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Yonge Street, which runs both north to Barrie and south to Lake Ontario (through Toronto), is the main transportation artery. It was originally carved out as a strategic military route.
The distance by road between Aurora and Parliament Hill is 466 km. The drive takes about four and a half hours.
The Oak Ridges Moraine is spread out over 2,070 hectares of regional forest. It contains many threatened species like of birds including the hooded warbler, and other animals like the Jefferson salamander.
Geography consists of kettle lakes, formed when glaciers retreated, with wetlands, farmland, hills, and dense pine forests.
About 49% of the riding’s population are immigrants, with some of the largest populations born in China, Iran, and Hong Kong.
Mandarin, Cantonese, and Persian are the most common non-official mother tongues in the riding. Over half the population identifies as speaking a non-official language.
Less than 1% of the riding’s population identify as Aboriginal.
Average individual income is $55,658.
An expansion to Rouge Park will make it both Canada’s first and largest national urban park. It combines nature, farms, camping, biodiversity, beaches, hiking, and over 10,000 years of human history.
Peer though the largest telescope in Canada. It can be seen at the world-famous David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill and is used to research black holes and globular clusters.
The first Harvey’s burger chain restaurant opened in Richmond Hill in 1959.
Richmond Hill is the hometown of former WWE Wrestler Trish Status, NHL player Connor McDavid, captain of the 2002 Olympic gold Canadian women’s hockey team Cassie Campbell, world champion male figure skater Elvis Stojko, and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne.
Oak Ridges was home to Ontario’s first methadone clinic. Opened in 1995, the clinic then moved to the town of Newmarket, to address the growing need for methadone in York Region.
Top industries are retail trade, finance and insurance, and educational services. About 10% of the riding’s workforce are employed in the retail trade industry.
In 2010, the unemployment rate was 6.7%.
Almost 65% of the riding’s labour force has some sort of post-secondary education.
Hundreds of conservation and protection projects are devoted to land securement, stewardship, education, and research on the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail.
There is no swimming allowed in Lake Wilcox due to high levels of bacteria and the presence of garbage and debris. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) started the Lake Wilcox Habitat Enhancement Project in 2005 to improve the water habitat.
Lester B. Pearson, Canada’s prime minister from 1963 to 1968, moved to Aurora with his family as a young child.
Oak Ridges was established in the late 1700s by French Catholic Royalists who were granted land in the area by the British government. These settlers fled the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, which resulted in the violent persecution of monarchists and the religious.