Chatham-Kent, Ontario

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Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario
Official seal of Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario
Seal
Nickname: The Maple City & The Classic Car Capital of Canada
Coordinates: 42°24′00″N 82°11′00″W / 42.4, -82.183333
Country Canada
Province Ontario
County none–Single-tier municipality
Established 1998
Government
 - City Mayor Randy Hope
 - Governing body Chatham-Kent Council
 - MPs Bev Shipley (CPC)
Dave Van Kesteren (CPC)
 - MPPs Pat Hoy (OLP)
Maria Van Bommel (OLP)
Area
 - City 2,458 km² (949 sq mi)
Elevation 198 m (650 ft)
Population (2006)
 - City 108,177
 - Density 44.0/km² (114/sq mi)
 - Urban 59,242 (Chatham downtown),
11,114 (Wallaceburg),
5,100 (Blenheim)
 - Metro 108,589
 - Metro Density 44.0/km² (114/sq mi)
  (Ranked 45th)[1]
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
Population data by Statistics Canada
Website: www.chatham-kent.ca

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent (2006 population 108,177) is a city-status single-tier municipal government in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The municipality is mainly rural and agricultural, with industry in the larger urban areas.

Contents

The former city of Chatham began as a naval dockyard in the 1790s, as it straddles the Thames River. The town was named after Chatham, Kent, England, which was also developed around a naval dockyard. In England, the name Chatham came from the British root ceto and the Old English ham thus meaning a forest settlement.[2]

In the War of 1812, the Battle of the Thames took place between Moraviantown and Thamesville on October 5, 1813.

During the 19th century, the area was part of the Underground Railroad. As a result, Chatham-Kent is now part of the African-Canadian Heritage Tour. Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic Site is a museum of the Dawn Settlement, established in 1841 by Josiah Henson near Dresden as refuge for the many slaves who escaped to Canada from the United States. The Rev. John Brown, the abolitionist, planned his raid on the Harpers Ferry Virginia Arsenal in Chatham and recruited local men to participate in the raid. The small village of North Buxton, part of the African Canadian Heritage Tour, also played an important role in the Underground Railroad.

In 1998 the County of Kent and the city of Chatham were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. Some say this controversial move has had a negative impact on small-town Ontario, where the province shifted financial responsibility unto the individual municipalities, and taxes and infrastructure suffered as a result. The Municipality of Chatham-Kent currently consists of 23 communities.

Much paranormal activity has been reported in and around Chatham-Kent, mainly due to its rich--and often turbulent--history. The downtown area, following the Thames River, is rife with ghost stories, both past and present. The most famous case in the area is the Baldoon Mystery-which actually took place just outside Wallaceburg. In 2004, local author/historian Sheila Gibbs wrote a book titled The Ghosts of Chatham-Kent, which quickly became a best-seller among the locals. A sequel was released in October 2007.

At 2,458 square kilometres, Chatham-Kent is the twelfth-largest municipality by area in Canada and the largest in southwestern Ontario. Over 59,000 of the 108,000 residents live in the former City of Chatham. Other population centres in the municipality include Wallaceburg, Blenheim and Tilbury, Ridgetown and Dresden.

The Lower Thames River runs through Chatham-Kent to Lake St. Clair in the west, while the Sydenham River flows through Wallaceburg and Dresden. The municipality has several kilometres of shoreline along lakes Erie and St. Clair.

The Indian reserves of Moravian 47 and Bkejwanong (commonly referred to as Walpole Island) border Chatham-Kent.

Chatham-Kent has an increasingly diverse economy, with a base in the agricultural and automotive sectors. The municipality and senior levels of government are keen to promote continuing diversification.

Chatham's roots in the automotive sector go back to Gray-Dort Motors Ltd., one of Canada's earliest automobile manufacturers. Today, a heavy truck plant operated by Navistar International Corporation (NYSE symbol NAV) is one of the largest employers in the city. Established in 1912, the operation was threatened with closure in 2002, but remained open thanks to $65 million in government grants and a new collective agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers local representing the workers.[3] Other auto industry plants in the municipality include AutoLiv Canada in Tilbury (airbags), Siemens in Chatham and Tilbury (emissions controls and plastics), Inergy Automotive Systems in Blenheim (fuel systems) and Tilbury's Arvin Meritor (brakes).

Chatham is also home to RM Auctions, the world's largest vintage automobile auction house and RM Restorations, the world's largest vintage automobile restoration company. The nickname "The Classic Car Capital of Canada" comes from the company's position in the industry and abundance of classic car events in the community.

Other area industries include Olsen, a division of ERC International, designs and produces oil and gas fired furnaces in Wallaceburg. As of 2007, Olsen is the only remaining Canadian manufacturer of gas furnaces that are classified as high efficiency.

Chatham-Kent is the headquarters for Pioneer Hi-Bred Limited (a division of DuPont), a major agricultural seed breeding and biotechnology company. Omstead Foods, founded in Wheatley in 1911 is now the largest fresh fish producer in Canada and second largest frozen vegetable processor.[4] In 1996, Chatham became the home of Commercial Alcohols, which is the largest ethanol plant in Canada, and one of the largest in the world. It produces ethanol for industrial, medical, and beverage uses. In January 2005, the plant was named as one of Canada's 50 best managed companies. There are plans to double the size of the current Chatham facility. The plant faced criticism in the past due to corn mash odour from its stack, but has installed technology to eliminate the problem.[5]

There are many farms in the municipality, and a number of vineyards have been opened in the last few years.

Many international workers come to Chatham-Kent, especially in the warmer seasons, to do farm labour. In the past there have been allegations of low pay and poor living and working conditions for these agricultural labourers.[6] 'El Contrato', a film by The National Film Board of Canada, addresses these issues in depth.

Chatham is home to the headquarters of Union Gas, a natural gas utility and Spectra Energy company. Other energy related activities include wind farms near the shores of Lake Erie.

Chatham also serves as a retail centre for the municipality and surrounding area. This has included the development of large big-box stores particularly at the north end of Communication Road in Blenheim, and at the north end of St. Clair Street in Chatham.

Chatham's Wheels Inn is a full-service family resort. The 65,000 square foot resort includes an indoor amusement park, an arcade, an indoor/outdoor pool with twin waterslides, a miniature golf course, a go-kart track, bowling lanes and various other features. The resort attracts tourism from Canada and from the United States.

There are two Provincial Parks in Chatham-Kent, Rondeau Provincial Park and Wheatley Provincial Park, and Point Pelee National Park is nearby. There are also numerous local conservation areas.

Chatham-Kent was created in 1998 through an amalgamation of the City of Chatham and the various towns, villages and townships that formed the County of Kent. Communities in Chatham-Kent include:

Chatham-Kent's former townships are as follows:

Chatham-Kent is served by the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance. The Public General Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital in Chatham were moved to a single campus in 2004, while the former Sydenham District Hospital remains in Wallaceburg. The eastern portion of the municipality is served by the Four Counties Health Services in Newbury in nearby Middlesex County.

Research published in 2002 by the Heart and Stroke Foundation cited Chatham-Kent as a hotspot for heart disease in Ontario. [7] Further research is underway to determine the reasons for this and other hotspots. Chatham-Kent Public Health launched a campaign in fall 2007 to tackle other ailments prevalent throughout the community, including asthma, chronic allergies, sinus problems, many types of cancer, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, alcoholism, and obesity.[8]

  • CKSY 94.3FM: an adult contemporary music station on the air since July 1, 1986. In 2002, CKSY swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKUE.
  • CKUE 95.1FM: The Rock, a rock music station established on October 6, 1999. In 2002, CKUE swapped broadcasting frequencies with CKSY. CKUE operates a repeater station in Windsor, Ontario, formerly on 95.1 FM (now moved to 100.7 FM), and thus the broadcast day originates from both the Chatham and Windsor studios.
  • CFCO 92.9FM and 630AM: A news, sports, and oldies music station. The original AM broadcasting station was launched in 1926; the repeater FM signal, meant to improve the station's reception in office buildings in Chatham-Kent, was launched in 2000. CFCO boasts a large daytime signal that covers much of Michigan, including Metro Detroit, and some of Ohio and Indiana in addition to southwestern Ontario.
  • CBEE 88.1FM: the radio rebroadcast station for CBC Radio One (CBE) out of Windsor, Ontario.
  • CKGW-FM 89.3 FM: Christian music/news/talk station. CKGW is part of the UCB Canada family of stations. Originally planed as repeater of Belleville's CKJJ-FM 102.3 FM, it was reorganized into a stand-alone station before its launch in 2007 and operates at 89.3FM. It includes some programmes from Belleville, plus local standalone programming.

CKSY, CFCO and CKUE are owned by Blackburn Radio. In addition, some stations out of Detroit, Windsor/Leamington/Sarnia, London/Woodstock, and Cleveland also reach the area.

The percentage of people without a complete high school education is higher in Chatham-Kent than the average for the province of Ontario.[citation needed][9]

There are two school boards in Chatham-Kent. These are the Lambton Kent District School Board (headquartered in Sarnia) and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board (headquartered in Wallaceburg). The LKDSB is a public school board, and consists of 13 secondary and 53 elementary schools. The St. Clair Catholic board consists of three secondary schools, one in Chatham and two in Sarnia, and 16 elementary schools. There are also independent schools, such as Wallaceburg Christian School and Chatham Christian Schools--an elementary and secondary school in the same building.

Every year in September, Chatham-Kent hosts a "Red Feather" weekend. It is a charity event in support of the local United Way, and runs from Monday-Sunday, but the weekend is the focus of the event. All of the local high schools compete in different competitions. The weekend culminates in a huge dance, but has also faced criticism from locals due to drinking, noise, drug use, and vandalism. In August 2007, the local school board revamped Red Feather due to the above mentioned problems. The traditional dance, the annual parade and broomball and other minor events, have been suspended indefinitely. Although the event has not been completely cancelled, the weekend will only be a shadow of what it once was. It is unknown whether or not it will return in the foreseeable future.

Chatham-Kent is the home of two colleges - St. Clair College and University of Guelph Ridgetown Campus, popularly known as Ridgetown College.

St. Clair College is a satellite of St. Clair College of Windsor. There are two campuses located in the municipality - Thames Campus (located in Chatham) and the Wallaceburg Campus (located in Wallaceburg). More than 5,000 full time and 12,000 part time students attend the college each year.

Ridgetown College offers diplomas in agriculture, horticulture, and veterinary technology. It was formerly known as Ontario Agricultural College and then Ridgetown College of Agricultural Technology.

Chatham has a team in the Ontario Hockey Association Western Junior B league:

There are also four teams in the Great Lakes Junior C Hockey League

As well as the Chatham Jr B Maroons, there is also the Chatham Girls Hockey Association, and the Chatham AAA Cyclones, as well as the Chatham Maroons.

In 2006 Chatham entered a team into the inaugural season of the Allstar Peewee Football League (APFL), and in 2007 entered a team into the Jr. Ontario Varsity Football League.

Founded in 2001, Chatham has a rugby team in the Southwest Rugby Union (SWORU):

Chatham-Kent does not have a professional or semi-pro soccer team but there are many leagues for young children to adults that operate in Chatham-Kent.

Chatham-Kent is situated just off Highway 401 (also known as "Carnage Alley" because of a string of fatal accidents[10] ), connecting Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, and Windsor, Ontario; and Detroit, Michigan via the Ambassador Bridge. Blenheim, Chatham and Wallaceburg are linked with Sarnia, Ontario and the Blue Water Bridge to the United States by Highway 40.

The sections of Highway 2 and Highway 3 (the Talbot Trail) in Chatham-Kent were downloaded by the province in 1998, becoming local roads 2 and 3, but they remain significant through routes and are still locally known by their old names.

The first gas station in Canada to sell E85 fuel to the public is located on park Avenue East in Chatham.[11]

Chatham is served by VIA Rail passenger services between Toronto and Windsor, part of the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with four trips in each direction daily, and is served by both the Canadian National Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway for freight transportation.

CK Transit logo
CK Transit logo

There are four local bus routes within the city of Chatham (CKTransit)[12], providing services every 30 minutes Monday through Saturday. For rail passengers, bus route 3 stops nearest the VIA Rail station, at the intersection of Park Avenue West and Pine Street.

Route A, linking Chatham, Wallaceburg and Dresden with four trips Monday through Saturday, was introduced in October 2007 for a trial period through until the end of 2008[13].

Chatham-Kent also has intercity bus services, with Greyhound Canada services to and from Windsor, London and Toronto, and through Detroit, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. These services stop at Thamesville, Chatham and Tilbury.

There is a municipal airport located 14km south east of Chatham featuring a 5000 foot paved, lighted runway, with refuelling facilities (Esso), tie-down services, pilot training and chartered flights. The nearest airports served by regional carriers are Windsor and London.

  1. ^ http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/popdwell/Table.cfm?T=301&SR=749&S=1&O=A&RPP=100&SRCH=1
  2. ^ The Place Names of Kent, Judith Glover, 1976, Batsford. ISBN 0905270 614
  3. ^ Navistar truck plant in Chatham, Ont. to remain open CBC News, Sept. 4, 2003
  4. ^ Omstead Foods
  5. ^ Greenfield Ethanol Press Release
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20020312_hotspots.htm
  8. ^ [2]
  9. ^ Census 2001
  10. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2000/06/08/401_inquest000608.html
  11. ^ E85 Gasoline Now Available in Chatham-Kent (2007-06-26). Retrieved on 2007-11-18.
  12. ^ [3]
  13. ^ Chatham-Kent's official website

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Subdivisions of Ontario
Regions Eastern Ontario · Central Ontario · Golden Horseshoe · Greater Toronto Area · Southwestern Ontario · Northern Ontario · Northeastern Ontario · Northwestern Ontario
Counties Bruce · Dufferin · Elgin · Essex · Frontenac · Grey · Haliburton · Hastings · Huron · Lambton · Lanark · Leeds and Grenville · Lennox and Addington · Middlesex · Northumberland · Perth · Peterborough · Prescott and Russell · Renfrew · Simcoe · Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry · Wellington
Districts Algoma · Cochrane · Kenora · Manitoulin · Nipissing · Parry Sound · Rainy River · Sudbury · Thunder Bay · Timiskaming
Regional municipalities Durham · Halton · Muskoka · Niagara · Oxford · Peel · Waterloo · York
Single-tier municipalities Brant · Brantford · Chatham-Kent · Greater Sudbury · Haldimand · Hamilton · Kawartha Lakes · Norfolk · Ottawa · Prince Edward · Toronto
Separated municipalities Barrie · Belleville · Brantford · Brockville · Gananoque · Guelph · Kingston · London · Orillia · Pembroke · Peterborough · Prescott · Quinte West · Smiths Falls · St. Marys · St. Thomas · Stratford  · Windsor
See also Ontario communities · Ontario municipalities
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatham-Kent%2C_Ontario"
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