Normétal

Normétal
Municipality
Location within Abitibi-Ouest RCM. Location within Abitibi-Ouest RCM.
Normétal Location in western Quebec.
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Abitibi-Témiscamingue
RCM	Abitibi-Ouest
Settled	1925
Constituted	January 1, 1945
Government
• Mayor	Jocelyn Trottier
• Federal riding	Abitibi—Témiscamingue
• Prov. riding	Abitibi-Ouest
Area
• Total	54.90 km2 (21.20 sq mi)
• Land	57.30 km2 (22.12 sq mi)
	There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population (2011)
• Total	856
• Density	14.9/km2 (39/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	3.4%
• Dwellings	397
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	J0Z 3A0
Area code(s)	819
Highways	Route 111
Website	www.normetal.ao.ca

Normétal is a municipality in northwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Abitibi-Ouest Regional County Municipality. It had a population of 856 in the Canada 2011 Census.

History

In 1923, zinc and copper was discovered near the Calamité River and two years later, the Abana Mine Company obtained the mining rights. The new settlement, formed by families from Saint-Eustache, Portneuf, Bellechasse and the Mauricie, was therefore first called Abana. In 1931, the Normetal Mining Corporation acquired the mine and brought it to full operation six years later. In 1939, the railway and road to Dupuy was completed. In 1945, the place was incorporated, taking the name of the mining corporation whose name in turn is a portmanteau for "northern" and "metal".

In 1949, street lighting was installed in Normétal. In 1950, the mining corporation came under control of Noranda (which became Falconbridge Ltd. and bought by Xstrata in 2006). In 1956, the mine had a peak production of 900 tons of ore per day and employed over 600 persons. In 1961, the town reached a population of 2519, its largest number of residents. But in 1975, after reaching a depth of 8,000 feet (2,400 m), the copper mine closed, resulting in a large exodus of people from the community with many going to the mines of Matagami and Joutel that had just opened. By the following year, the population had dropped to 1455.

In 1990, the Normetmar Mine close. In 2005, work began on rehabilitation of the mine site by removing the tailings and planting vegetation.

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Normétal, Quebec
Year Pop. ±% 1986 1,231 —     1991 1,193 −3.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1996 1,129 −5.4% 2001 1,019 −9.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2006 886 −13.1% 2011 856 −3.4%

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Normétal, Quebec
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2011		855		850	1.2%	99.42%		5	50.0%	0.58%		0	0.0%	0.00%		0	100.0%	0.00%
2006		885		860	13.1%	97.18%		10	n/a%	1.13%		0	0.0%	0.00%		15	40.0%	1.69%
2001		1,015		990	12.4%	97.54%		0	100.0%	0.00%		0	0.0%	0.00%		25	n/a%	2.46%
1996		1,140		1,130	n/a	99.12%		10	n/a	0.88%		0	n/a	0.00%		0	n/a	0.00%

Municipal council

• Mayor: Daniel Therrien
• Councillors: Manon Boisclair, Monique Bouchard, Vicky Gaudet, Jasmine Lampron, Roger Lévesque, Bertrand Naud

List of mayors

The former mayors of Normétal were:

• Albert Lafond 1945–47
• Georges Barré 1947–55
• Roméo Morin 1955–56
• Lucien Trottier 1956–61
• Lionel Mayer 1961–63
• Samuel Petitclerc 1963–65, 1975–76
• Régis Comeau 1965–68
• Philippe Doire 1968–75

• Réal Gamache 1976–81
• Maurice Moisan 1981
• André Rivest 1981
• Normand Beaupré 1981–2005
• Daniel Therrien 2005–07
• Jean Bergeron 2007–2010
• Louise Quesnel 2010–

Culture

The town of Normétal is the set up of an award winning movie, La Donation from filmmaker Bernard Émond (2009), in which a family medicine physician from Montréal takes over the practice of an aging physician in need of respite.

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec

External links

• Normétal official website