Canada: Difference between revisions

Canadia
Formal Name:Canada
Common Name:Canada
Canadia; Formal Name:Canada ; Common Name:Canada
	Flag Coat of arms of Canadia Coat of arms
	Motto: Latin: A Mari Usque Ad Mare; (English:
	Anthem: "O Canada"; Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital	Ottawa
Largest city	Toronto
Official languages	English, French
Government	Federal constitutional monarchy
• Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General	Michaëlle Jean
• Prime Minister;	Stephen Harper
Independence From the UK
• BNA Act	July 1 1867
• Statute of Westminster	December 11 1931
• Canada Act	April 17 1982
• Water (%)	8.92 (891,163 km²)
Population
• 2006 estimate	32,623,490 (36th)
• 2001 census	30,007,094
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$1.105 trillion (11th)
• Per capita	$34,273 (7th)
HDI (2005)	0.949; very high (5th)
Currency	Canadian dollar ($) (CAD)
Time zone	UTC-3.5 to -8
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2.5 to -7
Calling code	1
Internet TLD	.ca

Browse history interactively

← Previous edit Next edit →

Content deleted Content added

VisualWikitext

Inline

Revision as of 13:54, 4 October 2006

Canada (pronounced ['kʰænədə] in English and [kanada] in French) is the world's second-largest country by total area, occupying most of northern North America. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the northwest.

Inhabited first by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was founded as a union of British and former French colonies. Canada gained independence from the United Kingdom in an incremental process that began in 1867 and ended in 1982, but retains the British monarch as Head of State.

Canada is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. Its territory is divided into ten provinces and three territories. A bilingual and multicultural nation, Canada retains both English and French as official languages. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada maintains a diversified economy heavily reliant on trade--particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship--and abundant natural resources.

Origin and history of the name

The name Canada comes from a First Nations word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, inhabitants of the area near present-day Quebec City used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to the village of Stadacona.^[1] Cartier used the word 'Canada' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.^[2]

The French colony of Canada, New France, was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later, it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new dominion, which was referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada increasingly acquired political authority and autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly simply used Canada on state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to Canada and, as such, is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected again in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples inhabited parts of Canada for a very long time, and some archaeological studies support human presence in northern Yukon to 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario to 9,500 years ago.^[3]^[4] Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 and Martin Frobisher in 1576, for England; and Jacques Cartier in 1534 and Samuel de Champlain in 1603, for France. The first permanent European settlements were established by the French at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608, and by the English in Newfoundland, around 1610. European explorers and trappers brought diseases that spread rapidly through native trade routes and decimated the Aboriginal population.

File:Death-wolfe.jpg

The Death of General Wolfe, painted by Benjamin West, depicts British General Wolfe's death after his victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.

For much of the 17th century, the English and French colonies in North America were able to develop in relative isolation from each other. French colonists extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, while English colonists largely settled in the Thirteen Colonies to the south. However, as competition for territory, naval bases, furs and fish escalated, several wars broke out between the French, English and Native tribes. The French and Iroquois Wars erupted between the Iroquois Confederation and the Algonquin, with their French allies, over control of the fur trade. A series of four French and Indian Wars were fought between 1689 and 1763; these culminated with a complete British victory in the Seven Years' War. By the terms of Treaty of Paris in 1763, Britain gained control of all of France's North American territory east of the Mississippi River, except for the remote islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon.

Following the war, the British found themselves in possession of a mostly French-speaking, Roman Catholic territory, whose inhabitants had recently taken up arms against Britain. To avert conflict, Britain passed the Quebec Act of 1774, re-establishing the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec. The act had unforseen consequences for Britain, however, as it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution.^[5] Following the independence of the United States, approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists moved to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.^[6] As they were unwelcome in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick was carved out of that colony for them in 1784. To accommodate the English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the province was divided into francophone Lower Canada and anglophone Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act in 1791.

Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire and its successful defence had important long-term effects on Canada, including the building of a sense of unity and nationalism among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. A series of agreements led to long-term peace between Canada and the United States, interrupted only briefly by raids made by political insurgents such as the Hunters' Lodges and the Fenian Brotherhood.

Following the failed Rebellions of 1837, which demanded responsible government, colonial officials studied the political situation and issued the Durham Report in 1839. One goal—which proved unacceptable for the alliance of anglophone and francophone reformers that had rebelled in 1837—was to assimilate the French Canadians into British culture.^[7] The Canadas were merged into a single, quasi-federal colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840). The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel and ending joint occupation of the Oregon Country/Columbia District. This led to the creation of the colony of Colony of Vancouver Island in 1849 and, with the outbreak of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the colony of British Columbia in 1858, but both were entirely separate from the United Province of Canada. By the late 1850s, leaders in Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions, with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly due to high birth rates; high European immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.

Following the Great Coalition, the Charlottetown Conference, the Quebec Conference of 1864, and the London Conference of 1866, the three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—undertook the process of Confederation. The British North America Act created "one dominion under the name of Canada", with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.^[8] After Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, which together formed the Northwest Territories in 1870, inattention to the Métis led to the Red River Rebellion and ultimately to the creation of the province of Manitoba and its entry into Confederation in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively. To connect the union and assert authority over the western provinces, Canada constructed three trans-continental railways, most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway, encouraged immigrants to develop the prairies with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police. As settlers went to the prairies on the railway and the population grew, regions of the Northwest Territories were given provincial status forming Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.

Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, and sent formed divisions, composed almost entirely of volunteers, to the Western Front to fight as a national contingent. Casualties were so high that Prime Minister Robert Borden was forced to bring in conscription in 1917; this move was extremely unpopular in Quebec, resulting in his Conservative party losing support in that province. Although the Liberals were deeply divided over conscription, they became the dominant political party.

In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations in its own right, and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster confirmed that no act of the British Parliament would extend to Canada without its consent. At the same time, the worldwide Great Depression of 1929 affected Canadians of every class; the rise of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. After supporting appeasement of Germany in the late 1930s, Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King secured Parliament’s approval for entry into the Second World War in September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. ^[9] The economy boomed during the war mainly due to the amount of military materiel being produced for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Canada finished the war with one of the largest militaries in the world.^[9] In 1949, the formerly independent Dominion of Newfoundland joined the Confederation as Canada's 10th province.

By Canada's centennial in 1967, heavy post-war immigration from various war-ravaged European countries had changed the country's demographics.^[10] In addition, throughout the Vietnam War, thousands of American draft dodgers fled to and settled in various parts of Canada.^[11]^[12] Increased immigration, combined with the baby boom, an economic strength parallelling that of the 1960s United States, and reaction to the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, initiated a new type of Canadian nationalism.

At a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981, the federal and provincial governments agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it. Despite the fact that the Quebec government did not agree to the changes, on 17 April, 1982, Canada, by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, patriated its Constitution from Britain, thereby making Canada wholly sovereign, though the two countries continue to share the same monarch.

After Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, some Québécois began pressing for greater provincial autonomy, or partial or complete independence from Canada. Alienation between English-speaking Canadians and the Québécois over the language, cultural and social divide had been exacerbated by many events, including the Conscription Crisis of 1944. While a referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population, a second referendum in 1995 was rejected by a margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%.^[13] In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional; Quebec's sovereignty movement has continued nonetheless. ^[13]

Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement of 1987 was a defining moment in integrating the two countries. In recent decades, Canadians have worried about their cultural autonomy as American television shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent.^[14] However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.^[15]

Government

Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada as head of state^[16]^[17], and a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.

Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions.^[18] The Constitution includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override some other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.

The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, belongs to the leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her Cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General (who is the Monarch's representative in Canada). However, the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention, the Governor General respects the Prime Minister's choices. The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises vast political power, especially in the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 25, 2005, and Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has served as Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.

The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a "riding" or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.

Canada's four major political parties are the Conservative Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada, New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Law

Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).

Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of most provinces policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Foreign relations and military

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares history and long relationships with the United Kingdom and France, the two former imperial powers most influential in its founding. These relations extend to other former-members of the British and French empires, through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.

Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000, and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).

Over the past 60 years, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.^[19]^[20] This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing peacekeeping efforts and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.^[21] In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts; Canada has served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989.^[22] Canada's UN peacekeeping contributions have diminished over the first years of the 21s

^ Trigger, Bruce G. (1978). "Saint-Lawrence Iroquoians". Handbook of North American Indians Volume 15. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. pp. 357-361. OCLC 58762737. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Canadian Heritage (2004-07-16). "Origin of the Name - Canada". Canadian Heritage. Retrieved 2006-10-02.
^ Cinq-Mars, J. (2001). "On the significance of modified mammoth bones from eastern Beringia" (PDF). The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
^ Wright, J.V (2001-09-27). "A History of the Native People of Canada: Early and Middle Archaic Complexes". Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Wars on Our Soil, earliest times to 1885". Retrieved 2006-08-21.
^ Moore, Christopher (1994). The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-6093-9.
^ David Mills. "Durham Report". Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-18.
^ Farthing, John (1957). Freedom Wears a Crown. Toronto: Kingswood House. ASIN B0007JC4G2.
^ ^a ^b Stacey, C.P. (1948). History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Queen's Printer.
^ Harold Troper (2000-03). "History of Immigration to Toronto Since the Second World War: From Toronto 'the Good' to Toronto 'the World in a City'". Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Retrieved 2006-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Toronto Anti-Draft Program: Where the Guys Who Said "No!" Came for Help". Retrieved 2006-05-19.
^ ""Seeking Sanctuary: Draft Dodgers"". CBC Archives. Retrieved 2006-05-19.
^ ^a ^b Dickinson, John Alexander (2003). A Short History of Quebec (3rd edition ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2450-9. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Granatstein, J.L. (1997). Yankee Go Home: Canadians and Anti-Americanism. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-638541-9.
^ Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics (4th edition ed.). Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-595-6. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Heritage Canada (2005-04-21). "The Queen and Canada: 53 Years of Growing Together". Heritage Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Governor General of Canada (2005-12-06). "Role and Responsibilities of the Governor General". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ Department of Justice. "Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982". Department of Justice, Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14.
^ Government of Canada (2005). Canada's international policy statement : a role of pride and influence in the world (PDF). Ottawa: Government of Canada. ISBN 0-662-68608-X.
^ Cooper, Andrew Fenton (1993). Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0450-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2006). "Lester B. Pearson". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
^ Morton, Desmond (1999). A Military History of Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. pg. 258. ISBN 0-7710-6514-0. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

[1] Trigger, Bruce G. (1978). "Saint-Lawrence Iroquoians". Handbook of North American Indians Volume 15. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. pp. pp. 357-361. OCLC 58762737. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[2] Canadian Heritage (2004-07-16). "Origin of the Name - Canada". Canadian Heritage. Retrieved 2006-10-02.

[3] Cinq-Mars, J. (2001). "On the significance of modified mammoth bones from eastern Beringia" (PDF). The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome. Retrieved 2006-05-14.

[4] Wright, J.V (2001-09-27). "A History of the Native People of Canada: Early and Middle Archaic Complexes". Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[5] "Wars on Our Soil, earliest times to 1885". Retrieved 2006-08-21.

[moore-6] Moore, Christopher (1994). The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-6093-9.

[ce_durhamreport-7] David Mills. "Durham Report". Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-18.

[8] Farthing, John (1957). Freedom Wears a Crown. Toronto: Kingswood House. ASIN B0007JC4G2.

[stacey-9] Stacey, C.P. (1948). History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Queen's Printer.

[10] Harold Troper (2000-03). "History of Immigration to Toronto Since the Second World War: From Toronto 'the Good' to Toronto 'the World in a City'". Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Retrieved 2006-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[11] "Toronto Anti-Draft Program: Where the Guys Who Said "No!" Came for Help". Retrieved 2006-05-19.

[CBC_Archives_on_Draft_Dodgers-12] ""Seeking Sanctuary: Draft Dodgers"". CBC Archives. Retrieved 2006-05-19.

[dickinson-13] Dickinson, John Alexander (2003). A Short History of Quebec (3rd edition ed.). Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2450-9. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[granatstein-14] Granatstein, J.L. (1997). Yankee Go Home: Canadians and Anti-Americanism. Toronto: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-638541-9.

[bickerton-15] Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics (4th edition ed.). Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-595-6. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[16] Heritage Canada (2005-04-21). "The Queen and Canada: 53 Years of Growing Together". Heritage Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[17] Governor General of Canada (2005-12-06). "Role and Responsibilities of the Governor General". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

[18] Department of Justice. "Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982". Department of Justice, Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14.

[canada_policy-19] Government of Canada (2005). Canada's international policy statement : a role of pride and influence in the world (PDF). Ottawa: Government of Canada. ISBN 0-662-68608-X.

[middle_powers-20] Cooper, Andrew Fenton (1993). Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0450-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[lester-21] Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2006). "Lester B. Pearson". CBC.ca. Retrieved 2006-05-22.

[22] Morton, Desmond (1999). A Military History of Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. pp. pg. 258. ISBN 0-7710-6514-0. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]