue from Canada 2016 Census In 2016, the popu ...

. The northern portion of the municipality is undeveloped wilderness, mostly part of the Kenauk Reserve. This protected wilderness domain was formerly known as "Reserve de la Petite Nation", but is now a privately owned fish and game reserve of

Château Montebello The Fairmont Le Château Montebello, formerly and commonly known as the Château Montebello, is a historic hotel and resort complex in Montebello, Quebec, Canada. The resort complex includes a large game reserve and a large wooden structure. The w ...

History

The area was part of the Petite-Nation

Seigneury ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (o ...

, formed in 1674 and originally owned by

François de Laval Francis-Xavier de Montmorency-Laval, commonly referred to as François de Laval (30 April 1623 – 6 May 1708), was a French prelate of the Catholic Church. Consecrated a bishop in 1658, he led the Apostolic Vicariate of New France from 1658 to ...

, the first bishop of

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...

. The seigneury was acquired in 1803 by

Joseph Papineau Joseph Papineau (October 16, 1752 – July 8, 1841) was a notary, seigneur, and political figure in Lower Canada. Between 1773 and 1775, he worked as a surveyor. Papineau was also a horticulturalist whose estate home at Montebello is a to ...

, who became its first civilian lord, and later sold it to his son

Louis-Joseph Papineau Louis-Joseph Papineau (October 7, 1786 – September 23, 1871), born in Montreal, Quebec, was a politician, lawyer, and the landlord of the ''seigneurie de la Petite-Nation''. He was the leader of the reformist Patriote movement before the Lower ...

. The area became of interest economically when England was forced to rely on its colonies for wood for construction of its vessels during the

Napoleonic blockade The Continental Blockade (), or Continental System, was a large-scale embargo against British trade by Napoleon Bonaparte against the British Empire from 21 November 1806 until 11 April 1814, during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon issued the Berlin ...

of 1807. It was full of oaks, pines, and maples regarding which Surveyor Joseph Bouchet wrote in 1815: "the terrain rises and is covered with wood of the best species: oaks are of high quality and particularly of large size, suitable for the construction of vessels." In 1815 the original mission of Notre Dame de Bonsecours was created and in 1821 a chapel dedicated to ''Notre-Dame de Bonsecours'' (Our Lady of Good Help) was constructed. On September 31, 1831, the bishop of Quebec

Bernard-Claude Panet Bernard-Claude Panet (January 9, 1753 – February 14, 1833) was a Roman Catholic priest and Archbishop of Quebec. Born in Quebec City, the son of Jean-Claude Panet, he was from a family of 14 children. He had two siblings who gained some f ...

granted a petition signed by

Denis-Benjamin Papineau Denis-Benjamin Papineau (November 13, 1789 – January 20, 1854) was joint premier of the Province of Canada for Canada East from 1846 to 1848. His joint premiers for Canada West during this period were William Henry Draper and Henry Sherwood. ...

and over 75 tenants for the formation of a parish. His decree called the new parish Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours-de-la-Petite-Nation and also recommended the people of Bonsecours to acquire civil recognition from the Governor General of Canada, Lord Aylmer. On June 18, 1845, the Governor General of the

Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British North America, British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham ...

, Charles Metcalfe, established local and municipal authorities in Lower Canada, under a new law passed by the provincial Parliament. One of the new municipalities established was the Municipality of Petite-Nation, which included the Parish of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours-de-la-Petite-Nation. However, this municipality was abolished in 1847. On July 1, 1855, a new statute of the Province of Canada came into force, which allowed the parish to get official civilian recognition, known as Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-de-la-Petite-Nation. On August 22, 1878, Montebello separated from the parish municipality. In the 1870s, the

Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway The Canadian province of Quebec formed the ''Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway'' (QMO&OR) in 1874 to link those cities since private companies, without the usual subsidies from the Federal Government of Canada, could not get financin ...

was built, connecting Montreal to Ottawa. The rail-line went through the municipality of Notre-Dame, in the area of the municipality which is now Fassett. The

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

bought the line in 1882. In the late 1890s, there was a dispute between the municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours and the Canadian Pacific Railway, which resulted in a court case that went all the way to the

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...

in Britain, the highest court of appeal for the British Empire. A ditch beside the rail-line had become clogged, resulting in flooding on the neighbouring land, owned by Julien Gervais. The municipality issued an order to the CPR, directing it to clean the obstruction. The CPR refused, arguing that as a federally incorporated railway, it was not required to comply with provincial law. The Quebec courts held that the provincial law did apply, and the CPR appealed to the Judicial Committee. In 1899, the Judicial Committee ruled in favour of the municipality and upheld the order to clean the ditch, in the case of ''

Canadian Pacific Railway Co. v Notre Dame de Bonsecours ''Canadian Pacific Railway Co. v Notre Dame de Bonsecours'' is a Canadian constitutional law decision, dealing with the powers of the provinces under the ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (formerly the ''British North America Act, 1867''). The point in ...

''. The decision of the Judicial Committee continues to be cited with approval by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

. In 1918, the large rural and forested area of the parish municipality separated and formed the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-Partie-Nord. In 1951, the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours became the Municipality of Fassett. And in 2003, the Parish Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours-Partie-Nord became the Municipality of Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours.

Demographics

Mother tongue: * English as first language: 5.1% * French as first language: 91.5% * English and French as first language: 3.4% * Other as first language: 0%

Education

Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board (SWLSB, french: Commission scolaire Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier, CSSWL) is a school board headquartered in Rosemère, Quebec in Greater Montreal. It officially came into existence in July 1998 when English-language sc ...

operates Anglophone public schools: *

Laurentian Regional High School Laurentian Regional High School (french: École secondaire Laurentian Regional) is an English secondary school in Lachute in the region of Laurentides, Québec, Canada. It contains classes for grades seven through eleven, and is run by the Sir Wilf ...

Lachute Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...

LAURENTIAN REGIONAL HS ZONE
"

. Retrieved on September 4, 2017.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Notre-Dame-De-Bonsecours, Quebec Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec