Bonne-Espérance, Quebec

"Bonne-Espérance" redirects here. For other uses, see Bonne-Espérance (disambiguation).

Bonne-Espérance
Municipality
Location within Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent RCM. Location within Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent RCM.
Bonne-Espérance Location in Côte-Nord Region of Quebec.
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Côte-Nord
RCM	Le Golfe-du-Saint-Laurent
Constituted	January 1, 1990
Government
• Mayor	Lionel Roberts
• Federal riding	Manicouagan
• Prov. riding	Duplessis
Area
• Total	1,198.70 km2 (462.82 sq mi)
• Land	646.73 km2 (249.70 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	732
• Density	1.1/km2 (3/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	12.2%
• Dwellings	319
Time zone	AST (UTC-4)
Postal code(s)	G0G 2P0
Area code(s)	418 and 581
Highways	Route 138

Bonne-Espérance is a municipality in the Côte-Nord region of the province of Quebec in Canada.

The municipality is made up of the fishing villages of Rivière-Saint-Paul (St. Paul's River), Middle Bay, and Vieux-Fort (Old Fort Bay), and was incorporated as a municipality on January 1, 1990. All three communities are accessible via Quebec Route 138 from Blanc-Sablon to the east only; this road currently ends at Vieux-Fort before commencing again at Natashquan some 300 kilometres (190 mi) west-south-west.

Early History of Bonne Esperance

Bonne Esperance was first known to be inhibited by the Maritime Archaic people. The Maritime Archaic people are probably the ancestors of today’s Innu people. The Maritime Archaic people were on the coast for about 9000 years ago, when the French people saw these people they called them Montagnais, because of the hilly land they lived on. In 1534 Jacques Cartier claimed this new found land for the King of France. They believed that Old Fort Bay was the first capital of North America. They called this new found land “New France”. It is rumoured that Cartier erected the first cross claiming the land in Baie des Rochers, about 15 km away from what is now known as Old Fort Bay, researchers still do not know the exact placement of the cross. In 1702 Augustin Le Gardeur de Courtemanche was granted a large concession by the King of France. It is believed that Courtemanche built a fort in Old Fort Bay, but this fort supposedly burnt down. When France lost the Seven Years' War in 1763 “New France” was taken over by Britain.

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Bonne-Espérance, Quebec
Year Pop. ±% 1991 896 —	Year Pop. ±% 1996 906 +1.1%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 852 −6.0%	Year Pop. ±% 2006 834 −2.1%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 732 −12.2%

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Bonne-Espérance, Quebec
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2011		730		10	33.3%	1.37%		715	10.1%	97.95%		0	0.0%	0.00%		5	83.3%	0.68%
2006		840		15	0.0%	1.79%		795	1.9%	94.64%		0	0.0%	0.00%		30	0.0%	3.57%
2001		855		15	33.3%	1.75%		810	9.0%	94.74%		0	0.0%	0.00%		30	n/a%	3.51%
1996		900		10	n/a	1.11%		890	n/a	98.89%		0	n/a	0.00%		0	n/a	0.00%

Economy

One of the main jobs for people in the Bonne Esperance area is the fishery. There are three fish plants, one located in each of the villages Middle Bay, St. Paul’s River and Old Fort. The fish plants are only open during the summer months. This facility employs about 100 people in total. There is also a school board which employs about 25 people that’s including teachers, janitors, secretaries and technicians. There is the municipality which employs about 10 people. There is the Coasters Association which employs about 11 people and there are local grocery stores/ businesses that employ a number of people. There is also USL; this is a construction company which operates in Ontario and Alberta. Every year most of the people leave their community and go to work in both places and they usually leave in the spring and return in the fall. For most of the jobs that end in the fall during the winter months people go on employment insurance.

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec

External links

• Lower North Shore Community Web Site