Belledune
{{Short description|Village in New Brunswick, Canada}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=June 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Belledune
| official_name =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline = Belledune Generating Station in New Brunswick, Canada.jpg
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| image_caption = Belledune Generating Station, 2025
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| pushpin_map = New Brunswick
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| pushpin_map_caption = Location within New Brunswick
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| pushpin_label = Belledune
| pushpin_label_position = left
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| coordinates = {{Coord|47|54|N|65|49|W|region:CA-NB|display=inline}}
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| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Canada
| subdivision_type1 = Province
| subdivision_name1 = New Brunswick
| subdivision_type2 = County
| subdivision_name2 = {{plainlist|
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| subdivision_type3 = Parish
| subdivision_name3 = {{plainlist|
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| established_title = Founded
| established_date = 1799
| established_title1 = Incorporated
| established_date1 = {{Start date and age|1968}}
| established_title2 = Amalgamation
| established_date2 = {{Start date and age|1994}}
| named_for =
| government_footnotes =
| government_type = Village council
| governing_body = Belledune Village Council
| leader_title = Mayor
| leader_name = Paul Arseneault
| leader_title1 = Deputy Mayor
| leader_name1 = Lilliane Carmichael
| area_total_km2 = 189.18
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| population_as_of = 2021
| population_total = 1,325
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = 7.0
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| population_blank1_title = Percentage change (2016)
| population_blank1 = {{decrease}} 6.5%
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| population_blank2_title = Dwellings
| population_blank2 = 782
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| timezone1 = AST
| utc_offset1 = -4
| timezone1_DST = ADT
| utc_offset1_DST = -3
| postal_code_type = Postal code
| postal_code = E8G
| area_code_type = Area code
| area_code = 506
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| blank_name_sec1 = Highways
| blank_info_sec1 = {{plainlist|
- {{jct|state=NB|NB|11}}
- {{jct|state=NB|NB|134}}
}}
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| website = {{URL|belledune.com}}
}}
Belledune is a port village in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It has a population of 1,325, and straddles the boundary between Restigouche County and Gloucester County, New Brunswick.
The community of Belledune was created through the amalgamation of Jacquet River, Armstrong Brook, and Belledune in 1994. The community dubbed itself a "Supervillage" after this amalgamation. Belledune's population meets the requirements as a "Town" under the Municipalities Act of the Province of New Brunswick, but it has not requested a change in municipal status and therefore remains as a village.
Belledune is one of the few municipalities not significantly affected by the province's 2023 local governance reforms.
History
{{See also|History of New Brunswick|List of historic places in Gloucester County, New Brunswick}}
The village, "Big Dune", was first settled by François Guittard (middle name: Joseph) around 1815, with a land grant approval in 1825 for two lots of land of 200 acres each.[http://archives.gnb.ca/Exhibits/ArchivalPortfolio/Details.aspx?culture=en-CA&ImageID=RS108-Guittard,-F-1of3 gnb.ca: "Provincial Archives of New Brunswick - RS108-Guittard,-F | Land Petitions: Original Series"]
Guittard was born in Fauxbourg, St. Antoine, France, around 1774, and after fighting in Napoleon's army, in 1801, he defected to the British Army. Guittard worked as a navigator, and helped map the New Brunswick coastline with the British military.
Guittard and his wife Marie LeFilatre emigrated to Canada, and after a brief settling in Rivière-Ouelle, Quebec, they resettled in New Brunswick, where the promise of a land grant became a possibility.
Settlers from the Miramichi Valley moved towards Belledune after the 1825 Great Miramichi Fire.
Politics
Economy
Belledune underwent unprecedented development during the 1960s when under the premiership of Louis Robichaud a major regional port was built to service various industries on the north shore of New Brunswick.
The first major industrial projects at the port included in 1966 a lead and zinc smelter, formerly Brunswick Mining and Smelting Corporation, but now owned by Glencore with a nominal production of 120,000 tonnes per year.[http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/brunswick-smelter-union-reach-agreement-1.2737707 cbc.ca: "Brunswick Smelter, union reach agreement"], 15 Aug 2014[http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/elg/environment/content/air_quality/clean_air/approvals/class_1_approvals/7107.html gnb.ca: "Xstrata Canada Corporation - Brunswick Smelter - Class 1 Air Quality Approval"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083301/http://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/elg/environment/content/air_quality/clean_air/approvals/class_1_approvals/7107.html |date=May 18, 2015 }}[http://www.ic.gc.ca/app/ccc/srch/nvgt.do?prtl=1&estblmntNo=123456271634&profile=cmpltPrfl&profileId=2052&app=sold&lang=eng ic.gc.ca: " Brunswick Smelter a Glencore Company "] built in support of the lead and zinc mines opened south of Bathurst during the 1950s in the Bathurst Mining Camp. A $30 million venture at the time, the smelter has managed to extract silver from its imported silver lead concentrates, and in 2011 produced 400mt of pure silver valued at 448M$; the company proposes to increase its silver production to 700mt.[http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/env/pdf/Air-Lair/Class-Categorie1/XstrataBelleduneFacilityProfile.pdf gnb.ca: "FACILITY MODIFICATION - SILVER REFINERY OPTIMIZATION PROJECT"]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} (Department of Environment Impact Management Branch) August 2011 The current permit to operate is file number I-7107.[http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/env/pdf/Air-Lair/Class-Categorie1/XstrataBelleduneCurrentApproval.pdf gnb.ca: "Approval to Operate I-7107 - XSTRATA CANADA CORPORATION for the operation of the Belledune Lead Smelter and Bulk Handling Facility"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518083502/http://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/env/pdf/Air-Lair/Class-Categorie1/XstrataBelleduneCurrentApproval.pdf |date=May 18, 2015 }}
NB Power opened the Belledune Generating Station, a coal-fired thermal generating station, at the port in 1993.{{Cite news |last=Poitras |first=Jacques |date=August 20, 2018 |title=Countdown to obsolescence: A look inside the Belledune coal-fired plant |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/future-belledune-power-plant-1.4789524 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116000809/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/future-belledune-power-plant-1.4789524 |archive-date=November 16, 2019 |access-date=June 30, 2023 |work=CBC News |language=en}}
The announcement of the closure of the Glencore smelter was issued in late 2019. At that time, the company workforce was on strike. The site decommissioning will continue to 2028.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Belledune had a population of {{val|1325|fmt=commas}} living in {{val|688|fmt=commas}} of its {{val|782|fmt=commas}} total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:1325-1417}}|1417|1}} from its 2016 population of {{val|1417|fmt=commas}}. With a land area of {{convert|189.18|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|1325|189.18|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.{{cite web | url=https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=9810000203&geocode=A000213 | title=Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), New Brunswick | publisher=Statistics Canada | date=February 9, 2022 | access-date=February 21, 2022}}
{{Canada census
|location = Belledune
|2021_population=1,325 | 2021_pop_delta=-6.5 | 2021_land_area=189.18 | 2021_pop_density=7
|2021_median_age=59.2 | 2021_median_age_m=58.4 | 2021_median_age_f=59.6
|2021_total_pvt_dwell=782 |2021_occ_pvt_dwell=688 |2021_mean_hh_income=48,400
|2021_geocode=2021A00051314025 | 2021_access_date=2023-10-19
|2011_population=1,548 |2011_pop_delta=-9.5 |2011_land_area=189.33 |2011_pop_density=8.2
|2011_median_age=53.2 |2011_median_age_m=53.1 |2011_median_age_f=53.2
|2011_total_pvt_dwell=851 |2011_mean_hh_income=40,129 |2011_access_date=2014-04-01
|2006_population=1,711 | 2006_pop_delta=-11.0 | 2006_land_area=189.03 | 2006_pop_density=9.1
|2006_median_age=47.6 | 2006_median_age_m=47.6 | 2006_median_age_f=47.6
|2006_total_pvt_dwell=863 | 2006_mean_hh_income=32,726 | 2006_access_date=2014-04-01
|2001_population=1,923 | 2001_pop_delta=-6.7 | 2001_land_area=189.03 | 2001_pop_density=10.2
|2001_median_age=43.3 | 2001_median_age_m=43.5 | 2001_median_age_f=43.2
|2001_total_pvt_dwell=909 |2001_mean_hh_income=33,849 | 2001_access_date=2014-04-01
|notes=
}}
{{Historical populations
| title = Historical Census Data - Belledune, New BrunswickStatistics Canada: 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 census
| percentages =
| shading = off
| align = none
| cols = 3
| 1991 |2087
| 1996 |2060
| 2001 |1923
| 2006 |1711
| 2011 |1548
| 2016 |1417
| 2021 |1325
| footnote =
}}
= Language =
Notable people
{{Main|List of people from Gloucester County, New Brunswick}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.belledune.com Official website]
{{Geographic Location (8-way)
| Centre = Belledune
| North = Baie des Chaleurs
| Northeast =
| East =
| Southeast =
| South = Pointe-Verte
| Southwest =
| West =
| Northwest = Charlo
}}
{{Subdivisions of New Brunswick|villages=yes|state=expanded}}
{{Coord|47|54||N|65|49||W|display=title}}