About Vaughan
Vaughan is a city in York Region north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is the fastest growing municipality in
Canada, having nearly doubled in population since 1991. Vaughan is part of the Greater Toronto
Area. Its slogan is "The city above Toronto".
History
The first European to pass
through Vaughan was the French explorer
Étienne
Brûlé, who traversed the Humber Trail in 1615. However, it was not until the townships were
created in 1792 that Vaughan began to see
any settlements, as it was considered to be extremely remote and the lack of
roads through the region made travel difficult.
Despite the hardships of pioneer
life, settlers came to Vaughan in considerable numbers. The population grew from
19 men, 5 women, and 30 children in 1800 to
4300 in 1840. The first people to arrive
were mainly Pennsylvania
Germans, with a smaller number of families of English descent and a group of French Royalists being represented. This migration
from the United States
was by 1814 superseded by an influx of
immigrants from Britain. While many
of their predecessors had been agriculturalists, the newer immigrants proved to
be highly skilled tradespeople, which would prove useful for a growing community.
Around the facilities established by this group arose a number of hamlets, the
oldest of which was Thornhill, which witnessed the
construction of a saw-mill in 1801, a grist
mill in 1815, and boasted a population of
300 by 1836. Other such enclaves included
Kleinburg, Coleraine, Maple, Richmond Hill,
Teston, Claireville, Pine
Grove, Carrville, Patterson, Burlington, Concord, Edgeley, Fisherville,
Elder's Mills, Elgin Mills, Jefferson, Nashville, Purpleville, Richvale,
Sherwood, Langstaff, Vellore and Burwick (Woodbridge).
Vaughan changed relatively little in its early history, from the 1840s when the number of inhabitants stood at
4300 to 1935 when it had 4873 residents.
However, World War II
sparked an influx of immigration, and by 1960 the population stood at 15,957. As well, the
ethno-cultural composition of the area began to change with the arrival of
different groups such as the Italians, Jews and Eastern Europeans.
Incorporated in 1850 as Vaughan Township, a municipal government was
established. In 1971, the new regional government of York Region was
established, acquiring policing and welfare services from the communities it
served; simultaneously, the township merged with the Village of Woodbridge to
form the Town of Vaughan. In 1991, it officially changed its legal status to
City of Vaughan.
Law/Government
Following the death of Mayor Lorna Jackson in 2002, Michael Di Biase was
appointed by Vaughan council as interim mayor by virtue of his position as one
of two regional councillors representing Vaughan, Joyce Frustaglio was the other regional
councillor. Gino Rosati, a Vaughan local councillor, was subsequently appointed
by Vaughan Council to fill Di Biase’s position as regional councillor and a
by-election was held to fill Rosati’s local councillor’s position which was won
by Linda Jackson. Di
Biase became involved in the city's politics when he was elected local
councillor in 1985. In the 2003 Municipal Election, Di
Biase won his first official term since Jackson's passing.
The City of Vaughan's
Council is made up of nine members; a mayor, three regional councillors and
five local councillors. The mayor, elected at large by electorate, is the head
of Vaughan council and a representative on York Region Council.
The three regional councillors are elected to represent Vaughan at both local
and regional levels of government. Five local councillors are elected, one from
each of Vaughan's five wards, to represent those wards on Vaughan Council. City
councillors meet at the Civic Centre, located in the community of Maple.
Construction recently began on a new city hall, to be called the Lorna D.
Jackson Civic Centre in memory of the late Mayor. The new Civic Centre will
be one of the first in Canada to conform to a LEED Gold
Standard, the second highest environmental classification available.[1] The Toronto Star newspaper has made claims that the
naming was part of a preliminary deal that would wrap up an outstanding lawsuit
between the Jackson estate and the city.
Vaughan is the first municipality in Ontario to have a Youth City Councillor.
The youth city councillor is appointed as a non-voting member of Council every
six months to represent the youth of Vaughan. Vaughan council originally
rejected the proposal of a youth councillor but after the Vaughan Youth Cabinet
amended their proposal, Council accepted the recommendation.
In the municipal election on
November 13, 2006, Di Biase was narrowly defeated by Linda D. Jackson, who was
sworn in as mayor on December 4, 2006.
Geography
Vaughan is bounded by Caledon, Ontario and Brampton, Ontario
to the west, King,
Ontario and Richmond Hill, OntarioMarkham, Ontario
and Richmond Hill, Ontario to the east,
and Toronto,
Ontario to the south. It is located at 43°50′N,
79°30′W.
Demographics
| Ethnic Origin[2] |
Population |
Percent |
| Italian |
79,835 |
43.96% |
| Jewish |
33,705 |
16.90% |
| Canadian |
18,950 |
10.43% |
| English |
9,345 |
5.14% |
| East Indian |
8,930 |
4.91% |
| Chinese |
7,435 |
4.09% |
| Russian |
4,490 |
3.36% |
| Polish |
5,855 |
3.22% |
| Irish |
5,635 |
3.10% |
| Black |
3,580 |
1.97% |
Vaughan is one of southern Ontario's fastest growing cities. According to
Statistics Canada, the population grew 37.3[3] percent in a mere four year period (more than 9.3%
annually), and also has a young age profile than the Canadian average as 22.3
percent is under the age of 14, while those over 65 constitute 8.15%, one of the
lowest in Ontario resulting in an average age of 34.1.
Vaughan is reputably known as having some of the highest concentrations of
southern Europeans (notably Italian-Canadians), Eastern Europeans (chiefly
Russians and Poles) and Jewish people in Ontario, while those who are of
British Isles origin
form a smaller proportion than in many other southern Ontario cities. Around 19 percent of
the population are members of visible minority (non-European/white). Vaughan has a large South Asian
population, with Indian and Pakistani Canadians holding a large portion of the
non-white population. Vaughan also has a small but growing Hispanic, Jamaican,
Vietnamese and Chinese population. Residents of Vaughan are very religious; the
city has the lowest number of non-affiliates in Ontario. Some 67.42% of the
population adheres to Christianity, mostly Roman Catholicism (55.80%). Those who
practice non-Christian religions are also great in number, mostly Judaism (18.20%), Hindu (2.47%), and Islam (2.43%). as well as Buddhist(.56%)
Attractions
- Boyd
Conservation Area, park located between Woodbridge and Kleinburg.
- Canadian Soccer Hall of
Fame and Museum
- McMichael Canadian Art
Collection, located in Kleinburg.
- Canada's
Wonderland, Canada's largest amusement park located in Maple.
- Vaughan Mills, the
newest mall in the Greater Toronto Area, was recently
constructed in Vaughan.
Education
York University
in North York,
Ontario lies on the Toronto side
of the Toronto-Vaughan border. It is a
major comprehensive university, with more than 43,000 students enrolled through
ten different faculties. There are also a number of Elementary and High Schools
in Vaughan which operate under the York Region District School
Board and the York Catholic District School
Board.
Sports
Italia Shooters -
Canadian Soccer League 2006 Champions
Media
