The Municipalité régionale de comté (MRC) d’Argenteuil is celebrating 40 years of regional government in 2023 and invited the public to a two-day open house at its heritage administration buildings in Lachute on Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28.
Visitors got a behind the scenes look inside the historic former courthouse building located at 430 Rue Grace and the former Lachute Canadian Pacific Railway Station at 540 Rue Berry. Inside, the well-preserved architecture was on display with guided tours delivered by historian Robert Simard and retired MRC d’Argenteuil Director-General Marc Carrière. Displays from each MRC department and their staff offered information and demonstrations of the functions and services of regional government.
The MRC d’Argenteuil took over as the regional government in 1983 for what was then 13 municipalities (Brownsburg, Calumet, Carillon, Chatham, Gore, Grenville Village, Grenville Township, Harrington, Lachute, Mille-Isles, St-André-d’Argenteuil Parish, St-André-Est, and Wentworth. The MRC replaced the former Argenteuil County government following the Québec government’s regional restructuring process in 1979. In 2000, mergers led to the reduction of municipalities in Argenteuil from 13 to nine.
The MRC d’Argenteuil is responsible for the oversight of regional land use planning, environmental sustainability, public housing, arts and culture, economic development, adapted and collective transportation, social development, and public security.
MRC d’Argenteuil open house photos by James Morgan
