Rural Municipality of Val Marie No. 17
The Rural Municipality of Val Marie No. 17 is a rural municipality in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within Census Division No. 4 and Division No. 3. Located in the southwest portion of the province, it is adjacent to the Canada–United States border, neighbouring Phillips County in Montana.
History
The RM of Val Marie No. 17 incorporated as a rural municipality on January 1, 1969. Louis-Pierre Gravel, missionary and promoter of much French Catholic immigration to southwestern Saskatchewan, originally called the settlement Rivière des Français after the nearby Frenchman River. But for an unknown reason, in a 1911 report to the superintendent of immigration, his formally proposed name became Libreval. Ultimately, neither of Gravel's suggestions was used, and Val Marie, was coined by Fr. Claude Passaplan, missionary priest in the area. Before coming to Val Marie, Passaplan served as the first Roman Catholic parish priest in Swift Current.Geography
Communities and localities
The RM surrounds one urban municipality, the eponymous village of Val Marie. Both communities share an office and an administrator.;Villages
;Hutterite colonies
;Unorganized hamlets
;Localities
- Beaver Valley
- Gergovia
- Hillandale
- Masefield
- Monchy
- Roche Plain
- Rosefield
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the RM of Val Marie No. 17 had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.In the 2016 Census of Population, the RM of Val Marie No. 17 recorded a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2016.
Economy
Due to its semi-arid climate, Val Marie is a mixed district where ranching and crop agriculture are both practiced. Much of the RM is occupied by large community pastures. The Val Marie Irrigation Project controls two artificial lakes on the Frenchman River, which are used to operate a drip irrigation system in the region adjacent to the village.The creation of Grasslands National Park in 1981 has bolstered the region's tourism sector, and the RM is home to two guesthouses, as well as the park's operations compound.
Although there are no oil wells in the vicinity of Val Marie, the RM is transited by a major pipeline, and the Monchy Compressor Station sits directly on the Canada–United States border.