Port-Daniel–Gascons () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

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 ...

. The municipality includes the communities of Marcil, Clemville, Port-Daniel-Ouest, Port-Daniel-Est, Gascons-Ouest, and Gascons-Est. It is bordered to the south by

Chaleur Bay frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence">Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and t ...

, to the north by the interior of the Gaspésie, to the west by

Shigawake Shigawake is a municipality in the Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region of the province of Quebec in Canada. Shigawake is bordered to the west by Saint-Godefroi and to the east by Port-Daniel–Gascons. The place name is taken from the rive ...

, and to the east by Chandler (Newport District).

History

Port-Daniel

The area was originally inhabited by the

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Mi'kmaw'' or ''Mi'gmaw''; ; , and formerly Micmac) are an Indigenous group of people of the Northeastern Woodlands, native to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Bru ...

people, who called the place ''Epsegeneg'', meaning "place where people warm themselves". In 1534,

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

visited the coast and named the bay (at the current townsite of Port-Daniel) Conche Saint-Martin. But Emmanuel Jumeau would record Port Daniel on his 1685 map, likely named after

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

merchant Charles Daniel, who made several voyages to

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

as a ship captain. The name Port Daniel would also be used for the seignory that was established there, and granted to René Deneau in 1696. Early in the 19th century, further development came with the arrival of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

settlers. By 1825, there were 825 settlers, mostly of Irish,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, and

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

origin. Americans followed before the middle of the century and set up a lobster cannery there in 1847. In 1845, the Township Municipality of Port-Daniel was created, abolished in 1847, and reestablished again in 1855. In 1882, it was divided into the Township Municipalities of Port-Daniel-Partie-Est (east part) and Port-Daniel-Partie-Ouest (west part). In 1990, these 2 township municipalities were joined again into the Municipality of Port-Daniel.

Gascons

Gascons Cove (French: ''Anse aux Gascons'') was named after a sailor from

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

who shipwrecked there. In the middle of the 19th century, the place was settled by Gascons,

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

Acadians The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French colonial empire, French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern Americ ...

Basques The Basques ( or ; ; ; ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a Basque culture, common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Basques are indigenous peoples, ...

, and Jersey people. In 1899, the Parish of Sainte-Germaine-de-l'Anse-aux-Gascons was founded, named after

Germaine Cousin Germaine Cousin, also Germana Cousin, Germaine of Pibrac, or Germana, (1579–1601) was a French saint. She was born in 1579 to humble parents at Pibrac, a village from Toulouse. Narrative Of her, the Catholic Encyclopedia writes: From her b ...

, a saint also of Gascon origin, and the cove. In 1902, the namesake parish municipality was established.

Port-Daniel–Gascons

Port-Daniel–Gascons was formed on January 17, 2001, through the merger of the Municipality of Port-Daniel (founded in 1990) and the Parish Municipality of Sainte-Germaine-de-l'Anse-aux-Gascons (founded in 1902). In 2017, McInnis Cement, the largest cement plant in the province of Quebec, was inaugurated in the Municipality of Port-Daniel–Gascons. The cement plant was constructed between 2014 and 2017. It will bring in $2.1 million annually in tax revenue.

Demographics

Population

Language

Government

The mayors of Port-Daniel–Gascons since 2001 are as follows: * Maurice Anglehart (2001-2005) * Henri Grenier (2005-2009) * Maurice Anglehart (2009-2013) * Henri Grenier (2013-present) On October 1, 2021, Henri Grenier was re-elected without opposition for a fourth (third consecutive) term as mayor (2021-2025).

Infrastructure

The main road in town is

Quebec Route 132 Route 132 is the longest highway in Quebec. It follows the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River from the border with the state of New York (state), New York in the hamlet of Dundee, Quebec, Dundee (connecting with New York State Route 3 ...

VIA Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

ceased service to

Port-Daniel station The Port-Daniel station is an inactive railway station built in 1908 by Quebec Atlantic Oriental Railway. The railway line and service was acquired by CN Rail. CN retained the tracks until 1998, but VIA Rail took over passenger service from 1977 ...

due to track closures and local bridge conditions in 2013. The station is located close to the city hall.

Notable people

Édouard Gagnon Édouard Gagnon, PSS, OC (15 January 1918 – 25 August 2007) was a Canadian Roman Catholic cardinal and President of the Pontifical Council for the Family for 7 years, from 1983 to 1990. He became a cardinal on 25 May 1985. Biography Édouar ...

(1918 – 2007), a Canadian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Hazel McCallion Hazel Mary Muriel McCallion (; February 14, 1921 – January 29, 2023) was a Canadian politician who served as the fifth mayor of Mississauga. First elected in November 1978, McCallion was mayor for 36 years until her retirement in 2014, makin ...

(1921 – 2023), former mayor of

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Port-Daniel-Gascons Incorporated places in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Municipalities in Quebec