Moncton (2001 population 61,046, metropolitan population 117,727) is one of the eight cities in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The metropolitan area includes the city of Dieppe and the town of Riverview. Moncton was named after Robert Monckton , a British officer who oversaw the deportation of the Acadians.

Geography

Moncton is located in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada; in the Petitcodiac River valley, along the north bank of a section where the river bends from a west-east flow to a north-south direction. As such, the early settlers in the region nicknamed this area "The Bend" (in French le Coude). Moncton is located at the geographic center of the Maritime Provinces. In the late 1800s, following construction of the European and North American Railway , and later the Intercolonial Railway (which was headquartered in Moncton) and the National Transcontinental Railway, Moncton came to be known as the "Hub City".

Language & Culture

While Moncton is a majority English-speaking community, the city has an active French-speaking Acadian minority population (35%), many of whom speak the Chiac variant of Acadian French. The city hosted the Francophonie Summit in August of 1999. This was the largest conference ever held in the city with delegates from 54 countries from around the world.

The Capitol Theatre is a restored 1920's era vaudeville house that serves as the centre of cultural entertainment for the city. The Atlantic Ballet Theatre is based in Moncton, as is Theatre l'Escouette. The Moncton Coliseum, an 8,000-seat arena, serves as a venue for major concerts and trade shows and is the home of the Moncton Wildcats of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. There are two main museums in the city, The Moncton Museum and La Musee Acadienne at Université de Moncton.

Moncton is home to the Northrop Frye Literary Festival, a bilingual literary celebration in honour of world renowned literary critic and favorite son Northrop Frye. This celebration attracts authors from around the world and takes place in the month of April. The World Wine and Food Exposition is the largest event of its kind in eastern Canada and takes place every November.

Transportation

Moncton is serviced by a newly expanded international airport, the Greater Moncton International Airport. Moncton is also serviced by railway companies VIA Rail Canada, and Canadian National Railway, which at one point, was one of the main employers of the city. Moncton is also located on the Trans Canada Highway, at the junction of all major road routes in the Maritime Provinces. Because of these attributes, Moncton has become a major transportation, distribution, commercial and retailing centre.

Attractions

The Moncton area has several major attractions:

• Champlain Place - A shopping mall located in Dieppe.
• Crystal Palace - An indoor amusement park adjacent to Champlain Place.
• Tidal Bore - A phenomenon created by the extreme tides of the Bay of Fundy which actually reverses the downstream flow of the Petitcodiac River. A causeway built across the river to Riverview in the 1960s has significantly affected the effects of the bore, although efforts are underway to have the causeway replaced by a bridge in order to restore the river flow.
• Magnetic Hill - An optical illusion created by local topography, is also the site of a major tourism development, including a nationally recognized zoo and a water theme park called "Magic Mountain".

Moncton is well situated as a tourism destination. There are two national parks within a one hour drive of the city (Fundy National Park and Kouchibouguac National Park). The warm water beaches of the Northumberland Straight are only 15 minutes away and the Hopewell Rocks are only a half hour's drive. The Confederation Bridge to Prince Edward Island is also only a one hour's drive from the city.

Education

Moncton is home to two universities: Université de Moncton, the largest French language university in Canada outside of Quebec,and Atlantic Baptist University, a small Christian liberal arts and science institution. In addition, the University of New Brunswick offers health sciences degree courses in Nursing and Medical X-ray Technology based out of the Moncton Hospital. Mount Allison University, consistently ranked as one of the best undergraduate universities in Canada is located in the nearby town of Sackville.

There are also two campuses of the New Brunswick Community College located in the region; NBCC Moncton campus is anglophone while CCNB Dieppe is francophone. These institutions specialize in training for trades and technology. There are also a number of private colleges in the city including the Moncton Flight Collegelink title, one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious flight school's.

Health Facilities

There are two major regional referral hospitals in Moncton; The Moncton Hospital (principally anglophone, 400 beds, affiliated with Dalhousie University Medical School, tertiary services in neurosciences, oncology, neonatal intensive care, burn unit, trauma) and the Hopital Georges-L. Dumont (principally francophone, 350 beds, affiliated with Université de Sherbrooke Medical School, tertiary services in oncology (including radiation oncology) and nephrology). Between these two institutions, Moncton serves as the main medical referral centre in eastern New Brunswick.

Media

Moncton has two daily newspapers, the Times & Transcript (anglophone—New Brunswick's largest daily), and l'Acadie Nouvelle (francophone). There are two television stations in the city, (CBC French) and (ATV/CTV English). There are also 12 broadcast radio stations in the city.

Buildings

• NBTel Tower- A 35 story communications tower which dominates the skyline.

Economy

After twice going bankrupt, the city of Moncton was incorporated successfully in 1891, with the motto Resurgam ("we rise again").

The Intercolonial Railway and National Transcontinental Railway were major employers in Moncton's early years. After these companies merged to form part of Canadian National Railways, CNR became the largest employer in the region with major yards and locomotive shop facilities located throughout the city. In 1988 CN closed its locomotive shops in Moncton, throwing thousands out of work and forcing the federal and provincial governments to step in with economic restructuring packages to diversify the Moncton economy. Moncton was so despondent at one point in the late 1980s, prior to the changes having a positive impact, that it's official motto was Moncton - We're OK.

Diversification in the 1990s saw the rise of information technology, led by call centres which made use of the city's bilingual workforce. Retail, manufacturing and service expansion began to occur in all sectors and within a decade of the closure of the locomotive shops, Moncton had more than off-set this loss of employment. Moncton is now the fastest growing city in the Maritime Provinces and is expected to become New Brunswick's largest city within the next 5-10 years.

Government

The current mayor of Moncton is Lorne Mitton (May 2004).

Notables born in Moncton

• Eric's Trip and Julie Doiron, indie rock musicians
• Gordie Drillon (1913-1986), Hall of Fame ice hockey player

External sites

• L'Universite de Moncton
• Portal for the city of Moncton