Saint-Clet, Quebec

Saint-Clet
Municipality
Location within Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM. Location within Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM.
Saint-Clet Location in southern Quebec.
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Quebec
Region	Montérégie
RCM	Vaudreuil-Soulanges
Constituted	31 August 1974
Government
• Mayor	Gilles Farand
• Federal riding	Salaberry—Suroît
• Prov. riding	Soulanges
Area
• Total	39.20 km2 (15.14 sq mi)
• Land	39.21 km2 (15.14 sq mi)
	There is an apparent contradiction between two authoritative sources
Population (2011)
• Total	1,738
• Density	44.3/km2 (115/sq mi)
• Pop 2006-2011	0.8%
• Dwellings	710
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal code(s)	J0P 1S0
Area code(s)	450 and 579
Highways	Route 201 Route 340
Website	www.municipalite-st-clet.qc.ca

Saint-Clet is a municipality located in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Regional County Municipality within the Montérégie region of Quebec. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 1,738. Completely surrounded by agricultural land (mostly corn fields), the town is centered on the intersection of two main provincial highways. The north-south route 201 is known as rue Principale within the town limits, and the east-west route 340 is known as Boulevard de la Cité des Jeunes.

History

The parish of Saint-Clet was established in 1849 by its detachment from the parish of Saint-Ignace-du-Coteau-du-Lac at the request of residents who had to go all the way to Coteau-du-Lac to attend mass. The first resident pastor of Saint-Clet was appointed in 1851 and four years later in 1855, the municipality of the parish of Saint-Clet was created. There were some mergers and demergers of territory over the ensuing years until 1974, when the current municipality of Saint-Clet was created.

The Canadian composer and music educator, Achille Fortier, was born in Saint-Clet in 1864.

Events in the News

On 17 February 1954 a spectacular collision of two Canadian Pacific trains took place in Saint-Clet. It was a time when train travel was quite popular, and it was common for a train to travel in two separate sections. The impact occurred when the second section of the Toronto-Montreal train rear-ended the first section at the village station, where it had stopped because of a snowstorm. The accident caused one death and 73 injuries.

Another event occurred on 14 March 1985, when heavy rains caused flooding, resulting in the evacuation of many homes. Heavy flooding again affected the town on 8 April 2014, when light rains and abruptly mild temperatures resulted in the rapid melting of a large volume of snow in a short period of time. The elevated railbed passing east-west through the town forms an artificial berm, impeding the flow of meltwater runoff from north to south. With only a couple of culverts to let the runoff go under the railbed, they were quickly overwhelmed and many basements north of the tracks were flooded.

Demographics

Population

Historical Census Data - Saint-Clet, Quebec
Year Pop. ±% 1991 1,388 —     1996 1,524 +9.8%	Year Pop. ±% 2001 1,586 +4.1% 2006 1,725 +8.8%	Year Pop. ±% 2011 1,738 +0.8%

Language

Canada Census Mother Tongue - Saint-Clet, Quebec
Census		Total		French				English				French & English				Other
Year		Responses		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %		Count	Trend	Pop %
2011		1,735		1,585	0.3%	91.35%		100	16.7%	5.76%		30	20.0%	1.73%		20	n/a%	1.15%
2006		1,725		1,580	6.4%	91.59%		120	33.3%	6.96%		25	n/a%	1.45%		0	100.0%	0.00%
2001		1,590		1,485	0.3%	93.40%		90	157.1%	5.66%		0	0.0%	0.00%		15	n/a%	0.94%
1996		1,525		1,490	n/a	97.70%		35	n/a	2.30%		0	n/a	0.00%		0	n/a	0.00%

See also

• List of municipalities in Quebec