1.
George Ryerson
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George Sterling Ansel Ryerson was an Ontario physician, businessman and political figure. He represented Toronto in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1893 to 1898 as a Conservative and then Conservative-Protestant Protective Association member. He was born in Toronto in 1855, the son of George Ryerson and Isabella Dorcas Sterling and he continued his studied in Europe. In 1880, he set up practice in Toronto and also lectured on eye, ear, Ryerson was also surgeon at the Andrew Mercer Eye and Ear Infirmary. He was surgeon with the Royal Grenadiers, serving during the Northwest Rebellion, Ryerson helped found the Association of Medical Officers of the Canadian Militia and served as president from 1908 to 1909. He was later named honorary colonel for the Canadian Army Medical Corps, Ryerson helped establish the St John Ambulance Association in Ontario and the Canadian Red Cross Society. On November 14,1882 he married Mary Amelia Crowther, daughter of barrister James Crowther and they had five children, George Crowther, Yoris Sterling, Eric Egerton, Arthur Connaught, and Laura Mary. His wifes sister, Sarah Ellen Crowther, married the Right Hon, sir William Mulock, PC, KCMG, KC, MP, afterwards Post-Master-General and Chief Justice of Ontario. Mary Crowther Ryerson and daughter Laura were passengers aboard the Lusitania when it was sunk off the Irish coast in May 1915, on June 8,1916, he remarried to Elizabeth Van Hook Thomas, daughter of Edwin Ross Thomas. Ryerson retired from his practice in 1920 and moved to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Elizabeth died on September 4,1924, Ryerson died of a heart attack in Toronto in 1925. He was elected to the assembly in an 1893 by-election. He did not run in 1898 due to poor health, in 1896, Ryerson helped establish the United Empire Loyalist Association of Ontario. In 1902, he failed to secure nomination by the Conservative Party when he attempted to run for election in Toronto North, Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History Mary Amelia Ryerson - The Lusitania Resource
2.
Toronto West (provincial electoral district)
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Toronto West, also known as West Toronto, was a provincial riding that was created in Toronto, Ontario when the country of Canada was established in 1867. At the time Toronto was divided into two ridings, West Toronto and East Toronto, in 1886, these ridings were dissolved and a combined riding of the entire city was created which elected three members. In 1894 this riding was split into four parts of which Toronto West was one and it occupied the western part of the old city of Toronto. From 1908 to 1914 it elected two members to the legislature, in 1914 the riding was abolished and reformed into three new ridings called Toronto Southwest, Toronto Northwest and Parkdale. In 1867, when the province of Ontario was established, two ridings were created to represent the city of Toronto, Toronto West was created from the city wards of St. John, St. Andrew, St. Patrick and St. George. In 1886 the riding was abolished and a single riding representing the city was created which elected three members to the legislature. The riding was re-formed in 1894, in the second incarnation, the boundaries were Lake Ontario to the south between Palmerston Avenue in the east and the city limits in the west. The northern boundary was the city limits which was formed by the Grand Trunk Railway right-of-way, in 1914, the riding was split between the new ridings of Toronto Southwest, Toronto Northwest and Parkdale
3.
Toronto
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Toronto is the most populous city in Canada and the provincial capital of Ontario. With a population of 2,731,571, it is the fourth most populous city in North America after Mexico City, New York City, and Los Angeles. A global city, Toronto is a centre of business, finance, arts, and culture. Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the area now known as Toronto for thousands of years, the city itself is situated on the southern terminus of an ancient Aboriginal trail leading north to Lake Simcoe, used by the Wyandot, Iroquois, and the Mississauga. Permanent European settlement began in the 1790s, after the broadly disputed Toronto Purchase of 1787, the British established the town of York, and later designated it as the capital of Upper Canada. During the War of 1812, the town was the site of the Battle of York, York was renamed and incorporated as the city of Toronto in 1834, and became the capital of the province of Ontario during the Canadian Confederation in 1867. The city proper has since expanded past its original borders through amalgamation with surrounding municipalities at various times in its history to its current area of 630.2 km2. While the majority of Torontonians speak English as their primary language, Toronto is a prominent centre for music, theatre, motion picture production, and television production, and is home to the headquarters of Canadas major national broadcast networks and media outlets. Toronto is known for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, in particular the tallest free-standing structure in the Western Hemisphere. The name Toronto is likely derived from the Iroquois word tkaronto and this refers to the northern end of what is now Lake Simcoe, where the Huron had planted tree saplings to corral fish. A portage route from Lake Ontario to Lake Huron running through this point, in the 1660s, the Iroquois established two villages within what is today Toronto, Ganatsekwyagon on the banks of the Rouge River and Teiaiagonon the banks of the Humber River. By 1701, the Mississauga had displaced the Iroquois, who abandoned the Toronto area at the end of the Beaver Wars, French traders founded Fort Rouillé on the current Exhibition grounds in 1750, but abandoned it in 1759. During the American Revolutionary War, the region saw an influx of British settlers as United Empire Loyalists fled for the British-controlled lands north of Lake Ontario, the new province of Upper Canada was in the process of creation and needed a capital. Dorchester intended the location to be named Toronto, in 1793, Governor John Graves Simcoe established the town of York on the Toronto Purchase lands, instead naming it after Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Simcoe decided to move the Upper Canada capital from Newark to York, the York garrison was constructed at the entrance of the towns natural harbour, sheltered by a long sandbar peninsula. The towns settlement formed at the end of the harbour behind the peninsula, near the present-day intersection of Parliament Street. In 1813, as part of the War of 1812, the Battle of York ended in the towns capture, the surrender of the town was negotiated by John Strachan. US soldiers destroyed much of the garrison and set fire to the parliament buildings during their five-day occupation, the sacking of York was a primary motivation for the Burning of Washington by British troops later in the war
4.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, 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. Although 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, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. 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 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
5.
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
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The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, often shortened to Ontario PC Party or PC, is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. It governed the province for 80 of the 149 years since Confederation and it is the Official Opposition in the current Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The first Conservative Party in Upper Canada was made up of United Empire Loyalists, once responsible government was granted in response to the 1837 Rebellions, the Tories emerged as moderate reformers who opposed the radical policies of the Reformers and then the Clear Grits. The modern Conservative Party originated in the Liberal-Conservative coalition founded by Sir John A. Macdonald and it is a variant of this coalition that formed the first government in Ontario with John Sandfield Macdonald as Premier. Sandfield Macdonald was actually a Liberal and sat concurrently as a Liberal Party of Canada MP in the Canadian House of Commons, after losing power in 1871, this Conservative coalition began to dissolve. The party became opposed to funding for schools, opposed to language rights for French-Canadians. Paradoxically, an element of the party gained a reputation for being pro-labour as a result of links between the Orange Order and the labour movement. After 33 years in Opposition, the Tories returned to power under James P. Whitney, the Whitney government initiated massive public works projects such as the creation of Ontario Hydro. It also enacted legislation against the French-Canadian population in Ontario. The Tories were in power for all but five years from 1905 to 1934, after the death of Whitney in 1914, however, they lacked vision and became complacent. The Tories lost power to the United Farmers of Ontario in the 1919 election but were able to regain office in 1923 election due to the UFOs disintegration and they were defeated by Mitch Hepburns Liberals in 1934 due to their inability to cope with the Great Depression. Late in the 1930s and early in the 1940s, the Conservatives re-organized and developed new policies, the Conservatives took advantage of Liberal infighting to win a minority government in the 1943 provincial election, reducing the Liberals to third-party status. Drew called another election in 1945, only two years into his mandate, to get a majority government, the party would dominate Ontario politics for the next four decades. In 1961, John Robarts became the 17th premier of Ontario and he was one of the most popular premiers in years. Under Robarts lead, the party epitomized power and he hosted the 1967 Confederation of Tomorrow conference in Toronto in an unsuccessful attempt to achieve an agreement for a new Constitution of Canada. Robarts opposed Canadian medicare when it was proposed, but later endorsed it fully, and he led the party towards a civil libertarian movement. As a strong believer in the promotion of official languages, he opened the door to French education in Ontario schools. In 1971, Bill Davis became party leader and the 18th premier, anti-Catholicism became an issue again in the 1971 election, when the Tories campaigned strenuously against a Liberal proposal to extend funding for Catholic separate schools until Grade 13
6.
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is one of two components of the Legislature of Ontario, the other being the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The Legislative Assembly is the second largest Canadian provincial deliberative assembly by number of members after the National Assembly of Quebec, the Assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park in the provincial capital of Toronto. The premier is Ontarios head of government, while the Lieutenant Governor, as representative of the Queen, the largest party not forming the government is known as the Official Opposition, its leader being recognized as Leader of the Opposition by the Speaker. The Ontario Legislature is sometimes referred to as the Ontario Provincial Parliament, Members of the assembly refer to themselves as Members of the Provincial Parliament as opposed to Members of the Legislative Assembly as in many other provinces. Ontario is the province to do so, in accordance with a resolution passed in the Assembly on April 7,1938. However, the Legislative Assembly Act refers only to members of the Assembly, the current assembly was elected on June 12,2014 as part of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The first session of the 41st Parliament opened on July 2,2014, on Friday May 2,2014, the 40th Parliament of Ontario was dissolved by Lieutenant Governor David C. Onley on the advice of Premier Kathleen Wynne after the NDP, the election was held on June 12,2014, as a result of which Kathleen Wynnes Liberal Party formed a majority government. Queens Park is a metonym for the Legislative Assembly, in accordance with the traditions of the Westminster System, most laws originate with the cabinet, and are passed by the legislature after stages of debate and decision-making. Ordinary Members of the Legislature may introduce privately, play an role in scrutinizing bills in debate and committee. Members are expected to be loyal to both their parliamentary party and to the interests of their constituents, in the Ontario legislature this confrontation provides much of the material for Oral Questions and Members Statements. Legislative scrutiny of the executive is also at the heart of much of the carried out by the Legislatures Standing Committees. Finally, it is the task of the legislature to provide the personnel of the executive, as already noted, under responsible government, ministers of the Crown are expected to be Members of the Assembly. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the first and the legislature in Canada to have a Coat of Arms separate from the provincial coat of arms. Green and gold are the colours in the shield of arms of the province. The Mace is the symbol of the authority of the Speaker. Shown on the left is the current Mace, on the right is the original Mace from the time of the first parliament in 1792. The crossed Maces are joined by the shield of arms of Ontario, the crown on the wreath represents national and provincial loyalties, its rim is studded with the provincial gemstone, the amethyst
7.
Ireland
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Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth. Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, in 2011, the population of Ireland was about 6.4 million, ranking it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland, the islands geography comprises relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain, with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild, thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, there are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland. The Irish climate is moderate and classified as oceanic. As a result, winters are milder than expected for such a northerly area, however, summers are cooler than those in Continental Europe. Rainfall and cloud cover are abundant, the earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC. Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE, the island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland, however, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, with the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s and this subsided following a political agreement in 1998. In 1973 the Republic of Ireland joined the European Economic Community while the United Kingdom, Irish culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature. Alongside mainstream Western culture, an indigenous culture exists, as expressed through Gaelic games, Irish music. The culture of the island shares many features with that of Great Britain, including the English language, and sports such as association football, rugby, horse racing. The name Ireland derives from Old Irish Eriu and this in turn derives from Proto-Celtic *Iveriu, which is also the source of Latin Hibernia. Iveriu derives from a root meaning fat, prosperous, during the last glacial period, and up until about 9000 years ago, most of Ireland was covered with ice, most of the time
8.
Montreal
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Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
9.
Bytown
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Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canadas capital city. It was founded on September 26,1826, incorporated as a town on January 1,1850, the founding was marked by a sod turning, and a letter from Governor General Dalhousie which authorized Lieutenant Colonel John By to divide up the town into lots. Bytown came about as a result of the construction of the Rideau Canal, Bytowns first mayor was John Scott, elected in 1847. Bytown was located where the Rideau Canal meets the Ottawa River, Upper Town, situated to the west of the canal, was situated in the area of the current downtown and Parliament Hill. Lower Town was on the east side of the canal where todays Byward Market, the two areas of town were connected over the Rideau Canal by the Sappers Bridge, constructed in 1827. The town took its name from John By who, as a Colonel in the British Royal Engineers, was instrumental in the construction of the canal. The name Bytown came about, somewhat as a reference during a small dinner party of some officers. The number of houses now built is about 150, most of which are constructed of wood, frequently in a style of neatness, Colonel By laid out the streets of Bytown, a pattern that mostly exists today. Wellington Street, Rideau Street, Sussex and Sparks Street were some of the earliest streets in use, Sappers Bridge actually connected Sparks Street to Rideau Street at that time. Nicholas Sparks owned Bytowns land west of the canal, except for the north of Wellington. The area east of Bank Street to the canal was acquired by the military, Bytown had seen some trouble in the early days, first with the Shiners War in 1835 to 1845, and the Stony Monday Riot in 1849. Some early buildings still stand had been erected in Bytown. In 1826, Thomas McKay was contracted to build the commesariat building, McKay also built Rideau Hall, and parts of the Union Bridge connecting LeBreton Flats to Hull. Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica was also early on in the developing town. The University of Ottawa had its 1846 origins as a college, though administration of Bytown had been conducted by civil authorities since 1828, the town did not become incorporated until much later. Various attempts at incorporation had been initiated since 1845, the Ordnance Department had held lands in the towns core, lands which had been the property of Nicholas Sparks. These lands were considered by many to be blocking economic progress as well as being held for speculative reasons only, when Ordnance eventually returned the lands to Sparks through the Vesting Act, the major obstacle to incorporation was removed. An act of the Legislative Assembly further facilitated the incorporation of municipalities, Richmond Landing was a small settlement started in 1809 with Jehiel Collins store, which preceded Bytown in present day Ottawa
10.
Horse tack
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Tack is a piece of equipment or accessory equipped on horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up. A room to store equipment, usually near or in a stable, is a tack room. Some western saddles will also have a second strap known as a flank or back cinch that fastens at the rear of the saddle, there are many types of saddle, each specially designed for its given task. Saddles are usually divided into two categories, English saddles and Western saddles according to the riding discipline they are used in. Other types of saddles, such as racing saddles, Australian saddles, sidesaddles and they provide greater stability for the rider but can have safety concerns due to the potential for a riders feet to get stuck in them. If a rider is thrown from a horse but has a foot caught in the stirrup, to minimize this risk, a number of safety precautions are taken. First, most riders wear riding boots with a heel and a smooth sole, next, some saddles, particularly English saddles, have safety bars that allow a stirrup leather to fall off the saddle if pulled backwards by a falling rider. Other precautions are done with stirrup design itself, Western saddles have wide stirrup treads that make it more difficult for the foot to become trapped. A number of saddle styles incorporate a tapedero, which is covering over the front of the stirrup that keeps the foot from sliding all the way through the stirrup. The English stirrup has several variations which are either shaped to allow the riders foot to slip out easily or are closed with a very heavy rubber band. The invention of stirrups was of historic significance in mounted combat. Bridles, hackamores, halters or headcollars, and similar equipment consist of arrangements of straps around the horses head. A halter or headcollar consists of a noseband and headstall that buckles around the horses head and allows the horse to be led or tied. The lead rope is separate, and it may be short for everyday leading and tying, or much longer for tasks such as for leading packhorses or for picketing a horse out to graze. Some horses, particularly stallions, may have an attached to the lead rope. Most of the time, horses are not ridden with a halter, as it offers insufficient precision and control. In Australian and British English, a halter is a rope with a running loop around the nose and another over the poll
