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1901 – Welcome to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade

Black and white photograph of Jeffrey Alexandre Rousseau wearing a mustache and dressed in a suit with bow tie.

Jeffrey Alexandre Rousseau

 

My name is Jeffrey Alexandre Rousseau. Since last November, I am the member for Champlain County in the House of Commons. The parliamentary session in Ottawa is not finished yet, but I must go back home to Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade to attend the funeral service for the honourable John Jones Ross. The former Quebec premier passed away last Saturday, May 4th, just one month after the death of his wife, Arline Lanouette.

Thanks to the railroad on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River that has linked Montreal to Quebec for about twenty years, my absence from the Parliament will be short-lived. I should be back in Ottawa as little as two days later after the burial.

Black and white photograph of John Jones Ross wearing a beard and a suit with bow tie.

John Jones Ross

 

Finally! We have arrived at the station. Disembark with me and I will take you on a tour of Sainte-Anne village. I will show you the church and the municipality’s new bridge from a closer point.

Black and white photograph of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade railway station where travellers and a horse-drawn carriage are gathered.

Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade Canadian Pacific Railway Station.

 

The Heart of the Municipality

The municipality of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade has a population of slightly more than 2,500 inhabitants. Of those, close to 700 live in Sainte-Anne village. The rest of the population is spread among the villages of Sainte-Marie, Sainte-Elisabeth and Orvilliers, the ranges of Sainte-Marie, Rapide Sud and Rapide Nord, îles Saint-Ignace and des Pins, Petit Chenail and Bas de Sainte-Anne. In my opinion, it would be preferable for Sainte-Anne village to have its own municipal council.

Geographic map of Sainte-Anne Sainte-Marie Sainte-Elisabeth and d’Orvilliers villages of Sainte-Marie Rapide Sud and Rapide Nord lanes of îles Saint-Ignace and île des Pins of Petit Chenail and Lower Sainte-Anne showing the population density by zone with red and orange color marks.

The red zone highlights the concentration of construction in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade at the beginning of the 20th century.

 

Indeed, the concentration of institutions, business and industries that enliven the core of this village clearly distinguishes it from the other parts of the municipality where farming occupies most of the population. Comparatively, Sainte-Anne village’s men practice a larger variety of professions and occupations: merchants, traders, surveyors, lawyers, carpenters, blacksmiths, cobblers, butchers, bakers, etc.

1681 – Dinner Is Served! 1901 – The Good Nuns of the Village