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As with all coastal regions, the Magdalen Islands is suffering from the almost constant buffering of the wind and the waves from off the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Unlike most places though, the islands is mostly made of of sand and compressed sandstone, of which neither is of much protection against the elements of nature.
There are two types of erosions going on around the islands. First of capes…,
With all the fractured cracks in the capes, it is only time before some of it breaks off and falls into the sea. This is a natural phenomena that is ripping our little paradise apart. Sea Cow Path, one such sector of Old Harry, has been a constant design flaw for the population. It has been eroded as far as the main road. In the 70’s, the government considered expropriating land to move the road closer to the lagoon side of the island.
The people became desperate and tossed old unused automobiles into the hole. Finally the government decided to put the money into building the hole up with granite, probably taken from East Cape Mountain. The cost of the reparations, not counting the exorbitant monetary value was the loss of much of the beautiful East Cape. Huge scars gape out at the sky and will never be repaired.
And second of the beaches and sand dunes…,
This past January, the islands was hit by 100 km winds from the southeast and extreme high tides the same day. The wave action ripped into the Martinique area, reaching the main road and chewing much of the capes upon which there are several cottages.
During the same storm, the cape broke at Entry Island, dumping garbage into the sea from the vestiges of an old dump from years past. The cape is next to the harbour and it is feared that the wash will come around and take the harbour out someday. This fear is not considered a priority at this point but the dump is and the municipality is taking measures to clear the dump before any more of the wood, plastic, and scrap metal get thrown to the sea.
The worst fear appears to come from the north west winds though. The north beach is the sole means of commuting between the islands. Should the beach be eroded it could conceivably take the main and only road network with it. According to experts on the subject, the north dunes have lost 10 to 15 meters of shoreline in the area since the 1950’s, when the road was originally made.
This seems to have put the fear of God into the mayor of the largest island municipality, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Joel Arseneau. He appears convinced that the Magdalen Islands will be split into separate islands within a few years if measures are not taken now to prevent nature from taking over.
Financially speaking, it would cost millions of dollars to replace this road. It would probably be cheaper to bring the old Lovat back into service and she, I believe has been dismantled for scrap metal many years ago.
Trying not to be an alarmist, Mr. Arseneau has already asked the province to include the islands on the list of areas at risk for urgent investments.
The aerial link between the regional airports in Mont-Joli and on the Magdalen Islands which had been interrupted in June 2009, may start up again this winter.
The aerial link that was created in October of 2008 was interrupted because there were insufficient numbers of passengers using the option. Exact Air needed at least five passengers per flight to make the service profitable. The average flight carried only three passengers.
The director of the Intermunicipal Regie for Regional airports, Carole Duval, believed that the flights could return early in 2110, because the subsidy from the Minister of Transport, not been completely used up. According to Mrs Duval, there were little things needed to obtain the equilibrium. It will be necessary to look for other clientele in addition to those they have. They are considering the institutional networks might help a little there.
Within the group of flights, aerial traffic has been stable in 2009, notably thanks to Pascan Aviation, Mrs Duval said. The liaison of Saint-Hubert, Québec, Mont-Joli, and Sept-Îles, Pascan Aviation worked well. The aviation company used their 16 passenger Jetstream in the place of the 9 passenger Pilatus.
A feasibility study on lengthening of the runway will be accomplished over the course of the next year.
The president of the Regie, Gilbert Pigion, believes that it will help in pursuing the financial research. “When we will have the correct numbers, we will adjust the report for the program that we have presented, and we will also see to making other requests for other programs which also exist.”
The Intermunicipal Regie wishes to accomplish this project, which is evaluated at a little over one million dollars, without the financial contribution of the municipalities of the region.
 Captain Wayne Dickson of Entry Island Captain Wayne Dickson of Entry Island has received the medal of public-spiritedness at the National Assembly of Quebec, on Monday, November 9th, 2009, in regard to his actions during the tragedy of the Acadien II, on March 29, 2008.
The Islander Captain and his crew had taken part in rescuing the seal hunters during the shipwreck of the Acadien II. The boat had capsized in the ice while it was being towed of the Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker, Sir William Alexander. Wayne Dickson and his crew had saved two Madelinots from the icy waters. Four other members of the crew had died in the tragedy.
Captain Dickson was said to be visibly touched during the ceremony.
On November 21, 2009, t he survivors and the families of the four seal hunters, who were lost during the shipwreck of the Acadien II, in March of 2008, have petitioned for 2.7 million dollars from the Canadian Coast Guard and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, [in damages].
Their petition as been handed to the Federal Court and Radio-Canada obtaining a copy, related the activities during the dramatic night, on March 29, 2008. The petition contains a number of reproaches addressed to the Canadian Coast Guard regarding the manner which they had treated the towing of the Acadien II, the manner which they had executed the maneuvers and its general behaviour in regard to this dossier.
“During the time when the boat, the Acadien II, was being towed by the Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker, the Sir William Alexander, no one had met prior to removing the crew of the ship. As a consequence, when the boat had capsized, a catastrophe followed,” the petition said.
In accordance with the requesting party, the arrangements for the towing between the ice-breaker Sir William Alexander and the Acadien II was made in English only, that the crew of the Madelinot ship was French and that only one officer of the Sir William Alexander spoke French fluently.
Four Madelinot hunters died during the shipwreck. One victim’s body has never been found and two others survived the tragedy. The survivors are Bruno-Pierre Bourque and Claude Deraspe.
Furthermore, the survivors and the families of the victims have petitioned that the appeal for the defense be held on the Magdalen Islands. Their lawyers consider that their requests cannot be ignored, under the circumstances.
This type of a petition is a first for the Federal Courts of Canada.
 Denis Lebel Support for tourism development in Grosse-Île
Grosse-Île, Quebec, October 27, 2009 – The Honourable Denis Lebel, Minister of State for Canada Economic Development, today announced that the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders has been awarded $133,540 in non-repayable funding under the Community Economic Diversification Initiative – Vitality to establish a tourism development plan for Grosse-Île.
Every summer, a growing number of visitors make their way to picturesque Grosse-Île, drawn by the site’s unique character, the tree-covered points jutting out into the ocean and the warm hospitality of the small English-speaking community’s 550 or so inhabitants. To accommodate this increase in tourist traffic to the archipelago, improvements need to be made to the area’s reception infrastructure and new activities developed to meet the demands and expectations of the market.
“The Government of Canada is today reaffirming its commitment to support communities that, through projects like this one, are taking their future in hand and furthering the reach and reputation of their region. Through this plan, the Council for Anglophone Magdalen Islanders is seeking to establish a framework for tourism initiatives on Grosse-Île and support local concerted efforts to develop the cruise industry by capitalizing on the many tourist attractions the area has to offer. The entire Îles-de-la-Madeleine economy, which depends heavily on the fishery industry, is sure to benefit from this diversification measure,” explained the Minister of State.
“Implementing the recommendations of this plan could result in the creation of seasonal employment and encourage more young Magdalen Islanders to remain in the region. This project is well in line with the strategy our government has put in place through Canada’s Economic Action Plan to support communities that, despite the current economic downturn, are stepping up their efforts to succeed. This project could lead to concrete business opportunities for the region and allow it to face the future with greater confidence and optimism,” Minister Lebel added.
Tourism is the second most important industry on the archipelago and a key development priority for Canada Economic Development’s Gaspésie and Îles-de-la-Madeleine business office. It is estimated that some $50 million in economic spinoffs is generated by the 52,000 or so tourists who visit the region every year.
For more on Canada’s Economic Action Plan, see www.actionplan.gc.ca.
At a press conference held on October 22, 2009, the representatives of the Regional Organization of Civil Security  and the Health and Social Services Agency of the Gaspesia and the Magdalen Islands presented the actions taken to counter the feared H1N1 pandemic by giving general information on the important vaccine campaign which will be progressively deployed in the region starting October 26th, 2009.
The region will receive, in a gradual manner at regular intervals, sufficient quantities of doses of the vaccine to counter the struggle against the H1N1 virus. The first people who will receive the vaccine will be the health workers and some priority clients, such as women who are pregnant, children from six months to five years of age, and people under 65 years who are chronically ill.
In that this concerns vaccinations destined to the population, the region has identified seventeen vaccination sites in each of the territories with health and social services centers of hundreds of people at the same time since, in certain places, a thousand persons per day can be vaccinated. The agency indicated that it will have sufficient vaccinations for the entire population.
A vaccination exercise similar to this was unveiled in the region in 2006 and justly aimed at the preparation for an eventual pandemic. This type of operation necessarily mobilizes the numerous care resources of the health and social service centers of the regions with five hundred people at each of the vaccination sites.
The vaccination is considered the best means of effectively countering the grippe and is one of the more secure and efficient measures of prevention in the history of modern medicine.
The agency reminds everyone that the vaccination is voluntary. Each health and social service center is responsible of informing the residents of their territory about the vaccination logistics. The population is asked to watch the local medias for messages concerning the public interest which will be broadcast over the next few days.
It is possible to obtain all the information linked with the vaccination at the website – www.pandemiequebec.gouv.qc.ca
Starting Saturday, October 24th, 2009, the schedules and vaccination sites will be available in the section “In My Region – Gaspesie-Iles-de-la-Madeleine” at the government website.
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