Macamic () is a ''

ville ''Ville'' is a French word meaning "city" or "town", but its meaning in the Middle Ages was "farm" (from Gallo-Romance VILLA < Latin '' villa rustica'') ...

'' in northwestern

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It covers 202 km² and had a population of 2,744 in the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

. It is located on the shores of the namesake Lake Macamic. In addition to Macamic itself, the town's territory also includes the community of Colombourg.

History

Colonization began at the time when the National Transcontinental Railway running through the Abitibi region was completed. The first pioneers, arriving circa 1913, were originally from Saint-Ignace-du-Lac, Pierreville, Stanfold, Nicolet, and

Shawinigan Shawinigan (; ) is a city located on the Saint-Maurice River in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada. It had a population of 49,620 as of the 2021 Canadian census. Shawinigan is also a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) ...

. They settled south of Lake Macamic and the new settlement took the lake's name, often written also as Makamik. In the

Algonquin language Algonquin (also spelled Algonkin; in Algonquin: or ) is either a distinct Algonquian languages, Algonquian language closely related to the Ojibwe language or a particularly divergent Ojibwe language dialects, Ojibwe dialect. It is spoken, alon ...

, the name ''Makamik'' means "limping beaver", from ''makis'' (crippled or disabled) and ''amik'' (beaver). In 1914, Makamik had 100 residents. In 1915, the year the post office opened, it had grown to 300, and the following year, when the Parish of Saint-Jean-l'Évangéliste-de-Macamic was formed, there were 500 persons. By 1918, the population had jumped to 1750 and the area was incorporated as the United Township Municipality of Royal-Roussillon-et-Poularies, named after the Royal-Roussillon Regiment of Montcalm's army and after lieutenant-colonel François-Médard de Poularies, commander of this regiment. In 1919, the village itself separated from the united township and was incorporated as Village Municipality of Macamic, having a population of 2300 persons by 1920. In 1924, Poularies Township also separated from Royal-Roussillon-et-Poularies, which became the Parish Municipality of Royal-Roussillon-de-Macamic in 1952, and officially shortened to just Macamic in 1961. In 1955, the Village Municipality of Macamic changed its status to town (''ville''), and was regrouped with the Parish Municipality of Macamic on June 13, 2001, to form the new Town of Macamic. On March 2, 2002, the Municipality of Colombourg (incorporated in 1926) was merged into Macamic.

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 ...

, Macamic 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.

Language

Government

Municipal council (as of 2024): * Mayor: Tony Boudreau * Councillors: Gaétan Morin, Francine Néron, Cindy Boucher, Miriam Bruneau, Ghislain Brunet, Michel Deschênes List of former mayors (since formation of current municipality): * Daniel Rancourt (2002–2013) * Claude Nelson Morin (2013–2017) * Lina Lafrenière (2017–2023) * Tony Boudreau (2024–present)

Political representation

Federally, Macamic is part of the federal riding of Abitibi—Témiscamingue. In the

2021 Canadian federal election The 2021 Canadian federal election was held on September 20, 2021, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons to the 44th Canadian Parliament. The Writ of election, writs of election were issued by Governor General of ...

, the incumbent Sébastien Lemire of the

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

was re-elected to represent the population Macamic in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

. Provincially it is part of the riding of Abitibi-Ouest. In the 2022 Quebec general election the incumbent MNA Suzanne Blais, of the

Coalition Avenir Québec The Coalition Avenir Québec (, , CAQ) is a Quebec nationalism, Quebec nationalist, Autonomism in Quebec, autonomist and conservatism, conservative

, was re-elected to represent the population of Macamic in the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Cities and towns in Quebec Incorporated places in Abitibi-Témiscamingue Populated places established in 1913 1913 establishments in Quebec