Clarington

Clarington
Clarington
	Municipality (lower-tier)
Municipality of Clarington
	The town centre of Bowmanville, Clarington's largest community
; Coat of arms	; Logo
	Motto: "Wisdom Knowledge and Trust"
	; Location of Clarington within Durham Region.
	Clarington Location of Clarington within Durham Region.
	Coordinates: 43°56′N 78°36′W / 43.933°N 78.600°W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Durham Region
Established	1974
Government
• Mayor	Adrian Foster
• Governing body	Clarington Council
• MP	Erin O'Toole (Durham)
• MPP	Granville Anderson (Durham)
Area
• Total	611.3 km2 (236.0 sq mi)
Elevation	106 m (348 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	84,548 (Ranked 60th)
• Density	138.3/km2 (358/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
Website	www.clarington.net

Clarington (2011 population 84,548^[1]) is a municipality in Ontario, Canada in the Regional Municipality of Durham. It was created in 1973 with the merging of the Town of Bowmanville, and the townships of Clarke and Darlington. It took its present name in 1994 after having been known as the Town of Newcastle from 1974-93. The name change was made to alleviate long-standing confusion between the municipality as a whole and the included village of the same name. Bowmanville is the largest community in the municipality and is the home of the municipal offices. The name "Clarington" is a combination of the names of the two historical townships, Clarke and Darlington, that made up the majority of the geographic area.

It is part of the census metropolitan area of Oshawa and forms the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area. Major employers in Clarington include the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, General Motors in Oshawa, and several medium-to-large sized manufacturing businesses; however, most residents travel to points west in Durham Region or to Toronto for employment.^[2]

Clarington was a candidate in the race to host ITER in 2001,^[3] but the Canadian bid to host the project was withdrawn two years later.

Local government[edit]

Clarington is governed by an elected municipal council consisting of a mayor, and local councillors representing each of the municipality's four wards. In addition, two regional councillors each represent a pair of wards. The mayor and the regional councillors sit on both Clarington Council and Durham Region Council.

The current council was elected on October 27, 2014, for a four-year term. The members of the council are the following:

Mayor: Adrian Foster

Members of Council:

Joe Neal - Regional Councillor, Wards 1 and 2 (Darlington / Bowmanville / Courtice)
Willie Woo - Regional Councillor, Wards 3 and 4 (Clarke / Newcastle / Bowmanville)
Steven Cooke - Councillor, Ward 1 (Courtice)
Ron Hooper - Councillor, Ward 2 (Darlington / Bowmanville)
Corinna Traill - Councillor, Ward 3 (Bowmanville / Clarke)
Wendy Partner - Councillor, Ward 4 (Clarke / Newcastle)

Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board Trustees: Cathy Abraham and Sarah Bobka

Demographics[edit]

Clarington Demographics [2]

According to the Canada 2011 Census from Statistics Canada there were 84,548 people living in Clarington, and its population in 2006 was 77,820, representing an increase of 8.6%. The 2011 Census counted 30,797 housing units and 29,880 being occupied.

2011 Census data^[4] show that Clarington has one of the highest proportions of residents that have English as their mother tongue within the GTA (91.2%). French is the native language for 1.8% of the population of Clarington. No other language has more than 1% of native speakers (Dutch with 0.8% - 695 native speakers - tops the pack of immigrant languages).

Communities[edit]

A till cliff, Lake Ontario shoreline.

Bowmanville limestone quarry and cement factory.

the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.

The municipality consists of several urban communities, including:

Rural communities include:

Bond Head
Brownsville
Burketon
Clarke
Crooked Creek
Enfield
Enniskillen
Gaud Corners
Hampton
Haydon
Kendal
Leskard
Maple Grove
Mitchell Corners
New Park
Newtonville
Port Darlington
Port Granby
Salem
Solina
Starkville
Taunton (split with Oshawa along Townline Road)
Tyrone
West Side Beach
Wilmot Creek

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park[edit]

A major attraction in the municipality is the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport International Raceway), a multi-track facility located north of Bowmanville that features a 2.459-mile (4.0 km), 10-turn road course; a half-mile paved oval; a 2.4 km advanced driver and race driver training facility and a 1.4 km kart track (Mosport International Karting).

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) was also the location of three major music festivals held between 1970 and 1980. The Strawberry Fields Festival held August 7–9, 1970 featured Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad, Procol Harum, Ten Years After, Lighthouse, Crowbar and Sly and the Family Stone. John Lennon was to be the headline act, bidding to gain exposure for his peace campaign, but after months of planning he backed out due to differences with the show's promoter. However, the event still used the title of The Beatles' 1967 single of the same name. Led Zeppelin were booked to play but also backed out.

Canada Jam was held August 26, 1978 and the Heatwave Festival was held August 23, 1980.

CTMP was home to Republic Live's Boots & Hearts Music Festival (first opened summer of 2012-2014 but was abruptly moved to a new location in Barrie in 2015.

Attractions[edit]

Clarington is home to five Christmas parades. It has more Santa Claus/Christmas parades than any other town-sized municipality in Canada. The parades are run in: Bowmanville, Newcastle, Courtice, Orono, and Enniskillen/Tyrone. The latter parade is organized by "T.H.E.E. Farmer's Parade of Lights", which is a special Christmas parade put on by the farmers from the communities of Tyrone, Haydon, Enniskillen and Enfield. A future parade in Kendal has been discussed as well.

Enniskillen which is located in the northern part of Clarington, was the birth place of Samuel McLaughlin. Mr. McLaughlin started the McLaughlin Motor Car Co. in 1904 and was one of the first major automobile manufacturers in Canada, which evolved into General Motors of Canada. Enniskillen is home to the Enniskillen General Store which opened in 1840 and stills operates today.

Clarington is also home to the Bowmanville Zoo and Jungle Cat World.

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Clarington, Municipality Ontario (Census Subdivision)". Census Profile, Canada 2011 Census. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-24.
^ Data Management Group (2006). "Municipality of Clarington, 2006 Statistics" (PDF). Travel Survey Summaries for the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. University of Toronto. Retrieved 25 September 2012. For trips from Clarington, 6% go to Pickering, 5% to Ajax, 12% to Whitby, 40% to Oshawa and 15% to Toronto, for a total of 78%.
^ McCabe, Heather (August 3, 2000). "France may bid for fusion reactor". doi:10.1038/35020229. Retrieved March 13, 2009.
^ [1], Census Profile for the Census Subvision of Clarington (Municipality), Ontario, Statistics Canada