Vanier
Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood is a former municipality that ceased to exist in 2001 by becoming part of the city of Ottawa, Ontario. It no longer has a majority francophone population. In fact, in 2012 its francophone population has shrunk to less than 40% from 63% in the early 1980s. The Vanier neighbourhood is located in the east of Ottawa across the Rideau River from the neighbourhoods of Lowertown and Sandy Hill, and just south of Rockcliffe Park, New Edinburgh, Lindenlea, and Manor Park . To the east of Vanier are the suburbs of Gloucester. Vanier has a relatively small area with a high population density. Montreal Road is the main thoroughfare of the community.
In 1908, the communities of Janeville, Clarkstown and Clandeboye were joined to form the village of Eastview. In 1913, Eastview was incorporated as a town. Originally it was a popular destination for civil servants who wished to live at a distance from downtown. It later saw a large influx of French Canadians and became the main francophone area in the capital.
During the Depression, Eastview held the attention of the entire nation, as it became a public forum for national debates on birth control during The Eastview Birth Control Trial, which lasted from 1936 to 1937. Significant controversy erupted when Dorothea Palmer was believed to have been distributing birth control information to the poorer, predominantly Catholic neighbourhoods. Later, in 1963 it became a city, and in 1969 was renamed after the recently-deceased Governor General of Canada, Georges Vanier.
Vanier has undergone significant changes since 2007, where it was an area associated with crime and prostitution.[1] Starting with an area closer to the Rideau River, it is increasingly considered a target for gentrification[citation needed]. It is one of the last relatively inexpensive Ottawa neighbourhoods with a desirable location next to downtown.
Vanier offers a wide choice of retail shops, strip malls, eateries, bars, etc. Both subsidized and self-financed housing is available here, with several existing and proposed upscale condominiums and infill developments. The population on the western edge of Vanier closer to the Rideau River, esp. the Kingsview Park neighbourhood, is among the more affluent.
Like nearby Lowertown, Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood is home to a number of French-speaking immigrants from Africa and elsewhere. It is also the site of an urban maple syrup Maple Sugar Festival (Festival des Sucres) held in spring, and home to an outdoor Catholic shrine, the Grotte de Lourdes.
Vanier is part of the federal riding of Ottawa—Vanier, and the Ottawa—Vanier provincial riding. It is traditionally one of the staunchly Liberal ridings in Canada, having voted for the party consistently since the riding’s creation. Federally, it is represented by Mauril Belanger, and provincially by Madeleine Meilleur.
According to the Canada 2001 Census:
Population: 17,632
% Change (1996-2001): 2.2
Dwellings: 9,114
Area (km².): 2.93
Density (persons per km².): 6017.7
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