The first inhabitants of Canada are thought to have moved across the Bering Straits from Siberia during the last Ice Age. Traces of up to a dozen distinct groups of Inuit (Eskimos) have been discovered across the far northern regions of North America. The first Europeans to reach Canada were descendants of Norse seafarers who had settled in Iceland and in Greenland during the 9th and 10th centuries. Remains of three Norse settlements have been identified on the eastern seaboard, but these were evidently not permanent.
The next wave of European arrivals was led by the Italian navigator Giovanni
Caboto (better known as John Cabot) in an early attempt to seek out a North–West passage to Asia in 1497. Over the next 100 years, attracted by rich fishing grounds, English and French commercial interests settled in parts of Newfoundland. This period also saw the first major incursion inland following the discovery of the St Lawrence River by the French explorer Jacques Cartier. During the 17th century, backed by the French crown and, especially, Cardinal Richelieu, the French pushed further into Canada while significantly expanding their trading operations in Canada under the auspices of the New France Company which operated in much the same manner as the English and Dutch concerns (such as the East India Company) in India and the Far East. Relations with the local Inuit were inevitably mixed. The territory was also attracting interest from elsewhere.
The formation in England of the Hudson’s Bay Company, in 1670, initiated a long period of commercial, political and strategic rivalry which culminated in the Anglo-French war of the early 1760s, which ended with the capitulation of the French Canadian capital, Québec, to the besieging forces of the English General Wolfe. The ensuing Treaty of Paris, in 1763, ceded all French territories in north-east America to the British. Within two decades, however, the English had been ousted from their American colonies following defeat in the American War of Independence. Eastern Canada was then settled by loyalists from the USA holding allegiance to the defeated British Crown. The Americans made a number of efforts to seize control of Britain’s Canadian territories, but failed, and the two countries thereafter evolved along different historical paths. In 1791, Canada was divided between regions occupied by the English-speaking and the longer-established French-speaking community but the arrangement did not work and was replaced by a unified system.
In the mid-19th century, Canada was granted the status of a Dominion of the British Empire, with an autonomous government but with the British monarch as Head of State. This arrangement has lasted through several modifications to this day, with the position of the British monarch maintained in what is otherwise a wholly independent nation. The tie between the two countries remains strong, especially between the two governments’ foreign policy and military establishments. Despite the reservations of the French-speaking population, principally in Québec where a secessionist movement has been active (occasionally violently) since the 1970s, the Canadian government has displayed a strong loyalty to the ‘mother country’, notably during both World Wars.
From 1968 to 1984, politics were dominated by the charismatic figure of Pierre Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party and four times Prime Minister. After his retirement from politics in 1984, his party was eventually ousted by the opposition Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney. Under Mulroney, the Québec issue came to the fore once more. Several attempts were made to resolve it by negotiation – principally the 1990 Meech Lake accord – but all of these foundered. A 1995 referendum asked the Québecois whether they wished to leave the Canadian Federation. The result was an extremely narrow vote in favor of remaining inside Canada, which proved little more than that the province is still deeply divided. Since then, the
Parti Québecois has been in terminal decline, losing first its position as Canada’s principal opposition party and then, in 2003, its control of the province of Québec itself to the ruling Liberal Party.
Another historical problem that the Mulroney government went some way to resolve was the question of land taken from the indigenous Canadian peoples, collectively known as the Inuit, who inhabit the sparsely populated frozen expanses of northern Canada. The issue is not dissimilar to that faced by Koori (aboriginal) peoples in Australia, in that the Inuit maintain that traditional lands were taken from them by force or subterfuge by previous governments. In 1991, a 350,000 sq km (135,135 sq miles) area of the Northwest Territories was relinquished to the Inuit as the semi-autonomous Nunavut territory. (Additional lands and measures of self-government were granted to the territory in 1999.) Approximately 95 per cent of Nunavut’s 25,000 population are Inuits. The main problems facing the territory are economic: traditional sources of work, fur trading and whaling, have been in terminal decline for years as have attempts to develop oil and mining industries. The new administration in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut formerly known as Frobisher Bay, is pinning its hopes on ecotourism to reduce the current heavy reliance of subventions from central government.
The 1993 general election was significant in that the hugely unpopular governing Conservative Party was all but wiped out, being reduced from 169 seats to just two. The new prime minister was Liberal Party leader Jean Chrétien, who introduced a major package of economic reforms designed to expand the economy and implement the North American Free Trade Agreement with the USA and Mexico as soon as possible. Chrétien has since proved to be the industrialized world’s most successful politician, having won three successive general elections and a decade in office. The main opposition parties are now the center-right Canadian Alliance (formerly known as the Reform Party) and the Progressive Conservatives. Chrétien stood down in November 2003 and was replaced by Paul Martin. In June 2004, Martin was re-elected.
By and large, the Liberal governments have confirmed Canada’s consistent support for the USA and NATO, of which it is a member. However, relations with the right-wing Bush administration - elected in 2000 - have been difficult. In particular, Canada refused to support the 2003 war against Iraq.
In November 2005, Martin's government lost a confidence vote in parliament after only 17 months in power, following a corruption scandal which dated back to the late 1990s. (The Liberal government had spent C$100 million of public money to advertising agencies in return for little or no work. Liberal officials are alleged to have demanded kickbacks for awarding the contracts.) An election is to be held on 23 January 2006. Polls suggest the Liberals will win the most votes, but they are not expected to gain a majority.
GovernmentExecutive power is vested in the British monarch, the Head of State, who is responsible for appointing the Governor General, currently Michaëlle Jean. The Prime Minister elects cabinet ministers, a 104-member Senate and a House of Commons make up the Federal Parliament. Members of the House of Commons are directly elected, while members of the Senate are appointed by the Prime Minister. The 10 provinces of Canada each has a Lieutenant Governor and a local legislature, in power for up to five years. There are also three territories (Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) constituted by Acts of Parliament. Several recent attempts to amend the Constitution have been rejected by popular referendum.
EconomyCanada is the seventh-largest trading nation and a member of the G8 group of major industrial economies. The country has immense natural resources and a high standard of living.
Agriculture and fisheries are particularly important; Canada exports more than half of its agricultural produce (principally grain and oil seeds) and is the world’s leading exporter of fish. Timber is another important sector, given that more than 40% of the land area is forest.
As a mineral producer, Canada exports crude oil and natural gas, copper, nickel, zinc, iron ore, asbestos, cement, coal and potash. Energy requirements are met by a mixture of hydroelectric (two-thirds), nuclear and oil-fired generating stations. Manufacturing covers a wide range of industries from heavy engineering and chemicals to vehicle production and agro-business to office automation and commercial printing.
After running a substantial trade deficit throughout much of the 1990s, Canada now enjoys a net trade surplus. Slightly more than 75% of the country’s trade is with the USA, making this the world’s largest single bilateral trade route.
The 1989 free trade agreement signed with the USA formed the basis for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Mexico has joined as the third signatory and other Latin American countries may sign up in due course.
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