Canada is topped only by Russia in terms of size. Canada has more lakes and rivers than any other country in the world. The capital city of Canada is Ottawa in the province of Ontario. The largest city in Canada is Toronto, also located in the province of Ontario and is the Provincial Capital. The total estimated population of Canada in 2007 was just over 33,000,000.

The climate varies from the extreme cold of the Arctic regions to the moderate temperatures of the south. Calgary, Alberta, the Canadian city I live in, has one of the shortest growing seasons in the country. This is due to the high altitude and being at the mercy of a mountain climate. I have known it to snow in Calgary as early as the beginning of August and as late as the middle of June.

26% percent of Canada's land mass is covered by forest of which only 5 % of the land is farmed. There is a large, commercial fishing industry owing to ocean exposure as well as large numbers of fresh water lakes and rivers. Canada is extremely rich in mineral resources, petroleum and natural gas.

CANADIAN CULTURE:

The prevailing Canadian approach to different cultures is to attempt to create a multi-ethnic environment as opposed to the American approach which is to create a "melting pot". I favor the American approach. Canadians, generally, are a peaceful lot, content to sit in their big houses during the long, arduous winters. That having been said, there are also a lot of winter enthusiasts here. These are the skiers, skidooers, hockey players and fans etc.

HISTORY OF CANADA:

Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, used a First Nations word for village, “kanata”, to refer to the country he had encountered in the early 1500s. European map makers later changed the name to “Canada” to refer to all of the land north of the St. Lawrence River. Canada had been home to a great many aboriginal nations for thousands of years prior to the coming of the Europeans.

Check this link out for more information on the Native Peoples of North America.

The first Europeans to actually set foot on Canadian soil were the Norsemen. They established a small colony around 1000 A.D. in what is now known as Newfoundland. The colony did not last long, probably due to the rather harsh climate of the country. Newfoundland, Canada's most easterly Province, is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is very damp and cool with frequent periods of fog. Roughly a century later, Eric the Red, another Norseman and his son, Leif the Lucky also established settlements. These were 500 years prior to Columbus sailing the ocean blue. These colonies were no more successful than the previous ones. Archaeological evidence has since been uncovered, verifying the existence of these initial attempts to colonize Canada by Europeans.

John Cabot, an Italian sailing for the English King following Columbus's discovery was the next European to set foot on Canadian soil. He landed on Newfoundland in 1497.

In 1534, Jacques Cartier a Frenchman, began explorations and discovered the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He went as far west on the St. Lawrence River to the Lachine Rapids. What Cartier was looking for but didn't find was the Northwest Passage. The primary interest in Canada at this time was for the purpose of obtaining furs. The French then went on to establish settlements in the area of what is now known as Quebec. The city of Quebec was settled in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain...

The British were also active in the colonization of North America. They had primarily settled along the eastern coast of the United States. They also settled in what is now Nova Scotia. The British generally regarded anything much farther north as too cold and difficult to survive in. Indeed, it was a difficult area to settle due the dense bush and waterways that had to be dealt with. This past couple of years has shown that the northern states can be just as, if not more, inhospitable.

Click here for a brief note on Nova Scotia

There were numerous hostilities between the French and English for a number of years. Finally, in 1713, the Treaty of Utrech was signed, giving Canada to the British. France continued to hold considerable territory in the United States and would do so until the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1791, the British government divided what was then Quebec in to Upper and lower Canada. Lower Canada was primarily French speaking while Upper was mainly English speaking..

Canada was settled by large numbers of United Empire Loyalists at the time of the American Revolution. This is significant to me since the little Ontario town where I was raised was settled by United Empire Loyalists. Specifically, a fellow named John Merrick who established Merrickville and built a large, mansion on the highest hill in town, replete with large, white columns ala southern mansion style.

This mansion eventually came to be owned by H. F. MacLean, a millionaire and philanthropist for whom my mother worked as housekeeper. I got to see the first color TV set in town as a result..

Visit Merrickville

Confederation is the next thing to look at. Go to this excellent site to look at it.....Confederation. This is the political process through which Canada became a nation....

Beginning in the 1850's, people began to realize there was also good farm land to the West. The climate was better and there was more rainfall than people had thought. Since most of the land was taken in what was then known as western Canada, farmers saw this new land as a place for their sons and daughters to develop and settle. Thus began the exodus to what was then know as the west with a timeline similar to the United States western expansion.

While the United States dealt with its Civil War, Canada was dealing with the beginning of the Metis Rebellion which occurred a slightly later date.. I find it interesting that both conflicts had racial overtones. While not as divisive as the American Civil War, the Rebellion of 1885 brought Canada's problems to a head. When they refer to using the CPR in this article, they are referring to the Canadian Pacific Railway....Canada used to have two major and many smaller railways, most of whom have gone the way of most old things, replaced by trucks or other means of transport. The other major railway is the Canadian National Railway.

Check out this next site, it gives a pretty in-depth capsule on Canada

Canadian society continued to evolve with the Province of Quebec maintaining its French Heritage, a fact that essentially divides Canada today. Lots will disagree with that statement, but, hey, its my page.. What was known as the "Quiet Revolution" began in the Province of Quebec in 1960 with exploding mailboxes. This was not really all that quiet with people being kidnapped, murdered etc. Since then, the French have been trying to assert themselves to the extent of separating from Canadian Society to an independent state. The Province of Quebec held a referendum in 1995 in which it sought to separate from Canada. The referendum was defeated but only by a narrow margin. Plans are afoot to hold yet another one.

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CLICK HERE TO LINK TO CBC - CANADA

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March 28, 2008 14:05