Otter Lake is a municipality in the

Outaouais Outaouais (, ; also commonly called The Outaouais) is a region of western Quebec, Canada. It includes the city of Gatineau, the municipality of Val-des-Monts, the municipality of Cantley, Quebec, Cantley and the Papineau Regional County Municipal ...

region, northwest of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

, part of the

Pontiac Regional County Municipality Pontiac () is a regional county municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada. Campbell's Bay is the county seat. It should not be confused with the municipality of Pontiac, which is located in the neighbouring Les Collines-de-l'Outaoua ...

, Quebec, Canada. Prior to December 20, 2003 it was known as Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield and had the legal status of a

united township municipality The following is a list of the types of Local government in Quebec, local and Wiktionary:supralocal, supralocal territorial units in Quebec, Canada, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affa ...

Geography

Population centres within the municipality include: Klukeville, Lauréat, Omer, Otter Lake, and Sandy Creek. The village of Otter Lake is surrounded by Hughes Lake to the west, Lac de la Ferme (Farm Lake) to the east, McCuaig Lake to the south, and Lac à la Loutre (Otter Lake) to the north.

History

In 1793, Huddersfield Township was established, named after its namesake in West Yorkshire, England. In 1866, Leslie Township was established, named after James Leslie (1786-1873), a Canadian senator. Also in 1866, the Otter Lake post office opened and the village that formed around the post office also came to have the same name. Since then,

Philemon Wright Philemon Wright (September 3, 1760 – June 3, 1839) was a farmer, lumberman and entrepreneur who founded the Ottawa River timber trade in 1806. He was also founder of what he named Columbia Falls Village, mostly known as (or Wrightstown) a ...

, pioneer of the logging industry in Ottawa, operated a wood depot at Otter Lake. The industry has played and continues to play a leading role in the early and contemporary history of the village. In 1877, the

United Township Municipality The following is a list of the types of Local government in Quebec, local and Wiktionary:supralocal, supralocal territorial units in Quebec, Canada, including those used solely for statistical purposes, as defined by the Ministry of Municipal Affa ...

of Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield was formed from its constituent townships. While Clapham Township was not officially established until 1920, it was already planned in the second half of the 19th century and named after a village north of Bedford, England. The united municipality was established because it was more advantageous to hold a municipal status than remain unorganized territory. In 2004 the United Township Municipality of Leslie-Clapham-et-Huddersfield became the Municipality of Otter Lake.

Demographics

Population

Language

Local government

Otter Lake forms part of the federal electoral district of

Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi (formerly known as Pontiac) is a federal electoral district in western Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1949 and since 1968. In every election since its creation e ...

and has been represented by

Sophie Chatel Sophie Chatel is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Pontiac in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 Canadian federal election. Prior to being elected, she was a civil servant. Education and career Sophie ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

since 2021. Provincially, Otter Lake is part of the

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

electoral district and is represented by André Fortin of 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 ...

since 2014. List of former mayors: * Terry G. Richard (2001–2009) * Graham Hawley (2009–2015) * Kim Cartier-Villeneuve (2015–2021) * Terry Lafleur (2021-)

References

{{authority control Incorporated places in Outaouais Municipalities in Quebec