Clarington

Municipality of Clarington
Municipality of Clarington
	— Municipality —
	The town centre of Bowmanville, Clarington's largest community
; Coat of arms	; Logo
	Motto: "Wisdom Knowledge and Trust"
	Map showing Clarington's location in Durham Region
	Coordinates: 43°56′06″N 78°36′30″W / 43.935°N 78.60833°W
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Durham Region
Established	1974
	Government
• Mayor	Adrian Foster
• Governing body	Clarington Council
• MP	Bev Oda (Durham)
• MPP	John O'Toole (Durham)
	Area
• Total	611.3 km2 (236.0 sq mi)
Elevation	106 m (348 ft)
	Population (2011)
• Total	84,548 (Ranked 60th)
• Density	138.3/km2 (358/sq mi)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
Website	www.clarington.net

Clarington (2011 population 84,548^[1]) is a municipality in Ontario, Canada in the Regional Municipality of Durham. It was created in 1973 with the merging of the Town of Bowmanville, and the townships of Clarke and Darlington. It took its present name in 1994 after having been known as the Town of Newcastle from 1974-93. The name change was made to alleviate long-standing confusion between the municipality as a whole and the included village of the same name. Bowmanville is the largest community in the municipality and is the home of the municipal offices. The name "Clarington" is a portmanteau of the names of the two historical townships, Clarke and Darlington, that made up the majority of the geographic area.

It is part of the census metropolitan area of Oshawa and forms the eastern end of the Greater Toronto Area. Major employers in Clarington include the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station, General Motors in Oshawa, and several medium-to-large sized manufacturing businesses; however, most residents travel to points west in Durham Region or to Toronto for employment^{[citation needed]}.Clarington was a candidate in the race to host ITER in 2001,^[2] but the Canadian bid to host the project was withdrawn two years later.

[edit] Local government

Clarington is governed by an elected municipal council consisting of a mayor, and local councillors representing each of the municipality's four wards. In addition, two regional councillors each represent a pair of wards. The mayor and the regional councillors sit on both Clarington Council and Durham Region Council.

The current council was elected on October 25, 2010 for a four-year term. The members of the council are:

Mayor: Adrian Foster

Members of Council:

Mary Novak - Regional Councillor, Wards 1 and 2 (Darlington / Bowmanville / Courtice)
Willie Woo - Regional Councillor, Wards 3 and 4 (Clarke / Newcastle / Bowmanville)
Joe Neal - Councillor, Ward 1 (Courtice)
Ron Hooper - Councillor, Ward 2 (Darlington / Bowmanville)
Corrina Traill - Councillor, Ward 3 (Bowmanville / Clarke)
Wendy Partner - Councillor, Ward 4 (Clarke / Newcastle)

Public School Board Trustee: Steven Cooke & Cathy Abraham

[edit] Demographics

Clarington
Year	Pop.	±%
1996	60,615	—
2001	69,834	+15.2%
2006	77,820	+11.4%
2011	84,548	+8.6%

According to the Canada 2011 Census from Statistics Canada there were 84,548 people living in Clarington, and its population in 2006 was 77,820, representing an increase of 8.6%. The 2011 Census counted 30,797 housing units and 29,880 being occupied.

[edit] Communities

A till cliff, Lake Ontario shoreline.

Bowmanville limestone quarry and cement factory.

the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station.

The municipality consists of several urban communities, including:

Rural communities include:

Bond Head
Brownsville
Burketon
Clarke
Crooked Creek
Enfield
Enniskillen
Gaud Corners
Hampton
Haydon
Kendal
Leskard
Maple Grove
Mitchell Corners
New Park
Newtonville
Port Darlington
Port Granby
Salem
Solina
Starkville
Taunton (split with Oshawa along Townline Road)
Tyrone
West Side Beach
Wilmot Creek

[edit] Mosport International Speedway

A major attraction in the municipality is the Mosport International Raceway (formerly Mosport Park), a multi-track facility located north of Bowmanville that features a 2.459-mile (4.0 km), 10-turn road course; a half-mile paved oval; a 2.4 km advanced driver and race driver training facility and a 1.4 km kart track (Mosport International Karting).

Mosport Park was also the location of three major music festivals held between 1970 and 1980. The Strawberry Fields Festival held August 7-9, 1970 featured Alice Cooper, Jethro Tull, Grand Funk Railroad, Procul Harum, Ten Years After, Lighthouse, Crowbar and Sly and the Family Stone. John Lennon was to be the headline act, bidding to gain exposure for his peace campaign, but after months of planning he backed out due to differences with the show's promoter. However, the event still used the title of The Beatles' 1967 single of the same name. Led Zeppelin were booked to play but also backed out.