Description of Canada
The Dominion
of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador), at the time equivalent in
status to Canada and Australia as a Dominion, joined Canada in 1949. Canada's
growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to
the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current
Maple Leaf Flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English
and French) in 1969, and official multiculturalism in 1971. There was also the
founding of socially democratic programs, such as universal health care, the
Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments,
particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their
jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted
in the partition of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent
with the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At the same time, Quebec was
undergoing profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution,
giving birth to a nationalist movement in the province and the more radical
Front de liberation du Québec (FLQ), whose actions ignited the October
Crisis in 1970. A decade later, an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association
was held in 1980, after which attempts at constitutional amendment failed in 1990. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of
just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession
by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by
parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.
Government
and politics
Parliament
Hill, Ottawa
Canada has a
parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Parliament is
composed of The Crown, an elected House of Commons, and an appointed Senate.
Each Member of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple
plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called
by the prime minister within five years of the previous election, or may be
triggered by the government losing a confidence vote in the House. 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
had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2008 elections:
the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the Liberal Party of Canada
(the Official Opposition), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc
Québécois. The list of historical parties with elected
representation is substantial. Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between
the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are
unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of
Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but with fewer
constitutional responsibilities than the provinces and with some structural
differences (for example, the legislative assemblies of the Northwest
Territories and Nunavut have no parties and operate on consensus). The Senate chamber within the Centre
Block on Parliament Hill. Canada is also a constitutional monarchy, with The Crown acting as a symbolic
or ceremonial executive. The Crown consists of Queen Elizabeth II (legal head
of state) and her appointed viceroys, the governor general (acting head of
state), and provincial lieutenant-governors, who perform most of the monarch's
ceremonial roles. The political executive consists of the prime minister (head
of government) and the Cabinet and carries out the day-to-day decisions of
government. The Cabinet is made up of ministers usually selected from the House
of Commons and headed by the prime minister, who is normally the leader of the
party that holds the confidence of the House of Commons. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is
one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most
legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting, besides other Cabinet
members, senators, federal court judges, heads of Crown corporations and
government agencies, and the governor general. The Crown formally approves
parliamentary legislation and the prime minister's appointments. The leader of
the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of the
Opposition, and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep
the government in check. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General
since September 27, 2005; Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has
been prime minister since February 6, 2006; and Michael Ignatieff, leader of
the Liberal Party, has been Leader of the Opposition since December 10, 2008.
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 "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 Indian Chiefs Medal, presented to
commemorate Treaties 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, bearing the effigy of Queen Victoria. Although not without conflict,
European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations
were relatively peaceful. Combined with Canada's late economic development in
many regions, this peaceful history has allowed Canadian Indigenous peoples to
have a relatively strong influence on the national culture while preserving their
own identity. The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples began interactions
during the European colonialisation period. Numbered treaties, the Indian Act,
the Constitution Act of 1982 and case laws were established. A series of eleven
treaties were signed between Aboriginals in Canada and the reigning Monarch of
Canada from 1871 to 1921. These treaties are agreements with the Government of
Canada administered by Canadian Aboriginal law and overseen by the Minister of
Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The role of the treaties was
reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982, which
"recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights". These
rights may include provision of services such as health care, and exemption
from taxation. The legal and policy framework within which Canada and First
Nations operate was further formalized in 2005, through the First Nations–
Federal Crown Political Accord, which established cooperation as "a
cornerstone for partnership between Canada and First Nations". The Supreme Court of
Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill. 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 has been led by the Right Honorable Madam Chief Justice Beverley
McLachlin, P.C. (the first female Chief Justice) 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 nongovernmental 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. 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.
Foreign
relations and military
A Canadian
CF-18 Hornet in La Baie (Bagotville), Quebec. CF-18s have supported NORAD air
sovereignty patrols and participated in combat during the Gulf War of 1991 and
Kosovo and Bosnia in the late 1990s. 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 partner. Canada nevertheless has 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 the Franco phone. Canada is noted for having a
strong and positive relationship with the Netherlands, and the Dutch government
traditionally gives tulips, a symbol of the Netherlands, to Canada each year in
remembrance of the latter country's contribution to its liberation. Canada currently employs a
professional, volunteer military force of about 67,000 regular and 26,000
reserve personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy,
and air force. Major CF equipment holdings include 1,400 armored fighting
vehicles, 33 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft. Strong attachment to the British
Empire and Commonwealth 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. Canada was a
founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and 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 potential aerial attacks from the
Soviet Union.
Two warships
of the Canadian Navy—the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331)
(centre) and the Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283)—at Pearl
Harbor upon departing to participate in RIMPAC, the world's largest
international maritime exercise. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping
Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. As this was the
first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the
concept. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every
UN peacekeeping effort until 1989, and has since maintained forces in
international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere. The
number of Canadian military personnel participating in peacekeeping missions
has decreased greatly in the past two decades. As of June 30, 2006, 133
Canadians served on United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide, including
55 Canadian military personnel, compared with 1044 military personnel as of
December 31, 1996. Canada
joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS
General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, 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). Canadian Leopard 1C2(1A5) during a live fire exercise in Fort Bliss,
Texas. Since 2001, Canada has had
troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the
UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada
has committed to withdraw from Kandahar Province by 2011, by which time it will
have spent an estimated total of $11.3 billion on the mission. Canada and the
U.S. continue to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security
along the Canada-United States border through the Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative. In February 2007, Canada,
Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to
launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save
millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. In August
2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged after a Russian
expedition that planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada
has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.
Provinces
and territories
Canada is a
federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may
be grouped into regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and
Northern Canada (the latter made up of the three territories Yukon, Northwest
Territories, and Nunavut). Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic
Canada together. Provinces have more autonomy than territories. The provinces
are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care,
education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal
government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using
its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in
provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of
these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the
federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and
taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces. A clickable map of Canada exhibiting
its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals.
Geography
and climate
Canada
occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with
the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the
northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean
in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its
waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world—after Russia—and the
largest on the continent. By land area, Canada ranks fourth (land area is total
area minus the area of lakes and rivers).
A satellite
composite image of Canada
Since 1925,
Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude,
but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in
Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station Alert on the northern tip
of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—817 kilometers (450 nautical miles, 508 miles) from the North Pole. Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada
also has the longest coastline in the world: 202,080 kilometers (125,570 mi). The population density,
3.3 inhabitants per square kilometer (8.5/sq mi), is among the lowest in the
world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City –
Windsor Corridor, (situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario) along the
Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River in the southeast. The Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls,
Ontario is one of the world's most voluminous waterfalls. It is renowned for
both its beauty and as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Canada has an extensive coastline on
its north, east, and west, and since the last glacial period it has consisted
of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the
Canadian Shield. The vastness and variety of Canada's geography, ecology,
vegetation and landforms have given rise to a wide variety of climates
throughout the country. Because of its vast size, Canada has more lakes than
any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water. There are also
fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Average winter and summer high
temperatures across Canada vary according to the location. Winters can be harsh
in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie
provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures
are near −15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below −40 °C (−40.0 °F)
with severe wind chills. In no coastal regions, snow can cover the ground
almost six months of the year (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia
enjoys a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west
coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F),
while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to
30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations
exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). Canada is also geologically active, having many earthquakes and
potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount
Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The volcanic eruption of Tseax
Cone in 1775 caused a catastrophic disaster, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and
the destruction of their village in the Nass River valley of northern British
Columbia; the eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and according to legend of the Nisga'a people, it blocked the flow of the Nass
River.
Science
and technology
Canada is an
industrial nation with a highly-developed science and technology sector. Nearly
1.88% of Canada's GDP is allocated to research & development (R&D). The
country has eighteen Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine. Canada
is one of the world’s biggest publishers, publishing the highest number of
scientific publications in the fields of medical science, natural science and
engineering in 2005. Canada ranks as 12 in the world for Internet usage with 28.0 million users, 84.3% of the total population.
The Canadarm
in action on the Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-116
The Canadian
Space Agency conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, as well as
develops rockets and satellites. In 1984, Marc Garneau became Canada's first
astronaut, serving as payload specialist of STS-41-G. Canada is a participant
in the International Space Station and one of the world's pioneers in space
robotics with the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dexter. Canada was ranked third among
20 top countries in space sciences. Since the 1960s, Canada Aerospace
Industries have designed and built 10 satellites, including RADARSAT-1,
RADARSAT-2 and MOST. Canada also produced one of the most successful sounding
rockets, the Black Brant; over 1000 have been launched since they were
initially produced in 1961. Universities across Canada are working on the first
domestic landing spacecraft: the Northern Light, designed to search for life on
Mars and investigate Martian electromagnetic radiation environment and
atmospheric properties. If the Northern Light is successful, Canada will be the
third country to land on another planet.
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