Town of Asbestos officially renamed to Val-Des-Sources

The open pit of the now closed Jeffrey mine is seen Wednesday, August 10, 2016 in Val-des-Sources, formerly known as Asbestos, Que. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Val-des-Sources — Goodbye Asbestos, hello Val-des-Sources.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Andrée Laforest, approved the name change of the small town, previously named after its large asbestos mine.

The change is effective immediately, with the exception of automated online ordering systems, the municipality said in a statement.

Canada Post needs a delay until April 19, 2021 to make the necessary changes to its system.

A visual rebrand of the town’s billboards and other public identifications will begin in January.

Following a community poll in October, Mayor Hugues Grimard announced the name Val-des-Sources had collected 51.5 per cent of the votes after three rounds of a voting. 2,796 citizens aged 14 and over participated.

However, opponents of the name change collected around 1,000 signatures in a petition calling for a referendum, which Laforest refused.

The petition's creator, Jeff Therrien, said at the time that the mayor had given an “illusion of power” to citizens by offering an opportunity to choose a new name without first checking whether the population wanted to change it at all.

Citizens will receive a guide on how to change their addresses.

The change will be made automatically at Hydro-Québec, Bell, Telus, Videotron, the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec and the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec.