Talk:Northern Ontario

Vastly different from rest of province
What proof is there to back up this statement? Not opinion but solid documented proof from reputable sources.--BrentS 02:31, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)

As a person who resides in Northern Ontario, the above statement is the equivalent of asking somebody to prove that rural Florida is vastly different from Miami. It is blindingly obvious in every conceivable way, from geology to flora to demographics.208.96.101.7 (talk) 00:42, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

But isn't that just another way of saying "rural areas are different from urban areas?" If you can't explain to an outside how it's different, but are instead simply restating the "blindingly obvious" then what's the point? To mark your turf?208.68.128.90 (talk) 20:44, 19 November 2012 (UTC)

Exactly. How is Northern Ontario socially or politically "vastly" different than the rest of Ontario? Socially what makes it different? I moved a sliver into a culture section here, but there so far hasn't been much on here that indicates any sort of "vast" difference in society between Northern and Southern Ontario. Politically they vote in the NDP or Liberals, which is not distinctly different beyond being different than how most rural areas in Southern Ontario have voted. Granted they have a political party dedicated to greater representation, which differs from Toronto, but both have had newspaper articles that have called for their independence. So I don't see what is politically different about Northern Ontario from any other part of Southern Ontario (including the rural areas of Southern Ontario). 216.249.56.54 (talk) 20:39, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Environment Regions
Some information about the different environmental regions would be nice here. There is no mention of the huge bogs, the bugs, etc. --207.81.225.190 09:50, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Contradictory areas
The second sentence of the introduction to this article claims > 1,000,000 km², while the infobox claims 793,156.42 km², though this lacks a source as well. I'm inclined to trust the latter for two reasons: 1. Looks like a more precise number ("looks good") 2. Seems to be in better agreement with the Ontario article. Looking at the infobox in this article, I find it hard to believe that 92.9% or more of Ontario is northern Ontario. This claim, however, goes back to nearly 3 1/2 years ago (will be 3 1/2 years six days from now), to the very first version of this article. I'm very surprised this claim has lasted this long.

Regardless of which number is correct, it needs to be specified if this is total area or just land area, and (like the rest of the article), sources would be helpful (in fact, they are required). Thanks. Ufwuct 19:50, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * It should be noted that land area and total area aren't necessarily the same thing; Northern Ontario has a lot of water. Bearcat 21:18, 9 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I just thought it should be noted that Kenora and Dryden do in fact receive Global television, with Dryden's feed being from     (for some strange reason).  Also, their CBC and CTV feed do not come from the Thunder Bay Television affiliate but rather from Winnipeg.  I believe it is only Thunder Bay and the directly surrounding area which get Thunder Bay Television - having lived in Thunder Bay, Dryden, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.

Tiamatfire 08:17, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

" Although Progressive Conservative candidates have been elected in Northern Ontario from time to time, the region has been one of the weakest areas in all of Canada for both the PCs and their federal successor, the Conservative Party. It is in part due to the region's significant dependence on government investment that the Liberal Party has traditionally taken the majority of the region's seats at both the federal and provincial levels....... "

"from time to time" sounds like a guess. Dr. Robert Manion MP and later leader of the Conservative party held the federal seat for Fort William for 18 years, 1917 to 1935 in five elections. The list of politicians below the quoted area doesn't even mention him. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.109.175.146 (talk) 05:13, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

I'll take a look at historical articles. They do get elected (and in the case of Comuzzi, invited into the conservative fold) but it is less common. They are constantly a distant third in the polls up here, especially in Thunder Bay where they get barely double the support of the greens. vıdıoman (talk • contribs) 07:15, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

Your best source on Dr. R.J. Manion would be "Robert J. Manion Member of Parliament for Fort William, 1917-1935 by Roy H. Piovesana Published by the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society in 1990. ISBN 0-920119-12-3. The list is also missing what might be the most important - C.D. Howe (minister of everything) who held the Port Arthur seat for the federal Liberals.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.D._Howe —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.109.175.146 (talk) 00:02, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

That's right, I was thinking of Langworthy and Cowan. (PA-TB; 1925 - 1935) :P vıdıoman  (talk • contribs) 12:50, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Possible RS to use
Northern Ontario Overview. This source gives the land areas for each district (which in turn was obtained from StatsCan, which I could not quickly find on their website). I'll confirm that their definition of what districts make up Northern Ontario is consistent with ours, then I'll add the information. Ufwuct 20:08, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

In the map on the right, what does the green area represent?


 * As the article already states, the green area is the districts of Parry Sound and Muskoka, which are geographically in Central Ontario but are nonetheless included in the service area of FedNor. Bearcat 20:48, 15 October 2007 (UTC)


 * FedNor also now includes all rural areas in Southern Ontario. In fact, last time I checked their page more than 60% of the funds announced were going to places in Southwestern Ontario and the Outer Golden Horseshoe! Aside from FedNor, people in Southern Ontario generally consider the Muskokas and Parry Sound as the north, and the riding of Parry Sound&mdash;Muskoka is generally grouped in the north as well, which would also warrant their inclusion on a conditional basis. Otherwise, Northern Ontario is North of the French and Mattawa Rivers and Lake Nipissing. (A definition which excludes the eastern part of Nipissing District) vıdıoman  (talk • contribs) 20:54, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

"Northern Ontario has a strong sense of identity separate from the rest of Ontario." Is this factual? No. Even if it was, it should say "THE PEOPLE OF Northern Ontario HAVE a strong sense..." unless the trees feel the same way.

Oh, the trees have enmity alright. They're pissed at the south. Vidioman 05:50, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Is there any source saying which mayor if any in Fort Frances advocated joining Manitoba or succession?--Picard102 (talk) 13:26, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it was Drysdale, and as we all know, her article has been deleted. You could try a google search to see if any results come up. vıdıoman (talk • contribs) 14:11, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Northernontariologo.gif
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BetacommandBot (talk) 17:56, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

first nation and metis
How many first nation and metis are there?--Kaiyr (talk) 12:56, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Territorial divide
There is nothing explaining why the territorial line between what was considered Ontario and Rupert's land is left. A reason for why the territory was divided like this would give greater historical context for the change from Rupert's land to Canadian territory. (Irishblackwolf (talk) 19:39, 2 February 2015 (UTC))
 * The border at the time was the Laurentian Divide, the line which separates the Arctic Ocean watershed from the Great Lakes-Atlantic Ocean watershed. The article, as written, already says this. Bearcat (talk) 18:15, 4 September 2016 (UTC)

Divisions of areas with directions in their names (Central counts as one of these words)
As should be known, some areas with directional words like northern/central/southern/western/eastern don't match geography perfectly. Central United States is in fact an area slightly farther east than the geographic center. Northern Ontario is an extreme example; it even includes about half of the province's southern border. Any examples that are almost as extreme as Northern Ontario?? Georgia guy (talk) 02:01, 2 January 2017 (UTC)
 * Ontario has such a highly irregular shape that it's simply not useful to think in terms of "Northern Ontario includes half of the province's southern border" — there's an entire portion of the province that's significantly further south than the southernmost border of any part of Northern Ontario, because the province is basically shaped like a large, weird, unidentifiable animal with its tail tucked back under its torso. And there's no other province or state anywhere in North America whose shape is anywhere near as wildly irregular, or anywhere near as impossible to classify as a roughly geometric shape, as Ontario's is either. So the location of the Canada-US border doesn't really have much to do with what's "north" or what's "south". The only possible way to divide Ontario into "north" and "south" is "torso" vs. "tail", because "wherever the halfway point is between the top and the bottom" simply wouldn't work — and even that would still leave a big portion of Northern Ontario as pure north anyway, because for a big portion of the province the halfway line between Hudson Bay and Pelee Island would fall in Michigan and Wisconsin. Bearcat (talk) 17:14, 17 June 2017 (UTC)

Lack of useful map
How is it possible that, in the year 2021, this article lacks a useful map indicating the primary administrative divisions and settlements of Northern Ontario? It's an embarrassment. Please correct this situation. 173.88.246.138 (talk) 00:19, 22 May 2021 (UTC)


 * In order to include a map with text on it, at the size that the file would have to be to fit into a Wikipedia article the text would not be readable at all. It would have to be either in tiny, tiny font that you'd need a telescope to read, or else words would directly overlap other words. Bearcat (talk) 18:37, 10 August 2021 (UTC)