The Village of Pouce Coupe (; French for "cut thumb") is a small town in northeastern

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, and a member municipality of the

Peace River Regional District The Peace River Regional District is a regional district in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The regional district comprises seven municipalities and four electoral areas. Its member municipalities are the cities of Fort St. John and Daws ...

. It was originally named 'Pouskapie's Prairie', after the name of the local native band chief. The municipality is home to 792 residents.Statistics Canada

''2016 Census'', June 9, 2018. The community was settled by

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an immigrant Hector Tremblay in 1898. Tremblay, a French speaker, rendered 'Pouskapie's Prairie' into the nearest French words of similar sound. Pouce Coupe is approximately southeast of

Dawson Creek Dawson Creek is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The municipality of had a population of 12,978 in 2016. Dawson Creek derives its name from the creek of the same name that runs through the community. The creek was named after ...

along Highway 2. It is approximately northwest of the

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

border along Highway 2. The village is at an elevation of in the

Peace River Country The Peace River Country (or Peace Country; french: Région de la Rivière-de-la-paix) is an aspen parkland region centring on the Peace River in Canada. It extends from northwestern Alberta to the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, ...

. Pouce Coupe's main industries today are petroleum, agriculture, and tourism. Popular recreational activities in the area include cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, fishing, hiking, and hunting. The village claims to be "the pioneer capital of the Peace Region".

History

While there is debate regarding the origin of the name 'Pouce Coupe', the first known reference to it was in ''McLeod's Fort Dunvegan Journal, 19806'' which identified a

Beaver Indian The Dane-zaa (ᑕᓀᖚ, also spelled Dunne-za, or Tsattine) are an Athabaskan-speaking group of First Nations people. Their traditional territory is around the Peace River in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. Today, about 1,600 Dane-zaa resi ...

Chief named 'Pooscapee'. The unusual name of 'Cut Thumb' comes from a

Sekani Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The nei ...

trapper named 'Pouce Coupe' because he lost his thumb in an accident with his gun. The region became known as the Pouce Coupe Prairie, from which the river and village took their names. Permanent settlement began after the French-Canadian

voyageur The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...

s Hector Tremblay and Joe Bissette left their group of prospectors from

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

during the Klondike Gold Rush and became the first settlers in the Pouce Coupe Prairie. In 1898 Bissette built his cabin in the present day Pouce Coupe Regional Park at the confluence of Bissette Creek and Pouce Coupé River, but soon moved on to Dunvegan, Alberta. Tremblay, joined by his wife and children in 1908, built his cabin at the confluence of

and Pouce Coupé River. Tremblay used his cabin as a trading post for local aboriginal tribe and resting place for the trickle of travellers that passed through. He also tried ranching cattle and helped cut trails south to

Grande Prairie Grande Prairie is a city in northwest Alberta, Canada within the southern portion of an area known as Peace River Country. It is located at the intersection of Highway 43 (part of the CANAMEX Corridor) and Highway 40 (the Bighorn Highway), a ...

and north to Fort St. John. When the Dominion Government opened the

Peace River Block The Peace River Block is an area of land located in northeastern British Columbia, in the Peace River Country. In exchange for building a rail line across Canada to British Columbia, the Canadian Pacific Railway was given the Railway Belt, of l ...

for homesteading, the trails created an influx of settlers between 1912 and 1914. A community began to emerge around Tremblay's cabin as he ran a small store and post office. This also aided inexperienced settlers. This community center moved in 1916 when the post office moved to Frank Haskin's general store and a bank opened nearby. After World War I homestead grants to returning soldiers created another wave of settlers and the community center moved to its present location in the early 1920s when the post office and other businesses moved to a newly subdivided townsite on Charlie LeRoy's homestead. Until 1932 Pouce Coupe would be the service center for the region. The federal government established an office in the emerging village in 1915 and provincial government followed in 1921. The first school opened in 1917, the Alberta Red Cross opened a hospital in 1921, and the Pouce Coupe Light and Power Co. was established in 1931. As

Northern Alberta Railways Northern Alberta Railways was a Canadian railway which served northern Alberta and northeastern British Columbia. Jointly owned by both Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, NAR existed as a separate company from 1929 until 19 ...

was extending their rail lines westward, to

Wembley, Alberta Wembley is a town in northern Alberta, Canada. It is approximately west of Grande Prairie at the junction of Highway 43 and Highway 724. History Land around Wembley was surveyed for homesteads in 1909, settlers beginning to arrive in 1910. The ...

in 1924 and to

Hythe, Alberta Hythe is a hamlet in northwest Alberta, Canada within the County of Grande Prairie No. 1. It is located on Highway 43 approximately northwest of the City of Grande Prairie and southeast of the City of Dawson Creek, British Columbia. It held v ...

in 1928, it was expected that Pouce Coupe would be next in line.The Choice of Terminal for the N.A.R..
Dorthea Calverley, 1983. URL accessed on xx December 2006. However, as land prices rose and speculation increased, the company made a deal to build the next station near the smaller community of Dawson Creek. The first train went through Pouce Coupe and arrived in Dawson Creek on January 15, 1931. Despite the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and Dawson Creek's increasing dominance over the region as the westernmost rail connection, Pouce Coupe continued to grow, and incorporated as a village, as westward migration into the

continued. Pouce Coupe BC Population

The 1941 census recorded 251 people living in the village. In 1942 the population swelled, as the US Army unloaded thousands of men and construction material in nearby Dawson Creek to build the

Alaska Highway Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

rates and lower

participation rate The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic regio ...

than the provincial averages. The low participation rate reflects the relatively old population which consists of retired rural farmers and residents. Being a retirement destination, the two largest employers in Pouce Coupe in 2005 were two healthcare homes.South Peace Regional Profile, 72 Industrial business is concentrated in the highway and oil & gas field construction and servicing. Being only about 10 km from Dawson Creek's downtown and industrial park, residents commute to the larger city for employment, shopping and services. The 2001 Census estimated that only 3% of people in Pouce Coupe between 20 and 64 years old graduated from a university, a fraction of the 24% provincial average and 40% did not graduate from secondary school, double the provincial average. The only school in the village is the Pouce Coupe Elementary School. It has the capacity for 450 students but the enrollment has decreased from 148 to 99 students between 2001 and 2006. A study by the

Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a libertarian-conservative Canadian public policy think tank and registered charity. The institute describes itself as independent and non-partisan. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Tor ...

found that the elementary school had one of the worst academic performances in the province in 2004. The village elects one

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

trustee, for representation on School District 59. Pouce Coupe students commute to

South Peace Secondary School Dawson Creek Secondary (or DCSS) is a public high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lowe ...

in Dawson Creek for high school education.

Northern Lights College Northern Lights College (NLC) is an institution that provides post-secondary education to residents of Northern British Columbia. It currently has campuses and access centers in eight communities across the northern third of British Columbia, wit ...

, also in Dawson Creek, is the closest post-secondary school.

Culture, recreation and media

Other than an annual Canada Day parade and festival, there are few cultural or recreational events within the village. No newspapers or television/radio stations operate within the village but the ''Peace River Block Daily News'' and

CJDC-TV CJDC-TV ( analogue channel 5) is a television station in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, airing CTV 2 programming. Owned and operated by Bell Media, it is part of the Great West Television system. CJDC-TV's studios are located on 102 Av ...

include Pouce Coupe in their coverage. The municipality operates the Pouce Coupe Municipal Library and two parks: Village Square and Harden Park. The South Peace Community Multiplex, located between the city and the village and partly funded by the village, was scheduled to open in 2007 and contain an aquatic centre with an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor equestrian centre, and an indoor running track. The Peace River Regional District manages the Pouce Coupe Regional Park, on the southern border of the municipality, which has an amphitheatre and camping spots. Nearby provincial parks include the Sudeten Provincial Park, Swan Lake Provincial Park, and

One Island Lake Provincial Park One Island Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. History The park was established 1963. Conservation Established between the Kiskatinaw River and the West Kiskatinaw River, the park provides representation of t ...

all to the south. Bear Mountain, to the west, has a downhill ski complex and an extensive trail system used for motorized and non-motorized recreation. With Dawson Creek so close, many Pouce Coupe residents use cultural and recreational facilities there.

Government and politics

The Village of Pouce Coupe's council-manager form of

municipal government 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 ...

is headed by a mayor (who also represents Pouce Coupe on the Peace River Regional District's governing board) and a four-member council; these positions are subject to

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

elections every three years. The mayor's chair is currently vacant due to the resignation in September 2013 of Larry Fynn for health reasons. Fynn was elected in November 2011, defeating incumbent mayor Lyman Clark, who in turn defeated incumbent mayor Barb Smith in 2008. Smith had defeated Sandy Hull, who was acting-mayor since the death of mayor Doyle McNabb in April 2005. The village funds and administers a sewerage system, a volunteer fire department, a library, parks, a cemetery, street lights, and roads except the highway. Pouce Coupe is part of the

Peace River South Peace River South is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada. It was created under the name South Peace River by the ''Constitution Amendment Act, 1955'', which split the old riding of Peace River ...

provincial electoral district, represented by

Blair Lekstrom Blair Lekstrom (born 1961) is a Canadian politician, formerly a member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. He represented the riding of Peace River South having been first elected in the 2001 election. Re-elected in 2005 and 2009, h ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

. In the 2001 provincial election, he was elected as the district's

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

with 57% support from the city's polls and re-elected in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

with 50% support.Elections BC (2005
Peace River South Electoral District (pdf)
, ''Statement of Votes, 2005''. URL accessed April 18, 2006. Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented by

Jack Weisgerber John Sylvester Weisgerber (June 12, 1940 – June 3, 2022) was a Canadian politician and businessman. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. During his political career he was briefly the leader of the British Columbia ...

. Weisgerber represented the riding between

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and 2001 as a member of the

Social Credit Party of British Columbia The British Columbia Social Credit Party, whose members are known as Socreds, was the governing provincial political party of British Columbia, Canada, for all but three years between the 1952 provincial election and the 1991 election. For fou ...

, which made him Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and Minister of Native Affairs before becoming party leader between 1992 and 1993. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

as leader of the

Reform Party of British Columbia The Reform Party of British Columbia (Reform BC) is an unregistered right-wing populist political party in British Columbia, Canada. Although its name is similar to the defunct Reform Party of Canada, the provincial party was founded before the ...

, Weisgerber won re-election even though Pouce Coupe polls put him in third place behind the losing

BC Liberal Party The British Columbia Liberal Party, often shortened to the BC Liberals, is a centre-right provincial political party in British Columbia, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition. Subsequent to the 2020 British Columbia general ...

and

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

candidates.Elections BC (1996
Peace River South Electoral District
, ''36th Provincial General Election - May 28, 1996'', 5. URL accessed April 18, 2006. Federally, Pouce Coupe is located in the

Prince George—Peace River A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

riding, represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Bob Zimmer Bob Zimmer (born October 20, 1968) is a Canadian politician and a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada. He was elected to represent the riding of Prince George—Peace River in the 2011 election, and re-elected in the 2015 el ...

. Prior to Zimmer, the village was represented by Conservative Party member

Jay Hill Jay D. Hill (born December 27, 1952) is a Canadian politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Prince George—Peace River in British Columbia from 1993 to 2010. He served as Government House Leader ...

, who was first elected in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

. Prior to Hill, the riding was represented by former Chetwynd mayor Frank Oberle of the Progressive Conservative Party who served as Minister of Science and Technology and later as Minister of Forestry. , style="width: 85px" , Bob Zimmer , align="right", 372 , align="right", 71% , align="right", 62% ,

Lois Boone Lois Ruth Boone (born April 26, 1947) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. She served as MLA for Prince George North from 1986 to 1991, and Prince George-Mount Robson from 1991 to 2001, in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. She is a me ...

, align="right", 99 , align="right", 19% , align="right", 26% , Hilary Crowley , align="right", 31 , align="right", 5.9% , align="right", 6.0% , Ben Levine , align="right", 16 , align="right", 3.1% , align="right", 5.2% , Jeremy Cote , align="right", 5 , align="right", 1.0% , align="right", 1.1% ,

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...

, Pat Shaw , align="right", 66 , align="right", 28% , align="right", 27% , Independent , Donna Young , align="right", 16 , align="right", 6.7% , align="right", 2.9%

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in British Columbia Peace River Country