| Canada |
|
|
Motto:A Mari Usque Ad Mare(Latin)
"From Sea to Sea" |
Anthem:"O Canada"
Royal anthem:"God Save the Queen" |
|
|
| Capital | Ottawa
45°24′N, 75°40′W
|
| Largest city |
Toronto |
| Official languages |
English, French |
| Recognised regionallanguages |
Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Cree, Dëne Sųłiné, Gwich’in, Inuvialuktun, Slavey, Tłįchǫ Yatiì |
| Demonym |
Canadian
|
| Government |
Parliamentary democracy and Federal constitutional monarchy |
| - |
Monarch |
HM Queen Elizabeth II |
| - |
Governor General |
Michaëlle Jean |
| - |
Prime Minister |
Stephen Harper |
| Establishment |
|---|
| - |
British North America Act |
July 1 1867 |
| - |
Statute of Westminster |
December 11 1931 |
| - |
Canada Act |
April 17 1982 |
| Area |
| - |
Total |
9,984,670km²(2nd)
3,854,085sqmi |
| - |
Water(%) |
8.92 (891,163 km²/344,080 mi²) |
| Population |
| - |
2008estimate |
33,420,000[Canada\'s population clock (source code). Statistics Canada (2007-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.“StartPop = 32976026; EndPop = 33305836; StartDate = new Date(2007, 6, 1); EndDate = new Date(2008, 6, 1)”
](36th) |
| - |
2006census |
31,612,897 |
| - |
Density |
3.2/km²(219th)
8.3/sqmi |
| GDP(PPP) |
2007estimate |
| - |
Total |
$1.274 trillion[CIA World Factbook[GDP PPP Rankings 2007]](13th) |
| - |
Per capita |
$38,200[CIA World Factbook[GDP PPP Per Capita Rankings]](21st) |
| GDP (nominal) |
2007estimate |
| - |
Total |
$1.406 trillion [CIA World Factbook[GDP Nominal Rankings 2007]](9th) |
| - |
Per capita |
$42,738(14th) |
| Gini |
32.1 (2005)[CIA World Factbook[Gini rankings]] |
| HDI(2007) |
▲ 0.961(high)(4th) |
| Currency |
Canadian dollar ($) (CAD) |
| Time zone |
(UTC-3.5 to -8) |
| - |
Summer(DST) |
(UTC-2.5 to -7) |
| Internet TLD |
.ca |
| Calling code |
+1
|
| Canada portal |
Canada (IPA: /ˈkænədə/) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world\'s second largest country by total area,[Central Intelligence Agency (2006-05-16). The World Factbook: Canada. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.] and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by various groups of aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War.
In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion.[Territorial evolution (html/pdf). Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.“In 1867, the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are united in a federal state, the Dominion of Canada....”][Canada: History (html/pdf). Country Profiles. Commonwealth Secretariat. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.“The British North America Act of 1867 brought together four British colonies ... in one federal Dominion under the name of Canada.”][Hillmer, Norman; W. David MacIntyre. Commonwealth (html). Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Project. Retrieved on 2007-10-09.“With CONFEDERATION in 1867, Canada became the first federation in the British Empire ...”][disputed] This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has a long and complex relationship.
Etymology
Main article: Name of Canada
The name Canada most likely comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona.[Trigger, Bruce G.; Pendergast, James F. (1978). "Saint-Lawrence Iroquoians", Handbook of North American Indians Volume 15. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 357–361. OCLC 58762737.] Cartier used the word \'Canada\' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.[Jacques Cartier (1545). Relation originale de Jacques Cartier. Tross (1863 edition). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.]
The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France 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 adopted for the entire country, and Dominion was conferred as the country\'s title.[J. E. Hodgetts. 2004. "Dominion". Oxford Companion to Canadian History, Gerald Hallowell, ed. (ISBN 0195415590) Toronto: Oxford University Press; p. 183: "The title conferred on Canada by the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867, whereby the provinces declare \'their desire to be federally united into one Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom\'."] It was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.
History
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The
fur trade was Canada\'s most important industry until the 1800s
Various groups of Inuit and First Peoples inhabited North America prehistorically. While no written documents exist, various forms of rock art, petroforms, petroglyphs, and ancient artifacts provide thousands of years of information about the past. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago.[Cinq-Mars, J. (2001). "On the significance of modified mammoth bones from eastern Beringia". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome. Retrieved on 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 on 2006-05-14.] 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 for England[ "John Cabot =". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica.] and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France;[ "Cartier, Jacques". World book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc.. ISBN 071660101X. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.] seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century.[ "Basques". The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2007). Historica.]
French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.
The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years\' War.
The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John\'s Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec\'s territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution.[Wars on Our Soil, earliest times to 1885. Retrieved on 2006-08-21.] The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada.[Moore, Christopher (1994). The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-6093-9.] New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.
Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.
The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture.[David Mills. Durham Report. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.] The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.
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 paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert\'s Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.
Following several constitutional conferences, the Constitution Act, 1867 brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.[Farthing, John (1957). Freedom Wears a Crown. Toronto: Kingswood House. ASIN B0007JC4G2.] Canada assumed control of Rupert\'s Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis\' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald\'s Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon territory. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain\'s declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front, who played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada\'s independence.
The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.[Stacey, C.P. (1948). History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Queen\'s Printer.] Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, the D-Day landings, the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.
In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.[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 on 2006-05-19.]
Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982. Canadians continue to take pride in their system of universal health care, their commitment to multiculturalism, and human rights.[Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics, 4th edition, Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-595-6.]
Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy and others for Quebec independence. Radical Quebec nationalist militants of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) which committed acts of terrorism against anglophone Québécois brought Canada into crisis in 1970, when they kidnapped British Trade Commissioner John Cross and murdered Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, in which Canada invoked the controversial War Measures Act which allowed Canadian law enforcement to arrest any suspected militants without warrants. After 1970, no significant militant Quebec nationalism continued, and moderate Quebec nationalism prevailed under the Parti Québécois of Rene Levesque which came to power in Quebec in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population. Efforts by Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Brian Mulroney to recognize Quebec as a "distinct society" under the Meech Lake Accord in 1987 collapsed in 1989. Anger in French Quebec and a sense of alienation in Canada\'s western provinces resulted in a sovereignist federal party Bloc Quebecois under Lucien Bouchard and the Reform Party of Canada under Preston Manning rising to prominence in the election of 1993. Each advocated for greater decentralization in Canadian federalism in opposition to the more centralized vision of Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Another Parti Quebecois government in Quebec led by Jacques Parizeau held a second referendum in 1995 that was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%.[Dickinson, John Alexander; Young, Brian (2003). A Short History of Quebec, 3rd edition, Montreal: McGill-Queen\'s University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2450-9.] In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional, and Parliament passed the "Clarity Act" outlining the terms of a negotiated departure.
Government and politics
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Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state.[Heritage Canada (2005-04-21). The Queen and Canada: 53 Years of Growing Together. Heritage Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.][Governor General of Canada (2005-12-06). Role and Responsibilities of the Governor General. Governor General of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.] The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions. The constitution is the supreme law of the country,[The Constitution Act, 1982. Department of Justice Canada.“"52.(1) The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada, and any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect.”] and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.[Department of Justice. Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982. Department of Justice, Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.] The Constitution Act, 1867, affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments; the Statute of Westminster, 1931, granted full autonomy; and the Constitution Act, 1982, added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any level of government - though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years - and added a constitutional amending formula.[The Constitution Act, 1982. Department of Justice Canada.“"38.(1)”]
Executive authority is constitutionally vested in the monarch,[Canada\'s System of Justice: The Canadian Constitution. Department of Justice Canada.][Constitution Act, 1867; III.9] but is in practice exercised by the Cabinet, a committee of the Queen\'s Privy Council, through the monarch\'s representative, the Governor General. As the monarch and viceroy stay apolitical and predominantly ceremonial in order to ensure the stability of government – by convention almost invariably deferring all governmental matters to their ministers in the Cabinet, who are themselves responsible to the elected House of Commons – real executive power is said to lie with the Cabinet,[Forsey, Eugene; How Canadians Govern Themselves:Parliamentary Government; pg. 2; [Parliamentary Government; Pg. 3]; The Institutions of Our Federal Government; pg. 2; Canadian and American Government; pg. 2; Zolf, Larry; CBC News: Boxing in a Prime Minister; June 28, 2002] The Prime Minister, generally the leader of the political party that commands the confidence of the House of Commons, is appointed by the Governor General to select and head the Cabinet;
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 or when the government looses the confidence of the House. 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.
Four parties have had substantial representation in the federal parliament since 2006 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the Liberal Party of Canada (Official Opposition), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The Green Party of Canada does not have current representation in Parliament, but garners a significant share of the national vote. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
Law
Main article: Law of Canada
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. since 2000. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also 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 all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
Foreign relations and military
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Canada and the United States share the world\'s longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other\'s largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to participate in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada\'s membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel.[Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs). The National Defence family. Department of National Defence. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.[Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs). Canadian Forces Equipment. Department of National Defence. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.]
Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[
Government of Canada (2005). Canada\'s international policy statement: a role of pride and influence in the world. Ottawa: Government of Canada. ISBN 0-662-68608-X.][Cooper, Andrew Fenton; Higgot, Richard A.; Nossal, Kim R. (1993). Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0450-5.] Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.
Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the
