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Val-des-Sources (), meaning "Valley of the Springs", formerly known as Asbestos (), is a
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
on the
Nicolet River The Nicolet River () is a river in Quebec, Canada. It is a tributary of the Saint Lawrence River on its southern shore and flows into Lake Saint Pierre. It is named in honor of the pioneer Jean Nicolet. It has several tributaries including the Ri ...
in the
Estrie Estrie () is an List of Quebec regions, administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 pe ...
(
Eastern Townships The Eastern Townships (, ) is a historical administrative region in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It lies between the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Lowlands, St. Lawrence Lowlands and the American border, and extends from Granby, Quebec, Granby in ...
) region of southeastern
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
, Canada."Asbestos" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 613. The town is the seat of Les Sources Regional County Municipality, formerly known as the Asbestos Regional County Municipality. The town covers an area of , including land acquired due to the merger of the City of Asbestos with the Municipality of Trois-Lacs on December 8, 1999. At the 2021 census, 7,088 people resided in the town. It is situated in the centre of a square formed by the cities of
Drummondville Drummondville () is a city in the Centre-du-Québec region of Quebec, located east of Montreal on the Saint-François River. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 79,258. The mayor of Drummondville is Stéphanie Lacoste. Drummondville ...
,
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
and
Victoriaville Victoriaville () is a town in south-central Quebec, Canada, on the Nicolet River. Victoriaville is the seat of Arthabaska Regional County Municipality and a part of the Centre-du-Québec (Bois-Francs) region. It is formed by the 1993 merger of ...
, and the Nicolet River to the north. Due to the negative connotations of the name Asbestos, discussions took place around whether the town should be renamed. A municipal referendum held in October 2020 selected the Val-des-Sources as the new name."Quebec town of Asbestos votes to change name to Val des Sources"
''
CityNews City''News'' is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as City''Pulse'' as a standalone local newscast on the network's CITY- ...
'', October 19, 2020.
The change came into effect on December 15, 2020.


History

The town was the site of the 1949 Asbestos strike. The town is near to the site of the Jeffrey mine, which used to be the world's largest
asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
mine, which was once the town's largest employer. During the 1960s the town was thriving and could afford to expand and invest in its infrastructure and municipal architecture. It built a new modern town hall whose main hallway was adorned with a mural by the artist Denis Juneau, as well as some ceramic pieces in the church by famed ceramist Claude Vermette. In 2000 the Magnola
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...
refinery began operation. The project was the brainchild of Noranda Inc, to repurpose waste asbestos tailings a proprietary
electrolytic An electrolyte is a substance that conducts electricity through the movement of ions, but not through the movement of electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases, dissolved in a polar solvent like water. Upon dissolving, the ...
process. By 2011 it had been shuttered. In summer of 2011, mayor at the time Christian Lefrançois had authorized the construction of 2 new asbestos mine including the infamous Jeffrey mine, known for its effects on the local residents’ health. In late 2011, one of the last two remaining asbestos mines in Canada, the Jeffrey mine, halted operations. In June 2012, a $58-million loan was promised by the Quebec government to restart and operate the Jeffrey mine for the next 20 years. In September 2012, before the loan funds were delivered, 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 establishi ...
defeated the
Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...
in the Quebec provincial election. The Parti Québécois followed through with an election promise to halt asbestos mining and to cancel the loan, and put funding toward economic diversification in the area.


Name change

At various times since the decline of asbestos mining, residents and politicians in the area have proposed changing the town's name due to its negative connotations; however, past proposals often failed, with people involved in the debate noting that because the town is predominantly francophone and the mineral is referred to as ''amiante'' rather than ''asbestos'' in French, its residents do not typically associate the town's name with the stigma around the mineral. A name change plan was approved by the municipal council in November 2019, with the new name chosen by a public poll. On September 14, 2020, the mayor announced that residents would be able to vote to rename the town to either Apalone, Jeffrey, Phénix or Trois-Lacs. The choices were not well received, and more names were added to the list. The referendum was held in October to allow the townspeople to choose from among six names: L'Azur-des-Cantons, Jeffrey-sur-le-Lac, Larochelle, Trois-Lacs, Val-des-Sources, or Phénix. The referendum results were announced on October 19, 2020. 51.5% of voters chose the name Val-des-Sources in the third round of a preferential ballot. In Quebec, a municipal name change must be proposed to the
Commission de toponymie du Québec The Commission de toponymie du Québec (, ''Toponymy Commission of Québec'') is the Government of Québec's public body responsible for cataloging, preserving, making official and publicizing Québec's place names and their origins according to th ...
and then approved by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing before it takes effect, which occurred on December 17, 2020. For most purposes the name change took immediate effect, although the town's rebranding of its own billboards was not expected to take place until January 2021, and
Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (, trading as Canada Post (), is a Canadian Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the operating name of the Post Office Department of the Can ...
required until April 19, 2021, to complete the necessary changes in its postal addressing system."Town of Asbestos officially renamed to Val-Des-Sources"
CTV News Montreal, December 17, 2020.
Some residents who remained opposed to the name change organized a petition drive calling on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to deny its approval, on the grounds that not enough of the town's residents participated in the referendum, and that the referendum did not include any option to express a preference for maintaining the existing name. Minister Andrée Laforest rejected the petition and approved the name change, which came into effect on December 15, 2020.


Places of interest

Close to downtown Val-des-Sources, outdoor enthusiasts can take advantage of the Trois Lacs resort, the
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
club or the cycle path. Also, the Festival des Gourmands is the main festive event in the city. Music is a big part of the city thanks to the Harmonie d'Asbestos, an institution long recognized throughout the region during the years 1945-60 and the Camp musical d'Asbestos, which welcomes young musicians from all over Quebec.


Economy


Transportation

The two most important roads entering Val-des-Sources are Road 249, connecting Val-des Sources to Magog, via
Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( , ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François River, Saint-François and Magog River, Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territ ...
and Road 255 connecting Baie-du-Febvre to Bury while passing through Val-des-Sources and Saint-Cyrille-de-Wendover.


Municipal government

In the 2021 municipal elections, Hugues Grimard was reelected unopposed as mayor of Val-des-Sources. Grimard was initially elected in 2009, defeating the incumbent mayor Jean-Philippe Bachand with 52% of the votes. Bachand tried unsuccessfully to unseat Grimard and regain his former seat in the 2013 election but Grimard was re-elected with 60% of the votes. In the 2017 elections, Bachand finally return to city council by winning a seat as a councillor but he was unseated in 2021 when Isabelle Forcier won his councillor seat with 60% of the votes. Current Government Mayor: Hugues Grimard Councillors: #Isabelle Forcier #Andréanne Ladouceur #René Lachance #Caroline Prayer #Jean Roy #Pierre Benoit


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Val-des-Sources 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. Religion (2001) In terms of
mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...
, the 2016 census found that, including multiple responses, almost 98% of residents spoke French, and about 2% of residents spoke English. The next most commonly reported first languages learned were
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...
,
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
.


Notable people from Val-des-Sources

* Jennie Carignan * Pierre-Philippe Côté * Jayson Dénommée * Jean Hamel * Denis Patry * Sean McKenna * Gilles Hamel


See also

*
List of cities in Quebec This is the list of municipalities that have the Classification of municipalities in Quebec, Quebec municipality type of city (Quebec), city (''ville'', code=V), an Administrative divisions of Quebec, administrative division defined by the Minist ...
*
Asbest Asbest () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Bolshoy Reft River (right tributary of the Pyshma River, Pyshma) on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, northeast of Yekaterinburg. Po ...
, similarly named town in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia *
Chrysotile Chrysotile or white asbestos is the most commonly encountered form of asbestos, accounting for approximately 95% of the asbestos in the United StatesOccupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor (2007)29 C.F.R.&nb ...


References


External links

* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Quebec