Barrie
- For the electoral district see Barrie (electoral district)
Barrie, Ontario (2006 population 125,000) is located on Kempenfelt Bay, an arm of Lake Simcoe in Central Ontario, Canada. (44°22′48″N 79°40′48″W / 44.38000°N 79.68000°W) It is the county seat of Simcoe County.
The city's north and south ends are separated by a deep valley which contains the downtown area as well as Kempenfelt Bay. Barrie's waterfront is at the heart of its tourism industry, with events like the Kempenfest arts and crafts festival attracting more than 300,000 people. Unique recreational activities, include skiing at nearby Horseshoe Valley, Snow Valley, and Blue Mountain, as well as boating in Kampenfelt Bay. At the north end of Barrie is the Highway 11 and Highway 400 interchange. Many consider this the gateway to Ontario resort destinations north in cottage country, and is represented by the 400ELEVEN icon [1]for travel north in Ontario.
Barrie is home to the main campus of Georgian College, with 5,000 full-time students and over 10,000 part-time students. As a result, many of the bars and clubs in downtown Barrie are filled with students during the school year.
Barrie is also home to the MacLaren Art Centre, an innovative art gallery that supports the visual arts in Simcoe County. It inspired the "Art City" project, which has had many different large sculptures installed around the city. These can be found in parks and along the scenic waterfront.
Several manufacturers are currently located in Barrie and Canadian Forces Base Borden is nearby. In recent years Barrie has become a bedroom community, for people to commute to Toronto, which is approximately 100km south of Barrie, or (more often) to the northern suburbs of Toronto in York Region.
Barrie is located in Ontario's snowbelt region. Lake effect snowfalls throughout the winter provide an average 238 centimetres (95 inches) of snowfall annually.
Barrie's official town crier is currently Steve Travers [2]. The position of town crier was reinstated in 2003 as part of Barrie's sesquicentennial celebrations.
and its friendship city is Murayama, Japan.
Twinnings/Friendships
Twinnings
- Zweibrücken, Germany since 1996
Friendships
Politics
Mayors
Term | Mayor |
2003-2006 | Robert J. Hamilton |
2001-2003 | Jim Perri |
1989-2000 | Janice R. Laking |
1977-1988 | Ross A. Archer |
1973-1976 | Dorian Parker |
1970-1972 | Lester E. Cooke |
1968-1969 | R. S. Bentley |
1962-1967 | Lester E. Cooke |
1957-1961 | Willard L. Kinzie |
1955-1956 | R. Eldon Greer |
1954 | Herbert Smith |
1953 | James W. Hart |
1951-1952 | Marjorie Hamilton |
1950 | Edwin Wilson |
1947-1949 | Grant Mayor |
1945-1946 | Peter Sinclair |
1942-1944 | Donald F. Maclaren, Q.C. |
1936-1941 | H. G. Robertson |
1935 | W. J. Blair |
1932-1934 | John F. Craig |
1928-1931 | Duncan F. McQuaig |
1927 | Walter Duff |
1927 | Wiliam Lowe |
1924-1926 | John F. Craig |
1921-1923 | John Little |
1918-1920 | Robert J. Sprot |
1915-1917 | John F. Craig |
1912-1914 | Alex Cowan |
1910-1911 | Thomas Beecroft |
1909 | James Vair |
1907-1908 | John H. Bennett |
1905-1906 | Donald Ross |
1902-1904 | W. Boys |
1900-1901 | G. A. Radenhurst |
1897-1899 | S. M. Wells |
1895-1896 | J. M. Bothwell |
1892-1894 | A. E. J. Creswicke |
1889-1891 | F. E. P. Pepler, Q.C. |
1887-1888 | C. H. Ross |
1882-1886 | Henry Sewery |
1877-1881 | W. D. Ardagh |
1876 | Robert Simpson |
1873-1875 | William Boy |
1871-1872 | Robert Simpson |
Reeves
Term | Reeve |
1864-1870 | W. D. Ardagh |
1859-1863 | Thomas D. McConkey |
1858 | Robert Simpson |
1857 | Henry B. Hopkins |
1856 | David Morrow |
1855 | Thomas D. McConkey |
1854 | Jonathan Lane |
Federal Representation
Below is a list of the federal members of parliament for the ridings that Barrie has been in since 1968.
Parliament | Date elected | Member of Parliament | Party |
---|---|---|---|
39 | 2006/01/23 | BROWN, Patrick | Conservative |
38 | 2004/06/28 | CARROLL, Aileen | Liberal |
37 | 2000/11/27 | CARROLL, Aileen | Liberal |
36 | 1997/06/02 | CARROLL, Aileen | Liberal |
35 | 1993/10/25 | HARPER, Ed | Reform |
34 | 1988/11/21 | ANDERSON, Edna | Progressive Conservative |
33 | 1984/09/04 | STEWART, Ronald A. | Progressive Conservative |
32 | 1980/02/18 | STEWART, Ronald A. | Progressive Conservative |
31 | 1979/05/22 | STEWART, Ron | Progressive Conservative |
30 | 1974/07/08 | RYNARD, P.B. | Progressive Conservative |
29 | 1972/10/30 | RYNARD, P.B. | Progressive Conservative |
28 | 1968/06/25 | RYNARD, P.B. | Progressive Conservative |
27 | 1965/11/08 | SMITH, Heber | Progressive Conservative |
26 | 1963/04/08 | SMITH, Heber | Progressive Conservative |
25 | 1962/06/18 | SMITH, Heber | Progressive Conservative |
24 | 1958/03/31 | SMITH, Heber | Progressive Conservative |
23 | 1957/06/10 | SMITH, Heber | Progressive Conservative |
22 | 1953/08/10 | FERGUSON, Julian H. | Progressive Conservative |
21 | 1949/06/27 | FERGUSON, Julian H. | Progressive Conservative |
Provincial Representation
Below is a list of the members of provincial parliament for the ridings that Barrie has been in since 1968.
Election Date | Candidate | Party |
---|---|---|
2003/10/02 | JOE TASCONA | Progressive Conservative |
1999/06/03 | JOE TASCONA | Progressive Conservative |
1995/06/08 | JOE TASCONA | Progressive Conservative |
Sports Teams
Club | League | Venue | Established | Championships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Barrie Colts | OHL Hockey | Barrie Molson Centre | 1995 |
1 |
Barrie Baycats | IBL Baseball | Barrie Metals Stadium | 2001 | 1 |
History of Barrie
Barrie at its inception was a train station, which is now disconnected. The city was named in 1832 after Sir Robert Barrie, who was in charge of the naval forces in Canada and frequently had to portage from Lake Simcoe to Georgian Bay through the city. The Underground Railroad in the mid 1800s caused many American slaves to enter Barrie. This contributed to the development (and the name) of nearby Shanty Bay. During World War II the Royal Canadian Navy named a Flower class corvette HMCS Barrie.
On 27 September 1977, in dense fog, a small plane hit the 68 meter tall CKVR Television Tower, knocking CHAY FM and CKVR-TV off the air. All on the aircraft were killed, and the tower was destroyed. A new 304 metre tower was erected and operational within a year.
On 31 May, 1985, an F4 tornado struck Barrie, see United States-Canadian Outbreak for full details.
On 12 June - 13 June 1987, a sculpture called Spirit Catcher by Ron Baird was moved to Barrie from Vancouver, British Columbia, where it had been exhibited as part of Expo '86. The sculpture was erected permanently at the foot of Maple Avenue on the shore of Kempenfelt Bay.
In January of 2004, Barrie made international news when its city police raided the former Molson brewery, and found Canada's largest illegal cannabis grow operation.
Barrie's Park Place (formerly Molson Park) was chosen to host Live 8 Canada on 2 July, 2005. The success of the concert contributed to the resistance to a plan to convert the concert area to a commercial district.
Demographics
The 2001 census agglomeration found that Barrie has 150,000 residents. The city grows at an average 5% a year as it attracts people from all over Ontario. It is currently one of Canada's fastest growing cities.
Population
Year | Population |
---|---|
2001 | 103,710 |
1996 | 79,191 |
1991 | 62,728 |
1981 | 38,423 |
Racial Structure
From the years 1996 to 2001, the city of Barrie has seen phenomenal growth. According to StatCan, the city grew by 25.1 per cent, the fastest in the province of Ontario. This is due to both the young population profile, and a growing number of Canadians moving into the city for economic and technological oppurtunities.
In 2001, some 23 per cent of the population is under 14, while 10.9 per cent of the population is of retirement age. The city is overwhelmingly populated with those of white backgrounds - 94.5%, mostly of British Isles, French, German, Dutch, and Italian origins. The remainder is as follows: Aboriginal: 1.3%, Black: 1.0%, mixed: 1.0%, and Asian: 0.7%.
Religious Groups
- 47.0% Protestant
- 27.9% Roman Catholic
- 3.4% other Christian
- 0.32% Jewish
- 0.3% Muslim
- 21.08% other, non-professing