Jonquière, Quebec

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Jonquière was created as a result of the 1975 amalgamtion of three cities: Kénogami, Jonquière, and Arvida. Much of Jonquière's development owed its strength to the Price family, who ran a pulp and paper factory in Kénogami. Today that pulp and paper factory is owned by Abitibi-Consolidated. Arvida is the home of an aluminium plant owned by Alcan.

The Rivière aux Sables runs through the centre of Jonquière. In the summer of 1996, significant damage to the city's buildings was caused by extensive flooding.

History

Jonquière was founded in 1847 by Marguerite Belley, who came from La Malbaie, Quebec, to settle on the Rivière aux Sables. It was named after the Marquis de La Jonquière, governor of New France from 1749 to 1752.

Growth came from the construction of pulp and paper mills at the beginning of the 20th century. Between 1925 and 1928, the world's largest aluminum plant was built along with the city Arvida (then a separate town). In 1942, to supply power to the plant, Alcan built a hydroelectric station at Shipshaw that was the largest in the world at that time. Jonquière, Arvida, and Kénogami were amalgmated into a single city, Jonquière, in 1975. Jonquière was the host city for the Quebec Games in the winter of 1976, and also for the Canoe/Kayak World Championships in slalom and whitewater racing, in 1979.

Jonquière is probably best known in the United States as a result of the local Wal-Mart store which attempted to unionize and was closed down shortly thereafter. The official reason for this shutdown was "financial problems." The metal band Voivod formed in Jonquière.

Mayors

*Jean Allard ( - January 20, 1868), (1872 - 1876) and (February 5, 1894 - August 26, 1895 Death)
*Camil Gagné
*Francis Dufour (1975 - 1985) (Arvida 1967 - 1975)
*Gilles Marceau
*Marcel Martel ( - November 7, 1999)
*Daniel Giguère (November 7, 1999 - February 18, 2002)

External links

NPR: [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4629759 "Wal-Mart Closure Touches Off Union Debate"]