Loading...
Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry is about an hour’s drive from Ottawa and Parliament Hill. Highway 401 and provincial Hwy. 2 run through the southern portion of the riding, while the Trans-Canada Highway dips into a corner of the northern section.
This large, mostly rural riding’s southern border runs along the St. Lawrence Seaway. It also includes the Raisin River and South Nation River, and a series of islands in the St. Lawrence. The Cooper Marsh Conservation Area is in the south, just outside of South Lancaster.
Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry has a small population of immigrants, with the largest group coming from the United Kingdom. Over half the population identifies their ethnic origin from the British Isles, with another 30% identifying as having French origin.
Every August long weekend, Maxville hosts the Glengarry Highland Games, the largest such event in North America. The riding is also home to golf course, several municipal parks, and Upper Canada Village – which considers itself “one of the largest living-history sites in Canada.”
The Williamstown Fair is Canada’s oldest annual fair. The fair aims to provide insight into the “rural agricultural way of life” in the St. Lawrence region and has been held at its present site since 1812. Highlights include the Farmer Olympics, a Midway, and the Fall Harvest Market.
Industries that employ the most residents in the riding include healthcare and social assistance, retail trade, and manufacturing. The St. Lawrence Seaway handles almost 50 million tonnes of cargo per year.
Around 46% of the workforce in this riding has a post-secondary education of some kind, and in 2011 the unemployment rate was 8%.
When the St. Lawrence Seaway was created in the 1950s, the series of dams and channels that were built resulted in the flooding of over 250 km2 of land around the river. The intentional flooding forced 6,500 people to relocated, and the submerged area is now known as “The Lost Villages.”
Glengarry County was where many Highland Scots settled after the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was also the location where many Scottish Loyalists settled after fleeing the American Revolution. John Sandfield MacDonald, Ontario’s first premier, was born in Glengarry County.
Indigenous communities in this riding include:
Mohawks of Akwesasne
