Coordinates	52°12′11″N4°23′43″N
Name	Ontario
Fullname	Province of Ontario
Entityadjective	Provincial
Flag	Flag of Ontario.svg|100px
Coatofarms	Coat of Arms of Ontario.png|200px
Logo	Ontario_logo.jpg
Map	Ontario, Canada.svg
Label map	no
Motto	Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin)("Loyal she began, thus she remains")
Officiallang	English (de facto)| Flower = White Trillium
Slogan	Yours To Discover
Tree	Eastern White Pine
Bird	Great Northern Loon
Capital	Toronto
Largestcity	Toronto
Largestmetro	Greater Toronto Area
Demonym	Ontarian
Premier	Dalton McGuinty
Premierparty	Liberal
Viceroy	David Onley
Viceroytype	Lieutenant Governor
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Postalabbreviation	ON
Postalcodeprefix	K L M N P
Arearank	4th
Area footnotes
Populationyear	2010
Densityrank	2nd
Density km2	13.8
Gdp year	2008
Gdp total	C$578.2 billion
Gdp rank	1st
Gdp per capita	C$43,847
Gdp per capita rank	6th
Admittanceorder	1st, with QC, NS, NB
Admittancedate	July 1, 1867
Timezone	UTC-5 & -6
Houseseats	106
Senateseats	24
Isocode	CA-ON
Website	www.ontario.ca

Ontario is a province of Canada located in the east-central part of Canada. It is the largest province by population and second largest in total area. It is home to Canada`s most populous city, Toronto, the capital city of Ontario, and Ottawa, the national capital of Canada.

Ontario is bordered by Manitoba on its west, Hudson Bay on its north, and Quebec on its east, and by three states of the United States to its south (from west to east): Minnesota, Michigan, and New York. Ohio and Pennsylvania are across Lake Erie. All but a small portion of Ontario's 2,700 km (1,677 mi) border with the United States follow inland waterways: from the west at Lake of the Woods, eastward along the major rivers and lakes of the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River drainage system. These are the Rainy River, Lake Superior, the St. Mary's River, Lake Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, Lake Erie, the Niagara River, Lake Ontario, and along the St. Lawrence River from Kingston, Ontario to the Quebec boundary just east of Cornwall, Ontario.

Ontario is sometimes broken into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontario's population and its arable land is located in the south, mostly along the northern lakeshores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. In contrast, the northern three-quarters of Ontario is sparsely populated.

The province is named after Lake Ontario, which is thought to have been derived from Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake", or possibly skanadario which means "beautiful water" in the Iroquoian languages. Ontario contains about 250,000 freshwater lakes.

Geography

:See also List of parks and protected areas of Ontario

, the capital of Ontario.]] , the capital of Canada.]]

The province consists of three main geographical regions:

The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario; though this area mostly does not support agriculture it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes and rivers. Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions: Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.

The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested.

The temperate, fertile and therefore most populuous Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south. This is part of the Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests ecoregion where the forest has now been large replaced by agriculture, industrial and urban development. Southern Ontario is further sub-divided into four regions; Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic centre), Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe and Southwestern Ontario (parts of which were formerly referred to as Western Ontario).

Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above the Niagara Escarpment which crosses the south. The highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands and in hilltops near the Madawaska River in Renfrew County.

The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern section, its northern extent is part of the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of Lake Ontario. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87% of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population.

Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario (near Windsor and Detroit, Michigan) that is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland. Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the northern border of California.

Climate

on Lake Ontario.]] on the Bruce Peninsula.]] Ontario has three main climatic regions. Parts of Southwestern Ontario have a moderate humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa), similar to that of the inland Mid-Atlantic States and the Great Lakes portion of the Midwestern United States. The region has warm, humid summers and cold winters. Annual precipitation ranges from and is well distributed throughout the year with a usual summer peak. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes making for abundant snow in some areas. Point Pelee and Middle Island, the southernmost parts of the country, are at the dividing line of a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate (Dfa/Cfa).

Central and Eastern Ontario have a more severe humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). This region has warm and sometimes hot summers with colder longer winters, with ample snowfall and roughly equal annual precipitation as the rest of Southern Ontario. Along the eastern shores of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, frequent heavy lake-effect snow squalls increase seasonal snowfall totals upwards of in some places.

The northernmost parts of Ontario — primarily north of 50°N have a subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) with long, severely cold winters and short, cool to warm summers with dramatic temperature changes possible in all seasons. With no major mountain ranges blocking sinking Arctic air masses, temperatures of are not uncommon, snowfall remains on the ground for sometimes over half the year. Precipitation is generally less than .

Severe and non-severe thunderstorms peak in summer. London, situated in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, averaging 34 days of thunderstorm activity per year. In a typical year, Ontario averages 15 confirmed tornado touchdowns, though they are rarely destructive (the majority between F0 to F2 on the Fujita scale). Tropical depression remnants occasionally bring heavy rains and winds in the south, but are rarely deadly. A notable exception was Hurricane Hazel which struck Toronto, in October 1954. Winter storms can disrupt power supply and transportation, severe ice storms can also occur, especially in the east.

History

Territorial evolution

Land was not legally subdivided into administrative units until a treaty had been concluded with the native peoples ceding the land. In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec (1763–1791), southern Ontario was divided into four districts: Hesse, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nassau.

In 1792, the four districts were renamed: Hesse became the Western District, Lunenburg became the Eastern District, Mecklenburg became the Midland District, and Nassau became the Home District. Counties were created within the districts.

By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, and Western.

By 1826, there were eleven districts: Bathurst, Eastern, Gore, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, and Western.

By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, Dalhousie, Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward, Simcoe, Talbot, Victoria, Wellington, and Western.

In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the Province of Canada, and county governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of Algoma District and Nipissing District in 1858.

The borders of Ontario, its new name in 1867, were provisionally expanded north and west. When the Province of Canada was formed, its borders were not entirely clear, and Ontario claimed to eventually reach all the way to the Rocky Mountains and Arctic Ocean. With Canada's acquisition of Rupert's Land, Ontario was interested in clearly defining its borders, especially since some of the new areas it was interested in were rapidly growing. After the federal government asked Ontario to pay for construction in the new disputed area, the province asked for an elaboration on its limits, and its boundary was moved north to the 51st parallel north.

The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after Confederation. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. By 1899, there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Timiskaming.

European contact

s in downtown Hamilton on Main Street East.]]

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian (Ojibwa, Cree and Algonquin) in the northern/western portions and Iroquois and Wyandot (Huron) tribes more in the south/east. During the 17th century, the Algonquians and Hurons fought a bitter war against the Iroquois. The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610-12. The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England.

Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615, and French missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who allied themselves with the British. From 1634 to 1640, Hurons were devastated by European infectious diseases, such as measles and smallpox, to which they had no immunity.

The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War by awarding nearly all of France's North American possessions (New France) to Britain. The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. From 1783 to 1796, the Kingdom of Great Britain granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the American Revolution of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.

Upper Canada

American troops in the War of 1812 invaded Upper Canada across the Niagara River and the Detroit River, but were defeated and pushed back by British regulars, Canadian fencibles and militias, and First Nations warriors. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however. During the Battle of York they occupied the Town of York (later named Toronto) in 1813. The Americans looted the town and burned the Parliament Buildings but were soon forced to leave.

After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Europe rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this deliberate immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers, mostly from Britain and Ireland found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the decades that followed. It was a mostly agrarian-based society, but canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving previously damaged relations over time. map, approximate province area highlighted.]] Meanwhile, Ontario's numerous waterways aided travel and transportation into the interior and supplied water power for development. As the population increased, so did the industries and transportation networks, which in turn led to further development. By the end of the century, Ontario vied with Quebec as the nation's leader in terms of growth in population, industry, arts and communications.

Many in the colony however, began to chafe against the aristocratic Family Compact who governed while benefiting economically from the region's resources, and who did not allow elected bodies the power to effect change (much as the Château Clique ruled Lower Canada). This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early Canadian nationalism. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of responsible government rose in both regions; Louis-Joseph Papineau led the Lower Canada Rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie led the Upper Canada Rebellion.

Canada West

Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent Lord Durham to investigate the causes of the unrest. He recommended that self-government be granted and that Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the Act of Union 1840, with the capital at Kingston, and Upper Canada becoming known as Canada West. Parliamentary self-government was granted in 1848. There were heavy waves of immigration in the 1840s, and the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade. As a result, for the first time the English-speaking population of Canada West surpassed the French-speaking population of Canada East, tilting the representative balance of power.

An economic boom in the 1850s coincided with railway expansion across the province, further increasing the economic strength of Central Canada. With the repeal of the Corn Laws and a reciprocity agreement in place with United States, various industries such as timber, mining, farming and alcohol distilling benefited tremendously.

A political stalemate between the French- and English-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during and immediately after the American Civil War, led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all British North American colonies. The British North America Act took effect on July 1, 1867, establishing the Dominion of Canada, initially with four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the BNA Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of Protestant and the Catholic minority. Thus, separate Catholic schools and school boards were permitted in Ontario. However, neither province had a constitutional requirement to protect its French- or English-speaking minority. Toronto was formally established as Ontario's provincial capital.

In 1868 the coat of arms and motto of Ontario are created. Curiously, the motto "Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet" (Loyal she began, loyal she remains) was added to Ontario´s coat of arms by Sir Henry William Stisted, The first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario; who was a great friend of the Spanish General José of Bascarán and Federic, the 27th Lord of Olvera. In one of his visits to him, Sir Henry observed the mentioned motto in the coat of arms that was hung on the wall of the lounge of the house of the General Bascarán, and Sir Henry requested authorization from his friend to include in the coat of arms of Ontario the motto of the Spanish city because he thought that it was representing perfectly the feelings of the Ontarians.

Provincehood

at night.]] Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer Oliver Mowat became Premier of Ontario and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the federal government in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly decentralized Canada, giving the provinces far more power than John A. Macdonald had intended. He consolidated and expanded Ontario's educational and provincial institutions, created districts in Northern Ontario, and fought to ensure that those parts of Northwestern Ontario not historically part of Upper Canada (the vast areas north and west of the Lake Superior-Hudson Bay watershed, known as the District of Keewatin) would become part of Ontario, a victory embodied in the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889. He also presided over the emergence of the province into the economic powerhouse of Canada. Mowat was the creator of what is often called Empire Ontario.

Beginning with Sir John A. Macdonald's National Policy (1879) and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1875–1885) through Northern Ontario and the Canadian Prairies to British Columbia, Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished. However, population increase slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but only for a few short years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railway to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia, sparsely settling Northern Ontario.

Mineral exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast like Sudbury, Cobalt and Timmins. The province harnessed its water power to generate hydro-electric power and created the state-controlled Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, later Ontario Hydro. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. The Ford Motor Company of Canada was established in 1904. General Motors Canada was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would go on to become the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy during the 20th century.

In July 1912, the Conservative government of Sir James Whitney issued Regulation 17 which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist Henri Bourassa denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". It was eventually repealed in 1927.

Influenced by events in the United States, the government of Sir William Hearst introduced prohibition of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act. However, residents could distil and retain their own personal supply, and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, which allowed this already sizable industry to strengthen further. Ontario became a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor and the biggest supplier into the United States, which was under complete prohibition. Prohibition in Ontario came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario under the government of Howard Ferguson. The sale and consumption of liquor, wine, and beer are still controlled by some of the most extreme laws in North America to ensure that strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld. In April 2007, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Kim Craitor suggested that local brewers should be able to sell their beer in local corner stores; however, the motion was quickly rejected by Premier Dalton McGuinty.

The post-World War II period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area in particular, have been the recipients of most immigration to Canada, largely immigrants from war-torn Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and after changes in federal immigration law, a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1970s. From a largely ethnically British province, Ontario has rapidly become very culturally diverse.

The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses and English-speaking people out of Quebec to Ontario, and as a result Toronto surpassed Montreal as the largest city and economic centre of Canada. Depressed economic conditions in the Maritime Provinces have also resulted in de-population of those provinces in the 20th century, with heavy migration into Ontario.

Ontario has no official language, but English is considered the de facto language. Numerous French language services are available under the French Language Services Act of 1990 in designated areas where sizable francophone populations exist.

Demographics

*2006 Census

Ethnic groups

The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian"). Groups with greater than 200,000 responses are included.

The majority of Ontarians are of British or other European descent. Slightly less than 5% of the population of Ontario is Franco-Ontarian, that is those whose native tongue is French, although those with French ancestry account for 11% of the population.

In relation to natural increase or inter-provincial migration, immigration is a huge population growth force in Ontario, as it has been over the last two centuries. More recent sources of immigrants with already large or growing communities in Ontario include Caribbeans (Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Guyanese, and Bajan), South Asians (e.g. Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans), East Asians (mostly Chinese and Filipinos), Latin Americans (such as Colombians, Mexicans, Hondurans, Argentinans, Peruvians and Ecuadorians), Eastern Europeans such as Russians and Bosnians, and groups from Somalia, Iran, and West Africa. Most populations have settled in the Greater Toronto area. A smaller number have settled in other cities such as London, Kitchener, Hamilton, Windsor, Barrie, and Ottawa.

Ontario is the second most diverse province in terms of visible minorities after British Columbia, with 22.8% of the population consisting of visible minorities. The Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, Windsor, Hamilton and Waterloo Region are quite diverse metropolitan areas.

Aboriginal peoples make up 2% of the population, with two-thirds of that consisting of North American Indians and the other third consisting of Métis. The number of Aboriginal people has been increasing at rates greater than the general population of Ontario.

Religion

The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 3,866,350 (34%); the United Church of Canada with 1,334,570 (12%); and the Anglican Church of Canada with 985,110 (9%).

The major religious groups in Ontario, as of 2001, are:

Economy

in Toronto has the highest public observation level in the Western Hemisphere.]] in Ottawa. Home of the federal government.]] Ontario is Canada's leading manufacturing province accounting for 52% of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004. Ontario's largest trading partner is the American state of Michigan. The government of Ontario posted a record C$21.3 billion ($20.7 billion) deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The province’s net debt will rise to C$220 billion in 2010-11, or a record 37% of gross domestic product. In 2009 Ontario Power Generation generated 70% of the electricity of the province, of which 51% is nuclear, 39% is hydroelectric and 10% is fossil fuel derived. Much of the newer power generation coming online in the last few years is natural gas or combined cycle natural gas plants. OPG is not however responsible for the transmission of power, which is under the control of Hydro One. Despite its diverse range of power options, problems related to increasing consumption, lack of energy efficiency and aging nuclear reactors, Ontario has been forced in recent years to purchase power from its neighbours Quebec and Michigan to supplement its power needs during peak consumption periods.

An abundance of natural resources, excellent transportation links to the American heartland and the inland Great Lakes making ocean access possible via container ships, have all contributed to making manufacturing the principal industry, found mainly in the Golden Horseshoe region, which is the largest industrialized area in Canada, the southern end of the region being part of the North American Rust Belt. Important products include motor vehicles, iron, steel, food, electrical appliances, machinery, chemicals, and paper. Ontario surpassed Michigan in car production, assembling 2.696 million vehicles in 2004. Ontario has Chrysler plants in Windsor and Bramalea, two GM plants in Oshawa and one in Ingersol, a Honda assembly plant in Alliston, Ford plants in Oakville and St. Thomas and Toyota assembly plants in Cambridge and Woodstock.

However, as a result of steeply declining sales, in 2005, General Motors announced massive layoffs at production facilities across North America including two large GM plants in Oshawa and a drive train facility in St. Catharines resulting in 8,000 job losses in Ontario alone. In 2006, Ford Motor Company announced between 25,000 and 30,000 layoffs phased until 2012; Ontario was spared the worst, but job losses were announced for the St. Thomas facility and the Windsor Casting plant. However, these losses will be offset by Ford's recent announcement of a hybrid vehicle facility slated to begin production in 2007 at its Oakville plant and GM's re-introduction of the Camaro which will be produced in Oshawa. On December 4, 2008 Toyota announced the grand opening of the RAV4 plant in Woodstock, and Honda also has plans to add an engine plant at its facility in Alliston. Despite these new plants coming online, Ontario has been hurt by layoffs created cause by the global recession, its unemployment rate is steadied at 9.2% (as of Jan. 2010) vs. roughly 6% in 2007.

Toronto, the capital of Ontario, is the centre of Canada's financial services and banking industry. Neighbouring cities in the Greater Toronto Area like Brampton, Mississauga and Vaughan are large product distribution and IT centres, in addition to having various manufacturing industries. The information technology sector is also important, particularly in the Silicon Valley North section of Ottawa , as well as the Waterloo Region, where the world headquarters of Research in Motion (the developers of the BlackBerry smartphone) is located. Government is the single largest employer in the National Capital Region employing hundreds of thousands. Hamilton is the largest steel manufacturing city in Canada, and Sarnia is the centre for petrochemical production. Construction employs at least 7% of the work force, this sector has slowed down somewhat after a ten year plus boom.

Mining and the forest products industry, notably pulp and paper, are vital to the economy of Northern Ontario. More than any other region, tourism contributes heavily to the economy of Central Ontario, peaking during the summer months owing to the abundance of fresh water recreation and wilderness found there in reasonable proximity to the major urban centres. At other times of the year, hunting, skiing and snowmobiling are popular. This region has some of the most vibrant fall colour displays anywhere on the continent, and tours directed at overseas visitors are organized to see them. Tourism also plays a key role in border cities with large casinos, among them Windsor, Cornwall, Sarnia and Niagara Falls, which attract many U.S. visitors.

Agriculture

Once the dominant industry, agriculture occupies a small percentage of the population but still a large part of Southern Ontario's land area. The number of farms has decreased from 68,633 in 1991 to 59,728 in 2001, but farms have increased in average size, and many are becoming more mechanized. Cattle, small grains and dairy were the common types of farms in the 2001 census. The fruit, grape and vegetable growing industry is located primarily on the Niagara Peninsula and along Lake Erie, where tobacco farms are also situated.

The Corn Belt covers much of the southwestern area of the province extending as far north as close to Goderich. Apple orchards are a common sight along the southern shore of Georgian Bay near Collingwood and along the northern shore of Lake Ontario near Cobourg. Tobacco production, centred in Norfolk County has decreased leading to an increase in some other new crop alternatives gaining popularity, such as hazelnuts and ginseng. The Ontario origins of Massey Ferguson, once one of the largest farm implement manufacturers in the world, indicate the importance agriculture once had to the Canadian economy.

Southern Ontario's limited supply of agricultural land is going out of production at an increasing rate. Urban sprawl and farmland severances contribute to the loss of thousands of acres of productive agricultural land in Ontario each year. Over 2,000 farms and of farmland in the GTA alone were lost to production in the two decades between 1976 and 1996. This loss represented approximately 18% of Ontario's Class 1 farmland being converted to urban purposes. In addition, increasing rural severances provide ever-greater interference with agricultural production.

The 500,000, or so, acres (200,000 ha) comprising the black peat soil Holland Marsh, located just south of Lake Simcoe and near the town of Bradford West Gwillimbury ( north of Toronto) continues to be Canada's premier vegetable production center.

Energy

is a large supplier of hydroelectric energy for the province.]] Bruce Nuclear Generating Station is the second largest nuclear power plant in the world.]] The Green Energy and Green Economy Act, 2009 (GEA), takes a two-pronged approach to creating a renewable-energy economy. The first is to bring more renewable energy sources to the province and the second is the creation of more energy efficiency measures to help conserve energy. The bill would also appoint a Renewable Energy Facilitator to provide "one-window" assistance and support to project developers in order to facilitate project approvals.

The approvals process for transmission projects would also be d and for the first time in Ontario, the bill would enact standards for renewable energy projects. Homeowners would have access to incentives to develop small-scale renewables such as low- or no-interest loans to finance the capital cost of renewable energy generating facilities like solar panels. and the backbone of Ontario's road network, tourism, and economy,

*Parts of Quebec (including Gatineau) are included in the Ottawa CMA. The entire population of the Ottawa CMA, in both provinces, is shown. Clarence-Rockland and Russell Township are not the second and third largest municipalities in the entire CMA, they are the largest municipalities in the Ontario section of the CMA.

;Ten largest municipalities by population {| class="wikitable sortable" |- " !Municipality !2006 !2001 !1996 |- |Toronto (Provincial capital) | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Ottawa (National capital) | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Mississauga | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Hamilton | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Brampton | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |London | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Markham | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Vaughan | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Windsor | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |- |Kitchener | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | | style="text-align: right;" | |}

Education

Higher education

Songs and slogans

During the John Robarts government of the 1960s, the slogan "Is There Any Other Place You'd Rather Be?" was in use to promote tourism. During a blizzard early in 1971, highway travellers who were stranded at a Highway 401 service centre with Premier Robarts (already in his last months of office) asked him the slogan in an ironic twist.

In 1967, in conjunction with the celebration of Canada's centennial, the song "A Place to Stand" was introduced at the inauguration of Ontario's pavilion at the Expo 67 World's Fair, and became the background for the province's advertising for decades.

In 1973 the first slogan to appear on licence plates in Ontario was "Keep It Beautiful". This was replaced by "Yours to Discover" in 1982, apparently inspired by a tourism slogan, "Discover Ontario," dating back to 1927. Plates with the French equivalent, "Tant à découvrir", was made available to the public beginning in May 2008. (From 1988 to 1990, "Ontario Incredible" gave "Yours to Discover" a brief respite.)

In 2007, a new song replaced "A Place to Stand" after four decades. "There's No Place Like This" is featured in current television advertising, performed by Ontario artists including Molly Johnson, Brian Byrne, Keshia Chanté, as well as Tomi Swick and Arkells. The new song is featured on the Ontario Tourism website.

Famous residents

Please see List of people from Ontario.

See also

Coat of arms of Ontario

Flag of Ontario

Great Seal of Ontario

Caledonia Land Dispute

Order of Ontario

Scouting and Guiding in Ontario

Symbols of Ontario

*

Geography:

Northern Ontario

*Northeastern Ontario

*Northwestern Ontario

Southern Ontario

*Central Ontario

*Eastern Ontario

*Golden Horseshoe

*Southwestern Ontario

Lists:

List of airports in Ontario

List of cities in Ontario

List of communities in Ontario

List of premiers of Ontario

List of lieutenant governors of Ontario

List of professional sports teams in Ontario

Law:

Ontario Provincial Police

Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Court of Appeal for Ontario

Notes

References

Michael Sletcher, 'Ottawa', in James Ciment, ed., Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, (5 vols., M. E. Sharpe, New York, 2006).

Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada

Further reading

Celebrating One Thousand Years of Ontario's History: Proceedings of the Celebrating One Thousand Years of Ontario's History Symposium, April 14, 15, and 16, 2000. Ontario Historical Society, 2000. 343 pp.

Baskerville, Peter A. Sites of Power: A Concise History of Ontario. Oxford U. Press., 2005. 296 pp. (first edition was Ontario: Image, Identity and Power, 2002). online review

Chambers, Lori, and Edgar-Andre Montigny, eds. Ontario Since Confederation: A Reader (2000), articles by scholars

External links

Canadian Government Atlas - Official Map of Ontario.

CBC Digital Archives - Ontario Elections: Twenty Tumultuous Years

Government of Ontario - Official website of the Provincial government.

Ontario Visual Heritage Project - Non-profit documentary project about Ontario's history

Tourism Ontario - Official tourism website of the Province of Ontario

Category:Provinces and territories of Canada Category:States and territories established in 1867

Coordinates	52°12′11″N4°23′43″N
Name	Teoman
Background	solo_singer
Born	November 20, 1967
Origin	Giresun, Turkey
Genre	Acoustic rock, soft rock
Occupation	Singer, Song-writer, Actor
Years active	1990s - present
Label	Avrupa Müzik, NR1 Müzik
Url	teoman.com.tr

Fazlı Teoman Yakupoğlu (20 November 1967, Istanbul, Turkey ), using the stage name Teoman, is a popular Turkish acoustic rock singer and song-writer. His biggest hits include "Paramparça" (All In Pieces) , Senden Önce Senden Sonra (Before You, After You), 17 and Papatya (Daisy). On Papatya, Turkish female rock singer Özlem Tekin features as backing vocals. Şebnem Ferah has also featured on a couple of Teoman's tracks.

Teoman's music is mostly classified as "pop-rock" or "soft rock".

After studying business administration and mathematics at Bogazici University, he transferred to and graduated from the sociology department of the same university. He completed his graduate study on women studies at Istanbul University.

His formal music career was first started in his first band Mirage in 1986. Teoman staged with various bands for 10 years until his breakthrough song, "Ne Ekmek Ne de Su" (Neither Bread Nor Water) (music by Barlas Erinç- lyrics by Barlas Erinç and Teoman) which won the first prize in Roxy Müzik Günleri (Roxy Music Days).

In Romani people symposium on 8 October 2005, his Romani heritage declared.

Discography

İnsanlık Halleri (The States of Humanity) (2009)

Söz Müzik Teoman (Music and Lyrics by Teoman) (2008)

Teoman-Bülent Ortaçgil Konser (Live Performance) (2007)

Renkli Rüyalar Oteli (Colorful Dreams Hotel) (2006)

Balans ve Manevra ('Soundtrack) (2005)

En güzel Hikayem (My Most Beautiful Story) (2004)

Teoman (aka Red Album) (2003)

Gönülçelen(Heart Stealer) (2001)

Onyedi(Seventeen) (2000)

O(She) (1998)

Teoman (1996)

Filmography

Filler ve Cimen (Elephants and Grass) (2000)

Bank (2002)

Mumya Firarda (Runaway Mummy) (2002)

Balans ve Manevra (Balance and Maneuver) (2005) (actor, director, writer, composer and producer)

Romantik (Romantic) (2007) (actor, composer)

Barda (at the Bar) (2007)

References

External links

teoman

Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:People from Giresun Category:Turkish film actors Category:Turkish male singers Category:Turkish pop singers Category:Turkish rock singers

Coordinates	52°12′11″N4°23′43″N
Name	Kardinal Offishall
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Jason D. Harrow
Born	May 12, 1976
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genre	Canadian hip hop Reggae fusion
Occupation	Rapper, producer, songwriter
Years active	1996–present
Label	MCA (2000–2003)Kon Live/Geffen (2007–present)
Associated acts	Sean Paul, Black Jays, Akon, T-Pain, Rock City, Clinton Sparks, Keri Hilson, Rihanna, Nicole Scherzinger, Lady GaGa, Colby O'Donis, Estelle, Raghav
Url

Jason D. Harrow (born May 12, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper and record producer. He is often credited as Canada's "hip-hop ambassador", and is best known for his distinctive reggae and dancehall-influenced style of hip-hop.

Life and career

Harrow was born in Scarborough, Ontario, in Toronto's east end, and raised by Jamaican immigrant parents. He later settled in the Oakwood-Vaughan neighbourhood of York, in Toronto's west end. He started rapping at the age of eight and was winning competitions by the time he was 12. Also at the age of 12, he performed live and on stage for the first time, with Nelson Mandela in attendance during Mandela's first visit to Toronto. By 1993, he decided to change his alias "KoolAid", and went by the moniker "Kardinal Offishall" after being inspired by the great 17th century French politician Cardinal Richelieu.

Kardinal was signed to a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music Canada at the age of 20. In 1996, he released his first single "Naughty Dread", which was featured on the Rap Essentials Volume One compilation and earned him a Juno Award nomination for Best Rap Recording. In 1997, Kardinal released his debut album Eye & I on Capitol Hill Music. The only single from the album, "On Wit Da Show", had considerable video play on MuchMusic. In 1998, he was featured on the Juno-winning single "Northern Touch" with the Rascalz, Choclair, Checkmate and Thrust.

In 2000, Kardinal signed with MCA Records. He released the album in 2001, which spawned the hits "BaKardi Slang" and "Ol' Time Killin'". After MCA folded in 2003, Kardinal's highly anticipated follow up album Firestarter Vol. 2: F Word Theory was shelved along with the single/video for "Belly Dancer" featuring Pharrell, and Kardinal eventually found himself without a label. Had the album been released, there would have been production from Timbaland and The Neptunes, among others. He released an independent mixtape titled Kill Bloodclott Bill in 2004 with his production company, The Black Jays, and he also released his second major-label album titled Fire and Glory on November 15, 2005, through Virgin Records in Canada only. Hits on Fire and Glory include "Everyday (Rudebwoy)" and "Heads Up". Also in 2000, Kardinal Offishall teamed up with Maestro Fresh Wes for the hit "Bustin Loose" featured on Maestro's album Ever Since.

In 2007, Akon signed Kardinal Offishall to his label Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution. Kardinal Offishall released an album under the album Not 4 Sale. It spawned the hit single "Dangerous", which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2009, Kardinal performed as the main act for Denison University, and on September 3rd at the CNE in Toronto.

In 2010, he was included in the Young Artists for Haiti's version of "Wavin' Flag" in an effort to raise money for disaster relief. He starred along with many Canadian stars. Also in 2010, he was featured in Raghav single release "So Much".

Discography

Studio albums

Eye & I (1997)

(2001)

Fire and Glory (2005)

Not 4 Sale (2008)

Mr. International (2011)

EPs

Husslin' (2000)

Awards

1999: Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for Rascalz' "Northern Touch"

2000: Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for producing Choclair's "Let's Ride"

2000: SOCAN Award for "Husslin'"

2001: MuchMusic Video Award - Best Rap Video for "Money Jane"

2002: SOCAN Award for "Money Jane"

2004: Canadian Urban Music Award for "Empty Barrel"

2006: 3 MuchMusic Video Awards - Best Video, Best Director (RT!) and VideoFACT Award for "Everyday (Rudebwoy)"

2009: Juno Award for Single of the Year for "Dangerous"; Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for Not 4 Sale

2009: SOCAN Urban Music Award for "Dangerous"

See also

Canadian hip hop

Music of Canada

References

External links

Kardinal Offishall interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' February 2009

Rhapsody Interview

Border Block - Canadian Hip Hop vs. America

Much Music

MMVA Awards

Interview with DJ Stallion

Kardinal's KonvictMuzik.net page

Kardinal Offishall on Flow.TV

Kardinal Offishall Spits 16 Bars in Studio - AOL Music

Kardinal Offishall RBMA video lecture session

Category:1976 births Category:Black Canadian musicians Category:Canadian rappers Category:Geffen Records artists Category:Canadian people of Jamaican descent Category:Juno Award winners Category:Living people Category:MCA Records artists Category:Musicians from Toronto Category:People from Scarborough, Ontario Category:People from York, Toronto Category:Reality television judges Category:Reggae fusion artists Category:York University alumni Category:Canadian hip hop record producers

Coordinates	52°12′11″N4°23′43″N
Name	Harry Belafonte
Born	New York City, New York, U.S.
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Harold George Belafonete Jr.
Years active	1949–2007
Label	RCA Victor CBS EMI Island
Genre	Calypso, vocal, folk
Occupation	Actor, activist, singer

Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. (originally Belafonete; born March 1, 1927) is an American musician, singer, actor, and social activist. One of the most successful pop singers in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" -- a title which he was very reluctant to accept (according to the documentary Calypso Dreams) -- for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s. Belafonte is perhaps best known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with its signature lyric "Day-O." Throughout his career, he has been an advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes, and was a vocal critic of the policies of the George W. Bush Administration.

Biography

Youth and early career

Born Harold George Belafonete, Jr., at Lying-in Hospital, New York City, New York, Belafonte was the son of Melvine (née Love) -- a housekeeper (of Jamaican descent) -- and Harold George Belafonete, Sr., a Martinican who worked as chef in the Royal Navy. From 1932 to 1940, he lived with his grandmother in the village of Aboukir in her native country of Jamaica. When he returned to New York City he attended George Washington High School after which he joined the Navy and served during World War II. His other smash hit being "Jump in the Line". Many of the compositions recorded for Calypso, including "Banana Boat Song" and "Jamaica Farewell," all signed by Irving Burgie, Belafonte and his team were really previously recorded Jamaican mento songs sold as calypso. The original Jamaican versions can now be heard on the "Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958" CD released in 2010.

While primarily known for his Calypso songs, Belafonte has recorded in many genres, including blues, folk, gospel, show tunes, and American standards. His second-best hit, which came immediately after "The Banana Boat Song," was the novelty tune "Mama Look at Bubu," also known as "Mama Look a Boo-Boo" (originally recorded by Lord Melody in 1956), in which he sings humorously about misbehaving and disrespectful children. It reached number eleven on the pop chart.

Belafonte continued to record for RCA through the 1950s to the 1970s. Two live albums, both recorded at Carnegie Hall in 1959 and 1960, enjoyed critical and commercial success. He was one of many entertainers recruited by Frank Sinatra to perform at the Inaugural gala of President John F. Kennedy in 1961. That same year he released his second Calypso album, Jump Up Calypso, which went on to become another million seller. During the 1960s he introduced a number of artists to American audiences, most notably South African singer Miriam Makeba and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. His album Midnight Special (1962) featured the first-ever recorded appearance by a then young harmonica player named Bob Dylan.

As The Beatles and other stars from Britain began to dominate the U.S. pop charts, Belafonte's impact as a commercial force diminished; 1964's Belafonte at The Greek Theatre was his last album to appear in Billboard's Top 40. His last hit single, A Strange Song, was released in 1967, and peaked at number 5 on the Adult contemporary music charts. Belafonte has received a Grammy Award for the albums Swing Dat Hammer (1960) and An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba (1965). The latter album dealt with the political plight of black South Africans under Apartheid. He has been awarded six Gold Records.

Belafonte's album output in the 1970s slowed after leaving RCA. From the mid-1970s to early 1980s he spent the greater part of his time touring the world, visiting such places as Japan, Europe, and Cuba. His involvement in USA for Africa during the mid-1980s resulted in renewed interest in his music, culminating in a record deal with EMI. He subsequently released his first album of original material in over a decade, Paradise in Gazankulu, in 1988. The album contains ten protest songs against the South African former Apartheid policy, and is his last studio album to date. In the same year, Belafonte, as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador attended a symposium in Harare, Zimbabwe to focus world attention on child survival and development in Southern African countries. As part of the symposium, he performed a concert for UNICEF. A Kodak video crew filmed the concert, which was released as a 60-minute concert video entitled "Global Carnival". It features many of the songs from the album Paradise in Gazankulu and some of his classic hits. Also in 1988, Tim Burton used two of Belafonte's songs in his movie ''Beetlejuice, "The Banana Boat Song" and "Jump in the Line".

Following a lengthy recording hiatus, An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends, a soundtrack and video of a televised concert were released in 1997 by Island Records. The Long Road to Freedom, An Anthology of Black Music, a huge multi-artist project recorded during the 1960s and 1970s while he was still with RCA, was finally released by the label in 2001. The album was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Awards for Best Boxed Recording Package, for Best Album Notes and for Best Historical Album. number on The Muppet Show.]]

Belafonte was the first black man to win an Emmy, with his first solo TV special Tonight with Belafonte (1959). During the 1960s he appeared in a number of TV specials, alongside such artists as Julie Andrews, Petula Clark, Lena Horne, and Nana Mouskouri. He was also a guest star on a memorable episode of The Muppet Show in 1978, in which he sang his signature song "Day-O" on television for the very first time. However, the episode is best known for Belafonte singing the spiritual song, "Turn the World Around," that is performed with Muppets designed like African tribal masks. It has become one of the most famous performances in the series. It was reported to be Jim Henson's favorite episode, and Belafonte did a reprise of the song at Henson's memorial in 1990. "Turn the World Around" was also included in the 2005 official hymnal supplement of the Unitarian Universalist Association, "Singing the Journey."

Belafonte received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994 and he won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. He has continued to perform sell-out concerts globally through the 1950s to the 2000s. Due to illness he was forced to cancel a reunion tour with Nana Mouskouri, planned for the spring and summer of 2003, following a tour in Europe. He gave his last concert on the 25th of October 2003, a benefit concert for the Atlanta Opera. In a 2007 interview he stated that he has since retired from performing.

Film career

Belafonte has starred in several films. His first major film role was in Bright Road (1953), in which he appeared alongside Dorothy Dandridge. The two subsequently starred in Otto Preminger's hit musical Carmen Jones (1954). Ironically, Belafonte's lyrics in the film were dubbed by an opera singer, as Belafonte's own singing voice was seen as unsuitable for the role. Using his star clout, Belafonte was subsequently able to realize several then-controversial film roles. In 1957's Island in the Sun, there are hints of an affair between Belafonte's character and Joan Fontaine. In 1959, he starred in and produced Robert Wise's Odds Against Tomorrow, in which he plays a bank robber uncomfortably teamed with a racist partner (Robert Ryan). He also co-starred with Inger Stevens in The World, the Flesh and the Devil. Belafonte was offered the role of Porgy in Otto Preminger's Porgy and Bess, where he would have once again starred opposite Dandridge, but he refused the role because he objected to the racial stereotyping of blacks in the story.

Feeling dissatisfied with the film roles available to him, he abandoned film in favour of his musical career during the 1960s. In the early 1970s Belafonte briefly resurfaced in a number of films among which are two films in which he starred alongside Sidney Poitier: Buck and the Preacher (1972) and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). In 1984, Belafonte produced and scored the musical film Beat Street, dealing with the rise of hip-hop culture. Belafonte would not star in a major film again until the mid-1990s, when he appeared alongside John Travolta in the race-reverse drama White Man's Burden (1995); and in Robert Altman's jazz age drama Kansas City (1996), the latter of which garnered him the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also starred as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in the TV drama Swing Vote (1999). In late 2006, Belafonte appeared in the role of Nelson, a friend of an employee of the Ambassador Hotel played by Anthony Hopkins, in Bobby, Emilio Estevez's ensemble drama about the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

Political and humanitarian activism

Belafonte's political beliefs are greatly inspired by the man that he still views to this day as his mentor: singer and activist Paul Robeson, a man who was in his time a controversial figure for strongly supporting the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. He strongly opposed not only racial prejudice in the United States, but also western colonialism in Africa. Like Robeson and other black entertainers, Belafonte's success in the arts did not protect him from racial discrimination, particularly in the American South. As a result, he refused to perform in the South from 1954 until 1961. In 1960, President John F. Kennedy named Belafonte cultural advisor to the Peace Corps. Belafonte was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s confidants. He provided for King's family, since King made only $8,000 a year as a preacher. Like many civil rights activists, Belafonte was blacklisted during the McCarthy era. He bailed King out of the Birmingham City Jail and raised thousands of dollars to release other imprisoned civil rights protesters. He financed the Freedom Rides, supported voter registration drives, and helped to organize the March on Washington in 1963.

with Sidney Poitier (left) and Charlton Heston. ]] During "Freedom Summer" in 1964, Belafonte bankrolled the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, flying to Mississippi that August with $60,000 in cash and entertaining crowds in Greenwood with his "Banana Boat Song". In 1968, Belafonte appeared on a Petula Clark primetime television special on NBC. In the middle of a song, Clark smiled and briefly touched Belafonte's arm, which made the show's sponsor, Plymouth Motors, nervous. Plymouth wanted to cut out the segment, but Clark, who had ownership of the special, told NBC that the performance would be shown intact or she would not allow the special to be aired at all. American newspapers published articles reporting the controversy and, when the special aired, it grabbed high viewing figures. Belafonte appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and performed a controversial "Mardi Gras" number with footage intercut from the 1968 Democratic National Convention riots. CBS censors deleted the entire segment from the program.

In 1985, he was one of the organizers behind the Grammy Award winning song "We Are the World", a multi-artist effort to raise funds for Africa, and performed in the Live Aid concert that same year. In 1987, he received an appointment to UNICEF as a goodwill ambassador. Following his appointment, Belafonte traveled to Dakar, Senegal, where he served as chairman of the International Symposium of Artists and Intellectuals for African Children. He also helped to raise funds – alongside more than 20 other artists – in the largest concert ever held in sub-Saharan Africa. In 1994 he went on a mission to Rwanda and launched a media campaign to raise awareness of the needs of Rwandan children.

In 2001 he went to South Africa to support the campaign against HIV/AIDS. In 2002, Africare awarded him the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award for his efforts to assist Africa. In 2004 Belafonte went to Kenya to stress the importance of educating children in the region. Belafonte has been involved in prostate cancer advocacy since 1996, when he was diagnosed and successfully treated for the disease. On June 27, 2006, Belafonte was the recipient of the BET Humanitarian Award at the 2006 BET Awards. He was named one of nine 2006 Impact Award recipients by AARP The Magazine. Belafonte has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy. He began making controversial political statements on this subject in the early 1980s. He has, at various times, made statements opposing the U.S. embargo on Cuba; praising Soviet peace initiatives; attacking the U.S. invasion of Grenada; praising the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; honoring Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and praising Fidel Castro. Belafonte is additionally known for his visit to Cuba which helped ensure hip-hop’s place in Cuban society. According to Geoffrey Baker’s article “Hip hop, Revolucion! Nationalizing Rap in Cuba,” in 1999, Belafonte met with representatives of the rap community immediately before meeting with Fidel Castro. This meeting resulted in Castro’s personal approval of (and hence the government’s involvement in), the incorporation of rap into his country’s culture. In a 2003 interview, Belafonte reflected upon this meeting’s influence:

“When I went back to Havana a couple years later, the people in the hip-hop community came to see me and we hung out for a bit. They thanked me profusely and I said, why? and they said, because, your little conversation with Fidel and the Minister of Culture on hip-hop led to there being a special division within the ministry and we've got our own studio.”

Belafonte was involved in the anti-Apartheid movement. He was the Master of Ceremonies at a reception honoring African National Congress President Oliver Tambo at Roosevelt House, Hunter College, in New York City. The reception was held by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA) and The Africa Fund. In December 2007 he endorsed John Edwards for the 2008 Presidential Election. At the ACLU of Northern California's annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration In December 2007, Belafonte gave the keynote address and was awarded the Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award. On October 19, 2007, Belafonte represented UNICEF on Norwegian television to support the annual telethon (TV Aksjonen) in support of that charity and helped raise a world record of $10 per inhabitant of Norway. Belafonte was also an ambassador for the Bahamas. He is on the board of directors of the Advancement Project.

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival will feature the documentary film "Sing Your Song", a biographical film focusing on Belafonte's contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and his endeavours to promote social justice globally.

Opposition to the George W. Bush Administration

Belafonte achieved widespread attention for his political views in 2002 when he began making a series of comments about President George W. Bush, his administration and the Iraq War. During an interview with Ted Leitner for San Diego's 760 KFMB, in October 2002, Belafonte referred to a quote made by Malcolm X. Belafonte said:

Belafonte used the quote to characterize former United States Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, both African-Americans. Powell and Rice both responded, with Powell calling the remarks "unfortunate" and Rice saying "I don't need Harry Belafonte to tell me what it means to be black."

The comment was brought up again in an interview with Amy Goodman for Democracy Now! in 2006. In January 2006, Belafonte led a delegation of activists including actor Danny Glover and activist/professor Cornel West to meet with President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez. In 2005, Chávez, an outspoken Bush critic, initiated a program to provide cheaper heating fuel for poor people in several areas of the United States. Belafonte supported this initiative. During the meeting with Chávez, Belafonte was quoted as saying, "No matter what the greatest tyrant in the world, the greatest terrorist in the world, George W. Bush says, we're here to tell you: Not hundreds, not thousands, but millions of the American people... support your revolution." Belafonte and Glover met again with Chávez in 2006. The comment ignited a great deal of controversy. Hillary Clinton refused to acknowledge Belafonte's presence at an awards ceremony that featured both of them. AARP, which had just named him one of its 10 Impact Award honorees 2006, released this statement following the remarks: "AARP does not condone the manner and tone which he has chosen and finds his comments completely unacceptable." During a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech at Duke University in 2006, Belafonte compared the American government to the 9/11 hijackers, saying, "What is the difference between that terrorist and other terrorists?" In response to criticism about his remarks, Belafonte asked, "What do you call Bush when the war he put us in to date has killed almost as many Americans as died on 9/11 and the number of Americans wounded in war is almost triple? [...] By most definitions Bush can be considered a terrorist." When he was asked about his expectation of criticism for his remarks on the war in Iraq, Belafonte responded: "Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy."

In another interview, Belafonte remarked that while his comments may have been "hasty", nevertheless he felt the Bush administration suffered from "arrogance wedded to ignorance," and its policies around the world were "morally bankrupt". In January 2006, in a speech to the annual meeting of the Arts Presenters Members Conference, Belafonte referred to "the new Gestapo of Homeland Security" saying, "You can be arrested and have no right to counsel!" During the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day speech at the Duke University in January 2006, Belafonte said that if he could choose his epitaph, it would be, "Harry Belafonte, Patriot."

Family

Belafonte and Marguerite Byrd were married from 1948 to 1957. They have two daughters: Adrienne and Shari. Shari Belafonte, married to Sam Behrens, is a photographer, model, singer and actor. In 1997, Adrienne Biesemeyer and her daughter Rachel Blue founded the Anir Foundation/Experience. Anir focuses on humanitarian work in southern Africa.

On March 8, 1957, Belafonte married his second wife, Julie Robinson (former dancer with the Katherine Dunham Company). They have two children, David and Gina Belafonte. David Belafonte (a former model) is an Emmy-winning producer and the executive director of the family-held company Belafonte Enterprises Inc. A music producer, he has been involved in most of Belafonte's albums and tours. He is married to Danish model and singer Malena Belafonte, born Mathiesen, who won silver in Dancing with the Stars in Denmark in 2009. Gina is a TV and film actress and has worked with her father as coach and producer in more than six films. Gina is one of the founding members of The Gathering For Justice, an inter-generational, intercultural non-profit organization working to reintroduce nonviolence to stop child incarceration. She is married to actor Scott McCray.

In April 2008, Belafonte married his third wife, Pamela Frank.

Belafonte lived in a 16-room apartment at 300 West End Avenue (corner of 74th Street) in New York City for 50 years. He moved out in 2007, and sold his entire-fifth-floor apartment to Abigail Disney. She in turn sold it to two separate buyers in 2009, and it is being remodeled into two separate apartments.

In October 1998, Belafonte contributed a letter to Liv Ullmann's book Letter to My Grandchild.

Discography

Filmography

Bright Road (1953)

Carmen Jones (1954)

Island in the Sun (1957)

The Heart of Show Business (1957) (short subject)

The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)

Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970) (documentary) (narrator)

The Angel Levine (1970)

Buck and the Preacher (1972)

Uptown Saturday Night (1974)

A veces miro mi vida (1982)

Drei Lieder (1983) (short subject)

Sag nein (1983) (documentary)

Der Schönste Traum (1984) (documentary)

We Shall Overcome (1989) (documentary) (narrator)

The Player (1992) (Cameo)

Ready to Wear (1994) (Cameo)

Hank Aaron: Chasing the Dream (1995)

White Man's Burden (1995)

Jazz '34 (1996)

Kansas City (1996)

Scandalize My Name: Stories from the Blacklist (1998) (documentary)

Fidel (2001) (documentary)

XXI Century (2003) (documentary)

Conakry Kas (2003) (documentary)

Ladders (2004) (documentary) (narrator)

Mo & Me (2006) (documentary)

Bobby (2006)

Motherland (2009) (documentary)

Sing Your Song (2011) (documentary)

Television work

Sugar Hill Times (1949–1950)

Tonight With Belafonte (1959)

Petula (1968)

A World in Music (1969)

''Harry & Lena, For The Love Of Life (1969)

A World in Love (1970)

Free to Be… You and Me (1974)

The Muppet Show (1978)

Grambling's White Tiger (1981)

Don't Stop The Carnival (1985)

An Evening With Harry Belafonte And Friends (1997)

Swing Vote (1999)

Tanner on Tanner (2004)

That's What I'm Talking About (2006) (miniseries)

When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006) (miniseries)

Concert videos

Don't Stop The Carnival (1985)

Global Carnival (1988)

An Evening With Harry Belafonte And Friends (1997)

Stage work

John Murray Anderson's Almanac (December 10, 1953 - June 26, 1954)

3 for Tonight (April 6 - June 18, 1955)

Moonbirds (October 9–10, 1959) (producer)

Belafonte at the Palace (December 15, 1959 - closing date unknown)

Asinamali! (April 23 - May 17, 1987) (producer)

Quotation

References

External links

Harry Belafonte - a site of sites

Harry Belafonte discography

English version of the text found at the bottom of the page.

2004 Global Exchange Human Rights Award - Belafonte's acceptance speech in San Francisco

Ubben Lecture at DePauw University

Democracy Now! transcript/MP3/video of interview by Amy Goodman, January 30, 2006

The Bigotry of Belafonte - by Andrew Sullivan, Salon.com, Oct. 25, 2002

"The Man Behind Belafonte's Music - Irving Burgie" - by Ronald David Jackson, with video

Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks

The HistoryMakers Biography and video clips

Harry Belafonte Appreciation Group on Imeem

Harry Belafonte: Belafonte At Carnegie Hall

Belafonte and Nat King Cole sing "Mama Look at Bubu"

Belafonte: "Iraq & Afghanistan Wars Are Immoral" - video report by Democracy Now!

Category:American anti-war activists Category:American folk singers Category:American male singers Category:American socialists Category:International activists against apartheid in South Africa Category:Calypsonians Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:American musicians of Jamaican descent Category:World music musicians Category:Jubilee Records artists Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:New York Democrats Category:People from Manhattan Category:Tony Award winners Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:1927 births Category:Living people

Coordinates	52°12′11″N4°23′43″N
Name	Banana Boat
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Poland
Genre	A Cappella, Folk music, Sea Shanties
Years active	1994 to present
Label	Independent
Best known for	Arktyka (originally written and performed by Banana Boat)
Url	Official Site
Current members	Tomasz Czarny, Maciej Jędrzejko, Paweł Jędrzejko, Paweł Konieczny, Michał Maniara, Piotr Wiśniewski
Past members	Aleksander Kleszcz, Karol Wierzbicki'''}}

Banana Boat is a Polish a cappella sextet, authoring and performing original songs representing the genre of neo-shanties. Being one of the pioneers of the new genre, the group retains its simultaneous focus on contemporary interpretations of traditional sea shanties and maritime music. Owing to its characteristic six-part, jazzy harmony, departing from the traditional sound of the music of the sea, the group has become one of the emblems of what the international artists of the maritime stage have informally come to dub as the Polish style maritime song. With maritime music constantly in the focus of its activity, since 2004, Banana Boat has also been experimenting with other musical genres, including popular and jazz compositions, inviting other artists to participate in individual projects. The group is a Member of International Seasong and Shanty Association (ISSA).

Biography

Banana Boat evolved from a multi-member formation Jack Steward, founded by Maciej Jędrzejko and functioning in the years 1993-1994. The line-up of the formation was composed of maritime culture aficionados - high-school students from the city of Sosnowiec, mainly representing the Stanisław Staszic Grammar School in Sosnowiec, the Emilia Plater Grammar School in Sosnowiec, and the Technical High School of Mechanical and Steel Industry in Sosnowiec. The central idea behind the singing youth's efforts was to organize a sailing expedition, whose objective was to circumnavigate Iceland. The musical project itself was intended to encourage teachers to take interest in the richness of maritime culture as a vast educational resource and - with their help - to gain the support of the municipal and (then still budding) corporate sponsorship for the idea of the expedition. Even though the Iceland project never came to pass, and Jack Steward eventually ceased to exist in 1994, Maciej Jędrzejko invited Paweł Konieczny, Aleksander Kleszcz and Karol Wierzbicki of the ex-Jack Steward's line-up to help form a new group, which, since 1994, already as an a cappella quartet, adopted the name of Banana Boat. Thus formed, Banana Boat made its debut on the stage of the 1994 Tratwa Festival in Katowice and, subsequently, it gained its early recognition by winning (among others) the Commander Zbyszek Sowiński Award (Tratwa'94), the Main Prize of the 1994 edition of the Prosiak Festival and, importantly, an honorary mention of the jury of the 1996 edition of the prestigious Shanties Festival in Cracow, Poland.

In the years 1996-1998, the group - whose members, by then, had commenced their university education - suspended its activity, only to return to the maritime stages of Poland by the end of 1998. At this stage, Banana Boat made its name as an a cappella quintet, which - reinforced by the former bass singer of the famous Polish group North Cape, Piotr "Qdyś" Wiśniewski - transformed into the present-day sextet at the turn of 2008 and 2009.

Today, Banana Boat consists of the following musicians:

Maciej "YenJCo." Jędrzejko, the group's founder, frontman and leader;

Paweł "Konik" Konieczny, the formation's co-founder, composer and high tenor;

Paweł "Synchro" Jędrzejko, the author of the majority of the band's original lyrics and performer of bari-tenor parts;

Tomasz "Mundry" Czarny, the Banana Boat's arranger, composer and bari-tenor;

Michał "Ociec" Maniara, the manager of the Art Agency BananaArt.Pl Art and performer of baritone parts;

Piotr "Qdyś" Wiśniewski, the group's bass singer.

The present-day Banana Boat members are active yachtsmen: Paweł Jędrzejko (formerly a professional navigator), holds an ocean-going yachtmaster's licence; his younger brother Maciej, the group's founder, is an ocean skipper, while other Banana Boat members all hold offshore licenses, which largely contributes to the positive reception of the Banana Boat songs. Professionally, the Banana Boat musicians represent such disciplines as medicine and dentistry, banking and law, trade and academic literary and culture studies. Since 1998, the group has been awarded the most important prizes of the Polish festivals of maritime music, recorded two albums and participated in numerous collective projects. Currently, Banana Boat gives concerts and recitals in Europe and outside of it, performing both for the audiences of small-audience clubs and those of large international festivals.

Organizatonal, propagatory and charitable activity

In the years 2002-2007 Banana Boat, working in collaboration with the Municipal Cultural Center in Łaziska Górne (Poland), acted as the organizer of the International Festival of Seasong and Shanty "Zęza";

In 2006, the groups participated in an all-Polish charity project To See the Sea, the proceeds from which supported the medical treatment of Polish shantymen in need;

In 2008, Maciej Jędrzejko, the group's leader, was appointed as the artistic director of the International Festival World Music Fusion - Euroszanty & Folk in Sosnowiec (Poland);

Every year, Banana Boat participates in the charity events of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity;

Maciej Jędrzejko is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the "Free Sea-Shanty Portal Szantymaniak.Pl" and Editor-in-Chief of the "Szantymaniak Magazine" (in Polish);

Each year, individual members of the group are appointed as jurors of sea-song festivals; they reqularly offer workshops to other musicians of the Polish maritime stage and sea-song fans.

Banana Boat participates in the charity educational program "Tunes to Teens," sponsored by Contemporary A Cappella Society of America.

Concerts and international cooperation

Apart from numerous concerts in Poland, Banana Boat has performed in the Czech Republic (Fulnek 2002), in Italy (Ravenna 2003), in France (Paimpol 2005, 2009; Chateau-Thierry 2007, Essômes-sur-Marne 2009), in Ireland (Cork/Cobh 2005, 2006), in the United States (New York 2005), in the Netherlands (Appingedam 2006, 2009; Oudewater 2009) and in Germany (Bremen-Vegesack 2008). As a member of ISSA, the group collaborates with international artists associated within the organization. In 2008, songs by Banana Boat were published on albums of a collective charity project Lafitte's Return (USA). Banana Boat's music is has been broadcast by numerous radio stations in Europe and beyond. In the beginning of the year 2009 the group has finalized miniproject entitled A Little A Cappella - Polish-Irish Harmony in partnership with the Irish star of the musical stage, Eleanor McEvoy. The song "Little Look," (written and composed by Eleanor McEvoy and arranged by Tomasz Czarny) entered the most prestigious Polish hitlist, Lista Przebojów Programu Trzeciego, immediately after the single had been released.

Awards and prizes

Apart from numerous Grand Prix awards, First Prizes and Audience's Favorite's Prizes awarded by the jury panels and audiences of all of the most important maritime music festivals in Poland, Banana Boat has become a double first runner-up for the CARA Award of the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America in the categories of The Best World/Folk Album 2005 (for the album A morze tak, a może nie...) and The Best World/Folk Song 2005 (for the song "Arktyka" of the mentioned album).

Discography

A morze tak, a może nie (BananaArt.Pl 2004)

Minialbum: Banana Boat...Świątecznie (BananaArt.Pl 2004), (six Christmas carrols)

Songs in collection Szanty dla Pajacyka, the proceeds of which support Polish Humanitarian Organisation (2004).

Songs in charity collections Lafitte's Return (vols. 3 and 4), of which the total proceeds support the musical education of the post-Katrina New Orleans (2008)

A Little A Cappella - Polish-Irish Harmony a single featuring Eleanor McEvoy (BananaArt.Pl 2009)

References

Literature of the subject

Jerzy S. Łątka, Rozfalowana ziemia. Dzieje ruchu szantowego w Polsce [Wavy Earth: The History of the Sea-Shanty Movement in Poland], Kraków: Towarzystwo Słowaków w Polsce, 2007

Pat Sheridan, "A New Musical Idiom. Poland: World leaders in the preservation and promotion of maritime music?" In: Ferment, 2008

Assorted articles in the Szantymaniak Magazine

External links

the Official Website of the Banana Boat

Banana Boat in MySpace

Banana Boat in Acapedia

See also

A Cappella

Sea shanty

Category:Polish musical groups Category:A cappella musical groups Category:Professional a cappella groups Category:Maritime music