New France the 16th and early 17th centuries New France's economy was heavily centered on its Atlantic fisheries. This would change in the later half of the 17th and 18th centuries as French settlement penetrated further into the continental interior. Here French economic interests would shift and concentrate itself on the development of the North American fur trade. It would soon become the new staple good that would strengthen and drive New France's economy, in particular that of Montreal, for the next century. The trading post of Ville-Marie, established on the current island of Montreal, quickly became the economic hub for the
Valerie (given name) Valerie (given name) Valerie is almost always a feminine given name in French, derived directly from the French "Valérie" (a female-only name). Valéry or Valery is a masculine given name in parts of Europe (particularly in France and Russia), as well as a common surname in Francophone countries. Another, much rarer, French masculine form can be Valėre. Both feminine and masculine forms have derivatives in many European languages, and are especially common in Russian and other Eastern European languages. However the masculine form is not always a cognate of the feminine: it can have a distinct etymology. The name is