Sarnia

Sarnia is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, and had a 2011 population of 72,366. It is the largest city on Lake Huron and in Lambton County. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron flows into the St. Clair River, which forms the Canada-United States border, directly across from Port Huron, Michigan. The city's natural harbour first attracted the French explorer La Salle, who named the site "The Rapids" when he had horses and men pull his 45-tonne barque "Le Griffon" up the almost four-knot current of the St. Clair River on 23 August 1679.

This was the first time anything other than a canoe or other oar-powered vessel had sailed into Lake Huron, and La Salle's voyage was thus germinal in the development of commercial shipping on the Great Lakes. Located in the natural harbour, the Sarnia port remains an important centre for lake freighters and oceangoing ships carrying cargoes of grain and petroleum products. The natural port and the salt caverns that exist in the surrounding areas, together with the oil discovered in nearby Oil Springs in 1858 led to the massive growth of the petroleum industry in this area. Because Oil Springs was the first place in Canada and North America to drill commercially for oil, the knowledge that was acquired there led to oil drillers from Sarnia travelling the world teaching other nations how to drill for oil.

Sarnia (disambiguation)

Sarnia is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada.

Sarnia may also refer to:

Sarnia—Lambton

Sarnia—Lambton (formerly known as Sarnia) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968. It is located in the area of the city of Sarnia, in the southwest corner of the province of Ontario.

Until 2015, Sarnia—Lambton, with its predecessors Sarnia, and Lambton West, was Canada's current most bellwetherly riding, having voted for the winning party from 1963 to 2011.

History

It was created as Sarnia electoral district in 1966 from parts of Lambton West riding. It consisted of that part of the County of Lambton contained in the City of Sarnia and the Townships of Moore, Sarnia and Plympton excepting the Town of Forest.

In 1970, the name of the electoral district was changed to Sarnia—Lambton.

It was abolished in 1976 when it was redistributed between Lambton—Middlesex and a new Sarnia riding. The new Sarnia riding consisted of that part of the County of Lambton contained in the City of Sarnia, the Townships of Moore and Sarnia, the Village of Point Edward, and Indian Reserve No. 45.