Gaspésie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine

History Demography Economy

The Gaspésie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine has a long history for both aboriginal and the colonizers.

Iles de la Madeleine was first colonized by the Acadians.

The Madelinots went through a harsh period of feudal dominion in 1787 which lasted over 100 years.

Micmacs were living on the Gaspé peninsula for more than twenty-five-hundred years before the French, Acadian, Loyalist, Breton, Basque, English, Irish and Scottish arrived in search of a homeland. The common occupation for the region was fishing, farming, and forestry.

L'Iles de la Madeleine was first discovered by Jacques Cartier in 1534, but it took over one hundred years before the islands became inhabited. The islands were named after the Madeleine Fontaine, who was the wife of the first lord, Francois Doublet de Honfleur, in 1663. Up until around 1755, Iles de la Madeleine was only a trading post. Thereafter, the Acadian people began to colonize the Islands followed by families from St. Pierre and Miquelon.

In 1774, the Quebec Act annexed the islands to Lower Canada. However, in 1787, the Madelinots were subjected to living under feudal domination. In short, the citizens of the region were exploited under the rule of Isaac Coffin. Misery forced many people to leave the islands until 1895, when Quebec freed the Madelinots from colonial oppression.

70% of the population is still rural.

Ile-de-Madeleine is 202 sq. km while the Gaspésie is 20 244 sq. km. The population of both regions combined is 112 455. There are six MRC, sixty-one municipalities and two Indian reserves. Both areas are predominantly rural with only thirty percent urban residency.

The region is mined for its copper and salt.

The economy of the region is primarily focused on fishing, forestry, agriculture, mining, and tourism.

Fishing is practiced in Iles de la Madeleine, La Cote de Gaspé, and Pabok and processed in Gaspé, Grand-Riviere, Newport, and Iles-de-la-Madeleine. Lumber mills are located in the towns of Nouvelle and Saint-Alphonse; while the pulp and paper mills are in Landler and New Richmond. Farming is mainly around Chaleur. In addition, copper is mined in Murdochville and salt is mined in Iles de la Madeleine.

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Gaspésie Iles-de-la-Madeleine