The mayor of the city of Saint-Léonard, Lise Roussel, is delighted to see that the community Go ahead
with this name change.
The Mayor of Saint-Léonard, Lise Roussel
Photo: Courtesy
There really were no negatives about changing the name. People were all in agreement that if we were going to go to the future and move on, we couldn’t live in the past and put our feet in the sand.
she says.
Vallée-des-Rivières will therefore bring together the municipalities of Saint-Léonard and Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, as well as DSL that surround them, in addition to DSL of Siegas, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Saint-Léonard-Parent and Poitiers.
The new municipality, which will come into existence on January 1, 2023, will have 4,260 citizens and will be divided into four districts. The civic and postal addresses will be kept.
Tribute to nature and culture
The Mayor of Saint-Léonard says it was important to find a name that was unifying and that reflected the attractions of the region.
The rest of us really wanted to aim for history, culture, to remember our origins, we wanted to remember the Aboriginal families who had settled on the banks of the Saint-Jean River.
says Lise Roussel.
The Saint John River Valley, New Brunswick
Photo: Radio-Canada / Kassandra Nadeau-Lamarche
The population was called upon to make suggestions for names to the transition committee, which retained the three most popular and representative names. A vote then took place during open houses and the name of Vallée-des-Rivières was retained.
The mayoress of Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Sylvie Girard, specifies that the names of the neighborhoods of Sainte-Anne and Saint-Léonard will be kept, but that the decision to choose a new global name was unanimous.
The Mayor of Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska, Sylvie Girard
Photo: Courtesy
It is representative. […] We are in a valley, we are surrounded by mountains and also we are surrounded by four rivers
she explains.
She adds that a collaborative atmosphere reigns within the transition committee and that things are progressing well.
We can’t wait for it to be over because it’s a new era for us, it’s positive, we’re going to something new and we’re excited about it
she says.
The young people wanted a new name
The mayoress of Saint-Léonard, Lise Roussel, says that the name change has sparked several discussions in the communities.
Although some were against the idea, the majority of the population understood the need for a new name. unifier
.
The village of Saint-Leonard
Photo: Radio-Canada
She noted that young people were particularly involved in the process and in the debates.
When we spoke with the youth, the youth they see the future. They see more in the future, they are visionaries, so the status quo and youth, that did not exist. The others, they saw other names, they had suggested other names to us, it was really interesting to see that the young people took part in that
, she said “The transition committee has just taken a new step with the choice of the name of the entity, but like all municipalities in the province, the work does not stop there. The next few months will be devoted to budget planning, the hiring of general management and the operation of the new municipality of Vallée-des-Rivières.
Reference-ici.radio-canada.ca