Chapleau, Ontario

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Chapleau is a township in Ontario, Canada. It is home to the world's largest wildlife preserve. Chapleau had a population of 2,354 in the Canada 2006 Census.

The town has two high schools, Chapleau High School and École Secondaire Catholic Trillium, and three elementary schools, Chapleau Public School, École Sacre Coeur, and Our Lady of Fatima. Chapleau High and Chapleau Public belong to the Algoma District School Board, the others belong to the French and English Catholic School Boards.

Three First Nation reservations also reside in the township, Chapleau Cree First Nation, Brunswick House First Nation, and Chapleau Ojibwe First Nation.

The major industries within town are two logging mills, Tembec and Domtar, and the Canadian Pacific Railway railyards.

1 Geography and location
- 1.1 Chapleau Crown Game Preserve
2 History
3 Wireless mesh Internet
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Geography and location

Chapleau is located in central Northeastern Ontario, in the heart of the Canadian Shield. Chapleau is geographically isolated; the nearest cities are Sault Ste. Marie, Timmins, and Sudbury, but all are more than a two hour drive away. Provincial Highway 129 links the town with Highway 101, running east to Timmins and west to Wawa. Hwy. 129 also runs south, connecting with the Trans-Canada Highway, Highway 17 at Thessalon, 227 km from Chapleau.

[edit] Chapleau Crown Game Preserve

The game preserve to the north of the town is, at over 7,000 square kilometres, the largest animal preserve in the world. Protected wildlife include moose, black bears, pygmy shrews, bald eagles and loons. The preserve is a source of tourism, drawing nature-enthusiasts and fishermen to the township. All forms of hunting and trapping have been forbidden in the preserve since the 1920's. The result is an area with abundant wildlife. In fact, over 2,500 moose and over 2,000 black bears reside within the game preserve. Logging does occur within the preserve, as does fishing. There are 2 provincial parks and cottages located within the preserve.

[edit] History

The railway is still the heart of Chapleau, Ontario.

The first European settlement in the area was established in 1777 by the Hudson Bay Company. The settlement was a fur trading post about 50 miles to Chapleau's north, on Big Missinabi Lake.

In 1885 the Canadian Pacific Railway was built through the area. The CPR chose this as a division point, and the town was founded. Logging mills developed later, but over-exploitation of natural resources has lead to many layoffs and difficult times for the town.

At its largest, with large CPR and logging operations, the town had a population of 5000. However, the town has been gradually shrinking since 1950.

[edit] Wireless mesh Internet

As of November 9 2005, Chapleau residents have been testing a wireless mesh Internet technology in a program called Project Chapleau. This Wi-Fi connection covers the entire town and is the first of its kind in Canada.

The wireless mesh will also be used as a testbed for a variety of IP applications. The test trial is expected to run until November 10 2006, whereupon it will be assessed whether the broadband connection has stimulated the local economy.

This service has been designed and implemented by Bell Canada Enterprises, Nortel Networks, and the Township of Chapleau.