Mississauga, Ontario Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Mississauga (2001 population 612,925) is a city in Peel Regional Municipality, west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. A part of the Greater Toronto Area, Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city. It is also, by some accounts, the largest suburb in both Canada and the United States. It was settled in 1805 and incorporated as a city in 1974. Mississauga is a sister city of Kariya, Japan.With five major highways passing through the city, Mississauga offers fast and convenient access to major destinations in Canada and the United States. Mississauga has doubled in size in each of the last two decades. Mississauga had the largest population growth in Canada (89,500) between the census years of 1986-1991. Another 80,994 were added between 1991-1996; an increase of 17.5% in the four year period.
Despite its size, Mississauga is a suburb of Toronto and the two cities' urban sprawls are indistinguishably linked. As Toronto has continued to grow economically, Mississauga has followed suit, building predominantly low-density tract housing and high rise condominiums to attract individuals tired of city life. At the same time, businesses saw the benefits of locating to Mississauga - low tax rates, proximity to a number of transportation routes (air, rail, road), proximity to Toronto, and an abundance of land (at least, at the time) - and it soon became desirable to locate there.
History
At the time of the arrival of the Europeans in the 1600s, both Iroquoian and Algonquian speaking peoples already lived in the Credit River Valley area. One of the First Nations groups the traders found around the Credit River area was called the Mississaugas, a tribe originally from Lake Huron. By 1700 the Missisaugas had driven away the Iroquois.
In 1805, government officials from York, as Toronto was then called, bought 340 km² (84,000 acres) of the Mississauga Tract and in 1806 the area was opened for settlement. The various communities settled include: Clarkson, Cooksville, Dixie, Erindale, Port Credit, Sheridan, and Summerville. This region would become known as the Toronto Township.
In 1820, a second purchase was made and additional settlements established including: Barbertown, Britannia, Burnhamthorpe, Derry West, Elmbank, Malton, Meadowvale Village, Mount Charles, and Streetsville. This led to the eventual displacement of the Mississaugas and, in 1847, they were relocated to a reserve in the Grand River Valley near present-day Hagersville.
With the exception of Port Credit and Streetsville, all of these settlements joined together in 1968 to form the Town of Mississauga. In 1974, Mississauga incorporated as a City, this time including Port Credit and Streetsville.
For a more detailed history, see the entry for Toronto Township, Ontario.
On November 10, 1979, a 106 car freight train carrying explosive and poisonous chemicals was derailed at the intersection of Mavis Road and Dundas in Mississauga. The resulting fire was allowed to burn itself out, but a ruptured chlorine tank was the main cause for concern. With the possiblity of a deadly cloud of chlorine gas spreading through suburban Mississauga, 218,000 people were evacuated. Within a few days Mississauga was practically a ghost town, later when the mess had been cleared and the danger neutralized residents were allowed to return to their homes. At the time it was the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history and due to the speed and efficiency in which it was conducted many cities later studied and modeled their own emergency plans after Mississauga's.
Law/Government
Mississauga has had only three mayors in its history. Dr. Martin Dobkin was the city's first mayor in 1974. He was then followed by Ron Searle. Searle was defeated by then-city councillor and former mayor of Streetsville, Hazel McCallion. McCallion is regarded as a force in provincial politics and often referred to as Hurricane Hazel. McCallion has won or been acclaimed in every mayoral election since 1978, and in recent years has not even campaigned. She was most recently re-elected in November 2003. McCallion is the nation's longest serving mayor.
In recent years McCallion has been receiving critcism for contributing to urban sprawl in the GTA and for missing several opportunities to exercise measured growth. She herself has acknowledged the critcism and is now participating in several regional committees to share her mayoral experiences.
Mississauga's City Council is comprised of the mayor and nine City Councillors, each representing one of the city's nine wards.
Geography
Mississauga is bounded by Oakville, Ontario and Milton, Ontario to the west, Brampton, Ontario to the north, Toronto to the east, and Lake Ontario to the south. Halton Hills, Ontario borders Mississauga's north-west corner. The city is located at 43° 35' N, 79° 37' W.
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Demographics
In 2002, Mississauga had a population of 624,000, up almost 100,000 from 1995. With just over 40% of the city's population having a language other than English as their mother tongue, the city is relatively diverse, which is, perhaps, owing to its proximity to Toronto. More than 30% of Mississauga's population speak more than one language.
First Language
From Statistics Canada 1996 Census Data:
Universities/Colleges
Mississauga is the home to the University of Toronto at Mississauga (Erindale College), one of three intercity campuses of the University of Toronto. UTM is a mid-size school on a very modern and park-like campus, with an enrollment of approximately 8,000 students. It is growing rapidly, at a rate of about 1000 students per year since 2002.
Neighbouring Colleges
Hospitals
Sports Teams
Media
Newspapers
Television
The following stations broadcast directly out of Mississauga. For more area stations, visit Toronto television stations.
Notable Residents/Natives of Mississauga
Arts and Culture
Transportation
See also
External links
| North: Halton Hills, Brampton | |||||
| West: Milton, Oakville | Mississauga | East: Toronto | |||
| South: Lake Ontario |
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