200 years ago, Corunna was almost Canada's capital. Locals are celebrating anyway
CBC
It's not every day you celebrate what could have been.
But for the community of Corunna, Ont., this year is one to remember: 2023 marks 200 years since the town nearly became Canada's capital.
"It's kind of fun to remember where you've come from and the possibilities that that could have been," said Tracy Kingston, chair of the Corunna 200 committee.
Lord William Beresford surveyed the land just south of present-day Sarnia along the St. Clair River in 1823 as a possible capital of Upper and Lower Canada. The survey was accepted and a town layout was designed — St. George's Square was set to be the centre of the city.
But it wasn't meant to be. Corunna's proximity to the United States made it less than ideal for a capital city. Canada's first capital was Kingston in 1841, before it too was deemed too close to the water and the United States, and the capital relocated.
The rest is history.
"All the streets are still named after the original people that they named them after and the layout is exactly the same," Kingston said of present-day Corunna's resemblance to the community of yesteryear.
Not everyone knows about Corunna's history as the almost seat of the federal government. It took St. Clair Township Mayor Jeff Agar a trip to — where else? — Ottawa to learn the little-known fact.
"I've lived here for 40 years, and I grew up 10 minutes from here and I never knew," Agar said.
"I was in Ottawa of all places and I went on a tour. They said the actual capital was supposed to be in Corunna. I said, 'Hey, I'm from Corunna, that's pretty cool.'"
The Corunna 200 committee is kicking off festivities Tuesday to celebrate the milestone, including a rededication of the monument in St. George's Square complete with new story boards that share the town's history.
"[We] decided, 'Let's spruce that up a little bit. Let's rededicate that monument,'" Kingston said. "So we've added some gardens … there's going to be a commemorative bench there as well.
"It's going to just draw your eye more to where the Parliament buildings could have been built."
More than 400 children from different local schools will gather Tuesday to perform in St. George's Square.
