First Stop: Toronto

June 1 2011

I just got off the Toronto Airport~~
This is a huge cities with thousands of tall buildings! That's why people say it's the biggest city in Canada!

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario, which means it is more important than Winnipeg.It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. (The longitude and latitude are: 79° 24' W and 43° 40' N) It has a convectional precipitation but I am lucky today because it's sunnnnnnnny today! It's also a continental climate region.

It is the fifth most populous city in North America! So many people on the road. I want to go watch maple leaf play but i don't have time for that :(  (other teams here suck: Toronto Raptors and Bluerays........) According to my long ago Social Studies 9 memory, Toronto is in Great Lake St. Lawrence river region...hmmm... Whatever, I will go treasure hunt now!

Toronto is Canada's economic center$$  It is home to the Toronto Stock Exchange, the world's seventh largest in terms of market value. No wonder people come in every year. It's most service based economy with some manufacturing based economy. I can see many banks, shops all over the place. I also see some factories in the less urban regions. I can't imagine hundred years ago, this place was still a huge forest and grassland! Things changed a lot when the Europeans settled here in the past century. As more people came in, the land was cleared and it started developing into a town and thus a big city.
This was the long time ago picture:

and this is the picture now:

Cool eh!
Also, the population changed a lot.....obviously
On my book, it showed that the population here was originally sparse in 1800s. But more people came in after that. After the War of 1812, more people came in because Toronto was the center of Canada! The government was around here and it is a rich place! Now Toronto has a population of 5,555,912!!!!!!!! Amazing! Everyone loves city right? Who doesn't? Toronto's leading economic sectors include finance, business services, telecommunications, aerospace, transportation, media, arts, film, television production, publishing, software production, medical research, education, tourism, engineering, and sports industries.

Population Location and demographics --->

As I travel, I realize that I am experiencing the history. Toronto's history began in 18 century when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy. The settlement was later established as the Town of York and proclaimed as the new capital of Upper Canada. In 1834, York was incorporated as a city and renamed to its present name.I stop at the government building and look at the history records of this magnificent city.

When Europeans first arrived at the site of present-day Toronto, the vicinity was inhabited by the Huron tribes. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto, meaning "place where trees stand in the water". In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the town's capture and plunder by American forces. The city received new immigrant groups beginning in the late 19th century into early 20th century, particularly Germans, French, Italians, and Jews from various parts of Eastern Europe. Despite its fast paced growth, by the 1920s, Toronto's population and economic importance in Canada remained second to the much longer established Montreal. However, by 1934, the Toronto Stock Exchange had become the largest in the country. Following the Second World War refugees from war-torn Europe and Chinese job-seekers arrived, as well as construction labourers, particularly from Italy and Portugal. Following elimination of racially based immigration policies by the late 1960s, immigration began from all parts of the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto) Wow! Sounds like most of the population here aren't necessarily Canadian aboriginal people.

Enough with the history, let's look at the cultural indications of this big city, Toronto.
Toronto is a major scene for theatre and other performing arts, with more than fifty ballet and dance companies, six opera companies, two symphony orchestras and a host of theatres. Holly! That's way more than those in Victoria!

At noon, I am in Toronto biggest and busiest shopping center, Toronto Eaton Center. Thousands of people rush in and out! It's Toronto's top tourist attraction according to my book. After that, I go to Toronto's most significant building, CN tower. The CN Tower is a communications and observation tower in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It stands 553.33 meters. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CN_Tower) I can barely see the top! It is the 5th tallest building on the planet.

Besides all those crazy modern buildings, Toronto actually promotes the development of arts, culture and heritage throughout the City. Also, it ensures accessibility to a variety of cultural activities that enhance the cultural attractions of the Toronto Region. Lastly, it provides direct cultural services through its museums and historic sites, and supports the entire cultural sector of the community. 

Another historic place in Toronto is the University of Toronto. It's the greatest university in Canada. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada. It was originally controlled by the Church of England but now becomes a secular institution. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Toronto) I see many trees along the campus and many young students walking leisurely here. I wish I can study here. It has the 4th biggest university library in the world. I almost get lost in this green, huge campus! Way too many education centers!

In UT, I visit Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. It has the largest repository of publicly accessible rare books and manuscripts in Canada. it's a really cool place! It's completely silent in the library. I see so many protections for these rare books in the library including many security systems, alarm and fire extinguishing stuff. Just In Case of course! I sneakily take a picture of this library (inside ><)

I learn about the historically famous people in Ontario here. I now know who William Mackenzie was. He was famous because he pretty much led rebellions in 1837 in the whole Upper Canada, which is nowaday Ontario. The rebellion of 1837 drew the attention of British government to sit down and look at the serious issue in Canada. A key shared goal was the allowance of responsible government, which was eventually achieved in the incident's aftermath. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1837_Rebellion) I hate seeing people bleeding, but only through rebels a government can see the real problem.

Many churches here are Anglican churches because the majority of the population were English Canadians. The long-rooted conflicts between French Canadians and English Canadians stirred up many bloody events in Canadian history.

I see a few issues of Toronto posted on the official website:
1. the unemployment rate is still high up at 10%
2. The release of CO2 in the factories is still not low enough
3. The water pollution caused by the factories needs to be solved
4. The price is a bit too high =P
Hope the government of Toronto, along with  the government of Canada, can do something for these issues.

Anyway,
It's almost night time now, I need to go back to my hotel now. Enough typing. Have a good night guys.
Thanks for reading my article.




Source: Wikipedia, Google engine (picture) and Government Official website