The two entities that had agreed to find a new name for their grouping finally made their choice.

Bois-Joli. This is how entity 8 will soon be called, made up of the villages of Balmoral and Eel River Dundee, as well as the LSDs of Balmoral-Maltais (80%), Blair Athol and St-Maure.

This new name is intended as a tribute to the first resource that has been the basis of the socio-economic activities of these communities for more than two centuries (logging, timber trucking, mills, sawmills, etc.).

“We looked at what was being done elsewhere, while we were talking about bays, rivers, etc. So we asked ourselves the question: “we, what is our specificity? The forest imposed itself, because if there is something that surrounds us and that we take advantage of, that’s it!”, explains the mayor of Balmoral, Guy Chiasson.

As for several other communities across the province, the committee had launched an invitation to the population of the future amalgamated municipality to find a new name for it. In all, 24 submissions were received. The name Bois-Joli comes from this public process and was submitted anonymously.

Mr. Chiasson admits that the process of choosing the new name made him feel better about a few sleepless nights.

“We think it’s easy, but it’s quite the opposite. Will everyone like it? Certainly not, just as there were people who were dissatisfied with the choice of names for the Galion des Appalaches and Mosaïque du Nord schools. But these names are so entrenched today that you couldn’t imagine it being otherwise. I’m sure that’s what will happen very quickly with Bois-Joli,” he said.

His colleague, the Mayor of the Municipality of Eel River Dundee, Mario Pelletier, also believes that social acceptance will be there.

“The forest is really at the heart of the identity of our three communities. People will recognize themselves much more in this concept than in that of the river or the bay. I find that Bois-Joli is a unifying name and I am sincerely convinced that it is destined to go a long way,” said the mayor.

Several citizens of the communities concerned wanted to attend the unveiling of the name. Among these, Charles Bernard, who was at the helm of Balmoral for several terms. He said he was in agreement with the proposal.

“I find it a good name, it represents us well. What I also really like is that we chose a completely French-speaking name. Now, I understand that a name is important, but what is even more important is to articulate all this fusion, to manage to work as a team. This is the bulk of the work to come, ”explains the former mayor.

Note that Bois-Joli is also the name of an Acadian musical group. As a result, this is the second time – after Belle-Baie in the Chaleur region – that the arts have inspired a name within this process.

The municipality of Bois-Joli will have 4000 inhabitants and will have a tax base of 210 million.

Baie-des-Herons

The neighbor of Bois-Joli, entity 9 – namely Charlo, Dalhousie and a few neighboring DSLs -, has also chosen its new name: Baie-des-Hérons.

On Sunday, the transition committee had unveiled the two possibilities with which it was juggling, namely Pointe-des-Hérons and Baie-des-Hérons. In the end, the second won out.

On Wednesday evening, the transition committee met for a final roundtable and confirmed its selection.

The inspiration for this new one is a nod to this migratory bird as well as to the nearby presence of Île aux Hérons. It is also intended as a reference to the fact that the sector concerned is bordered by Baie des Chaleurs.

Since the unveiling, the criticisms have been rather virulent, on social media, but also during the meeting of the town council of Dalhousie. It is felt that neither of the two suggestions corresponded to the identity of Dalhousie and that they cause a conflict as well as a redundancy with Chaleur Bay.

Astonished by the extent of the dispute, the mayor of Dalhousie, Normand Pelletier had proposed, at the beginning of the week, to imitate the Chaleur region where the choice of the first name (Baie-Jolie-sur-Mer) had also sown controversy. before being removed. He wanted a report of the filing of the name and a return to the drawing board.

However, he has since changed his mind. On Wednesday, he voted in favor of the name, as did the other Dalhousie council representative on the committee.

“It was the frustration that spoke. I get carried away with all the dissent and comments, and I shouldn’t have. The committee did a good job with what it had in hand. I would have liked to receive more choices from the population, and at this stage I am satisfied with the result,” admitted the mayor.