Pouce Coupe, British Columbia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Pouce Coupe
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settlement_type = Village
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image_caption = Pouce Coupe town hall


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image_shield = Pouce Coupe BC logo.jpg
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dot_map_caption = Location of Pouce Coupe in British Columbia
dot_x = 119 |dot_y = 68
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subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = CAN
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = BC
subdivision_type2 = Regional District
subdivision_name2 = Peace River
subdivision_type3 =
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government_type =
leader_title = Mayor
leader_name = Barb Smith
leader_title1 = Governing Body
leader_name1 = Pouce Coupe Village Council
leader_title2 = MP
leader_name2 = Jay Hill
leader_title3 = MLA
leader_name3 = Blair Lekstrom
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established_title = Incorporated
established_date = 5 Jan 1932 (village)
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area_total_km2 = 2.06
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population_as_of = 2006
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population_total = 739
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timezone = Mountain standard
utc_offset = -7
timezone_DST = mountain standard
utc_offset_DST = -7
latd= 55|latm= 42|lats= 57|latNS=N
longd= 120|longm= 08|longs= 2|longEW=W
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 650
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postal_code_type = Postal code span
postal_code = V0C 2C0
area_code = +1-250
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footnotes = The Village of Pouce Coupe "(French for "cut- thumb")" is a small town in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Peace River Regional District. It was originally named 'Pouskapie's Prairie, after the name of the local native band chief. The 2.06 km² (0.80 mi²) municipality is home to 739 residents.Statistics Canada, [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5955005&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&Data=Count&SearchText=Pouce%20Coupe&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom= Community Highlights for Pouce Coupe] , "2006 Community Profiles", June 29 2007.]

The community was settled by European immigrant Hector Tremblay in 1898. Mr. Tremblay, being a French speaking individual, translated 'Pouskapie's Prairie' into the nearest French words of similar sound. Pouce Coupe is approximately 10 km (6 miles) southeast of Dawson Creek along Highway 2. It is approximately 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the Alberta border along Highway 2. The village is at an elevation of 655 metres (2168 ft) in the Peace River Country.

Pouce Coupe's main industries today are petroleum, agriculture, and tourism. Popular recreational activities in the area include cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, fishing, hiking, and hunting. The Village claims to be "The Pioneer Capital of the Peace Region". [South Peace Regional Profile, 61]

History

While there is debate regarding the origin of the name 'Pouce Coupe', the first known reference to it was in "McLeod's Fort Dunvegan Journal, 19806" which identified a Beaver Indian Chief named 'Pooscapee'. [MacGregor, J.C. "The Land of the Twelve Foot Davies".] The region became known as the Pouce Coupe Prairie, from which the river and village took their names. Permanent settlement began after the French-Canadian voyageurs Hector Tremblay and Joe Bissette left their group of prospectors from Kamloops during the Klondike Gold Rush and became the first settlers in the Pouce Coupe Prairie. [Tuck, 1-2] In 1898 Bissette built his cabin in the present day Pouce Coupe Regional Park at the confluence of Bissette Creek and Pouce Coupé River, but soon moved on to Dunvegan, Alberta. Tremblay, joined by his wife and children in 1908, built his cabin at the confluence of Dawson Creek and Pouce Coupé River. Tremblay used his cabin as a trading post for local aborinal tribe and resting place for the trickle of travellers that passed through. He also tried ranching cattle and helped cut trails south to Grande Prairie and north to Fort St. John. When the Dominion Government opened the Peace River Block for homesteading, the trails created an influx of settlers between 1912 and 1914. A community began to emerge around Tremblay's cabin as he ran a small store and post office aided inexperienced settlers. This community center moved in 1916 when the post office moved to Frank Haskin's general store and a bank opened nearby. [Tuck, 1-6]

After WWI homestead grants to returning soldiers created another wave of settlers and the community center moved to its present location in the early twenties when the post office and other businesses moved to a newly subdivided townsite on Charlie LeRoy's homestead. Until 1932 Pouce Coupe would be the service center for the region. [Tuck, 12] The federal government established an office in the emerging village in 1915 and provincial government followed in 1921. The first school opened in 1917, the Alberta Red Cross opened a hospital in 1921, and the Pouce Coupe Light and Power Co. was established in 1931. [*"The Pouce Coupe Story" in "Lure of the South Peace", pg 848-853.]

As Northern Alberta Railways was extending their rail lines westward, to Wembley, Alberta in 1924 and to Hythe, Alberta in 1928, it was expected that Pouce Coupe would be next in line. [http://www.calverley.ca/Part05-Dawson%20Creek/5-008.html The Choice of Terminal for the N.A.R..] Dorthea Calverley, 1983. URL accessed on xx December 2006.] However, as land prices rose and speculation increased, the company made a deal to build the next station near the smaller community of Dawson Creek. The first train went through Pouce Coupe and arrived in Dawson Creek in on January 15 1931. Despite the Great Depression and Dawson Creek's increasing dominance over the region as the westernmost rail connection, Pouce Coupe continued to grow, and incorporated as a village, as westward migration into the Peace River Country continued. ["The Pouce Coupe Story" in "Lure of the South Peace", pg 848-853.] The 1941 census recorded 251 people living in the village. In 1942 the population swelled, as the US Army unloaded thousands of men and construction material in nearby Dawson Creek to build the Alaska Highway. The highway was built and the US Army gone within a year but by 1951 the population that remained numbered 459 residents. The village was connected to drinking water and sewage system in 1950, and a natural gas in 1954. [Tuck, 25 and 28.] In large part because of the Women's Institute a library opened in 1951 and a new hospital in 1954. [Tuck, 19.] In the following decades the village would remain in the shadow of Dawson Creek as the provincial and federal government offices moved there in the 1970s. The population level fluctuated between 800 and 930 people since then with the peak occurring in 1996 at 928 people. [BC Stats, Municipal Census Populations, 1976–2006.] In 2007, a large boundary extension northward over agricultural land neary doubled the area of the village and brought its borders within metres of the City of Dawson Creek's.

Demographics

The 2001 Canadian census recorded 315 income-earners over the age of 15 residing in Pouce Coupe; of these, 110 worked full-time throughout the year. The village has both higher unemployment and poverty rates and lower participation rate than the provincial averages. The low participation rate reflects the relatively old population which consists of retired rural farmers and residents. Being a retirement destination, the two largest employers in Pouce Coupe in 2005 were two healthcare homes. [South Peace Regional Profile, 72] Industrial business is concentrated in the highway and oil & gas field construction and servicing. [South Peace Regional Profile, 72] Being only about 10 km from Dawson Creek's downtown and industrial park, residents commute to the larger city for employment, shopping and services. The 2001 Census estimated that only 3% of people in Pouce Coupe between 20 and 64 years old graduated from a university, a fraction of the 24% provincial average and 40% did not graduate from secondary school, double the provincial average.

The only school in the village is the Pouce Coupe Elementary School. It has the capacity for 450 students but the enrollment has decreased from 148 to 99 students between 2001 and 2006. [Dawson Creek Catholic Social Services (2005) [http://www.dawsoncreek.ca/news/documents/IntheNewsVol32005_000.pdf Pouce Coupe Elementary School] Dawson Creek: In the News. Vol. III. pg 14.] [CitySpaces Consulting Ltd. (May 2006). "Housing Consultations: Challenges and Opportunities in Northeast BC". Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Appendix A.] A study by the Fraser Institute found that the elementary school had one of the worst academic performances in the province in 2004. [Cowley, Peter, Stephen T. Easton, and The Fraser Institute (April 2005) [http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/admin/books/chapterfiles/70BCEEL05RANK.pdf# Ranking the schools] Report Card on British Columbia’s Elementary Schools — 2005 Edition. pg 123.] The village elects one school board trustee, for representation on School District 59. [School District 59 (British Columbia) [http://www.sd59.bc.ca/vpage.php?p=content+districtteams+boardoftrustees.html Board of School Trustees] , "School District 59 (Peace River South)". URL accessed April 18 2006.] Pouce Coupe students commute to South Peace Secondary School in Dawson Creek for high school education. Northern Lights College, also in Dawson Creek, is the closest post-secondary school.

Culture, recreation and media

Other than an annual Canada Day parade and festival, there are few cultural or recreational events within the village. No newspapers or television/radio stations operate within the village but the "Peace River Block Daily News" and CJDC-TV include Pouce Coupe in their coverage. The municipality operates the Pouce Coupe Municipal Library and two parks: Village Square and Harden Park. A volunteer historical society runs the Pouce Coupe & District Museum which is housed in old train station. With Dawson Creek so close, many Pouce Coupe residents use cultural and recreational facilities there. The South Peace Community Multiplex, located between the city and the village and partly funded by the village, will have, once opened in 2007, an aquatic centre with an olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor equestrian centre, and an indoor running track. [ [http://www.southpeacemultiplex.com/ South Peace Multiplex.] City of Dawson Creek. URL accessed on 4 January 2007.] The Peace River Regional District manages the Pouce Coupe Regional Park, on the southern border of the municipality, which has an amphitheatre and camping spots. Nearby provincial parks include the Sudeten Provincial Park, Swan Lake Provincial Park, and One Island Lake Provincial Park all to the south. Bear Mountain, to the west, has a downhill ski complex and an extensive trail system used for motorized and non-motorized recreation.

Government and politics

The Village of Pouce Coupe's council-manager form of municipal government is headed by a mayor (who also represents Pouce Coupe on the Peace River Regional District's governing board) and a four-member council; these positions are subject to at-large elections every three years. Current mayor, Barb Smith, was first elected in November 2005 defeating Sandy Hull who was acting-mayor following the death of Mayor Doyle McNabb in April 2005. [Rusack, Gary (8 April 2005) [http://www.calverley.ca/Part14-Pouce%20Coupe,%20etc/BN14-25.htm Pouce Coupe Mayor Dies] "Peace River Block News". URL accessed April 18 2006.] The village funds and administers a sewerage system, a volunteer fire department, a library, parks, a cemetery, street lights, and roads except the highway. [Village of Pouce Coupe (June 2007). [http://www.poucecoupe.ca/documents/ANNUALREPORTFOR2007_000.pdf ANNUAL REPORT 2007.] ]

Pouce Coupe is part of the Peace River South provincial electoral district, represented by Blair Lekstrom in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. In the 2001 provincial election, he was elected as the district's Member of the Legislative Assembly with 57% support from the city's polls [Elections BC (2001) [http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov01/pcs.pdf Peace River South Electoral District (pdf)] , "Statement of Votes, 2001". URL accessed April 18 2006.] and re-elected in 2005 with 50% support.Elections BC (2005) [http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov05/pcs.pdf Peace River South Electoral District (pdf)] , "Statement of Votes, 2005". URL accessed April 18 2006.] Before Lekstrom, Peace River South was represented by Jack Weisgerber. Weisgerber represented the riding between 1986 and 2001 as a member of the Social Credit Party of British Columbia, which made him Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources and Minister of Native Affairs before becoming party leader between 1992 and 1993. In 1996 as leader of the Reform Party of British Columbia, Weisgerber won re-election even though Pouce Coupe polls put him in third place behind the losing BC Liberal Party and New Democratic Party candidates. [Elections BC (1996) [http://www.elections.bc.ca/elections/sov96/va/sov96_pcs.htm Peace River South Electoral District] , "36th Provincial General Election - May 28, 1996", 5. URL accessed April 18 2006.]

Federally, Pouce Coupe is located in the Prince George—Peace River riding, represented in the Canadian House of Commons by Conservative Party Member of Parliament Jay Hill. Before Hill, who was first elected in 1993, the riding was represented by former Chetwynd mayor Frank Oberle of the Progressive Conservative Party who served as Minister of Science and Technology and later as Minister of Forestry.

References

External links

* [http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/explore/peace/cities/poucec.htm Pouce Coupe page] at the BC Adventure Network
* [http://www.calverley.ca/Part14-Pouce%20Coupe%2C%20etc/14-01.html Editorial letter regarding pronunciation and spelling] of the village's name
* [http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3658 Pouce Coupe page] at BritishColumbia.com
* [http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_28/i_28694.gifAerial photograph of Pouce Coupe] in 1967
* [http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/poucecoupebc.html Discover the Peace Country - Pouce Coupe]