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Essex County with Windsor in red and Metropolitan Area in orange. Windsor (42º 18' N, 83º 01' W; EST), the southernmost city in Canada, is the county seat of Essex County, Ontario and lies across the Detroit River and Lake St Clair from Detroit, Michigan, to which Windsor is linked by bridge and tunnels. The 2001 Census put the population of Windsor at 208,402, and its metropolitan area's population at 307,877. Windsor's motto is "The river and the land sustain us." It is the only point along Canada's southern border where one enters the United States by heading north.
Windsor was first settled in the mid-1720s after farms started getting too far from the protection of a fort in Detroit making it the oldest continually inhabited European city in Canada, west of the Quebec border. The area was first named Petite Cote (Little Coast), the site later became known as la Cote de Misere (The Misery Coast) because of the sandy soils near LaSalle. Windsor's French heritage is reflected in many French street names, such as Ouellette, Pelissier, Marentette and Lauzon. There is a significant French speaking minority in Windsor and the surrounding areas.
Windsor's nickname is the "City of Roses", and it has several large parks on the waterfront, extending uninterrupted from the Ambassador Bridge to Hiram Walker's Canadian Club plant. Of particular mention are the gardens at Jackson Park, where an actual Lancaster Bomber is mounted on a concrete pedestal. A somewhat controversial restoration effort is underway which may mean moving the airplane from the park. It is also home to the University of Windsor. The campus is just east of the Ambassador Bridge.
Windsor is recognized as the automotive capital of Canada, having achieved this status mainly by its proximity to Detroit. Its industries include DaimlerChrysler's minivan assembly plant, several Ford Motor Company engine and casting plants, General Motors' transmission plant and Hiram Walker's Canadian Club plant, along with a myriad of smaller manufacturers that supply the larger plants. Windsor tourist attractions include Casino Windsor, a lively downtown, the Odette Sculpture Park, Ojibway Park, and nearby Point Pelee National Park. Windsor was a major entry point into Canada for refugees from slavery via the Underground Railroad and a major source of liquor during American Prohibition.
Windsor is linked to the United States by the Ambassador Bridge, the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, and a Canadian Pacific Railway tunnel. The Ambassador Bridge is North America's #1 international border crossing in terms of goods volume: 27% of all trade between Canada and the United States crosses the Ambassador Bridge.
Every summer Windsor participates in the 2-week long Windsor-Detroit International Freedom Festival that culminates in a gigantic fireworks display that celebrates Canada Day and the American Independence Day. The fireworks display is on the Wednesday before Canada Day, on the Detroit River between Detroit's Renaissance Center and Windsor's Festival Plaza, and each year attracts over a million spectators to Windsor's riverfront parks.
Labour union membership is very high in Windsor, and both of the city's current federal Members of Parliament are members of the New Democratic Party.
Because of Windsor's proximity to the Detroit media market, radio and television broadcasters in Windsor are accorded a special status by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, exempting them from many of the Canadian content requirements most broadcasters in Canada are required to follow.
Famous people from Windsor
- Bob Boughner, NHL hockey player
- Shaughnessy Cohen, former Liberal Member of Parliament
- Joe Comartin, NDP Member of Parliament
- Tie Domi, NHL hockey player
- Ernie Eves, former premier of Ontario
- Marty Gervais, poet and publisher
- Barbara Gowdy, novelist
- Herb Gray, former Liberal Member of Parliament and former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada
- Blake Harper, erotic film actor
- Shania Twain, country/pop singer
- Richie Hawtin, techno musician
- David H. Hubel, research scientist
- Ed Jovanovski, NHL hockey player
- Steven Langdon, former NDP Member of Parliament and NDP leadership candidate
- Mike Lazaridis, research scientist and CEO of Research in Motion
- Howard McCurdy, former NDP Member of Parliament and NDP leadership candidate
- Paul Martin, Canada's current prime minister
- Brian Masse, NDP Member of Parliament
- Steve Moore, NHL hockey player
- Oliver Platt, television and film actor
- Joel Quenneville, NHL hockey player
- Ron Wilson, NHL hockey coach
- Shawn T. Moir, Canadian Revolutionist
- Tamia, R&B singer
- Trevor Malcolm, former bassist for The Butthole Surfers
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