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Pelee, Ontario
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Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada , is an island in the western half of Lake Erie. Pelee Island is connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service. At 42 kmē, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada.
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Encyclopedia
Pelee Island, Ontario, Canada , is an island in the western half of Lake Erie. Pelee Island is connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service. At 42 kmē, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and the southernmost populated point in Canada. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected by the province to commemorate the development of Pelee Island's role in Ontario's heritage. Nearby Middle Island is the southernmost point of land in Canada.
Pelee Island is part of the Township of Pelee in Essex County, and has its own mayor, deputy mayor, and three Councillors. It is what is called a separated township. The township comprises nine islands, the largest being Pelee Island, and including Middle Island, Middle Sister Island, Hen Island, Big Chicken Island, Little Chicken Island, Chick Island, East Sister Island, and North Harbour Island. The total land area of all islands in the township is 41.84 kmē (16.15 sq mi).
The Township of Pelee is on the same latitude as extreme northern California and has substantially more growing units. It has a population of 256 permanent residents (2001 census), but that number can swell to over 1,500 during the summer months, and on long weekends at least three thousand people are there. Due to its southerly location and the moderating effect of Lake Erie, it has a slightly milder climate than inland areas. Its climate, classified as Carolinian, is one of the mildest in the country, and the island has long been used for vineyards and wine making. The wine industry was started here in 1860 and died out in the early twentieth century, but restarted in the 1980s. The island is an agricultural based community which grows about of soybeans, about of wheat, 500 acres (2 kmē) of grapes, and a few acres of specialty corn.
Pelee is known for its autumn pheasant hunting which is the most lucrative form of tourism. The gross revenue to the hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, transportation companies, and local businesses is about a million dollars over a six day period.
The island has been moving gradually towards a tourist-oriented economy every year. Pelee Island is also part of an important flyway for migrating birds between Ohio, the Lake Erie islands and Point Pelee.
The island is serviced by two ferries, the MV Jiimaan and the MV Pelee Islander (owned by Pelee Island Transportation Company, a subsidiary of the OSTC). The MV Jiimaan is the largest passenger ferry along the Lake Erie route to Pelee Island. At 61 metres in length, the Jiimaan can transport 400 passengers and 40 vehicles. The leisurely cruise to Pelee Island can range from one-and-a-half to just over two hours depending on departure routes. The time of year determines whether mainland passengers board the ferry at nearby Kingsville, Leamington, or Sandusky, Ohio. The Jiimaan was built in 1992 at Port Weller Dry Docks.
The older MV Pelee Islander, which continues to operate, carries 196 passengers and 14 vehicles. The MV Upper Canada, which serviced Pelee prior to the Jiimaan, was sent to Lake Huron (the Christian Island natives received her for transport to and from the mainland) when the Jiimaan began service to Pelee. The Pelee Islander was built at Erieau, Ontario in 1960.
In late 2007, the Owen Sound Transportation Company had notified the Province of Ontario that it had to terminate its agreement and contract early and look for a new winter carrier, since Georgian Bay Express (the air carrier) could not fulfill its final year of its two-year contract and sold its planes. This was significant since it was the only air link to the island in winter (the ferries cannot run the lake if there is ice out, due to the risk of sinking). The province agreed, but the people of Pelee island feared they would be stranded, especially if a medical emergency arose. A new company has been found to run airplanes in the winter, but it has not been named yet.
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