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| Name | Kenora |
|---|---|
| Native name | |
| Settlement type | City |
| Total type | |
| Imagesize | 230px |
| Dot x | 10 |dot_y = 118 |
| Pushpin map | Canada Ontario |
| Pushpin label position | right |
| Pushpin map caption | Location of Kenora in Ontario |
| Coordinates region | CA-ON |
| Subdivision type | Country |
| Subdivision name | Canada |
| Subdivision type1 | Province |
| Subdivision name1 | Ontario |
| Subdivision type2 | Region |
| Subdivision name2 | Northwestern Ontario |
| Subdivision type3 | District |
| Subdivision name3 | Kenora |
| Leader title | Mayor |
| Leader name | Len Compton |
| Leader title1 | MP |
| Leader name1 | Greg Rickford (Kenora, CPC) |
| Leader title2 | MPP |
| Leader name2 | Howard Hampton (Kenora—Rainy River, NDP) |
| Established title | Incorporated (town) |
| Established date | 1882 as Rat Portage |
| Established title2 | Renamed |
| Established date2 | 1905 as Kenora |
| Established title3 | Amalgamated (City) |
| Established date3 | 2000 |
| Unit pref | |
| Area total km2 | 210.91 |
| Area land km2 | |
| Elevation footnotes | |
| Population as of | 2006 |
| Population total | 15177 |
| Population urban | 11306 |
| Population density km2 | 72.0 |
| Timezone | CST |
| Utc offset | −6 |
| Timezone dst | CDT |
| Utc offset dst | −5 |
| Postal code type | Postal Code FSA |
| Postal code | P9N, P0X |
| Area code | 807 |
| Website | Kenora Community Portal |
| Footnotes | Statistics Canada 2006 Community Profile |
Kenora (2006 population 15,177), originally named Rat Portage, is a small city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg. It is the seat of Kenora District.
The town of Kenora was amalgamated with the towns of Keewatin and Jaffray Melick in 2000 to form the present-day City of Kenora.
In 1878, the company surveyed lots for the permanent settlement of Rat Portage ("portage to the country of the muskrat") — the community kept that name until 1905, when it was renamed to Kenora. The name, "Kenora," was coined by combining the first two letters of Keewatin, Norman (two nearby communities) and Rat Portage.
Kenora was once claimed as part of the Province of Manitoba, and there are early references to Rat Portage, Manitoba. There was a long lasting argument between the two provinces known as the Ontario-Manitoba boundary dispute. Each province claimed the town as part of their territory and the dispute lasted from 1870-1884. Although Ottawa had ruled the town part of Manitoba in 1881, the issue was finally taken up with the Privy Council of England whom eventually decided in Ontario's favour. Boundaries were drawn up for the provinces and the Northwest Angle on Lake of the Woods which definitively drew the borders between Ontario, Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, U.S.A.
Gold and the railroad were both important in the community's early history: gold was first discovered in the area in 1850, and by 1893, 20 mines were operating within of Rat Portage, and the first Canadian ocean-to-ocean train passed through in 1886 on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Later, a highway was built through Kenora in 1932, becoming part of Canada's first coast-to-coast highway in 1943, and then part of the Trans-Canada Highway, placing the community on both of Canada's major transcontinental transportation routes. The original barrier to the completion of the highway concerned the crossing of the Winnipeg River at two locations. The single span arch bridges are among the longest of their type in North America.
Rat Portage was a small town of ill repute with storied brothels collected along the early Canadian Pacific Rail line. Large tracts of land were allocated to Marathon Realty for the purpose of gathering and controlling lands along the railway for commercial and development purposes. Excavation of garbage dumps adjacent to the brothels revealed opium bottles, prescription tranquilizers similar to Lorazepam, champagne bottles and pickle jars. Early suppliers of patent medicines from Johnson's Pharmacy during that era reveal Lydia Pinkam's Vegetable Compount, Kickapoo Indian Oil, Dr. Thomas Electric Oil and many others. During prohibition, the Lake of the Woods served as a route for the transport of Drewery's alcohol.
The logging industry, which was important earlier, declined in the second part of the 20th century as the tourist industry grew, and the last log boom was towed into Kenora in 1985.
A dramatic and daring bank robbery took place in Kenora on May 10, 1973. An unknown man entered the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce heavily armed and wearing a "dead man's switch", a device utilising a clothespin, wires, battery and dynamite, where the user holds the clothespin in the mouth, exerting force on the clothespin. Should the user release the clothespin, two wires attached to both sides of the pin complete an electrical circuit, sending current from the battery, detonating the explosives. After robbing the bank, the robber exited the CIBC, and was preparing to enter a city vehicle driven by undercover police officer Don Milliard. A sniper, Robert Letain, positioned across the street from the bank shot the robber, causing the explosives to detonate and killing the robber. Most of the windows on the shops on the main street were subsequently shattered as a result of the blast. Recently, Kenora Police submitted DNA samples from the robber's remains to identify him however the suspect was never positively identified. The Stanley Cup was won by the Kenora Thistles hockey team in 1907. The team featured such Hall of Famers as Billy McGimsie, Tommy Phillips, Roxy Beaudro, and Art Ross, for whom the Art Ross Trophy is named. Kenora is the smallest town to have won a major North American sports title.
In 1967, the year of the Canadian Centennial, Kenora erected a sculpture known as Husky the Muskie, which has become the town's effective mascot and one of its most recognizable features. |date=August 2010 }}
The city's most prominent cultural venue is the downtown Harbourfront, a park on the shore of Lake of the Woods which hosts the city's annual winter and summer festivals, as well as concert series, a "Bard on the Harbour" reading series of Shakespeare plays and other special events. Harbourfront is also the docking point for the M/S Kenora, a small cruise ship which offers a guided tour of the lake, and the home of Husky the Muskie.
The city's downtown core is home to an arts project which has to date seen 20 murals depicting the region's history planned and painted along buildings in the business district.
The city is also home to a major international bass fishing tournament.
Kenora is an archetypal hoser community, evidenced by the phrase "Kenora dinner jacket" as a nickname for a hoser's flannel shirt.
According to a 2010 study conducted by MoneySense on the worst Canadian cities, Kenora's culture ranked last out of 179 cities.
VIA Rail offers passenger service to Redditt on the CN transcontinental rail line, approximately 30 minutes and north of Kenora. The CP transcontinental rail line passes directly through town.
Kenora Airport is located east northeast of the city centre.
Greyhound Lines offers intercity bus services from the Excel Coach Lines terminal.
Highway 17 passes through Kenora, and the Highway 17A Kenora By-Pass goes around the city. Both routes are designated as part of the Trans-Canada Highway. Highway 658 extends northerly from Kenora to Redditt.
Kenora Transit operates three routes, from Monday to Saturday, 7:00am to 6:30pm.
The current mayor of Kenora is Len Compton.
Some residents of Kenora, citing dissatisfaction with the level of government service provided to the region by the provincial government, have proposed that the region secede from Ontario to join the province of Manitoba. Former Kenora mayor Dave Canfield, who was defeated by Compton in the 2006 municipal election, was the most notable public figure to have endorsed this proposal.
The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board operates one high school (Beaver Brae Secondary School) and 5 elementary schools (Lakewood School, Keewatin Public School, Evergreen School, King George IV School, and Valleyview School).
The Kenora Catholic District School Board operates one high school (Saint Thomas Aquinas High School) and three elementary schools (École Ste. Marguerite-Bourgeois, Pope John Paul II School and St. Louis School). The elementary school, officially named Pope John Paul II, amalgamated approximately 350 students from the former Mount Carmel and Our Lady of the Valley schools. École Ste. Marguerite-Bourgeois is a French immersion school.
Confederation College has a Kenora campus and serves post-secondary and adult education needs in the city and surrounding area.
Housed within the college is Contact North, which offers Kenora residents local access to university and college programs not directly offered by the college campus. Contact North is Ontario's most extensive distance education network providing access to education and training opportunities in remote locations of Northern Ontario through a network of access centres. Contact North works with 13 colleges and universities.
{| cellpadding="1" style="right; margin:0 1em 1em 0; border:1px #bbb solid; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:90%;" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" style="text-align:center;" !Census !Population |- style="text-align:right;" |1891 |1,806 |- style="text-align:right;" |1901 |5,202 |- style="text-align:right;" |1911 |6,158 |- style="text-align:right;" |1921 |5,407 |- style="text-align:right;" |1931 |6,766 |- style="text-align:right;" |1941 |7,672 |- style="text-align:right;" |1951 |8,695 |- style="text-align:right;" |1961 |10,904 |- style="text-align:right;" |1971 |10,952 |- style="text-align:right;" |1981 |9,817 |- style="text-align:right;" |1991 |9,782 |- style="text-align:right;" |2001 |15,838 |- style="text-align:right;" |2006 |15,177 |- style="text-align:right;" |}
Ethnic Groups (according to the 2006 Canadian Census):
*White: 83.2
It is also Canada's smallest (and North America's second smallest) television market, with just a single, low-powered local station (CJBN-TV), and three relays.
CBWAT was once a separate CBC Television station from Winnipeg-based CBWT. It would air basic news, weather and sports from Winnipeg followed by a locally produced current affairs programs. This was discontinued when CBWAT became a repeater of CBWT.
Category:Portages in Canada Category:Hudson's Bay Company trading posts
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