Canada

**Canada**, officially the **United Kingdom of Canada** (French: *Royaume-Uni du Canada)* is a country located in the northern part of North America. It is sparsely populated, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains. It is highly urbanized with 82 percent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, many near the southern border. Its capital is Ottawa, and its two largest metropolitan areas are Toronto and Montreal.

Various indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Beginning in the 16th century, the British and French established colonies, the first being the colony of Canada established by France in 1535. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, British North America gained and lost territory until, by the late 18th century, it controlled most of what comprises Canada today. On July 1, 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia were federated to form the semi-autonomous federal Dominion named Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming contemporary Canada. Canada achieved independence gradually beginning with responsible government in the 1830s and culminating with the patriation of the Constitution in 1982. In 1931, Canada achieved near-total independence from the United Kingdom with the *Statute of Westminster 1931*, except for the power to amend its constitution.

Canada is the leader of the remaining Allied Powers, now renamed the Montreal Pact, and hosts the British Royal Family in exile following the British Revolution and the collapse of the British Empire overseas.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries.

## Etymology

While a variety of theories have been postulated for the etymological origins of *Canada*, the name is now accepted as coming from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word *kanata*, meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word *Canada*to refer not only to that particular village, but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as *Canada*.

From the 16th to the early 18th century "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named the Canadas; until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, *Canada* was adopted as the legal name for the new country at the London Conference, and the word *Dominion* was conferred as the country's title. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the *Canada Act*, which refers only to *Canada*. Later that year, the name of the national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day. The term *Dominion* is also used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though after the Second World War the term *federal* had replaced *dominion*.

## History

### **Indigenous Peoples**

Indigenous peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, the latter being a mixed-bloodpeople who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers. The term "Aboriginal" as a collective noun is a specific term of art used in some legal documents, including the Constitution Act 1982.

The first inhabitants of North America are generally hypothesized to have migrated from Siberia by way of the Bering land bridge and arrived at least 15,000 years ago, though increasing evidence suggests an even earlier arrival. The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada. The characteristics of Canadian indigenous societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.

The indigenous population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million, with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. As a consequence of European colonization, the population of Canada's indigenous peoples declined by forty to eighty percent, and several First Nations, such as the Beothuk, disappeared. The decline is attributed to several causes, including the transfer of European diseases, such as influenza, measles, and smallpox to which they had no natural immunity, conflicts over the fur trade, conflicts with the colonial authorities and settlers, and the loss of indigenous lands to settlers and the subsequent collapse of several nations' self-sufficiency.

Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. First Nations and Métis peoples played a critical part in the development of European colonies in Canada, particularly for their role in assisting European coureur des bois and voyageurs in the exploration of the continent during the North American fur trade. The Crown and indigenous peoples began interactions during the European colonization period, though the Inuit, in general, had more limited interaction with European settlers. However, from the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged indigenous peoples to assimilate into their own culture. These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration and relocations. A period of redress is underway, which started with the appointment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by the Government of Canada in 2008.

### **European colonization**

The first known attempt at European colonization began when Norsemen settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000 AD. No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored and claimed Canada's Atlantic coast in the name of King Henry VII of England. Then Basque and Portuguese mariners established seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century. In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the Gulf of Saint Lawrence where, on July 24, he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words "Long Live the King of France" and took possession of the territory New France in the name of King Francis I. In general the settlements appear to have been short-lived, possibly due to the similarity of outputs producible in Scandinavia and northern Canada and the problems of navigating trade routes at that time.

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I, founded St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony. 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). Among the colonists of New France, *Canadiens* extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.

The English established additional settlements in Newfoundland, beginning in 1610 and the Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after. A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, and Canada and most of New France came under British rule in 1763 after the Seven Years' War.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 established First Nation treaty rights, created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769. To avert conflict in Quebec, the British Parliament passed the *Quebec Act* of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. More importantly, the Quebec Act afforded Quebec special autonomy and rights of self-administration at a time that the Thirteen Colonies were increasingly agitating against British rule. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there, staving off the growth of an independence movement in contrast to the Thirteen Colonies. The *Proclamation* and the *Quebec Act* in turn angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, further fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the American Revolution.

After the successful American War of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized the independence of the newly formed United States and set the terms of peace, ceding British North American territories south of the Great Lakes to the new country. The American war of independence also caused a large out-migration of Loyalists the settlers who had fought against American independence. Many moved to Canada, particularly Atlantic Canada, where their arrival changed the demographic distribution of the existing territories. New Brunswick was in turn split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate the influx of English-speaking Loyalists in Central Canada, the *Constitutional Act* of 1791 divided the province of Canada into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.

The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. Peace came in 1815; no boundaries were changed. Immigration resumed at a higher level, with over 960,000 arrivals from Britain between 1815–50. New arrivals included refugees escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances. Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 percent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.

The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture. The *Act of Union* merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada and responsible government was established for all provinces of British North America 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. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). In 1867, the same year as Canadian Confederation, Britain declined to purchase for Canada the Alaska territory that was to that point tenuously held by Russia. With the United States purchasing Alaska instead, clearly demarcated borders for Canada, although there would continue to be some disputes about the exact demarkation of the Alaska-Yukon and Alaska-BC border for years to come.

### **Confederation and Expansion**

Following several constitutional conferences, the *Constitution Act* officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the 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 been united in 1866) joined the confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.

To open the West to European immigration, parliament also approved sponsoring the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opening the prairies to settlement with the *Dominion Lands Act*, and establishing the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, parliament created the Yukon Territory. Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

### **The Great War and the Early 20th Century**

Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Confederation Act, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I. Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps, which played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war. Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, some 60,000 were killed and another 172,000 were wounded. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when the Unionist Cabinet's proposal to augment the military's dwindling number of active members with conscription was met with vehement objections from French-speaking Quebecers. The Military Service Act brought in compulsory military service, though it, coupled with disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienated Francophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain, and the 1931 Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.

### **World War II**

After the declaration of war by Canada to Germany, the first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. In all, over a million Canadians served in the armed forces during World War II and approximately 42,000 were killed and another 55,000 were wounded. Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, and the Battle of Kent in 1943. However, they mostly failed.

After the fall of Britain on October 16th, 1943, Canadian and British soldiers, along with important members of the government, the British royal family and many people fled back to Canada, whilst Edward VIII took the throne once more and ousted King George VI.

Fascist takeover of the British Isles proved to be the determining factor in Canadian foreign and internal policy. As expected, thousands of members of the British nobility, businessmen, right-wing politicians, as well as ordinary but wealthy people, frightened by the prospect of radical purges and violence like in Germany, went into exile in Canada, the only part of the British Empire that was not touched by Axis imperialism and revolutions unlike India, Africa and Australasia.

Along with the exiles, the British army that did not swear allegiance to Edward VIII and Oswald Mosley's blackshirts crossed the Atlantic as well. This resulted in Canada quickly taking the role of leader of the Montreal Pact, and the remnants of the Allied Powers.

## Government and politics

Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who is monarch of each of Canada's provinces. As such, the Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.

The monarch has "the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, and the right to warn". The Constitution of Canada is uncodified and consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law and international treaties, together with constitutional conventions. Canada also uses the British Parliament as their parliament, and the system of the House of Lords and House of Commons.

### **Government**

Canada has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world: a legacy of the British Empire. The parliament of Canada meets in the former Senate chamber and has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords. All bills passed are given Royal Assent before becoming law.

The position of prime minister, Canada's head of government, belongs to the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Commons; this individual is typically the leader of the political party or coalition of parties that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The prime minister chooses a cabinet and its members are formally appointed by the monarch to form Her Majesty's Government. By convention, the monarch respects the prime minister's decisions of government.

The cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the prime minister's party or coalition and mostly from the House of Commons but always from both legislative houses, the cabinet being responsible to both. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada, and become Ministers of the Crown. The current Prime Minister is Winston Churchill, who has been in office since 1940. Churchill is also the leader of the Conservative Party.

### **Law**

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy, until the end of World War II, where the British government took power once more after the collapse of the British Empire.

The Indian Act, various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and native peoples. Most notably, a series of eleven treaties known as the Numbered Treaties were signed between the indigenous and the reigning Monarch of Canada between 1871 and 1921.

## Military

After the Canadian army had returned from England, along with British forces, there was a quick demobilization of forces to quell some of the concerns that Quebec had because of conscription. For the next four years the Canadian military was downsized. The Canadian army was not in a position to assist with an immediate attack on the home isles. Canada however has received funding from the United States in its waning years, and the remnants of the USA that had fled to Canada after the fall of America. Roughly most of the Canadian Army consisted of former British and American officers.

## Foreign Relations

Due to a lack of allies left, Canada has mainly been isolationist, and has a goal of keeping stability in the remaining Allied Powers. Due to this, Canada maintains good relations with the Montreal Pact, and supports many resistance groups in Nazi-occupied territories. This has strained relations between Canada and the Axis Powers, which plans to attack Canada sooner.

## Economy

The Canadian Economy is an Agriculture based one. The exporting of the large amount of produced grain in Saskachewan and Manitoba fuels the Canadian economy.  The Canadian wheat economy faces competition with the Platine wheat economy, and while the Platine wheat economy mainly exports within the Americas the Canadian wheat economy aims at exporting to Europe, Asia and Oceania.

Canada also has a large amount of Fisheries in the Maritime provinces which currently is a booming industry within Canada. A sizable amount of Coal mines also exists in the Maritime provinces which previously exported exclusively to Great Britain. Canada does sit on large Iron and Crude Oil deposits however they remain unexploited. It is completely up to the mercy of the Canadian Government whether they remain unexploited or are excavated to power Canada's hungry industry.

## Culture

The primary cultures of Canada are English, Scottish and Anglo-Canadian. English and Scottish families that have remained in Canada for two or more Generations are considered to be Anglo-Canadian.  Secondary cultures consist of the Irish and French-Canadians, and the relations between the Primary and Secondary cultures is very unstable. French and Gaelic are strictly forbidden to be taught in Educational Facilities. As of June the 1st of 1936, English is the only official language of Canada.