Matane

Matane is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality.

In addition to Matane itself, the town's territory also includes the communities of Petit-Matane and Saint-Luc-de-Matane.

There is a ferry service which crosses the river to Baie-Comeau and Godbout on the north shore as well as a rail ferry service to Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles.

Etymology

The name Matane was first assigned to the river by Samuel de Champlain as "Mantanne" in 1603. Its meaning is open to different interpretations, with the most common one being that it comes from the Mi'kmaq word mtctan meaning "beaver pond", since the region had an abundant beaver population. It could also come a Maliseet word for "spinal cord", referring to the course of the Matane River; or from the word Mattawa/Matawin, meaning "meeting of the waters". Finally, it could be an abbreviation of the word matandipives, meaning "shipwreck".

Matane (provincial electoral district)

Matane is a former provincial electoral district in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions of Quebec, Canada, that elected members to the National Assembly of Quebec.

It was created for the 1890 election from parts of Rimouski. Its final election was in 2008. It disappeared in the 2012 election and its successor electoral districts were Matane-Matapédia and Gaspé.

Geography

It is located at the western end of the Gaspé Peninsula, along the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River.

It consists of the municipalities of:

It also consists of the unorganized territories of:

Linguistic demographics

Matane (electoral district)

Matane was a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1935, and from 1968 to 1979.

This riding was created in 1914 from parts of Rimouski riding. It consisted of the part of the county of Rimouski east of the Métis River excluding the part of the parish of St. Angèle de Mérici east of the Métis River. In 1924, It was redefined to consist of the Counties of Matane and Matapédia.

The electoral district was abolished in 1933 when it was redistributed between Gaspé and Matapédia—Matane ridings.

It was recreated in 1966 from parts of those two ridings. The new riding consisted of: