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The Regional Municipality of Durham, informally referred to as Durham Region (2003 population 525,000), is a regional municipality located east of Toronto, Ontario. It has an area of approximately 2,500 square kilometers. Durham Region is considered part of the Greater Toronto Area, although Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington form the separate Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area. The regional government headquarters is located in Whitby, but various facilities are located throughout the Region. The Region of Durham was established in 1974 as one of several new regional governments in the Province of Ontario located primarily in fast-growing urban and suburban areas. Durham Region encompasses areas that were previously part of Ontario County and the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham. It was the culmination of a series of studies into municipal governance in the "Oshawa-Centred Region" that had begun in the late 1960s. The ultimate boundaries of the region were somewhat different than had been anticipated; for example, it was widely expected that Pickering would be annexed to Metropolitan Toronto, and that the region would extend further east to include Hope Township and the town of Port Hope. The southern portion of the region, adjacent to Lake Ontario is primarily suburban in nature, forming the eastern end of the 905 belt of suburbs around Toronto. The northern area is comprised of rural areas and small towns. Durham Region contains one Indian reserve, the Mississaugas of Scugog Island. Durham Region consists of the following local municipalities:
Local government Durham Region is governed by the Durham Region Council, which consists of the Mayors of the local municipalities as well as Regional Councillors directly elected in each municipality. The list below indicates the number of Regional Councillors elected in each local municipality. The Council is led by a Chair, who is selected by the Council itself rather than by direct election from the public. The current Chair is Roger Anderson. In 2006, several municipalities in the Region placed referendums on their local election ballot to ask voters whether the Chair should become a directly-elected position. The current council was elected in November 2003. The next municipal election is scheduled for the common Ontario municipal election day of Monday, November 13, 2006. In the past, Council has sat for a three year term, but the Ontario Legislature recently passed legislation increasing the length of municipal council terms in Ontario to four years, beginning with the councils to be elected in November 2006. Services The Regional government, within its geographic area, has sole responsibility for the following: The Region also provides services in: Local Municipalities have responsibility for: Economy Major employers include General Motors of Canada, Ontario Power Generation, Lakeridge Health System, Durham District School Board, Durham College, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and many smaller component and transportation firms supplying the automotive industry. Automobile industries Durham Region is a major centre of the Canadian automobile industry. Oshawa is the Canadian headquarters of General Motors and home of GM's largest plant in North America. In addition, the Canadian headquarters of both BMW and Volkswagen are located in the Region. Highways Durham Region is traversed by Highway 401 as well several other provincial highways, although there is far less highway capacity in Durham Region than in the other regions in the Greater Toronto Area. Recently, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario has proposed accelerating the expansion of Highway 407 through Durham Region to Highways 35 and 115. On August 22, 2006, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was considering providing federal funding for the extension of Highway 407. 400-series freeways
Other highways Public transportation The Region operates Durham Region Transit, formed at the beginning of 2006 when the the five separate public transit systems in the region were "uploaded" and amalgamated under the Region's administration. In addition, GO Transit provides the following services within the Region: Education The Durham District School Board provides all public schools within Durham Region, except for those schools within Clarington, which are part of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board. The Durham Catholic District School Board operates the separate Catholic school system within Durham Region, again with the exception of schools in Clarington, which are part of the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board. Neither school board is an operating division of the Regional government. Instead, as is true of all school boards in Ontario, they are separate entities with distinct but overlapped service areas. Elected public trustees responsible for their operation. History Durham Region encompasses areas that were previously part of Ontario County and the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham. Durham County was named after County Durham in England. Durham County Ontario was originally divided six townships, Hope, Manvers and Caven forming East Durham and West Durham was composed of the townships of Darlington, Cartwright (named for Richard Cartwight, MPP Kingston) and Clarke (possibly named after Charles Clarke settled in the region in 1838.) Source: Bowmanville Statesman, March 3, 1932, " History of West Durham Region by Mrs. J Thickson See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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