Moosonee

Moosonee () is a town in Northeastern Ontario, Canada, on the Moose River. It is considered to be "the Gateway to the Arctic" and has Ontario's only saltwater port. Nearby, on Moose Factory Island, is the older community of Moose Factory to which it is connected by water taxi in the summer and ice road in the winter. There is no road connection to the community but flights are provided by Air Creebec, North Star Air and Thunder Airlines via Moosonee Airport. Moosonee is also the railhead of the Polar Bear Express, a combined passenger and freight train operated by Ontario Northland Railway. In Moosonee, goods are transferred to barges and aircraft for transport to more northerly communities. The community was the site of a fur trading post set up in 1903 by Revillon Frères, competitors to the Hudson's Bay Company, which later bought out Revillon. Moosonee formerly held the status of a development area, the only community in the province with that designation, and was governed by a locally-elected board subject to formal appointment by the Ontario provincial government. It became incorporated as a town effective 1 January 2001, with an elected mayor and four-person council.