Chapleau, Ontario
Encyclopedia
Chapleau is a township
Township (Canada)
The term township generally means the district or area associated with a town. However in some systems no town needs to be involved. The specific use of the term to describe political subdivisions has varied by country, usually to describe a local rural or semi-rural government within the county...

 in Sudbury District, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is home to one of the world's largest wildlife preserves. Chapleau has a population of 2,354 according to the Canada 2006 Census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...

.

The major industries within town are the logging mill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

, Tembec
Tembec
Tembec Inc. is a paper company in Canada. Tembec has approximately 6000 employees located in Canada, United States, and France. Tembec's operating divisions include Forest Products, Pulp, Paper & Paperboard, and Chemicals....

, and the Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 railyards.

Geography and location

Chapleau is located in central Northeastern Ontario
Northeastern Ontario
Northeastern Ontario is the region within the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and east of Lakes Superior and Huron.Northeastern Ontario consists of the districts of Algoma, Sudbury, Cochrane, Timiskaming, Nipissing and Manitoulin; and the single-tier municipality of Greater...

, in the heart of the Canadian Shield
Canadian Shield
The Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, or Bouclier Canadien , is a vast geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of the North American or Laurentia craton. It is an area mostly composed of igneous rock which relates to its long volcanic history...

. Chapleau is geographically isolated; the nearest cities are Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...

, Timmins
Timmins, Ontario
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...

, and Sudbury, but all are more than a two hour drive away. Highway 129 links the town with Highway 101, running east to Timmins and west to Wawa
Wawa, Ontario
Wawa is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Algoma District. Formerly known as the township of Michipicoten, the township was officially renamed for its largest and best-known community in 2009....

. Highway 129 also runs south, connecting with the Trans-Canada Highway
Trans-Canada Highway
The Trans-Canada Highway is a federal-provincial highway system that joins the ten provinces of Canada. It is, along with the Trans-Siberian Highway and Australia's Highway 1, one of the world's longest national highways, with the main route spanning 8,030 km...

, Highway 17 at Thessalon
Thessalon, Ontario
Thessalon is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located at the junction of Highway 17 and Highway 129. It is surrounded by but not part of the municipality of Huron Shores, and is part of the District of Algoma....

, 227 km from Chapleau.

Three First Nation reservations are located near the township: Chapleau Cree First Nation
Chapleau Cree First Nation
Chapleau Cree First Nation is a Mushkegowuk Cree First Nation located by Chapleau Township, Sudbury District, Ontario, Canada. The First Nation have reserved for themselves the Chapleau 75 Indian Reserve and the Chapleau Cree Indian Reserve...

, Brunswick House First Nation
Brunswick House First Nation
Brunswick House First Nation is an Ojibway-Cree First Nation in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in the Sudbury District, northeast of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. The First Nation have reserved for themselves the Mountbatten 76A Indian Reserve and the Duck Lake 76B Indian Reserve...

, and Chapleau Ojibway First Nation
Chapleau Ojibway First Nation
The people of Chapleau Ojibwe First Nation live on the only Ojibway based reserve in the Chapleau area. Their historical kinship and relationship with the land therefore draws them west to the shores of Lake Superior and south to the shores of Lake Huron, rather than north into Cree territory to...

.

Chapleau Crown Game Preserve

Chapleau Crown Game Preserve
Chapleau Crown Game Preserve
The Chapleau Crown Game Preserve is an animal preserve area in Ontario, Canada, north-east of Lake Superior. It is situated in the Algoma and Sudbury Districts. It is officially classified as a Crown Game Preserve by the Government of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.All animals are protected...

 to the north of the town is, at over 7,000 square kilometres, the largest animal preserve in the world. Protected wildlife include moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...

, black bear
American black bear
The American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...

s, pygmy shrew
Pygmy Shrew
The American Pygmy Shrew is a small shrew found in Alaska, Canada and the northern United States down through the Appalachian Mountains. It was first discovered in 1831 by the acclaimed naturalist William Cane in Georgian Bay, Parry Sound....

s, bald eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...

s and loon
Loon
The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...

s. The preserve is a source of tourism, drawing nature-enthusiasts and fishermen to the township. All forms of hunting and trapping have been forbidden in the preserve since the 1920s. The result is an area with abundant wildlife. In fact, over 2,500 moose and over 2,000 black bears reside within the game preserve. Logging does occur within the preserve, as does fishing. There are two provincial parks and cottages located within the preserve.

Climate

History

The first European settlement in the area was established in 1777 by the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

. The settlement was a fur trading post about 50 miles to Chapleau's north, on Big Missinabi Lake.

In 1885 the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through the area. The CPR chose this as a division point, and the town was founded. It was named in honour of Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau
Sir Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, PC, KCMG , born in Sainte-Thérèse, Quebec, was a French-Canadian lawyer and politician....

 (born November 7, 1840; died June 13, 1898), lawyer, journalist, businessman, politician, and most notably the 5th Premier of Quebec
Premier of Quebec
The Premier of Quebec is the first minister of the Canadian province of Quebec. The Premier is the province's head of government and his title is Premier and President of the Executive Council....

.

After a fire in 1948, the government was prompted to construct a road to Chapleau to enable logging contractors to truck timber before it rotted. The Chapleau Road (now Highway 129) was completed on January 28, 1949. In the early 1960s, Highway 101 was completed to link Chapleau with Timmins to the east, and Wawa to the west.

Chapleau also developed logging mills, but over-exploitation of natural resources has led to many layoffs and difficult times for the town. At its largest, with large CPR and logging operations, the town had a population of 5000. However, the town has been gradually shrinking since 1950.

Demographics

Population trend:
  • Population in 2006: 2354
  • Population in 2001: 2832
  • Population in 1996: 2934
  • Population in 1991: 3077

Education

The town has two high schools, Chapleau High School and École Secondaire Catholique Trillium, and three elementary schools, Chapleau Public School, École du Sacré-Cœur, and Our Lady of Fatima. Chapleau High and Chapleau Public belong to the Algoma District School Board
Algoma District School Board
Algoma District School Board is a public school board in the Canadian province of Ontario. The school board is the school district administrator for the Algoma District.- Blind River :* W.C...

, the others belong to the French and English Catholic school boards.

Wireless mesh Internet

Starting on November 9, 2005, Chapleau residents began testing a wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...

 mesh Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 technology in a program called Project Chapleau
Project Chapleau
Project Chapleau is a Wi-Fi internet connection that covers the entire town of Chapleau, Ontario, Canada. It is the first of its kind in Canada....

. This Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

 connection covered the entire town and was the first of its kind in Canada.

This service was designed and implemented by Bell Canada Enterprises, Nortel Networks, and the Township of Chapleau.

In April, 2007, Project Chapleau concluded without a reason being given. The Project Chapleau office (The Chapleau Innovation Center) was converted into a public internet access point, with job search and community networking facilities.

Media

All of the township's regular broadcast media are rebroadcasters of signals from Sudbury, Timmins
Timmins
Timmins is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada on the Mattagami River. At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, Timmins' population was 42,997...

 or Wawa
Wawa, Ontario
Wawa is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Algoma District. Formerly known as the township of Michipicoten, the township was officially renamed for its largest and best-known community in 2009....

. The township's only purely local media service is a special station which airs information from the municipal government in the event of a weather or industrial emergency. The station does not broadcast on a regular basis; in the event of an emergency, the municipal fire service activates its fire sirens to alert residents to tune in the station.

Radio

  • FM 89.9 – CBCU
    CBCS-FM
    CBCS-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Sudbury, Ontario, broadcasting at 99.9 FM, and serves all of Northeastern Ontario through its network of relay transmitters.-History:The station was launched in 1978 on FM 99.9 MHz...

    , CBC Radio One
    CBC Radio One
    CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

  • FM 91.9 – CBON-28
    CBON-FM
    CBON-FM is a Canadian radio station. It broadcasts the Société Radio-Canada's Première Chaîne network at 98.1 FM in Sudbury, Ontario. The station also serves much of Northern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters.-History:...

    , Première Chaîne
  • FM 92.7 – CHIM-8
    CHIM-FM
    CHIM-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts Christian music at 102.3 FM in Timmins, Ontario.The station began testing its signal at 102.3 MHz on December 24, 1995, and officially signed on April 7, 1996. The station has expanded through a network of rebroadcast transmitters in...

    , Christian
    Christianity
    Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

  • FM 93.7 – CFJW
    CFJW-FM
    CFJW-FM is an emergency alert radio station that operates at 93.7 FM in Chapleau, Ontario, Canada.Licensed to Allan Pellow, the township's chief administrative officer, the station was given approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission in 1999...

    , emergency alert
  • FM 95.9 – CHAP, community-owned rebroadcaster of CHYC-FM
    CHYC-FM
    CHYC-FM is a Canadian radio station, which broadcasts at FM 98.9 in Sudbury, Ontario. It broadcasts a francophone hot adult contemporary format for the city's franco-ontarian community. It is owned by Le5 Communications, and branded as Le Loup 98.9....

     Sudbury
  • FM 100.7 – CJWA-1
    CJWA-FM
    CJWA-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 107.1 FM in Wawa, Ontario. The station broadcasts an adult contemporary format under the on-air brand JJAM or JJAM FM....

    , adult contemporary

Television

  • Channel 7: CBCU – CBC Television
    CBC Television
    CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

  • Channel 9: CITO-TV-4
    CITO-TV
    CITO is a Canadian television station, broadcasting in Timmins, Ontario. It is an O&O of CTV. CITO also broadcasts on channel 10 in Kapuskasing, channel 11 in Kirkland Lake, channel 4 in Hearst and channel 9 in Chapleau.-History:CITO was established in 1971 as CKSO-TV-2, originally rebroadcasting...

     – CTV
    CTV television network
    CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...

  • Channel 13: CBLFT-22
    CBLFT
    CBLFT-DT is the Radio-Canada television station providing French-language television in Toronto and most of Ontario, including the Western, Central and Northeastern regions.-History:...

     – Radio-Canada
    Télévision de Radio-Canada
    Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...


Notable people

  • Floyd Curry
    Floyd Curry
    Floyd James "Busher" Curry was a Canadian ice hockey right winger....

     (1925–2006), NHL player and four-time Stanley Cup winner
  • Rick Norlock
    Rick Norlock
    Richard "Rick" Norlock is the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Northumberland—Quinte West in the Canadian House of Commons. He worked for the OPP as a police officer for over 30 years....

    , federal Member of Parliament
  • Jason Ward
    Jason Ward
    Jason Robert Ward is a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger who currently plays with EHC Black Wings Linz in the Austrian Hockey League. He has formerly played 336 games in the National Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings, and Tampa Bay Lightning...

    , 1997 first-round draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens
    Montreal Canadiens
    The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...

  • Robert Deluce
    Robert Deluce
    Robert J. Deluce is a Canadian airline executive. He is currently the president and CEO of regional airline Porter Airlines and a past airline executive with Air Ontario and other airlines.-Career:...

    , airline executive and current president and CEO of Porter Airlines
    Porter Airlines
    Porter Airlines is a regional airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Porter operates regularly scheduled flights between Toronto and locations in Canada and the United States using Canadian-built Bombardier Dash-8 Q 400...

    . http://www.thedailypress.ca/PrintArticle.aspx?e=3332583
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