Shawinigan-Sud is a predominantly French-speaking settlement in the Mauricie area in Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River. In 1996, its population was 11,804. Community Profiles , Statistics Canada, 1996
History
Shawinigan-Sud was incorporated as a village in 1912 and was called Almaville until 1948. It developed primarily as a residential hub for Shawinigan. Its status was upgraded from village to town in 1961.
Prior to the municipal reorganization in Quebec in 2002, Shawinigan-Sud was a separate municipality in the Le Centre-de-la-Mauricie Regional County Municipality. In January 2002, it was merged into the new City of Shawinigan.
In colloquial language, the older and lower section of Shawinigan-Sud, closer to Saint-Maurice River, is called Almaville en bas. The rest of the community, which is built on higher ground, is known as Almaville en haut.
National Hockey League player Martin Gélinas grew up in Shawinigan-Sud.
Religion
Even though many of them are not church-goers, most residents of Shawinigan-Sud are Catholic. Four Catholic parishes exist on Shawinigan-Sud's territory. Those parishes are:
Parish Church Location Year of Foundation Number of Parishioners Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation (Our Lady of the Presentation) 825, 2e Avenue 1914 738 Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc (Saint Joan of Arc) 1050, 5e Avenue 1923 2,750 Saint-Sauveur (Holy Savior) 615, 123e Rue 1947 5,695 Saint-André (Saint Andrew) 1795, 14e Avenue 1952 3,375
The current church building of Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation parish was completed in 1924. From 1942 to 1955, the structure was decorated with the artwork of painter Ozias Leduc and his assistant Gabrielle Messier. Ozias Leduc, Un pur enchantement!, L’église Notre-Dame-de-la-Présentation
Members of the Baptist community attend church at Église Évangélique Baptiste De Shawinigan-Sud, located at 2500, route Lamothe.
A Society of St. Pius X retreat house can be found at 905, Rang St-Mathieu Est. It has been active since 1951.
Education
There are four public schools. All are under the supervision of the Commission scolaire de l'Énergie school board.
School Level Location Number of Students École secondaire Val-Mauricie Secondary 1200, rue Val-Mauricie 1,372 Saint-André (Saint Andrew) Elementary 1350, 120e Rue 289 Saint-Georges (Saint George) Elementary 975, 111e Rue 175 Saint-Paul (Saint Paul) Elementary 750, 125e Rue 291
The École secondaire Val-Mauricie school has also had links with CISV International as it was used for a 4-week camp in the summer of 2004 which had children from Great Britain, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Lebanon, Japan, Usa & Canada.
Mayors of Shawinigan-Sud
From 1912 until 2002, Shawinigan-Sud had its own mayor. The mayors of Shawinigan-Sud were:Fabien LaRochelle, Shawinigan depuis 75 ans, 1976
# Mayor Taking Office Leaving 1 Omer Landry 1912 1913 2 Hercule Lambert 1914 1925 3 Philippe Veilleux 1925 1927 4 Georges Gauthier 1927 1929 5 Gédéon Veilleux 1929 1935 6 Napoléon Boulanger 1935 1939 4 Georges Gauthier 1939 1941 7 Omer Leblanc 1941 1946 8 Gérard Garceau 1946 1947 9 Alcide Raîche 1947 1951 10 Charles-Édouard Lambert 1951 1955 11 Bruno Sigmen 1955 1957 12 Philippe DemersDemers was Union Nationale MNA for the district of Saint-Maurice from 1966 to 1973. 1957 1962 11 Bruno Sigmen 1962 1964 13 Louis-Philippe Lacoursière 1964 1970 Lacoursière died in office. 14 Albert Landry 1970 1977 15 Gilles GrondinGrondin was Liberal MP for the district of Saint-Maurice from 1986 to 1988. 1977 1985 15 Claude PinardPinard was PQ MNA for the district of Saint-Maurice from 1994 to 2007. He regained his seat in the 2008 provincial election. 1985 1989 16 Marcel Vézina 1989 1997 17 Maurice Héroux Héroux was a member of the City Council of Shawinigan from 2002 to 2005. 1997 2001
Footnotes