Lachine (French pronunciation: [laʃin]) is a borough (arrondissement) within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada.
Lachine | |
|---|---|
 Bike paths by the Lachine Canal | |
 | |
 Location of Lachine on the Island of Montreal. (Grey areas indicate demerged municipalities.) | |
| Coordinates: 45°25′59″N 73°40′51″W / 45.43306°N 73.68083°W | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Quebec |
| City | Montreal |
| Region | Montréal |
| Parish of Saints-Anges-de-la-Chine | 1676 |
| Incorporated | 1848 |
| Montreal merger | January 1, 2002 |
| Electoral Districts Federal | Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle |
| Provincial | Marquette |
| Government | |
| • Type | Borough |
| • Mayor | Maja Vodanovic (PM) |
| • Federal MP(s) | Anju Dhillon (LPC) |
| • Quebec MNA(s) | Enrico Ciccone (PLQ) |
| Area | |
| • Land | 17.75 km2 (6.85 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Total | 44,489 |
| • Change (2011-16) |  6.9% |
| • Dwellings (2006) | 19,909 |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Postal code(s) | |
| Area code(s) | (514) and (438) |
Access Routes[4] A-13 A-20 |  A-520 R-138 |
| Website | lachine. ville.montreal.qc.ca |
It was founded as a trading post in 1669. Developing into a parish and then an autonomous city, it was merged as a municipality into Montreal in 2002.
History
edit
The first seigniory, Côte-Saint-Sulpice, was granted to the explorer and fur trader René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1667, with the first French settlers arriving at the beginning of 1669. A trading post was established and then fortified under the name of Fort Rolland. This bastion became an important place for the fur trade.
On August 4, 1689, more than 1500 Mohawk warriors raided the small village and burned it to the ground in retaliation for the ravaging of the Seneca lands, which the governor of New France, the Marquis de Denonville, was accused of having committed. The Lachine massacre left 80 dead.
Lachine was incorporated as a village in 1848. It became a town in 1872 and a city in 1909.[5] In 1912 it annexed the neighbouring Town of Summerlea, itself founded in 1895.[6] It merged with the town of Saint-Pierre in 1999, and the combined municipality merged into Montreal on January 1, 2002. Lachine's logo during its municipality days is still in use today.
Etymology
editLachine, apparently from the French term la Chine for China, is often said to have been named in 1667, in mockery of its then owner René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle, who explored the interior of North America trying to find a passage to China. When he returned without success, he and his men were derisively named les Chinois (the Chinese). The name was adopted when the parish of Saints-Anges-de-la-Chine was created in 1676,[7] with the form "Lachine" appearing with the opening of a post office in 1829.[8]
An alternative etymology attributes the name to the famous French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who also hoped to find a passage from the Saint Lawrence River to China. According to this version, in 1618 Champlain proposed that a customs house would tax the trade goods from China passing this point, hence the name Lachine.[9]
Geography
editThe borough is located in the southwest portion of the island of Montreal, at the inlet of the Lachine Canal, between the borough of LaSalle and the city of Dorval. It was a separate city until the municipal mergers on January 1, 2002, and it did not demerge on January 1, 2006.[10]
The borough is bordered to the northwest by the city of Dorval, to the northeast by Saint-Laurent, to the east by Côte Saint-Luc, Montreal West and a narrow salient of Le Sud-Ouest, and to the south by LaSalle. Its western limit is the shore of Lake Saint-Louis and the Saint Lawrence River.
It has an area of 17.83 km2 (7 sq. mi.) and a population of 44,489 per the 2016 Canadian Census.
Demographics
edit| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 50,221 | — |
| 1971 | 51,220 | +2.0% |
| 1976 | 47,542 | −7.2% |
| 1981 | 42,826 | −9.9% |
| 1986 | 39,850 | −6.9% |
| 1991 | 40,233 | +1.0% |
| 1996 | 39,910 | −0.8% |
| 2001 | 40,222 | +0.8% |
| 2006 | 41,391 | +2.9% |
| 2011 | 41,616 | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 44,489 | +6.9% |
| Language | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| French | 23,750 | 60% |
| English | 11,880 | 29% |
| Non-official language only | 4,555 | 11% |
| Language | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| French | 23,320 | 56% |
| English | 9,700 | 24% |
| Non-official language only | 8,275 | 20% |
| Ethnicity | Population | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Not a visible minority | 32,250 | 75.9% |
| Visible minorities | 10,255 | 24.1% |
Government
editMunicipal government
editAs of the November 7, 2021 Montreal election, the current borough council consists of the following members:
| District | Position | Name | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Borough mayor City councillor |
Maja Vodanovic | Projet Montréal | |
| — | City councillor | Vicki Grondin | Projet Montréal | |
| Du Canal | Borough councillor | Micheline Rouleau | Projet Montréal | |
| Fort-Rolland | Borough councillor | Michèle Flannery | Projet Montréal | |
| J.-Émery-Provost | Borough councillor | Younes Boukala | Projet Montréal |
Federal and provincial districts
editThe entire borough is located within the federal riding of Dorval-Lachine-LaSalle, and within the provincial electoral district of Marquette.
Infrastructure
edit
Autoroute 20 passes through Lachine, which is also served by the Lachine commuter train station.
Most noticeable of Lachine's features is the Lachine Canal and its recreational facilities, including the Lachine Canal National Historic Site. Around the canal's inlet, in the southern part of the borough, are located The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site, René Lévesque Park (on a long peninsula extending into Lac Saint-Louis), and the Musée de Lachine, which has collections of modern outdoor sculpture both on its own grounds, in René Lévesque Park, and in other sites throughout the borough. Other historic buildings are also located near the canal's inlet.
Parks
edit
A memorial to Air India Flight 182 is located in Monk Island, in Lachine. It was inaugurated in 2010.[12]
Education
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2014) |
Primary and secondary schools
edit
The Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys operates Francophone public schools.[13]
Adult schools include:
- Centre d'éducation des adultes de LaSalle, Édifice Boileau
Professional development centres include:
- Centre de formation professionnelle de Lachine (CFP), Édifice Dalbé-Viau and Édifice de la Rive
Secondary schools include:
- École secondaire Dalbé-Viau
- Collège Saint-Louis
- College Sainte-Anne de Lachine
Primary schools include:
- École Primaire Catherine-Soumillard
- École Primaire Victor Therrien[14]
- École Primaire des Berges-de-Lachine
- École Primaire Jardin-des-Saints-Anges
- École Primaire Martin-Bélanger
- École Primaire Paul-Jarry
- École Primaire Philippe-Morin
- École Primaire Très-Saint-Sacrement
The Lester B. Pearson School Board (LBPSB) operates Anglophone public schools.
- Lakeside Academy (a merger of Lachine High School and Bishop Whelan High School)
- Maple Grove Elementary School in Lachine, a merger of the Meadowbrook School in Lachine and the Bishop-Whelan School in Dorval, opened in August 2010[15]
- A portion is zoned to LaSalle Elementary Junior and Senior Campus in LaSalle[16]
- The Pearson Electrotechnology Centre (PEC; Centre d'électrotechnologie Pearson), a public vocational school of the LBPSB, is in Lachine.[17]
Public libraries
editThe Montreal Public Libraries Network operates the Saint-Pierre Branch and the Saul-Bellow Branch in Lachine.[18]
Notable residents
edit- Jean-Louis Besnard (dit Carignant) (1734–1791), merchant trader
- Saul Bellow (1915–2005), author
- M. Wylie Blanchet (1891-1961), travel writer, was raised in Lachine[19]: 13
- Tim Harkness (1937), baseball player for the New York Mets
- Enock Makonzo (1997), football player for the Edmonton Elks
- Victor Malarek (1948-), journalist, broadcaster, novelist, investigative reporter
- Michael E. Rose (1954–), journalist, broadcaster, novelist, playwright
- Shmuel Schecter (1915–2000), rabbi and Torah educator
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Ministère des Affaires Municipales et Régions: Lachine". Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
- ^ a b "2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Lachine, Quebec". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ^ "Population totale en 2006 et en 2011 - Variation — Densité" (PDF). Canada 2016 Census (in French). Ville de Montréal. 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
- ^ "Official Transport Quebec Road Map". Archived from the original on 2011-02-24. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
- ^ Lachine's first city hall Archived 2020-03-23 at the Wayback Machine (click on "Read More" at bottom)
- ^ Fougères, Dany; Shaffer, Valérie (2018). "An Undivided Island: Domination at the Dawn of a New Era". In Fougères, D.; MacLeod, R. (eds.). Montreal: The History of a North American City. McGill-Queen's University Press. pp. 435, 437. ISBN 978-0-7735-5128-2. Archived from the original on 2023-08-05. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ "Site archéologique de l'Église-des-Saints-Anges-de-Lachine". Archived from the original on 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2020-03-21.
- ^ "Commission de toponymie du Québec - Lachine (Ville)". Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2008-04-16.
- ^ Brook, Timothy (2007). Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. London: Bloomsbury Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-1-59691-444-5.
- ^ "Musée de Lachine". 10 May 2023. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2006.
- ^ "Ville de Montréal - Montréal en statistiques - Lachine". Archived from the original on 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2015-11-02.
- ^ "Memorial to victims of Air India bombing inaugurated in Lachine Archived 2014-12-09 at the Wayback Machine." CTV Montreal. Sunday December 5, 2010. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
- ^ "ÉCOLES ET CENTRES Archived 2014-12-03 at the Wayback Machine." Commission Scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
- ^ École Primaire Victor Therrien
- ^ "Home Archived 2014-12-11 at the Wayback Machine." Maple Grove Elementary School. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
- ^ "School Board Map Archived 2017-09-21 at the Wayback Machine." Lester B. Pearson School Board. Retrieved on September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Home Archived 2014-11-11 at the Wayback Machine." Pearson Electrotechnology Centre. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
- ^ "Les bibliothèques par arrondissement Archived 2017-06-06 at the Wayback Machine." Montreal Public Libraries Network. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
- ^ Converse, Cathy (2018) [2008]. Horsdal, Marlyn (ed.). Following the Curve of Time: The Untold Story of Capi Blanchet (Book) (2nd ed.). TouchWood Editions. ISBN 978-1-77151-296-1.