Tiny, Ontario

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Tiny Township, Ontario
Population	10,784 (9,035 2001)
% Change	19.4 (2001-2006), 4.5 (1996-2001)
Dwellings	8,577
Area	343.20 (km²)
Density	31.4 (persons per km²)
Mayor	Peggy Brekenridge
Deputy Mayor	George Lawrence
Councillors	André Claire, George Cornell, Nigel Warren

Tiny is a township, part of Simcoe County in south-central Ontario, Canada. The Township of Tiny can be found in the Southern Georgian Bay region and is approximately 43 miles long or 160 square miles. While the regular population is fairly small, the region is a popular summer destination both for tourism and cottagers.

The township was named by Lady Maitland, wife of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada in the early 1800s for her Pekinese lapdog. Lady Maitland named three adjoining townships for her three dogs - Tiny, Tay and Flos.

The township's fire protection services are provided by a compliment of 94 firefighters, operating 15 pieces of fire apparatus, from five stations located in Lafontaine, Wyevale, North West Basin, Wyebridge and Woodland Beach. The township falls within the jurisdiction of the Ontario Provincial Police and is policed by members of the Southern Georgian Bay detachment.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Communities
4 External links

[edit] History

The history of Tiny Township reflects its three founding cultures: Native, French and British. Located within Wendake, the historical homeland of the Huron people, the region is closely tied to early missionary exploration of the region, including the Jesuit mission of Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in nearby Midland. (See also Canadian Martyrs.) The township is also the location of the important archaeolgocial site The Ossossane Bonepit, 17th century burial grounds of the village of Ossossane, capital of the Huron Confederacy, and once the largest native setllement north of Mexico.

In 1798, the British government purchased the land in the area and soon after established a naval base at Penetanguishine. By the mid 1800s, families from Quebec began moving to the Tiny Township area for the cheap and fertile land to farm. Today, the Tiny Township area is still very much a bilingual (French, and English) area of Ontario. There is a celebration called Le Festival du Loup which takes place every July, in the village of Lafontaine, in honour of this French history.

[edit] Geography

Tiny Township is located between Severn Sound and Nottawasaga Bay, at the southernmost tip of Georgian Bay. The region is home to Awenda Provincial Park, the Tiny Marsh Provincial Wildlife Area, the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre [1] (an important nesting ground for Trumpeter Swans), as well as an extensive network of wooded hiking trails.