'Gatineau' (
2006 census population 242,124)
[ Gatineau builds on housing ]is a city in western
Quebec,
Canada. It is situated on the northern bank of the
Ottawa River, immediately across from
Ottawa,
Ontario, and is located within Canada's
National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single
Census Metropolitan Area.
History
1939 to 1975
Gatineau was incorporated in 1939. From 1939 to 1975, the City of Gatineau encompassed a very small area compared to its current borders. Old Gatineau consisted of the area north of the Ottawa River opposite
Kettle Island. Its western border was at present day
Boulevard de la Cité and its eastern border went through present day
Parc du Lac-Beauchamp. Its northern border was
Boulevard Saint-René, but it was extended northward as the city expanded.
1975 to 2002
Prior to
January 1,
2002, there were five cities on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River:
Hull, Gatineau,
Aylmer,
Buckingham, and
Masson-Angers. The former City of Gatineau was the largest of these municipalities, both in area and population.
The former City of Gatineau was itself the product of an amalgamation on
January 1,
1975, when the municipalities of Gatineau,
Pointe-Gatineau, Touraine,
Templeton, Templeton-Ouest and Templeton-Est were merged in an effort to improve municipal services and coordinate urban growth. Before
Bill 170, they were part of the Communauté Urbaine de l'Outaouais supra-regional organization.
[1] With the
1975 amalgamation, Gatineau became the largest city in the
Outaouais. Despite the
1989 separation of the
Cantley area from the (now former) City of Gatineau, Gatineau remained the fifth largest municipality in Quebec by population, behind
Montreal,
Laval,
Quebec City and
Longueuil.
Amalgamation
On
January 1,
2002, the
Parti Québécois government of Quebec amalgamated a number of municipalities throughout the Province, including the five former cities that constitute the current City of Gatineau (Aylmer, Hull, Gatineau, Buckingham and Masson-Angers). Hull was still considered the primary city within this region, although the former Gatineau had a larger population. Nonetheless, the name Gatineau was chosen for the new amalgamated municipality because it was more representative of the region (given that the former Gatineau county, the federal
Gatineau Park, the
Gatineau Hills, and the
Gatineau River defined the area geographically, in a less restrictive manner than
Hull), and some public figures wanted an appropriately
French name. The Gatineau name was chosen, despite the fact that "Hull-Gatineau" was the most popular choice in opinion polls, because the transition committee excluded hyphenated names from the ballot, and despite the fact that the Hull name had represented the earliest urban development in the area.
Division of population by sector in the city of Gatineau
Most of the citizens of the new city live in the urban cores of Aylmer, Hull and the former Gatineau. Buckingham and Masson-Angers are more rural communities.
On
June 20,
2004, the current
Liberal government of Quebec fulfilled a campaign promise by holding a
referendum vote, giving the residents of the former cities the choice of separating from Gatineau. In order to separate, the residents of a former city required a double-win: more than 50% of the vote representing at least 35% of the electorate. The majority of the votes cast in Aylmer and Masson-Angers were in favour of separation, but they did not represent at least 35% of the electorate in their respective communities. The majority of voters in Buckingham and Hull, chose to remain part of Gatineau. The participation was very low, and the status quo can be partly attributed to the indifference of the citizens. There was no referendum in the former city of Gatineau.
It was originally reported that the residents of Masson-Angers were able to meet the 50%-35% rule, and that they would be separating from Gatineau. However, a recount caused seventeen votes to be rejected. Because of this, the number of votes cast in favour of separation was fifteen votes short of being at least 35% of the electorate. As a result, the city of Gatineau remained intact.
Employment
The sun sets on office buildings in Gatineau (downtown of the Hull sector).
A number of federal and provincial government offices are located in Gatineau, due to its proximity to the national capital, and its status as the main town of the
Outaouais region of Quebec.
A policy of the federal government to distribute federal jobs on both sides of the
Ottawa River led to the construction of several massive office towers to house federal civil servants in what was then Hull (now Hull sector in Gatineau); the largest of these are
Place du Portage and
Terrasses de la Chaudière, occupying part of what had been the downtown core of Hull.
Recreation
Filling the balloons in the park
Two important tourist attractions located in Gatineau are the
Canadian Museum of Civilization and the
Casino du Lac Leamy. In August, the Casino hosts an international
fireworks competition which opposes four different countries with the winner being awarded a ''Prix Zeus'' prize for the best overall show (based on several criteria) and can return in the following year. At the beginning of September, on Labour Day weekend, Gatineau hosts an annual
hot air balloon festival which fills the skies with colourful gas-fired passenger balloons.
There are many parks. Some of them are well gardened playgrounds or resting spaces while others, like
Lac Beauchamp Park, are relatively wild green areas which often merge with the woods and fields of the surrounding municipalities. Streams of all sizes run through these natural expanses. Most of the city is on level ground but the Northern and Eastern parts lie on the beginnings of the foothills of the massive
Canadian Shield, or
Laurentian mountains. These are the "
Gatineau Hills", and are visible in the background of the companion picture. One of Gatineau's urban parks,
Jacques Cartier park is used by the
National Capital Commission during the popular festival,
Winterlude.
Education
The city contains a campus of the
Université du Québec, the
Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO).
It is also the home of two provincial junior colleges (or
CEGEPs): the
francophone CEGEP de l'Outaouais and the
anglophone Heritage College. The National Autonomous University of Mexico (
UNAM) has a campus in Gatineau.
Transportation
Gatineau has a municipal airport capable of handling small jets. There are Canada customs facilities for aircraft coming from outside Canada, a car rental counter and a restaurant. Various attempts to provide regularly scheduled flights from Gatineau's airport have not been successful. Most residents of Gatineau use the nearby
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, or travel to
Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal.
Ottawa and Gatineau have two distinct bus-based public transit systems with different fare structures,
OC Transpo and the
Société de transport de l'Outaouais. Tickets are not interchangeable between the two, and use of passes and transfers from one system to the other can require payment of a surcharge on certain routes (such as express lines).
Many Gatineau highways and major arteries feed directly into the bridges crossing over to Ottawa, but once there the roads land into the dense downtown grid or into residential areas, with no easy connection to the main highway in Ottawa, the East-West 417 or
Queensway. This difficulty is further magnified by the lack of a major highway on the Quebec side of the
Ottawa River connecting Gatineau to
Montreal, Quebec, the
metropolis of the province; most travelers from Gatineau to Montreal first cross over to
Ottawa, and use Ontario highways to access
Montreal. However, it is expected that
Autoroute 50's gap between Gatineau and
Lachute will be completed by
2010, making a new link between Gatineau and the
Laurentians popular tourist area, and may serve as part of a Montreal by-pass by the north shore for Outaouais residents.
Key roads
Neighbourhoods
Gatineau City Council
Main articles: Gatineau City Council
The Gatineau Municipal Council (French: Le conseil municipal de Gatineau) is the governing body of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is composed of 17 city councillors and the mayor.
Media
Main articles: List of Ottawa media outlets
Gatineau is the
city of license for several television and radio stations, although many more stations licensed to
Ottawa are also available in the area. Both cities are generally considered to constitute a single media market, and all of the region's broadcast stations transmit from the
Ryan Tower site at
Camp Fortune just north of Gatineau.
Gatineau is also served primarily by daily newspapers published in Ottawa, including the French ''
Le Droit'' and the English ''
Ottawa Citizen'', although a number of weekly community newspapers are published in Gatineau.
Population and demographics
According to the
2001 Statistics Canada Census:
★ % Change (
1996-
2001): 4.2
★ Dwellings: 94,124
★ Area (km²): 342.31
★ Density (persons per km²): 662.3
'Racial Groups'
★ 92.0%
White
★ 5.2%
Black
★ 3.0%
Black
'Religious Denomination'
★ 90.0%
Roman Catholic
★ 4.3% other
Christian
★ 0.8% Muslim
'Language Spoken at Home'
★ 87.6%
French
★ 10.1%
English
★ 2.3% Other
Notable persons from Gatineau
Communities
See also
★
List of communities in Quebec
★
Municipal reorganization in Quebec
★
Twin cities
★
Mayor of Gatineau
References
1. http://agora.qc.ca/mot.nsf/Dossiers/Gatineau]
External links
★
City of Gatineau, Quebec
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