Charron Island (french: Île Charron) is an island in the

Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...

, the westernmost of the Îles de Boucherville archipelago, near

Îles-de-Boucherville National Park Îles-de-Boucherville National Park is a provincial park of the province of Quebec.

to the northeast of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. It is part of the city of

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly acr ...

, and is connected to the mainland and the

Island of Montreal The Island of Montreal (french: Île de Montréal) is a large island in southwestern Quebec, Canada, that is the site of a number of municipalities including most of the city of Montreal and is the most populous island in Canada. It is the main ...

by the

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel The Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge–Tunnel (french: Pont-Tunnel Louis-Hippolyte-La Fontaine) is a highway bridge–tunnel running over and beneath the Saint Lawrence River. It connects the Montreal borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve ...

which carries

Quebec Autoroute 25 Autoroute 25 (or A-25, also called Autoroute Louis-H.-La Fontaine in Montreal) is an Autoroute in the Lanaudière region of Quebec. It is currently long and services the direct north of Montreal's Metropolitan Area. A-25 has one toll bridge, whi ...

and the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean o ...

History

In 1672,

Louis XIV of France , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Versa ...

ceded Charron Island (then called "Île Notre-Dame") to governor of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice River, Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence River, Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Sain ...

René Gaultier, who became ''

seigneur ''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'' (or ...

'' of

Varennes Varennes-en-Argonne (, literally ''Varennes in Argonne'') or simply Varennes (German: Wöringen) is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 639. Geography Varennes-en-Ar ...

. When signing the concession act,

intendant An intendant (; pt, intendente ; es, intendente ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In ...

Jean Talon Jean Talon, Count d'Orsainville (; January 8, 1626 – November 23, 1694) was a French colonial administrator who served as the first Intendant of New France. Talon was appointed by King Louis XIV and his minister, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to ...

annexed the island to the fief Du Tremblay. In 1689, Gaultier's wife (the daughter of

Pierre Boucher Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (born Pierre Boucher; 1 August 162219 April 1717) was a French settler, soldier, officer, naturalist, official, governor, and ennobled aristocrat in Nouvelle-France or New France (in what is now Canada). Early life P ...

) ceded the island to their daughter Madeleine Le-Villier, and the island came to be called Île Madeleine. From 1690 to 1753, the island changed hands several times. First sold to Louis Lamoureux, it was then acquired three years later by Prudent Bougret dit Dufort, causing the name to change to Île Dufort. Then, by marrying Marie-Joseph Lamoureux, daughter of Louis Lamoureux, François Charron inherited half the island, and the western part went to the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s. In 1815, the

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

general surveyor Joseph Bouchette listed the island on one of his maps as Île Charron, but the name became official only in 1950, being interchangeably called Île Dufort and Île Charron before that. On March 11, 1967, the opening of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine Bridge-Tunnel took the island out of its isolation by providing a direct link to the cities of

and

, and a four-star hotel was subsequently built. Charron Island also became the main access road to the Îles de Boucherville archipelago. The earthwork involved in building the bridge resulted in Charron and nearby Sainte-Marguerite Island becoming virtually a single island. In 1984,

Îles-de-Boucherville National Park Îles-de-Boucherville National Park is a provincial park of the province of Quebec.

was created to encompass most of the archipelago, stopping at the former Sainte-Marguerite Island channel. Five years later the

Government of Quebec A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

bought from the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

the rest of the Island that they still owned for dollars, and later ceded the island to the city of

for the purpose of creating a park and green space.

Controversy

In 1988,

Desjardins Financial Security Desjardins Financial Security (DFS) is the life and health insurance arm of Desjardins Group, the leading financial institution in Quebec and the largest cooperative financial group in Canada. DFS registered a record-breaking revenue data in 201 ...

acquired a substantial portion of Charron Island. The next year, the city of Longueuil signed an agreement with the financial group to build a housing project of 2,500 units; the construction would be performed by a subsidiary of

Lavalin Lavalin was a Canadian civil engineering and construction firm based in Montreal, Quebec. After a major expansion program in the 1980s that led to financial difficulties, in 1991 Lavalin merged with its long-time competitor, Surveyer, Nenniger & Che ...

. The project involved the construction of buildings on an area of 22 hectares, much of which is covered by a forest of cottonwood, red ash,

black willow ''Salix nigra'', the black willow, is a species of willow native to eastern North America, from New Brunswick and southern Ontario west to Minnesota, and south to northern Florida and Texas. Description ''Salix nigra'' is a medium-sized decid ...

and

American elm ''Ulmus americana'', generally known as the American elm or, less commonly, as the white elm or water elm, is a species of elm native to eastern North America, naturally occurring from Nova Scotia west to Alberta and Montana, and south to Flor ...

. In response to this project, an association of citizens was formed to protect the island and managed to stop the progress of the project. Only three buildings currently exist on Île Charron, the Hôtel Gouverneur, St-Laurent water treatment plant, and a summer theatre. According to André Porlier, Director General of the Conseil régional de l'environnement de Montréal, "the scarcity of forested areas in the St. Lawrence corridor, Charron Island provides a great potential as a haven for migratory and nesting birds". The current owner of the land coveted by developers is Luc Poirier, but there are ongoing talks between the Government of Quebec and the Desjardins Group.

Notes

{{Reflist Hochelaga Archipelago Longueuil Landforms of Montérégie River islands of Quebec Islands of the Saint Lawrence River

History

Controversy

See also

Notes