Saint-Cléophas is a

Parish municipality A parish is an administrative division used by several countries. To distinguish it from an ''ecclesiastical parish'', the term ''civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is ...

in the regional county municipality of La Matapédia in

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 ...

), situated in the administrative region of

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (Lower Saint-Lawrence), is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlanti ...

Toponymy

The name chosen for the parish during the municipal erection in 1921, highlights the work of Father Joseph Cleophas Saindon (1866-1941), a priest of the neighbouring parish of Saint-Nom-de-Marie-de-

Sayabec Sayabec () is a municipality located in the La Matapédia Regional County Municipality (RCM) in Bas-Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada. It is located in the Matapédia Valley between the Chic-Choc Mountains of the Appalachian near Lake Matapédia. The ...

from 1896 to 1941, serving the parish from 1918. It is also named in honour of Saint Cleophas.

Administrative Region

The Parish Municipality of Saint-Cléophas is part of the

La Matapédia Regional County Municipality La Matapédia is a regional county municipality (RCM) in eastern Quebec, Canada at the base of the Gaspé peninsula, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. Its seat is in Amqui. It is named after the Matapédia River which runs through the western p ...

in the

. The parish of Saint-Céeophas is part of the

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Rimouski Rimouski ( ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski is the site of Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), t ...

Geographical Location

Saint-Cléophas is located on a side of the mountain chain of the Appalachian specifically in the section of Mt Saint-Anne. The municipality is located 8 km south of the Highway 132 through

on Lacroix Road.

Economy

The local economy is mainly based on forestry, sawmills, agriculture and cattle farms of both

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

and

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

. There are also many forests producing

maple syrup Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple tree ...

. In addition, Panval plant in

provides many jobs.

History

In the early 1900s, the pioneers of

created the foundations for StCléophas in a town known as Awantjish, which was described as having good soil and timber (especially birch, maple and cedar.) By 1908, a group of settlers living in the territory of what is today St-Cléophas made offerings to the Bishop of

, Monsignor André-Albert Blais, to found a parish in the area. The prelate had considered that it was a premature gesture due to the low population of the area (about 300 people). Finally the parish opened at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The mission of St-Cléophas to gain both parish and municipality status became a reality, and in 1921 the town detached from the Municipality of

. However, the pastor of

, Father Cléophas Saindon, served as the first pastor at St Cleophas until the vicar of

, Father Charles Pelletier could become pastor of St-Cléophas. It is also in 1921 that the town began to officially use a calendar to mark milestones.

Important Events

In 1944, the church chapel was burned. That same year, Georges-Émile Côté built a new sawmill. Today, the mill is no longer in operation. In 1973 a zoo was built, the St-Cléophas Ecological Centre, funded through donations from nine parishioners. In 1976 the name St-Cléophas Ecological Centre became known as Naturanimo, which closed 1996.

History of the parish

In 1918 the parish founded the first mission of St-Cléophas. On the 17th of January 1921, the first priest was appointed and so began the canonical life of the parish.

Motto

The motto of the municipality is ''Freedom, Love, Work'' .

Important People born in Saint-Cléophas

* Richard Joubert: He worked thirty years at the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, in both Quebec City and Toronto, where he was host and producer. Since 1995, he is actively involved in the making of music both song and poetry. He also teaches lectures and courses on music and singing, and in recent years performs public poetry readings.

Tourism

Saint-Cléophas is often visited in spring for its numerous maple groves. Moreover, this is a place for hiking, snowmobile and ATV through its many trails. Between 1973 and 1996, St-Cléophas was a very important tourist attraction in the region with the Naturanimo Centre . The zoo housed mainly Canadian animals. Its varieties of species, its large size, its development and activities such as horse pulls, 4x4, tractors and country meals, added to the popularity of Naturanimo Centre. The municipality is part of the tourist region of

Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine () is an administrative region of Quebec consisting of the Gaspé Peninsula (''Gaspésie'') and the Îles-de-la-Madeleine. It lies in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence at the eastern extreme of southern Quebec. The p ...

in the

Matapedia Valley The Matapedia Valley (French: ''vallée de la Matapédia'') was formed by the Chic-Choc Mountains of eastern Québec. Its name is derived from the river that traverses the valley, as well as the lake that lies in its center. It is situated in ...

Administration

Municipal Council

The council consists of a mayor and six councilors who are elected every four year block without territorial division through rotation.

Political representations

Provincially Saint-Cléophas is part of the provincial riding of

Matapédia (electoral district) Matapédia is a former provincial electoral district in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, Canada, which elected members to the National Assembly of Quebec. It is at the western edge of the Gaspé Peninsula. It was created for the 1923 ele ...

. In the Quebec general election of 2008, the outgoing MP Danielle Doyer, the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

was re-elected to represent the people of Saint-Cléophas in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

. Federally Saint-Cléophas is part of the federal riding of

Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia Haute-Gaspésie—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia (formerly known as Matapédia—Matane) was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 until 2013. It has the lowest percenta ...

. In the Canadian federal election of 2008, the incumbent Jean-Yves Roy of the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

, was elected to represent the people of Saint-Cleophas 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 ...

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), 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 cultur ...

, Saint-Cléophas 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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Cleophas, Quebec Parish municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Bas-Saint-Laurent La Matapédia Regional County Municipality