The Regional Municipality of Ottawa–Carleton was a regional government area and census division

Census division

Census division is an official term in Canada and the United States. The census divisions of Canada are second-level census geographic unit, below provinces and territories, and above "census subdivisions" and "dissemination areas". In provinces where they exist, the census division may correspond...

 in 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...

 which existed from 1969 until 2001. It was created in 1969 from the former Carleton County

Carleton County, Ontario

Carleton County is the name of a historic county in Ontario, Canada. In 1969 it was superseded by the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. In 2001 the Regional Municipality and the eleven local municipalities within it were replaced by the current City of Ottawa.-History:Carleton County was...

 plus Cumberland Township, previously part of Russell County

Russell County, Ontario

Russell County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario.It was created in 1800 from a portion of Stormont County. It later merged with Prescott County to form Prescott and Russell United Counties....

.

Constituent Municipalities

The Regional Municipality originally consisted of the Cities of Ottawa and Eastview, the Villages of Rockliffe, Richmond and Stittsville, and the Townships of Torbolton, Fitzroy, Huntley, March, Goulbourn, Nepean, Osgoode, Marlborough, North Gower, Gloucester and Cumberland. At the same time as the creation of the Region, the City of Eastview was renamed the City of Vanier

Vanier, Ontario

-External links:**...

.

Chronology

• In 1974
  • The police village
    Police village
    A police village was a form of municipal government used in the province of Ontario, Canada, beginning in the early 19th century. It was used in cases where the finances or population of the area did not permit the creation of a village....
    
    s of City View, Kenmore
    Kenmore, Ontario
    Kenmore is a village in eastern Ontario, Canada. Located in Osgoode Ward, it is now part of the city of Ottawa, and consists of a small commercial centre flanked by two small residential neighbourhoods and farmland...
    
    , Manotick
    Manotick, Ontario
    Manotick, Ontario is an exurb in Eastern Ontario on the Rideau River, located on the south edge of Ottawa's urban area. Manotick is located immediately south of the booming suburbs Barrhaven and Riverside South and is about from downtown Ottawa. It has been part of the City of Ottawa since...
    
    , Metcalfe
    Metcalfe, Ontario
    Metcalfe is a large village in the Osgoode Ward of the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The local agricultural fair, the Metcalfe Fair, has been held each fall since 1856....
    
    , North Gower
    North Gower, Ontario
    North Gower is a large village in eastern Ontario, originally part of North Gower Township, now part of the city of Ottawa. Surrounding communities include Richmond, Kemptville, Kars and Manotick...
    
    , Osgoode Station
    Osgoode, Ontario
    Osgoode is a large village within the city of Ottawa, Canada, located just south of the city proper, near the Rideau River.It was originally part of Osgoode Township but it became part of Ottawa in 2001...
    
    , and St. Joseph d'Orleans
    Orléans, Ontario
    Orleans , also written Orléans, is a suburban area within the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the eastern part of the city along the Ottawa River, about from downtown Ottawa. The Canada 2006 Census gave Orleans a population of 95,491. It became a ward of the City of Ottawa in 2001...
    
     were dissolved.
  • Goulbourn Township
    Goulbourn Township, Ontario
    Goulbourn Township, Ontario was formed in 1818, roughly 20 km southwest of downtown Ottawa, with the first major settlement occurring in Richmond. Other communities in the township include Stittsville, Munster, and Ashton. Stittsville is the largest community in the township, owing in part to its...
    
     annexed the villages of Richmond
    Richmond, Ontario
    Richmond is a Canadian village. Founded in 1818, it spans the Jock River, a tributary of the Rideau River. Like many communities in eastern Ontario, Richmond houses several unique populations. Some residents have historic and economic roots in the immediate area. Richmond operates as a small core...
    
     and Stittsville
    Stittsville, Ontario
    Stittsville is a suburban community in the western part of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. A part of the National Capital Region, Stittsville is located immediately to the south-west of Kanata, and about from downtown Ottawa.-History:...
    
    .
  • The townships of Marlborough and North Gower merged to become Rideau
    Rideau Township, Ontario
    Rideau is an historic township in eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located in the rural parts of the City of Ottawa, in the extreme south. Its eastern boundary is the Rideau River, its namesake....
    
    .
  • At the same time the Townships of Torbolton, Fitzroy and Huntley merged to become West Carleton
    West Carleton Township, Ontario
    West Carleton is a historic township in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located in the rural parts of the new City of Ottawa, west of Kanata. Its northern boundary is the Ottawa River....
    
    .
• In 1978
  • The township of March and parts of Goulbourn and Nepean townships became the city of Kanata
    Kanata, Ontario
    Situated in the Ottawa Valley, Kanata is located about west-southwest of Downtown Ottawa along Highway 417 at a latitude of 45°18' North and a longitude of 75°55' West, with an area of . Its northern end is just to the west of the Ottawa River....
    
    .
  • At the same time the township of Nepean became the city of Nepean
    Nepean, Ontario
    - Recent quantity of snow :- History :Nepean Township, originally known as Township D, was established in 1792 and originally included what is now the central area of Ottawa west of the Rideau River. Jehiel Collins, from Vermont, is believed to have been the first person to settle in Nepean...
    
    .
• In 1981 the township of Gloucester became the city of Gloucester
  Gloucester, Ontario
  Gloucester is a suburb of and within the City of Ottawa. Gloucester Township was established in 1792 and originally included lands east of the Rideau River from the Ottawa River south to Manotick. It was incorporated as a township in 1850 and became a city in 1981...
  
  .
• In 1999 the township of Cumberland became the city of Cumberland.

Purpose of Regional Government

The Region, known as an "upper-tier" level of municipal government, was created to manage municipal services that crossed municipal boundaries and were more efficiently provided to residents on a regional, as opposed to local, basis. Over time, more and more services were transferred from the "lower-tier" municipalities to the Region and, by the end of the 1990s, 85% of municipal services were delivered by the Region. This included mass transit, policing, arterial roads, sewage, water, social services, libraries, garbage collection and Regional planning. Periodical reorganization (e.g. rural townships acquiring city status, as in 1974 and 1978) did not impede the process.

However the constituent municipalities of the RMOC were unified in a single City of Ottawa in 2001 by the Fewer Municipal Politicians Act of Ontario (1999), by the government of Premier Mike Harris, re-elected promising a "Common Sense Revolution

Common Sense Revolution

The phrase Common Sense Revolution has been used as a political slogan to describe common sense conservative platforms in Australia and the U.S. state of New Jersey in the 1990s. Based on the Singapore Model of economics, its main goal is to reduce taxes while balancing the budget by reducing the...

." Several other Ontario conurbations were also unified under the Act, listed at. Ottawa thus became in sheer area one of the largest municipalities in Canada, roughly 40 miles by 20, much of this farmland, although 90 per cent of the population live in urban concentrations.

On formation inn 1969, the RMOC was a Council of members selected by the municipal councils, who elected among themselves a Regional Chairman

Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton

The Regional Chair of Ottawa-Carleton was the head of the regional council which controlled the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton since its formation in 1968....

. In 1991, the Regional chairman was for the first time directly elected by the people of the Region, which municipal mayors earlier resisted, fearing the chairman would effectively become a "super mayor". In 1994, Regional councillors were directly elected to represent Regional wards, rather than being appointed from the lower-tier municipal councils. Many of the new Regional wards crossed municipal boundaries, which in the eyes of many local residents undermined local or historical differences. Generally in Ontario regional government reforms of the 1990s were sometimes mistrusted as preparation for eventual creation of unified "mega-cities", but this was not before 1999 a topic of local political anxiety in Ottawa-Carleton, (see discussion in.)