Saint-Leonard, Quebec

Saint-Leonard
Borough of Montreal
Saint-Léonard (French)
Saint-Léonard church on Rue Jarry.

Logo

Saint-Leonard's location in Montreal
Coordinates: 45°35′09″N 73°35′46″W / 45.58583°N 73.59611°W / 45.58583; -73.59611
Country  Canada
Province  Quebec
City Montreal
Region Montréal
Merge into
Montreal		 January 1, 2002
Electoral Districts
Federal
Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel
Provincial Jeanne-Mance–Viger
Government[1][2][3]
 • Type Borough
 • Mayor Michel Bissonnet (EDC)
 • Federal MP(s) Nicola Di Iorio (LPC)
 • Quebec MNA(s) Filomena Rotiroti (PLQ)
Area[4]
 • Land 13.51 km2 (5.22 sq mi)
Population (2011)[4][5]
 • Total 75,707
 • Density 5,603.8/km2 (14,514/sq mi)
 • Change (2006-11) Increase5.5%
 • Dwellings(2006) 31,105
Time zone UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC−4 (EDT)
Area code(s) Area code 514/438
Access Routes[6] A-40 (TCH)
Website www.ville.montreal.qc.ca/st-leonard

Saint-Leonard (/ˈliːoʊnɑːrd/ LEE-oh-nard; French: Saint-Léonard [sɛ̃ leonaʁ]) is a borough (arrondissement) of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Formerly a separate city,[7] it was amalgamated into the city of Montreal in 2002. The former city was originally called Saint-Léonard de Port Maurice after Leonard of Port Maurice, an Italian saint.

History

The parish of Saint-Léonard-de-Port-Maurice was founded in April 1886 and eventually became the City of Saint-Léonard-de-Port-Maurice on March 5, 1915.

Italian-Canadian presence

The borough has one of the highest concentrations of Italian-Canadians in the city, along with Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP).[8] As such, it has surpassed Montreal's rapidly gentrifying Little Italy as the centre for Italian culture in the city, with numerous cultural institutions and commercial enterprises serving the city's second-most populous cultural community.[8] By necessity, many services are available in Italian, English and French (the Leonardo da Vinci Centre, for instance, offers cultural activities and events in the three languages). The borough is characterized by its spacious, wide-set semi-detached brick duplexes (and triplexes, four-plexes, and five-plexes — an architectural style unique to Montreal), backyard vegetable gardens, Italian bars (cafés), and pastry shops serving Italian-Canadian staples such as cannoli, sfogliatelle, lobster tails, and zeppole.[9] At some times of year, it is possible to observe seasonal Italian traditions like the making of wine, cheese, sausage, and tomato sauce in quantity. These activities bring extended families and neighbours together and often spill out into front driveways.

Demographics

Historical populations
YearPop.±%
196625,328—    
197152,035+105.4%
197678,452+50.8%
198179,429+1.2%
198675,947−4.4%
199173,120−3.7%
199671,327−2.5%
200169,604−2.4%
200671,730+3.1%
201175,707+5.5%
[10]
Home Language (2006)[4]
Language Population Percentage (%)
French 31,210 43.64%
English 17,180 24.02%
English and French 1,360 1.90%
Other languages 21,755 30.42%

Located in the East End of Montreal, Saint-Leonard was traditionally a rural francophone hamlet with under a thousand people until the mid-twentieth century. The town became increasingly developed and urban throughout the twentieth century, benefiting from the expansion of the City of Montreal and a massive wave of Italian immigration which enriched life in the area with numerous cafes and restaurants. Today it is one of the most diverse and multi-cultural neighbourhoods on the Island of Montreal.

Linguistic trend

Mother tongue language (2006)[4]
Language 1996 2001 2006
French 28,140 25,935 23,440
English 4,890 4,905 6,265
English and French 870 520 335
Other languages 37,425 38,155 41,480
Population 71,325 69,604 71,730

Sports and recreation

Typical housing in Saint-Leonard.

Aquatics

The Saint-Léonard Aquatic Complex (French: Complexe aquatique de Saint-Léonard) was built in 2006 and is home to three swimming pools: one recreational basin, one 25 meter deep pool and one acclimation basin that includes a turbo bath spa. There are also two saunas, one for women and one for men.

Skate parks

Skaters can skate safely in any one of the two skate parks located in the city of Saint Leonard. Admission to these parks is free, and they are open to the public May through October.

Cycling paths

Saint Leonard has 10 km of bike paths around the city, that connect various parks, pools and city structures.

Hockey

Saint Leonard has two hockey arenas, Aréna Martin Brodeur, located on 5300 boulevard Robert, and Aréna Roberto Luongo, located on 7755 Rue Colbert. These arenas host local games, and usually provide food, locker rooms, showers and public free-skating.

Saint Leonard also has many outdoor hockey rinks in the winter. There are seven rinks set up before winter, and then they are iced when the temperature is appropriate. There was a delay of rink making in 2007 when the weather was warmer than usual.

Soccer

Soccer is a very popular sport for the youth in Saint Leonard. Nearly every public park in has a soccer field open to the public.

Figure skating

Both Saint Leonard arenas are used by the figure skating community. Many Olympic and World Champions have trained here in different disciplines like singles, pairs, dance and synchronized skating.

Other activities

The city has a domed football stadium, Stade Hébert, which is home to the Saint-Léonard Cougars.

There are bocce courts located at almost every public park.

Saint Leonard contains an underground cavern located at Pie XII Park.

Park Basketball Soccer Bocce Sledding Fountain Playground Ice rink Pavilion Tennis Swimming pool Skate Park Baseball Shuffleboard Pétanque Spelunking
Coubertin Park x x x x x x x x x
Pie XII Park x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Ladauversiere Park x x x x x x x x x x
Wilfrid Bastien Park x x x x x x x x x x x
Delorme Park x x x x x x x x x
Ferland Park x x x x x x x x x x
Garibaldi Park
Pirandello Park

Education

Schools

Since the replacement of denominational (Catholic/Protestant) school boards with linguistic (French/English) ones, Saint-Leonard is served by two school boards. The French schools are part of the Commission scolaire Pointe-de-l'Ile while the English schools are part of the English Montreal School Board.

The French-language high school is École secondaire Antoine de St-Exupery.[11]

French-language primary schools:[12]

  • Alphonse-Pesant
  • Gabrielle-Roy
  • La Dauversière
  • Pie XII
  • Victor-Lavigne
  • Wilfrid-Bastien

English-language secondary schools:

English-language primary schools:

  • Dante School[15]
  • Pierre de Coubertin School[16]
  • Honoré Mercier School[17]
  • General Vanier School

Public libraries

Saint-Léonard Library

The borough the Saint-Léonard Library of the Montreal Public Libraries Network.[18]

Government

Borough council

Saint-Léonard is divided by Lacordaire Boulevard into two city council districts, Saint-Léonard-Est and Saint-Léonard-Ouest. The borough elects a borough mayor, who also sits on Montreal City Council; each district elects one city councillor and one borough councillor. The borough mayor, city councillors, and borough councillors make up the borough council.

Following the November 5, 2017 Montreal municipal election, the composition of the borough council remained unchanged, and consists of the following councillors:

District Position Name   Party
— Borough mayor
City councillor		 Michel Bissonnet   Équipe Coderre
Saint-Léonard-Est City councillor Patricia Lattanzio   Équipe Coderre
Borough councillor Lili-Anne Tremblay   Équipe Coderre
Saint-Léonard-Ouest City councillor Dominic Perri   Équipe Coderre
Borough councillor Mario Battista   Équipe Coderre

Mayors

Includes mayors of the former city (1886–2001) and current borough (2002- ) of Saint-Leonard:

  • Louis Sicard (1886–1901)
  • Gustave Pépin (1901–1903)
  • Léon Léonard (1903–1905)
  • Jean-Baptiste Jodoin (1905–1906)
  • Joseph Léonard (1906–1907)
  • Louis D Roy (1907–1910)
  • Wilfrid Bastien (1910–1929)
  • Pascal Gagnon (1929–1935)
  • Philias Gagnon (1935–1939)
  • Alphonse D Pesant (1939–1957)
  • Antonio Dagenais (1957–1962)
  • Paul Émile Petit (1962–1967)
  • Leo Ouellet (1967–1974)
  • Jean Di Zazzo (1974–1978)
  • Michel Bissonnet (1978–1981)
  • Antonio di Ciocco (1981–1984)
  • Raymond Renaud (1984–1990)
  • Frank Zampino (1990–2008)
  • Michel Bissonnet (2008- )

Notable people and companies

St-Leonard is the birthplace of notable people such as Roberto Luongo, and Martin Brodeur.[19] Notable companies from St-Leonard include Saputo Inc.,[20] FSecur,[21] Lafrenaie,[22] and a few others.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ministère des Affaires Municipales et Régions: Saint-Léonard
  2. ↑ Parliament of Canada Federal Riding History: SAINT-LÉONARD--SAINT-MICHEL (Quebec)
  3. ↑ Chief Electoral Officer of Québec - 40th General Election Riding Results: JEANNE-MANCE-VIGER
  4. 1 2 3 4 2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Saint-Léonard, Quebec
  5. ↑ "Population totale en 2006 et en 2011 - Variation — Densité" (PDF). Canada 2011 Census (in French). Ville de Montréal. 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  6. ↑ Official Transport Quebec Road Map
  7. ↑ Canadian Politics, Riding by Riding Tony L. Hill - 2002 "The former city of Saint-Léonard was once a key centre for produce growing on Montreal Island, but it's now a middle-class suburb whose burgeoning industry ..."
  8. 1 2 Panoram Italia - Fun Facts about Montreal Italians!
  9. ↑ Panoram Italia - Spotlight on Montreal’s East End Italians
  10. ↑ "Profil sociodéographique: Arrondissement de Saint-Léonard" (PDF) (in French). Ville de Montréal. 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  11. ↑ "Secondaire Archived 2015-03-31 at Archive.is." Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île. Retrieved on December 8, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Primaire Archived 2015-03-31 at Archive.is." Commission scolaire de la Pointe-de-l'Île. Retrieved on December 8, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2014-12-07.
  14. ↑ http://www.emsb.qc.ca/johnpauli/contact.html
  15. ↑ http://www.danteschool.ca/
  16. ↑ http://www.emsb.qc.ca/pierredecoubertin/about.html
  17. ↑ http://www.emsb.qc.ca/honoremercier/
  18. ↑ "Les bibliothèques par arrondissement." Montreal Public Libraries Network. Retrieved on December 7, 2014.
  19. ↑ https://www.ctvnews.ca/luongo-joins-brodeur-at-arena-named-in-his-honour-1.427766
  20. ↑ http://www.saputo.com/en/Our-Company/History-Overview
  21. ↑ https://www.fsecur.com/en/contact-us/
  22. ↑ http://lesdeliceslafrenaie.com/about-us/

Coordinates: 45°35′09″N 73°35′46″W / 45.585848°N 73.596066°W / 45.585848; -73.596066

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