Txt Evolution of Canada

7/27/2019 Txt Evolution of Canada

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EVOLUTION OF CANADACanada, independent nation in North America. A country rich in minerals and agriculture, itwas settled by the French and English and became an independent Commonwealth country

with a federal system of government, in which the provinces enjoy a large measure of

autonomy.

Land and EconomyThe 2nd-largest country in the world (after the USSR), Canada occupies the N half of the

North American continent, stretching E and W from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, N from

the 49th parallel to the North Pole, including all the islands in the Arctic Ocean from W of

Greenland to Alaska. It is divided into 10 provinces, which are (E-W): Newfoundland, Nova

Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan,

Alberta, and British Columbia.

Two Territories - Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory - are in the N and NW. The

outstanding geological feature is the Canadian Shield, a 1,850,000-sq-mi (4,791,500-sq-km)arc of Pre-Cambrian rock from Labrador around Hudson Bay to the Arctic islands. The

Shield, site of once great mountain chains worn down and covered by the sea, contains

valuable minerals - gold, silver, platinum, copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, and zinc - making

Canada one of the most important mining countries in the world. The Shield's N portion is a

treeless plain with permanently frozen subsoil; in its S section are forests.

Extending from the Shield's W border to the Canadian Rockies are prairies more than 800mi

(1,288km) wide that yield wheat, the dominant crop, and are centers of livestock raising. WCanada is a land of mountains with fishing, agriculture, and lumbering as important

industries. With the development of major oil and natural gas deposits since the 1950s in the

W, the now-dominant energy industry has resulted in dramatic economic growth there, andmade Canada a major oil-producing country.

The E provinces provide rich farm lands, forests, coal mines, and major fishing sources along

the long coastline. Source of a route into the interior for early settlers, the St Lawrence-Great

Lakes area is the most populous section of Canada as well as its economic and politicalcenter. It contains over 60% of the population.

Abundant minerals have made Canada the world leader in the production of silver, nickel,

potash, and zinc; second in gypsum, asbestos, uranium, and sulfur; third in gold, lead, and

platinum; fourth in magnesium and fifth in copper. Timber is also valuable, and Canada is aworld leader in newsprint production.

The growth of manufacturing during the 1950s and 1960s changed Canada from a rural

society to an industrial and urban country. Farming employs 7% of the working population.

Mechanization has made it possible to export 30%-40% of its total agricultural production,accounting for 11% of total exports. Wheat is particularly important. Of the total fishing

catch, 75% is exported.

People


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Canada's indigenous Indians and Eskimos are descendants of the Mongoloid tribes who took

the NW route from Asia across the Bering Strait 15,000-20,000 years ago. The Arctic regioncontains about 12,000 Eskimos.

Today, 44% of the population is of British descent. About 30% is French, descended from thecolonists who came to Canada in the 17th and 18th centuries, and now heavily concentrated

in Quebec and New Brunswick. During the American Revolution many British loyalists fledto Canada from the United States, and after 1900 waves of immigrants from Germany, the

Ukraine, and Italy settled on the prairie farmlands or the urban centers.

Native Indians have been increasing in number, accounting for over 210,000, mostly living

in the prairie states. During periods of US prosperity, emigration has brought Canadians S to

work in the industrial cities. Forty-six percent of the population is Roman Catholic with the

coalition United Church of Canada next (20%). Literacy is almost 100%.

GovernmentIn its role as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, Canada is both a constitutional

monarchy and a democracy. Internally, there is a federal structure of the 10 provinces and 2

territories. The British monarch names a governor general who serves as symbol of the

association with the Commonwealth. Parliament is divided into two houses. Members of the

Senate are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. Members

of the House of Commons are elected. The executive branch includes a cabinet, headed bythe prime minister, who is the leader of the party in power. Within each province the

government is headed by a premier and parliament.

HistoryRivalry between the French and the English marked Canada's early development. John

Cabot, sailing for England, reached Newfoundland in 1497 and claimed possession for King

Henry VII. In 1534, French explorerJacques Cartier planted the French flag on the Gasp

Peninsula, and in 1604, Samuel de Champlain established the first French colony, Port Royal,

in Nova Scotia; four years later he founded what is now the city of Quebec.

French navigators traveled the St Lawrence and Hudson rivers, claiming large interior lands

for France. Traders and missionaries penetrated the interior, and French officials made peace

with the Indians, thus encouraging French immigration. Seeking a share of the lucrative fur

trade, the British in 1670 established the Hudson's Bay Co. Continental war between Franceand England extended to the New World, and the 1759 defeat of French commander

Montcalm brought the fall of Quebec; the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave Canada to Britain.

In 1791 a constitutional act divided Canada into two sections - an English portion in what is

now Ontario and a French portion in what is now Quebec. The next 40 years were marked bytrade and expansion. Alexander Mackenzie, the first white man to cross the continent,

reached the Arctic in 1789 and the Pacific in 1793.


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The United States invaded Canada during the War of 1812, which ended in a stalemate with

the Treaty of Ghent. French Canadians demanded political reform, and in 1840 Upper and

Lower Canada were joined and self-government approved. Border questions between theUnited States and Canada were settled during the same period when the 49th parallel was

accepted as the demarcation line.

A movement to join the isolated colonies spread across the continent was spurred by

promises to build a railway system linking the provinces and to provide future protectionagainst US invasion, especially during the Civil War, when there was anti-British feeling in

the United States.

In 1867 the British North America Act joined four provinces - Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia,

and New Brunswick - and provided for a parliamentary system. In 1869 Canada bought land

from the Hudson's Bay Co., carving out of it the provinces of Manitoba (1870), Saskatchewan

(1905), and Alberta (1905).

Encouraged by a transcontinental railway promise, British Columbia joined the union in

1871 and Prince Edward Island in 1873. The last addition came in 1948 when Newfoundlandbecame Canada's 10th province. Outstanding leaders during the drive for independence and

the early years of confederation included John A. Macdonald, Wilfrid Laurier, and William

Lyon Mackenzie King.

Canada joined the Allies in WWII and after the war became a member of the United Nations.

The Liberal party dominated politics from the early 1960s until 1984. First with LesterPearson and, from 1968-79 and 1980-84, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, as prime minister. In 1984

Trudeau retired from politics and chose John N. Turner to succeed him as prime ministerand party leader.

The 1984 elections saw a dramatic change in power with the election of the ProgressiveConservative candidate, Brian Mulroney. Mulroney and US President Ronald Reagan in 1988

signed a historic free-trade agreement that made the US and Canada the largest free-trade

area in the world; annual trade was expected to amount to about $150 billion.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Canada successfully weathered severe crises ofnational unity. In Quebec, four-fifths French-speaking, the militant Parti Qubcois won the

elections of 1976 on a secessionist platform, but in 1980 Quebec voters rejected a referendum

on separate status. In 1979 Trudeau announced plans to repatriate the British North America

Act, which functions as the Canadian constitution, but is amendable only by act of the British

parliament.

The provincial premiers were at first opposed to the move, but a compromise reached in

1981 was rejected only by Quebec and was signed into effect by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.

In 1987 Quebec signed the Canadian constitution, which had been altered to include aprovision for Quebec to be recognized as a "distinct society." In 1988 a free-trade agreement

was signed between Canada and the US; its supporters expected it tostimulate international

trade by encouraging the removal of trade tariffs and restrictions.


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PROFILEOfficial name: Canada

Area: 3,851,809sq mi (9,976,185sq km)

Population: 26,310,836

Density: 6.8per sq mi (2.6per sq km)Chief cities: Ottawa (capital); Montreal; Toronto; Edmonton

Government: Constitutional monarchy with parliamentary system of governmentReligion: Roman Catholic (major), Anglican, United Church

Language: English, French

Monetary unit: Canadian dollar

Gross national product: $471,500,000,000

Per capita income: $18,070

Industries: pulp and paper, petroleum products, iron, steel, motor vehicles, aircraft,

machinery, chemicals, aluminum, fish canning

Agriculture: wheat, barley, oats, rye, potatoes, fish, cattle, forestsMinerals: oil, iron ore, gold, silver, platinum, copper, nickel, cobalt, zinc

Trading partners: United States, Japan, United Kingdom

PRIME MINISTERS OF CANADAJohn A. McDonald 1867-73

Alexander Mackenzie 1873-78

John A. McDonald 1878-91John J.C. Abbot 1891-92

John S.D. Thompson 1892-94

Mackenzie Bowell 1894-96Charles Tupper 1896

Wilfrid Laurier 1896-1911

Robert L. Borden 1911-20

Arthur Meighen 1920-21

W. L. Mackenzie King 1921-26Arthur Meighen 1926

W. L. Mackenzie King 1926-30

Richard B. Bennett 1930-35

W. L. Mackenzie King 1935-48

Louis Stephen St. Laurent 1948-57John George Diefenbaker 1957-63

Lester B. Pearson 1963-68

Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1968-79

Joe Clark 1979-80

Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1980-84Brian Mulroney 1984-

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Txt Evolution of Canada