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P:CA

Monday, November 25, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With a population of just over 41 million people, it has widely varying population densities, with the majority residing in urban areas and large areas of the country being sparsely populated. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition. The country's head of government is the prime minister, who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general, representing the monarch of Canada, the ceremonial head of state. The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and human rights. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history, economy, and culture.

A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world by nominal GDP, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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The Stanley Cup at a state luncheon at the United States Department of State in 2016

The Stanley Cup (French: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) considers it to be one of the "most important championships available to the sport". The trophy was commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, who donated it as an award to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. The entire Stanley family supported the sport, the sons and daughters all playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, and winners from 1893 to 1914 were determined by challenge games and league play. Professional teams first became eligible to challenge for the Stanley Cup in 1906. In 1915, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), the two main professional ice hockey organizations, reached an agreement in which their respective champions would face each other annually for the Stanley Cup. It was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947. (Full article...)

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Louis Riel (/ˈluːi riˈɛl/; French: [lwi ʁjɛl]; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first prime minister John A. Macdonald. Riel sought to defend Métis rights and identity as the Northwest Territories came progressively under the Canadian sphere of influence. (Full article...)

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See also: historically significant biographies

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Panoramic view of Toronto

Credit: Sunshine87 (Johannes Akkach)

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"O Canada" (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which French-language words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. (Full article...)

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Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North America—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and the Province of Canada (which upon Confederation was divided into Ontario and Quebec)—united to form a federation, becoming a fully independent country over the next century. Over its history, Canada's international borders have changed several times as it has added territories and provinces, making it the world's second-largest country by area. (Full article...)

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University of Saskatchewan Centennial Lily by plant breeder Donna Hay.
Credit: SriMesh

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Current events

November 20, 2024 – November 2024 Northeast Pacific bomb cyclone: Two people are killed and more than 570,000 people are without power when a bomb cyclone makes landfall over the West Coast of the United States and British Columbia, Canada. (CNN) (NBC News)
November 15, 2024 –: The Canadian Union of Postal Workers go on strike after failing to renegotiate their contract with Canada Post. (AP)
October 25, 2024 –: A man fatally shoots two of his family members before killing himself in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. (CTV News Barrie); Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government announces that Ontario is planning to ban international students from medical schools in the province beginning in 2026. (Pelham Today)
October 24, 2024 –: Four people are killed and one other is seriously injured when a Tesla car crashes into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar at high speed after losing control causing a fire in Toronto, Canada. (CTV News Toronto)
October 15, 2024 –: The Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is designated as a terrorist group by the Canadian government and is sanctioned by the U.S. government, due to the group's alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (CTV News)

Past Canadian events

Did you know - show another

... that the now-destroyed statue of Alexander Wood was the first LGBT monument in Canada?
... that Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer who died in 1903, should not be confused with Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer and editor who died in 1903?
... that in 1819 Michael O'Sullivan, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, fought a duel in Montreal with William Caldwell over a proposal to create the Montreal General Hospital?
... that Damon Severson scored a goal with 0.4 seconds left in regulation time to help lead Canada men's national ice hockey team to a silver medal?
... that journalist Bob Moir posed as medical staff on the Canadian Olympic team to report on the Munich massacre?
... that journalist Maurice Smith helped establish a national curling championship for high school students in Canada?
... that Bethune: The Making of a Hero, once Canada's most expensive film, had a documentary about its troubled production shown at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival instead of itself?

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The leader of the Official Opposition (French: chef de l'Opposition officielle), formally known as the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition (French: chef de la loyale opposition de Sa Majesté), is the politician who leads the Official Opposition in Canada, typically the leader of the party possessing the most seats in the House of Commons that is not the governing party or part of the governing coalition. (Full article...)