Cornwall, Ontario

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:PICT0061134.JPG Cornwall (2001 population 45,640, metropolitan population 57,581)^[1] is a city in southeastern Ontario, Canada and seat of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry United Counties, Ontario, located on the St. Lawrence River, as well as Highway 401 near the Ontario-Quebec border. It is approximately 100 kilometres south-east from Ottawa via Highways 417 and 138, Canada's capital, and 100 km west of Montreal, Quebec's largest metropolis.

As more and more immigrants are coming to Cornwall, the city is planning on building a low income residential area for new families from other countries. Cornwall is becoming a bigger and more multicultural city, and they make approximately 1.6% of the city's population. Cornwall is also becoming known as a "microcosm of Canada" as it has a large francophone population, a growing immigrant population and is located next to Akwesasne, a Mohawk reservation.

1 History
2 Economy
3 Government
4 Sports
5 Notable people
6 Media
7 External links

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History

The city was first settled in 1784 by United Empire Loyalists escaping the American Revolution from New York. First named New Johnstown, Cornwall was renamed for Prince George, the Duke of Cornwall. West of Cornwall, several small communities along the St. Lawrence River, now known as The Lost Villages, were permanently flooded in 1958 by the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway, to make way for the massive hydroelectric dam at the western end of the city. Cornwall Collegate and Vocational School (CCVS) was one of the first high schools in Ontario, and now hosts grade 11 and 12 students.

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Economy

Cornwall is a port-of-entry into Canada, and is connected to Massena, New York, USA via the Seaway International Bridge.

Cornwall was once home to a thriving cotton processing industry that waned in the 1960s. This was one of the first places to have electricity in Canada. Domtar, a Quebec-based company has run a paper mill in the city for close to one-hundred years. Once employing nearly 1500 Cornwallites, its workforce dwindled to around 400 in 2006. This plant permanently closed on March 31, 2006. Cornwall's major employer is now Supply Chain Management which operates a Wal-mart distribution center for Eastern Canada with close to 1000 employees. Cornwall also has one of the oldest jails in Canada, and is a new tourist attraction since being restored.

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Government

Cornwall's mayor is currently Phil Poirier. The Cornwall area is in the electoral district of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, which is represented by provincial MPP Jim Brownell (Liberal), and federally by MP Guy Lauzon (Conservative).

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Sports

Cornwall has been home to a variety of sports teams. Cornwall has had a Memorial Cup winning team in the QMJHL (Cornwall Royals), an AHL franchise (Cornwall Aces), and many other defunct senior teams. Currently, Cornwall has a very successful Junior A team in the Cornwall Colts, and an equally successful Quebec Senior team in the Cornwall Comets. Cornwall currently has three arenas and has plans to build a multi-pad icerink. Cornwall has a sports hall of fame as well.

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Notable people

Some of the more famous people to hail from the Cornwall area include:

Ryan Gosling, actor,
Chad Kilger, Toronto Maple Leafs player,
Ed "Newsy" Lalonde, who captained the Montreal Canadiens in the 1910s and helped the team win its first Stanley Cup in 1918,
John Sandfield Macdonald, prominent lawyer and the first Premier of Ontario,
Maggie MacDonald, playwright and musician,
Nathan Phillips, the Toronto mayor who was affectionately known as "mayor of all the people."