8 geography Bridge 06 − 2008/2009 Behind the maple leaf Things you might not know about Canada north in Canada. Eventually The Canadian Rocky Mountains, Alberta a confederation of Canadian provinces was established in 1867 and Canada gained independence from Britain with the status of a dominion.

Political system The Canadian government was modeled directly on the British parliamentary system. Like in Britain there are two chambers: the House of Commons (for passing laws) and the Senate (for a secondary vote to pass laws). The British monarch is still the official head of state and all laws passed by the Canadian government must be ratified by the reigning monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II). Instead of ratifying every law personally, the British monarch is represented by the Governor General. The Governor General is appointed The name “Canada” comes from most multicultural city in the After the American Revolution by the elected prime minister the ancient Iroquois Indian word world. Despite this, many of the and the signing of the of Canada, so the British royal “kanata”, which means “village”, or country’s original inhabitants, Declaration of Independence family has very little influence “settlement”. However, the country the Native Indian populations, from Britain in 1776, many British on Canadian government today. Canada has grown into something live segregated and in very poor settlers in America who were In 1982, Prime Minister Pierre much larger than that. Canada conditions in reservations. The loyal to Britain fled the new Elliott Trudeau’s government is the second‑largest country in Inuits (Eskimos) inhabits the United States to resettle further drafted and passed the first ever the world by area (Russia is the northern territories of Canada. Canadian constitution. This largest). But many people who visit Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, document, which was signed by Canada are still struck by the only has a population of about Queen Elizabeth II in Ottawa, was “small-town feeling” they get. 1 million. the first document which enabled Perhaps this is because Canada, full political independence for despite its size, has a population History of Canadian Canada from Britain. of only 33 million people. settlement A significant reason for this low The beaver is the national animal Canadian number is the fact that a lot of the of Canada because beavers administration Canadian terrain is rough and were so abundant in Canada Canada is politically divided into uninhabitable and the climate that the French decided to send 10 provinces and three territories: is arctic in the north. A large permanent settlers in the 1500s. percentage of Canadians live in Clothing made of beaver fur The Maritimes cities along the Canada–US border. was very popular in France back The four provinces on the The three largest urban centres: then. When the French landed Atlantic are Newfoundland, Nova Toronto (5.5 million people), in Canada and discovered a new Scotia, Prince Edward Island These Innuit children have built Montréal (4 million people), and wilderness full of beavers, they (the smallest of the Canadian a stone figure. Such structures have Vancouver (2.5 million people) saw a good business opportunity many functions: they serve for giving provinces), and New Brunswick. are very ethnically diverse. and created the first permanent directions or marking a special place. There is still rich Scottish and The United Nations has settlement in present-day The Inuit tradition forbids their Irish heritage in these provinces, actually ranked Toronto as the Québec City. destruction. which can be clearly seen in the Bridge 06 − 2008/2009 9

annual summer bagpipe and of dinosaur fossils. There is even fiddle festivals and competitions. a dinosaur, Albertosaurus, named Alexander Graham Bell, inventor after the province. of the telephone, lived in Nova Scotia for some time, and his The Pacific Canada home is now a museum in his British Columbia is the honour. Though the entire westernmost province in Canada, country of Canada is considered sitting on the Pacific coast. It bilingual, New Brunswick is the is physically divided from the only province that is officially rest of Canada by the great bilingual. Rocky Mountains, and many British Columbians claim to feel The Frenchman’s province a psychological alienation Moving west, Québec is the too. Its largest city, Vancouver, country’s largest province by will be home to the 2010 Winter area, and is officially Canada’s Olympic games. only French‑speaking province. Ottawa skaters using the Rideau Canal as an ice rink. Many visitors say that Québec The Far North City and Montréal are the most The three territories that “European-feeling” cities in occupy the north of Canada Canada. There have been political are the least inhabited areas. movements in Québec over the The Yukon Territory, Northwest past 50 years trying to separate Territories, and Nunavut, consist the province from the rest of mainly of ice and tundra, and Canada. They often reference the permafrost on the ground the Czechoslovakian separation makes agriculture, building, agreement of 1993 as a model. and development nearly impossible. Yet it is an ideal The Old Upper Canada environment for whales, wolves, Further west, Ontario is The Port of Montreal on the St. Lawrence and dogsledding races. The the original British province, River is the largest inland port in the world. largest city in all of the territories with many towns recalling the is Whitehorse, Yukon, with mother country, such as London development in this area. In the grains in Canada, thanks to the a population of 21,000 people. and Stanford. Ontario has two very south of Ontario, on the flat surface and rich soil there. Jeff Gulley (Canada) sides. Southern Ontario has border with New York state, you Alberta is where the prairies the highest concentration of can visit one of the wonders of end and the Rocky Mountains Map of Canada urban population in the entire the world, Niagara Falls. As well begin. Alberta, as well as having 1. Labrador and 7. Manitoba New Foundland 8. Saskatchewan country; elsewhere the rest of this as being one of the great tourist favourable farming conditions, is 2. Prince Edward 9. Alberta Island 1 0 . British Columbia rather large province is mainly destinations in Canada, Niagara also rich in oil deposits (which 3. Nova Scotia 11. Yukon Territory agricultural and wilderness. Falls is a major producer of is why Edmonton’s NHL team 4. New Brunswick 1 2 . Northwest 5. Quebec Territory The cities of southern Ontario hydro-electricity for the country. is called the “Oilers”). Calgary, 6. Ontario 13. Nunavut outside of Toronto are primarily Alberta was home to the 1988 industrial and manufacturing The Prairies Winter Olympic games, and is just centres. The area surrounding The three prairie provinces a few hours away from beautiful 11 13 12 the western end of Ontario lying west of Ontario are Banff, a popular tourist destination 1 1 Lake has been nicknamed “The Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and in the Rocky Mountains. Alberta 5 10 9 7 2 Golden Horseshoe” because of Alberta. These provinces produce is also well‑known in the 8 6 4 3 its shape; there has been a lot of most of the wheat and other paleontology world for its deposits

Vocabulary settlement - osídlení in his honour ["Qn@] - na jeho počest Glossary maple leaf ["meIp(@)l li;f] - javorový list beaver ["bi;v@] - bobr to reference ["rEf(@)r(@)ns] - odkazovat dominion - a self-governing territory which are struck by the “small‑town feeling” abundant [@"bVnd(@)nt] - hojný horseshoe - podkova accepts the British Monarch as Head of State they get [strVk] - nabývají pocitu, že jsou fur [f@;] - kožešina wheat and other grains [wi;t greInz] - Governor General - the representative of the na maloměstě wilderness ["wIld@nIs] - divočina pšenice a jiné obilniny British Crown rough [rVf] - tvrdý to flee (fled) - uprchnout rich soil [sOIl] - úrodná půda permafrost - permanently frozen ground in uninhabitable [VnIn"habIt@b(@)l] - passing laws - schvalování zákonů oil deposits [dI"pQzIts] - zásoby ropy Arctic regions neobyvatelný to ratify ["r&tIfaI] - schválit, ratifikovat psychological alienation ethnically diverse ["ETnIklI daI"v@;s] - reigning [reInIN] - vládnoucí [saIk@"lQdZIk(@)l eIlI@"neIS(@)n] - to draft - vypracovat psychologické odcizení Language point etnicky rozmanitý Spelled with a capital letter, “Arctic” refers to the United Nations has ranked constitution [kQnstI"tju;S(@)n] - ústava dogsledding races [slEdIN] - závody bagpipes ["b&gpaIpz] - dudy psích spřežení the regions around the North Pole. Spelled with [r&Nkd] - Organizace spojených národů a lower case (“arctic”), it means extremely cold. ohodnotila fiddle ["fId(@)l] - housle