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49-679: The Westmount Rugby Football Club is a Canadian rugby club based in Westmount , Quebec . Despite McGill University having a team in 1874, Westmount, which claims to have been established in 1876, is the oldest independent (as opposed to college-affiliated) rugby club in North America. Under the title of Montreal Football Club, the club played its matches at the McGill University grounds. The club gathered for social matches and occasions, and never really grew in size until it associated itself with

98-580: A First Nations presence 4000 to 5000 years ago. A large amount of prehistoric burial sites were found within the area of Westmount. The Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee (Iriquois) peoples have historically inhabited the Island of Montreal as well as much of Quebec. When the first French colonists settled in the area in the middle of the seventeenth century, this area was known by several names including La Petite Montagne, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce and Côte-Saint-Antoine. A former farmhouse from this era, Hurtubise House ,

147-697: A supplementary Japanese school serving Japanese nationals and Japanese Canadians in the Montreal area, previously held classes at the Westmount Park School in Westmount. Westmount is twinned with: Musicians Leonard Cohen and Sam Roberts were born in Westmount, as was the actress and comedian Caroline Rhea . The city is currently home to many notable Montrealers, including the federal MP and former astronaut Marc Garneau . Canadian-American MMA journalist Ariel Helwani grew up in Westmount and attended

196-486: A change of -3.2% from its 2016 population of 20,312 . With a land area of 4.04 km (1.56 sq mi), it had a population density of 4,865.8/km (12,602.5/sq mi) in 2021. StatsCan lists the median after-tax income in 2015 as $ 41,674. The three largest occupation categories were management, business, and "education, law and social, community and government services"; each of these sectors employed about 20% of Westmount workers. Since regaining its status as

245-431: A city, Westmount is governed by a City Council made up of a mayor and eight "district" councillors. The current mayor of Westmount is Christina Smith, who was elected interim mayor at a special council meeting on April 24, 2017, following the retirement of long-serving Mayor Peter Trent . Smith later went on to win an election November 5, 2017 to remain mayor. She retained her position in 2021, being acclaimed. In addition to

294-490: A large greenhouse are located on the north side. Westmount Park United Church is adjacent to the park to the west. According to the Office québécois de la langue française , Westmount has been officially recognized as a bilingual municipality since 2 November 2005. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Westmount had a population of 19,658 living in 8,591 of its 9,423 total private dwellings,

343-546: A series of mystery novels starring an anglophone Westmount lawyer, most of which were set in Westmount. [REDACTED] Media related to Westmount, Quebec at Wikimedia Commons Rugby Quebec The Fédération de Rugby du Québec origins are hard to trace for two reasons. First, rugby union in Canada converged with and then later split from the game of Canadian football, often with rugby football unions representing both games, thus making an exact history hard to establish. Second,

392-504: A small city dotted with many green spaces. Architect Robert Findlay , a resident in the early twentieth century, designed many municipal buildings in the city, including the library, Westmount City Hall and several other buildings of public order. In the twentieth century, Westmount was home to some of Montreal's wealthiest families including the Bronfmans and the Molsons . This made the city

441-479: A symbolic target of Front de libération du Québec terrorist bombings in the 1960s, culminating in the 1970 October Crisis . Following the death of former Quebec Premier René Lévesque in 1987, the city of Montreal renamed Dorchester Boulevard René Lévesque Boulevard . After the city of Montreal changed the name, Westmount retained the name of Dorchester on their portion, as did Montréal-Est . In 2001, while trying to prevent Westmount from being amalgamated into

490-495: A “Scottish-only” policy by turning away many non-Scottish players. These “exiled” players eventually formed local clubs such as The Montreal Wanderers Rugby Football Club and The Montreal Barbarians Rugby Club. Soon after, noting that this “Scottish-only” policy was not sustainable, the club policy became open to all players of all backgrounds, and the club name changed to the Westmount Rugby Football Club, named after

539-419: Is also the location of two Canadian Forces Primary Reserve units: The Royal Montreal Regiment and 34th Signals Regiment. Traditionally, the community of Westmount has been a wealthy and predominantly anglophone enclave, having been at one point the richest community in Canada. It is still the most affluent neighbourhood in Canada outside of Toronto , Vancouver , and Calgary . There are indications of

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588-594: Is home to the Westmount Lynx Lacrosse Club, which has field lacrosse teams for boys and girls aged 8–16. Westmount is also home of the oldest active rugby club in North America, the Westmount Rugby Club . In addition, the city's swim team, the Westmount Dolphins, won the 2007 Section B Alps finals. Tennis star Eugenie Bouchard grew up in Westmount. The city is home to two CEGEPs :

637-536: Is significant for introducing the first French Immersion Program on the Island of Montreal in 1968. Westmount is also home to several private schools, including coeducational St. George's School of Montreal as well as Miss Edgar's and Miss Cramp's School , The Study and the French-language Villa Sainte-Marcelline for girls and Selwyn House School for boys. The Montreal Hoshuko School ,

686-462: Is the oldest house still standing in Westmount. The Village of Côte St-Antoine was first incorporated in 1874. It later became the Town of Côte St-Antoine. It was renamed Westmount, in 1895, reflecting the geographical location of the city on the southwest slope of Mount Royal and the presence of a large English-speaking population. During the twentieth century, Westmount became a wealthy Montreal suburb;

735-406: Is the second largest in Westmount. The landscaping design was undertaken in 1912 by M.J. Manning, and comprises large playing fields at the east and south sides, and Westmount Arena and adjacent swimming pool at the southwest corner. The central area contains an extensive playground, footpaths, ponds and wading pools, and tennis courts. Westmount Public Library , built in 1897, Victoria Hall , and

784-545: The Atwater metro station. There are several parks within the city, including Westmount Park and King George Park (also known as Murray Hill). Summit Woods , a popular urban forest and dog run, is located within Summit Circle. Located between Sherbrooke Street and De Maisonneuve Boulevard to the north and south, and Melville and Lansdowne Avenue to the east and west, this 1,141,002 sq ft (106,002.6 m ) park

833-705: The B Division Cup and the Des O'Neill Trophy . As leagues in Montréal and the St. Lawrence Rugger and Cricket Association were formed, the first cohort of modern clubs was founded. The union began to expand in the 1970s and 1980s, with its first wave of new clubs. Additionally, for a good part of the 1970s several Ottawa based rugby teams regularly completed in the QRU, including the Ottawa Indians, Ottawa Irish, Ottawa Beavers, Ottawa Scottish and

882-603: The Westmount Square complex, which was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and funded largely by Westmount resident Samuel Bronfman , the founder of the Seagram liquor empire. There are several small commercial districts on Sherbrooke Street from the city's western boundary to the intersection of Sherbrooke Street and Victoria Avenue (" Victoria Village "), on Saint Catherine Street across from Place Alexis Nihon , on Greene Avenue and on De Maisonneuve Boulevard near

931-469: The downtown core . Nevertheless, it remains part of the urban agglomeration of Montreal and the bulk of its municipal taxes go to the Agglomeration Council, which oversees activities common to all municipalities on the Island of Montreal (e.g. police, fire protection, public transit) even after the demerger. The city is roughly 4 km (1.5 sq mi), and occupies an area of land on

980-589: The 1950s that were not associated with the Québec Rugby Union. This changed in the later 1960s and in the late 1970s the union officially changed its name to the Fédération de Rugby du Québec. The FRQ has many differing levels and types of competition. There are two predominate competitions that have the longest historical record. The first is the Premier Championship Cup , which is awarded annually to

1029-523: The Akiva School. United States Vice President Kamala Harris lived for part of her youth in the area, and attended Westmount High School . Westmount has been the setting for a number of novels. Gwethalyn Graham 's World War II novel Earth and High Heaven told the story of a romance between a wealthy English girl from Westmount and a Jewish lawyer from Northern Ontario. David Montrose' 1950s hard-boiled detective novel, The Crime on Cote des Neiges ,

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1078-541: The B Division of the Rugby Quebec , winning the C division championship in 2011. The home field is Westmount Park field, in Westmount. It currently has one competitive men's team, one social men's team, one women's competitive/social team, a juniors program and a minis program. In 2016 the women's team had an undefeated season and won the Development Division Championship. In 2017 they were promoted to

1127-713: The Deep River Blues. Of particular importance was the entry of the Club de rugby Parc olympique into the FRQ, as it was the first primarily francophone team in the federation. The FRQ experienced substantial growth in the past two decades, and has added many new clubs, especially because rugby now enjoys a much greater popularity in French language school boards. Two teams, the Chateauguay Hammerheads and Hudson Highlanders , played at

1176-568: The FRQ league. Westmount, Quebec Westmount is an affluent municipality on the Island of Montreal , in southwestern Quebec , Canada. It is an enclave of the city of Montreal , with a population of 19,658 as of the 2021 Canadian census . Westmount is home to schools, an arena, a pool, a public library and a number of parks, including Westmount Park , King George Park (also known as Murray Hill Park) and Westmount Summit . The city operates its own electricity distribution company Westmount Light & Power (Hydro-Westmount ). The city

1225-552: The Fédération de Rugby du Québec has not put a great emphasis on maintaining detailed historical records. This has led to gaps in its administrative and competition history and the lost information may never be known. The Westmount Rugby Club traces its roots back to 1876 or 1878, and some sort of organized rugby has been played in Québec ever since. In the 1920s and 1930s many clubs made the transition to professional or semi-professional football. Regardless, several leagues were formed during

1274-895: The Hamilton Rugby Football Club to meetings in Toronto and Montreal. It was decided that the union would continue to use the English rugby rules, and at the end of the season the winning club of the Quebec Championship would play the Ontario Champion for the Club Championship of the Dominion. With the amalgamation of the Montreal (Rugby) Football Club into the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in 1885,

1323-563: The Jubilee Celebration of Queen Victoria's reign. At the turn of the century a new quarters was needed to accommodate a rapidly growing membership. In 1905, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association clubhouse moved to Peel Street (where it currently resides), and the Westmount Athletic Grounds was retained as the club's official athletic grounds until July 1936. The economic depression inflicted severe financial problems upon

1372-676: The McGill University grounds and the nearby Montreal Amateur Athletic Association facility as clubroom, even though it was not formally associated with the Association until 1885. Also in 1884, the Montreal (Rugby) Football club was instrumental in the formation of the Canadian Rugby Union. Three representatives from the Montreal Club were sent to meet with two representatives from the Toronto Rugby Football Club, and one from

1421-577: The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association to form a semi-professional club. Rugby continued at the Westmount Athletic Grounds until 1959, when the Athletic facility was demolished to make way for Westmount High School, and a baseball diamond was built in the middle of the pitch rendering it unsuitable for rugby. Since its split from the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in the 1930s, the Rugby Football Club kept its colours of blue and white, but adopted

1470-446: The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, and the property was therefore sold to the City of Westmount to help alleviate the economic hardships. In the meantime, rugby football had begun to make its split in North America. Between 1910 and 1920, American-style football gained in popularity; so popular that games were now played in front of larger capacities, and the football club soon split from

1519-526: The Sporting History of Montreal, 1850 – 1920. Vols. I-VII. City of Westmount Public Library. The Westmount Rugby Football Club was one of the founding clubs of Rugby Quebec (FRQ in French). Other founding clubs included Montreal Irish Rugby Football Club, Barbarians, Montreal Wanderers RFC and Town of Mount Royal (TMR). Every one of these clubs continues to this day, fielding teams across multiple levels of

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1568-606: The Wanderers to disband. In 2010, Mayor Peter Trent unveiled a $ 38-million project to demolish the old arena and create two new rinks, a larger swimming pool, refurbished tennis courts, and an extra acre of green space. In the fall of 2013, the new Westmount Recreation Centre opened. It is home to the Westmount Wings, Lasalle/Westmount Cobras and was the home of the Westmount Predators that are no longer active. Westmount

1617-649: The best rugby team in cup competition. This has also been known as the "Quebec Cup", Senior Cup , the First Division Cup , the A Division Cup and (formerly) the Standard Life Cup and can trace its origins back to the 1950s. The second oldest championship is the Intermediate Cup , awarded to the best club team in the second side cup competition. This has also been known as the Second Division Cup ,

1666-431: The city for special criticism. On January 1, 2002, as part of the 2002–2006 municipal reorganization of Montreal , Westmount was merged into the city of Montreal and became a borough. However, after a change of government and a 2004 referendum , it was re-constituted as an independent city on January 1, 2006. It is now one of fifteen independent suburbs on the Island of Montreal, and the only one that directly borders

1715-600: The city is represented in the riding of Westmount–Saint-Louis by MNA Jennifer Maccarone of the Quebec Liberal Party . Westmount was home of the Montreal Arena , the third arena in history to be built specifically for hockey. It was the home rink for the Montreal Wanderers , one of the great teams of the early hockey era, as well as the legendary Montreal Canadiens . The arena burned down in 1918, causing

1764-490: The city of Montreal, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent and city council asserted that the city was a designated anglophone institution and should not be merged into francophone greater Montreal. In response to this opposition, Municipal Affairs Minister Louise Harel said that Westmount's resistance "reeked of colonialism" and that the opposition was an "ethnic project", statements for which she would refuse to apologize. When asked for comment, Quebec Premier Bernard Landry said

1813-502: The club space of the Montreal Gymnasium, located at Mansfield Street and de Maisonneuve Boulevard. In 1884, the Montreal (Rugby) Football Club had upwards of 170 active members, and its first XV achieved an undefeated season, playing clubs from Royal Military College (Kingston), Ottawa, Quebec City, Toronto, British of New York, McGill University, and Bishop's University (Lennoxville, Quebec). The Montreal (Rugby) Football Club had used

1862-487: The club's grounds were shared with the Montreal Lacrosse Club in the city block downtown bound by Crescent Street, Sherbrooke Street, Bishop Street, and de Maisonneuve Boulevard. Matches were held at this ground only until 1888, when the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association moved its clubhouse to the Westmount Athletic Grounds at the junction of Saint Catherine Street and Hallowell Avenue, due to urban expansion into

1911-569: The downtown pitch and the subsequent dividing of the property into building lots. The Westmount property was landscaped and the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association laid down a cinder track, fences, six hundred yards of drainage, uprights, a pavilion, and a clubhouse. The pitch was, by today's standards larger than an international size rugby pitch. These grounds, aside from playing host to Montreal's rugby and lacrosse matches, also played host to Montreal's most popular sporting events such as bicycle races, athletics, ice hockey in winter, and in 1897 hosted

1960-567: The local city council, Westmount is represented by its mayor on the Montreal Agglomeration Council . List of former mayors: Throughout Quebec, Westmount is known as an overwhelmingly Liberal riding, both federally and provincially. On the federal level , Westmount is represented in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount riding. The riding was won by Anna Gainey in the 2023 federal byelections. Provincially,

2009-541: The minister had his full support and that the opposition was little more than Quebec bashing . Several federalist public figures criticized Landry's statement: Jean Charest called it insulting to the intelligence of the citizens of Quebec; Joseph Gabary, president of the Quebec Chapter of the Canadian Jewish Congress , called the language "crude"; Alliance Quebec also criticized the premier for singling out

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2058-602: The municipality where its home field had been located for most of its history. With the demolition of The Westmount Athletic Grounds, the club moved its grounds to the nearby Villa Maria High School, before settling at Westmount Park located in the heart of the city of Westmount. By 1976, the Quebec Rugby Union had grown to six clubs (Ormstown RFC, Montreal Irish RFC, Montreal Wanderers RFC, Montreal Barbarians RC, Town of Mount Royal RFC and Westmount RFC), and Westmount RFC had changed its colours to maroon and white. Also adopted

2107-475: The new name of The Montreal Scottish RFC, owing to its strong Scottish influence within the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association. For years, the Montreal Scottish RFC were the premier rugby club of Quebec, winning almost everything they could possibly arrange to compete for. By the 1950s, the Montreal Scottish RFC could not accommodate the vast number of players wishing to join the club, and they took on

2156-485: The newly founded Montreal Amateur Athletic Association – which was to become the premier sporting club at the turn of the century and figure prominently in the development of rugby in Montreal, Quebec, and ultimately the Dominion of Canada. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association came into existence June 1881 and began as a confederation of three sporting clubs: The Montreal Snow Shoe Club, The Montreal Bicycle Club, and The Montreal Lacrosse Club. These founding clubs shared

2205-490: The next higher division. From a published paper by: Dr. Jonathan James Albright Montreal, Canada September 1998 (Updated, March 2000). Sources: Former / Current Club Members: Mr. Marc Asselin, Mr. Adam Cutler, Mr. Peter Gelinas, and Mr. Michael Nesbitt. McGill: A Celebration. Montreal: McGill – Queen's University Press, 1991. Morrow, Donald. A Sporting Evolution: The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association 1881- 1981. Montreal: Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, 1981. Scrapbook on

2254-493: The public anglophone Dawson College and the private anglophone Marianopolis College . The Commission scolaire de Montréal (CSDM) operates French-language schools in Westmount. English-language public schools in Westmount are operated by the English Montreal School Board (EMSB). These include Westmount High School , its sister elementary school Westmount Park School and Roslyn Elementary School , which

2303-422: The south face of Westmount Summit , the western peak of Mount Royal. The city, most of which is on steep terrain, extends from the summit to the end of the narrow plateau at the foot of the mountain. Most of the city is residential. Homes increase in size and value toward the top of the mountain, with the largest and most expensive being on or near Summit Circle. Notable buildings include Place Alexis Nihon and

2352-426: Was the raven as a club symbol, owing from the municipal crest of the city of Westmount, where it figures prominently. The club became officially incorporated in 1976. The club wore maroon jerseys with white shorts until 1997, when it was decided to incorporate black into the uniform. Black shorts were introduced for 'exhibition matches' and the club began to use them regularly afterwards. The club continues to play in

2401-577: Was translated into French as Meurtre à Westmount . Daniel Richler 's Kicking Tomorrow is a bildungsroman of a teenager growing up in a Westmount family in the 1970s, mentioning how the students at Westmount High School were "famous in the City for the achievement of being perpetually stoned." Claire Rothman 's novel Lear's Shadow takes place amidst an outdoor summer production of the Shakespeare play in Westmount Park. Edward Openshaw Phillips wrote

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