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Les Cèdres is a municipality located north of the Saint Lawrence River in the Montérégie of Quebec, Canada, near Vaudreuil-Dorion.

Geography
Les Cèdres is located on the left bank of the St. Lawrence River, between, Lakes St. Francis and St. Louis on the peninsula of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, southwest of Vaudreuil-Dorion, east of Coteau-du-Lac and southeast of Saint-Clet and Saint-Lazare. Located about 40 km southwest of Montreal, it is a part of the Greater Montreal Area. The territory covers an area of 89km². The municipality is located in the valley of the St. Lawrence River and has a flat topography.

Urban Planning
The Soulanges Canal crosses the municipality, parallel to the St. Lawrence River. The Highway 20 (A-20) follows the river. As does the Highway 30 (A-30), connecting Vaudreuil-Soulanges to Beauharnois and to the Rive-Sud of Montreal by the Serge-Marcil Bridge. The municipality services river shuttle as public transportation of Les Cèdres-Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, allowing one to get to the Île aux Vaches.

History
The original name of the municipality Grandes Cèdres (cedar), is found at the foot of the rapids bordering the St. Lawrence River. In 1695, the cartographer, Deshayes, referred to it as Rapide du Costeau des Cèdres. Explorers from the New France were obligated to port at Les Cèdres because of its rapids. They called this place Coteau-des-Cèdres, Portage-du-Coteau-des-Cèdres or simply Les Cèdres. At or near the municipality of Les Cèdres you can also find the following entities: the peak, the flat, the dam, the hydropower plant, the post office, the residential sectors of Upper and Lower Cèdres, the street.

In 1702, the Seigneury of Soulanges was granted to Pierre-Jacques de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson, who died the following year. His wife, Marrie-Anne Bécart de Granville and their daughter, Marie-Geneviève Joybert de Soulanges, dedicated themselves to the development of the seigneury. In 1715, the early settlers established themselves on the territory that now corresponds to the Les Cèdres center.

In 1752, the parish of Saint-Joseph de Soulanges opened its registers. It covered the entire Suroît region, including the peninsula of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, as well as the Beauharnois seigneury.

Early in the American Revolutionary War, during the Continental Army’s invasion of Québec, Les Cèdres was an important fur trade location and was a strategic landing point. During the Battle of The Cedars in 1776, British Captain George Foster gathered British troops, Canadian militia and 200 Iroquois, and attacked the Americans in Les Cèdres. Two days later, the Americans surrendered and were taken in as prisoners.

In 1779, Captain William Twist decided to build a canal to bypass the rapids. He called these areas Cedar Rapids.

In 1838, Joseph Wattier, a local farmer and merchant, was arrested and tried, and his properties were burned by reason of supporting the Lower Canada Rebellion.

In the wake of the abolition of the seigneurial system and the establishment of parish municipalities in Lower Canada, in 1845, the parish of Saint-Joseph-de-Soulanges was formed. This parish was named in honour of Joseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil, the lord of Soulanges in 1768. In 1852, upon separating from the parish municipality, the village of Soulanges was formed. In 1867, the village changed its name to village des Cèdres.

In 1912, The Cedar Rapids Manufacturing and Power Company started construction on Les Cèdres' generating station, the largest hydropower facility in Quebec at the time. The hydroelectric plant began operating in 1915, and transmitting electricity along the Saint Lawrence River and to Massena (New York).

In 1985, the village des Cèdres and the parish of Saint-Joseph-de-Soulanges merged to form the current municipality, Les Cèdres, whose name was taken from the former municipality, village des Cèdres. Between 1985 and 1987, the mayors of the two former municipalities co-governed the new municipality.

Highway 30 and the Serge-Marcil bridge were opened to motorists in December 2012.

Finding it difficult to assure the financial sustainability of the Base de plein air des Cèdres and since only 10% of the base users were from Les Cèdres, the municipality made an agreement with Saint-Lazare, a neighbouring municipality, to transfer the property and territory of the Base de plein air to the city of Saint-Lazare.

Administration
The coat of arms "depicts Les Cèdres, the birthplace of the Soulanges county which is known for its rapids, the Saint-Laurent river and agricultural bounty of the parish. It emphasizes the protection of the patron Saint Joseph, this figure who grows as the Lebanese cedar, evokes memories of the fort, the manorial mill, the two Cageux cedars and hydroelectric power. It also brings to mind the memory of the first two founding families, the Joybert of Soulanges and the Lemoyne of Longueuil, brave pioneers who transformed a forest into sheaves of wheat."

Election are held by blocks and districts, which means the municipal council is elected at the same time and advisers in the municipality represent specific geographic locals 2. The municipality has a sustainable development plan and a family oriented policy that govern its actions 15.

Election are held by block and district meaning that the municipal council is elected at the same time and that advisers represent specific geographic locals of the municipality. The municipality has a sustainable development plan and a family oriented policy that govern its actions. The City Council works within various committees including finance, administration and human resources, environmental safety, roads and public works, public safety, leisure, culture and outdoor recreation, city planning and naming, collective agreement and employment contracts, the inter-municipal board of the Soulanges Canal and the agricultural committee.

Following the 2013 election, Raymond Larouche became the new mayor with 60.3% of votes ahead of former mayor Géraldine T. Quesnel who had been in power since 2002. 53.7% of all eligible voters participated in the election.

List of predecessors: Time period Name 1985-1987 Jean-Paul Séguin et Armand Levac 1987-1994 Armand Levac 1994-2001 Lucien Daoust 2001-2013 Géraldine T. Quesnel 2013-present Raymond Larouche Municipal Council Members: 2009-2013   		                            2013-2017 Mayor Géraldine T. Quesnel Raymond Larouche 1st District Thérèse Lemelin Thérèse Lemelin 2nd District Serge Clément Serge Clément 3rd District Lyse Thauvette Aline Trudel 4th District Sarah-Claude Racicot Karine Tessier 5th District René Levac Yves Daoust 6th District Jacques Bouchard Maxime Pratte On the multi-level governance spectrum, the Cèdres town council is a member of the regional municipality of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges county and corollary with the regional conference of the Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent elected officials. It is also member of the territory of the metropolitan community of Montreal. The local population is represented at the Quebec National Assembly by the Soulanges district deputy and by the Vaudreuil-Soulanges district deputy at the House of Commons of Canada.

Economy
The Longprés farm produces organic sunflower seed oil under the brand "Huile d'Amériques." The oil is one of the ingredients used for the "Chez-nous" soap brand, which is made in Saint-Lazare.

Culture
The old hydroelectric power plant of the Soulanges Canal, inaugurated in 1899 is still called the Petit pouvoir to this day. It remained operational until the emergence of the Saint-Laurent seaway in 1959. The original power plant is classified as a historical monument by the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications and is now the property of Quebec's Transportation Ministry. The Saint-Joseph-de-Soulanges church, built in 1881 according to Victor Bourgeau's blueprints, is classified as having superior architecture. Apart from these buildings, several heritage houses of various architectural styles can still be found in Les Cèdres : the Lalonde-Madore (1774), Charay (1793), Ménard (1835), Francois Massiçote houses (1837), A-M. Bissonnette’s general store, the canal’s storehouse, the Boomtown (1860), Baillargé (1871) houses, the Sacré-Coeur monument (1888), the Leroux bakery (1888), the Bissonnette-Leroux, Lafrance (1895) houses, the Ouimet castle (1900), the Montpetit boutique (1901), architect Joseph Venne’s rectory (1908) and the Chartrand house (1913). The recreation & cultural centre located in the heart of the village of Les Cèdres includes the Gaby-Farmer-Denis library, which was opened by the municipality 2012’.

Visual artist Séguin Poirier, painter and sculptor Manon Côté, stained glass artist Mireille Ménard and photography artist Lilianne Pilon all live in Les Cèdres. The Diodati farm is a manufacturer of Montefino, a goat cheese made fresh or marinated in olive oil with herbs, whose name derives from Montefino, a town in Abruzzo, Italy. (Prix du public 2002, Concours des fromages fins du Québec) Community Saint-Joseph-de-Soulanges is the municipality’s Catholic parish. Les Cèdres’ base de plein air, or outdoor recreation center, built in a pine forest in 1979 and operated by the municipality between 1999 and 2014, boasts 29km of cross-country ski and 2,7 km of snowshoe trails. Under the terms of agreement of property transfer to the town of Saint-Lazare, citizens of Les Cèdres have access to the center, free of charge, from 2014 to 2039. The base de plein air also offers summertime activities and theme parks, such as Shérifville. In 2013, the municipality organized water games and set up four tennis courts in the recreation & cultural centre. Known persons from Les Cèdres include, amongst others : ·        Seigneur Joseph-Dominique-Emmanuel Le Moyne de Longueuil (1738-1807) ·         François-Xavier Prieur (1814-), patriot ·        Joseph Wattier –nicknamed Lanoue-, patriot