THE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO CCAANNAADDAA WRITTEN BY STUDENTS OF Q2 KFE NE 2015/16
1 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Contents:
1. Geography of Canada ...... 3 2. Canadian history up to 1774 ...... 6 3. Canadian history 1774-1867 ...... 8 4. Canadian history 1867-1931 ...... 9 5. Canadian history (1931-present) ...... 12 6. Canada - A Country of Religious Pluralism ...... 13 7. Economy ...... 15 8. Migration ...... 17 9. Sport, Food and Drink...... 20 10. Famous people from Canada ...... 24 11. Newfoundland and Labrador ...... 26 12. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (“Maritimes”) ...... 28 13. Québec ...... 30 14. Ontario...... 33 15. Manitoba ...... 36 16. Saskatchewan ...... 37 17. Alberta ...... 40 18. British Columbia ...... 43 19. Yukon Territory ...... 44 20. The Northwest Territories (NT) and Nunavut (NU) ...... 46 21. Canada’s natives: Traditions & Mythology ...... 48 22. First Nations: Clash of Cultures ...... 50 23. First Nations: Lives Today ...... 54 24. Canada’s Political System ...... 55
Geography- Alina 2 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
1. Geography of Canada
Facts and Figures:
Location: North-America Area: 9.984.670 km² Coastline: 202.080 km Population: 34.834.841 (July 2014) Capital: Ottawa Provinces: 13 Languages: English and French Neighbor state: USA time zones: 6
Geography:
It’s much easier if you divide the landscape of Canada into the following five areas: the West Coast (forest and mountains), the Prairies (farmland), the Central Region (boreal forest in Ontario and Québec), the Atlantic Canada (boreal forest and barren soil in the east) and the North (icy tundra).
West Coast British Colombia is part of the west coast. This area is the most mountainous in Canada. The Coastal Range Mountains and the Canadian part of the Rocky Mountains are in this territory. These Mountains are home to green forests and to bears, pumas, mountain goats, moose and deer. Between the two mountain areas there is a small, warm and dry region in the south. Insulated by mountains, this desert-like area has been proven as a good climate for growing fruit, vegetables and wine.
The Prairies This vast area, known as the Prairies, includes the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and has one of the driest, least forested parts of the country. This region is the base of the Canadian agriculture because of the flat and arable land.
Geography- Alina 3 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
The land in the northern area is more hilly and forested and this region is the home for bison, coyotes and a few other animals like bears and moose.
Central Region Central Canada includes Ontario and Québec and has a mostly green landscape of rolling hills, grassy fields and forests. Northwards you can find barren and rocky landscape. Because there are a lot of small lakes and rivers there is much moist wetland, which is home for animals like the beaver and moose.
Atlantic Canada This area includes the four Atlantic Provinces Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, which are all either islands or peninsulas in the Atlantic. A mix of rocky coats, street cliffs, high tides and long coastal fjords define the landscape. But most of the interior regions are more forested.
The North The North includes the country’s three northern territories Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories. Yukon is more forested than the others. But all three feature mostly rocky, barren terrain with only sparse vegetation. The extreme north of Canada is covered by snowy tundra, vast and frozen glaciers. This area is home for polar bears, seals and narwhales.
Weather: Canada is one of the coldest countries in the world with temperatures below -20°C. Nevertheless there are also climate zones in Canada. At the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts it’s a moderate, but moist and grey climate with long periods of rainfall. In the Prairie rain is considerably rarer and the air is mostly dry and warm. That’s why there are thunderstorms and tornados sometimes. You can almost compare the weather in central Canada to the weather in Germany. They have cold snowy winters, wet springs and hot summers. The north of Canada is absolutely different. It’s the most extreme weather polarization of all. In the summer you have 24 hours of sunlight and in the winter time 24 hours of darkness. Most time of the year the temperature is below 0°C, that’s why there are always glaciers and snow during the year.
Industrial sectors There are four big industrial sectors in Canada.
National Resources In Canada there are a lot of national resources. In Alberta there is oil, natural gas and oil sands. But also there are a lot of mineral mines in Canada, which varies from province to province. In Saskatchewan you find uranium and potash, in Northern Ontario and Manitoba nickel and copper, in the maritime region iron and coal and in the North there are diamonds. You can find gold all over Canada.
Geography- Alina 4 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Energy Behind Saudi-Arabia, Canada is the world’s most oil rich nation. Canada extracts the energy from the oil and natural gas resources. But also the hydrodynamic power is very important for Canada.
Agriculture and fishery Beside the normal agriculture Canada has a big viniculture, sealing and whaling.
Industry The biggest industries are the automobile industry, the aircraft construction, the metal industry, the forest industry and the paper converting.
Tourism In Canada you have the chance to see a lot of touristy and cultural sights. Very popular are the big cities like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa and Québec. But you have also the possibility to do a lot of sporty activities like hiking, sailing, fishing, skiing or cycling. In 2009 there were about 15,6 million tourists visiting Canada.
Geography- Alina 5 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 2. Canadian history up to 1774
Prehistory and early history The history of a country begins when we can tell something about the people who lived there. It starts before writings existed so everything which can be told is part the discoveries of archeology. This means Canadian prehistory begins earlier than 15,000 B.C., when people from Asia went over the Bering Strait onto the continent. So at the end of the last Ice Age the history of the First Nations whom are the natives of Canada begins. Route to Canada They remained hunter-gatherers for thousands of years. But since 8000 B.C. groups like the Paleo- Arctic or the Plano settled down and learned pottery and farming. The Inuit who understand themselves not as First Nations fallowed 5000 years ago.
Vikings in Canada The first European arrived about 1000 AD. According to the Sagas of Icelanders. It was the Norse Leif Ericson an Icelandic explorer who was on his way to Greenland blown of course. He arrived at the Canadian west coast and established a Norse settlement in Vinland.
Giovanni Caboto The official discoverer of Canada is the Italian Giovanni Caboto. He came in touch with the First Nations on the 14th July 1497 for the first time. Caboto took possession of the land for the English crown. Since than Canadian history was officially reported. Giovanni Caboto lead a second tour through the west coast later on. Soon afterward in 1525 the Europeans began fishing and whaling in this waters.
Colonization The colonization of the Canadian main land was caused by the immense beaver-population. In this time beaver fur was very popular in Europe and the price for coats was on a very high level. To help the trappers and fur-traders the French began to built some small forts and a colony in the late 16th sanctuary. The first French settlement was built in 1605 and is called today Port Royal. The colony around it was called Acadia. It included Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and parts of Quebec, Gaspé Peninsula and the U.S. State Main. The man who is called “The Father of New France”(the colony) is Samuel de Champlain (* 13th August 1574 - † 25th December 1635). He is the founder of Port Royal and Quebec city. He contacted natives and learned from them.
Samuel de Champlain
Canadian history up to 1774 – Fiona R. 6 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Hudson’s Bay Company In the 17th sanctuary France had the monopole in the fur industry, but in the year 1669 two French traders told the British about a trading route through the Hudson’s Bay which was not part of New France. One year later the Hudson’s Bay Company was found legalized by the British crown. It had the monopole for fur trading and trading with the natives in the lands between all the rivers and streams which flow in the Hudson’s Bay which is more than a third of the size of today’s Canada. But the French founders were unhappy with the English management system they wanted to go deeper into the woods and wanted to have a more exploring system. So in 1674 they went back to their fellow countrymen and founded in 1682 an other company which stood in direct competition to the English one. In the 1680´s France and Great Britain declared war on each other. And also the French and English in Canada began to do expeditions to trading- points of the others to take them. In the following years there were several attacks on French and English forts. In 1697 the French destroyed three ships of the British navy on their way to Fort Albany. This is called the Battle of Hudson’s Bay. It was the largest naval battle in the history of the North American Arctic. These attacks between the two sides stopped with the “Frieden von Utrecht” in 1713 when their mother countries stopped the war.
Seven Year’s War The Seven Year’s War (1754–1763) was an intercontinental conflict which started in Europe and is called French and Indian War in the USA. This tells us about the sides which fought against each other in North America. They were The French and the British with their native alliances against each other. Most of the fights happened at the borders between the opposing territories. The war finally ended as it begun with the Peace of Price in 1763. In this paper Canada was declared to British land so this was the end of French colonization in northern America.
Quebec Act The Quebec Act was declared on the 22nd June 1774. It was an agreement which gave French people as well as First Nations more rights. It gave the natives the rights to reclaim land which could not be owned by settlers. And the French were allowed to live after French civil law. This agreements bound the inhabitants at the British Empire and ended in the separation of Canada from the today’s USA.
Canadian history up to 1774 – Fiona R. 7 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 3. Canadian history 1774-1867
1774: Quebec Act: The colony got the name Quebec. In Quebec it was allowed to speak English and French. Also both, the Code Civil and the British Common Law were legal.
1791:With the law of 1791, Quebec got divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Both colonies got an autonomous administration.
1812-1814: British-American war: the United States tried to engage Canada.
1837: Rebellion: some Canadians wanted a self-government, but the rebellion was soon defeated.
1840: Act of Union: Upper Canada and Lower Canada were united to the province of Canada. English got the official language.
1865: Ottawa became the Capitol of Canada
1.7.1867: “Birth of Canada“, Canada gets unified with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and gets the name “Dominion of Canada”. The new “state” adopted the British regime-system (Upper house and House of Commons) and a governor-general as an agent for the crown.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Canada http://m.schuelerlexikon.de/eng_abi2011/Die_Geschichte_Kanadas.htm http://de.slideshare.net/campb1ml/canadian-history-21004006 http://www.cbc.ca/history https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_dr0ZVRvR0
Canadian history 1774-1867 – Ole 8 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 4. Canadian history 1867-1931
Union of Canada (1867-1914) Confederation 1867 From 1864 to 1867, representatives of the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick worked together to constitute a united country. The Fathers of Confederation formed a federal and provincial state. On the 1st July of 1867 the Dominion of Canada was established by the British Parliament passing the British North America Act. The old Province of Canada was divided into Ontario and Quebec. In fact, the four provinces could elect its own legislature and controlled areas such as education and health. Canada became a democratic state with a central government ruled in Ottawa. The first prime minister of Canada was Sir John Macdonald.
Interesting Fact The 1st of July is the Canadian National day. Until 1982, the Canadians celebrated the Dominion Day as the day of becoming self- governed. Today it is called Canada Day.
The Fathers of Confederation
Expansion of the Dominion Starting with four provinces in 1867, Canada expanded in less than a decade its territory 1870-1905 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1870, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) became part of the Dominion. Manitoba was a major part of the Rupert’s Land (1670-1870) and together with the N.W.T. a commercial domain of the Hudson’s Bay Company. In fact, they sold the land for $1.5-million. These were followed by British Columbia in 1871 and the Prince Edward Island in 1873. Besides, the Arctic Islands were transferred to the N.W.T. in 1880. Other expansions were the Yukon Territory (1898) as well as Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905). Before the first world war, Canada already consisted out of 11 provinces.
Red River Rebellion 1869-1870 Closely related to the expansion acts of the Domain is the Red River Rebellion. After buying the new territories, westward settlement was encouraged by the government. However, there were already natives and Métis being descendants of the children of natives and French Canadian fur traders. As a manner of course, these group did not accept the English-speaking settlers buying their land. Therefore, the Métis of the Red River settlement leaded by Louis Riel tried to form their own government. Riel executed a Protestant causing a commotion among the Protestant English Canadian. As a consequence, Macdonald let the rebellion to be put down, which made Riel flee to the USA. As a result, the province Manitoba was created including a law protecting natives, Métis, French as well as English speaking Canadian, Catholics and Protestants.
North-West Rebellion Caused by the Red River Rebellion, many Métis moved westward to the area of the 1885 province Saskatchewan. Though, they still felt attacked by the railway expansion and increased European immigrants. In addition, Louis Riel returned and led a rebellion against the North-West Mounted Police. They could defeat the natives as well as Métis with the help of Canadian militia transported by the railway. Riel was found guilty for treason and was hanged. In conclusion, there are two reasons why this event is significant. Firstly, the Canadian Pacific Railway were able to transport the militia quickly showing its strength. The railway connected the whole nation physically and psychological. Secondly, the conflict between the English and French speaking Canadian promoted the French Canadian nationalism up to today.
Canadian history 1867-1931 – Michelle 9 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Interesting Facts The first French The North-West Canadian president was Mounted Police was Sir Wilfrid Laurier in established in 1873. 1900. He encouraged They are called immigration. Mounties.
The Battle of Batoche
Canadian Pacific Railway 1885 In 1885, the CPR was completed. It was financed by American and European investors and built by European and Chinese labor. It had been a major part of Macdonald’s “National Policy”, which goal was to strength the Canadian economy. It enabled products and people being transported from one coast the other. Therefore, the economy and the whole country could develop more efficiently. The Canadian economy became industrialized during the economic boom of the 1890s and 1900s.
Klondike Gold Rush 1896-1899 In 1896, gold was found along the Klondike river. The region is remote and there are very harsh winters. Therefore, it took almost a year that the news was spread and the newspapers created a nationwide hysteria. The harsh geographical condition made just 30,000 of the 100,000 prospectors arrive the region. In fact, only 4,000 were able to find gold. In 1899, miners received the news of discovered gold in Nome (Alaska). Since of better climatic conditions the rush ended in the Klondike region. Along the routes and near the mines “boom towns” developed making the Klondike Gold Rush a migration event. 1899-1902 Boer War Since most Canadians were proud being part of the British Empire over 7,000 volunteered to fight in the Boer War or South African War. They participated in the battles of Paardeberg and Lillefontein. The victories strengthened the national pride. Though out the war, 260 Canadians died.
Immigration In the late 19th century, a “open doors” immigration policy was instituted in order to increase the number of inhabitants. As a result, they wanted to gain more power and economic strength. The policy allowed everybody to immigrate who wanted to come. However, people from some regions such as Asia and Africa were not believed to adapt easily to farming lifestyle and English ideals. Therefore, these people had to pay admittance tax. Trying to attract people to come to the dominion there were emigration offices in many countries, propaganda as well as incentives. Up to the early 20th century, Canada developed to multicultural country. The number of inhabitants swelled from 4.8 million in 1891 to 7.2 million 20 years later.
Canada during the First World War (1914-1918) 1914-1918 World War I In 1914, Britain declared war as an answer to Germany attacking Belgium and France. Due to this, Ottawa formed the Canadian Expeditionary Force and sent 600,000 soldiers out of a population of 8 million. In fact, 60,000 Canadian died and 170,000 were wounded. 1916-1925 Woman Suffrage During the First World War, some women gained the right to vote. Manitoba was the first province of Canada allowing women to vote in provincial elections in 1916. Two years later, all women over 21 years had the right to vote in the federal election. There had been women’s suffrage groups since the 1870s. However, war was an important indicator. Women did the men’s job when they were fighting in the war or even took part in military acts. In addition, the first woman elected to Parliament was Agnes Macphail in Ontario in 1921. In 1925, all provinces expect Quebec granted women the right to vote in provincial elections. 1919 Interwar Years (1918-31)
Canadian history 1867-1931 – Michelle 10 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Winnipeg General Strike The Winnipeg General Strike took place from the 15th May to the 25th June of 1919 in the capital of Manitoba and is the most famous strike in Canadian history. After the first world war, labor leaders were complaining that companies had gained enormous benefits because of war contracts but workers had not enough money rights and worked under bad conditions. They formed the “One Big Union” to unify workers and mobilize them to go on strikes. However, the strike failed by the force of business leaders and the One Big Union was destroyed.
Interesting Fact Due to the Statute of Westminster, Canada became a founder member of the Commonwealth. Arnold Smith of Canada was the first Secretary-General from 1965 to 1975.
Crowd gathering at the General Strike Children during the Great Depression
The Great Depression 1929-1939 After a time of a booming economy with prosperity for business and low unemployment, Canada was badly hidden. In detail, the stock market crash in the United States leaded to a worldwide depression, which reached Canada in late 1929. The gross national product dropped 40%, which is more than in the United States. Moreover, the unemployment reached up to 27%. Farmers were especially hidden. Finally, the depression ended in 1939 with the beginning of the second word war.
Statute of Westminster The parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Statute of Westminster on the 11th of December 1931 clarifying the power of the Commonwealth dominion’s parliament. Moreover, the former colonies granted full legal freedom expect in chosen areas they could remain subordinate 1931 to Britain.
Sources Text http://www.localhistories.org/canada.html http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/section-06.asp http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/history-since-confederation/#h3_jump_0 http://globalnews.ca/news/1420149/timeline-notable-dates-in-the-history-of-canada/ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/country_profiles/1203358.stm http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/a-timeline-of-important-events-in-canadian-history.html http://www.datesandevents.org/places-timelines/09-canadian-history-timeline.htm http://historyarchive.whitetree.ca/pages/article0023.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Confederation_Canada_(1867%E2%80%931914)#Macdonald.27s_.22National_Policy.22 http://www.historynet.com/klondike-gold-rush http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1914/1914-08-women-vote.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage#Canada https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_General_Strike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_Canada http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/canada Figures http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/section-06.asp https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Battle_of_Batoche_Print_by_Seargent_Grundy.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/WinnipegGeneralStrike.jpg https://knoji.com/images/user/jobs-1.jpg
Canadian history 1867-1931 – Michelle 11 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 5. Canadian history (1931-present)
11.12.1931 - Canada got the legislative independence but not under constitutionally law.
1929- Canada was affected by the Great Depression 1930, but as a good reaction Canada developed in the following years in a good social state.
1939- Canada's participation in the second world war begins: Canada declares war on Germany after approval by the Canadian parliament, one week after Great Britain does so. A lot of Canadians were killed, wounded or taken prisoners.
1949- Newfoundland and Labrador joined Confederation as a new Province. In the same year Canada joined the NATO.
During the 1930s- The Quiet Revolution took place in Québec. Because the people want autonomy and even independence.
1965- Canada gets a new red-white flag. The Maple Leaf Flag. Both red areas symbolize the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean and the white area depict the snow. The Canadians wanted a new flag because the connection to Great Britain broke slowly.
1969- There was an implementation that there are two official spoken languages in Canada: French and English. Both languages were spoken in the court, parliament and administration. Only Québec is officially unilingual (French only), but in practice Québec offers bilingually services.
1982- Canada changed its constitution, including a new Charter of Rights and Freedom
2001-2003- Medical marijuana for the terminally or chronically was legalized. Furthermore the country began legally dispensing marijuana by prescription
2005- Canada legalized gay marriage throughout the country.
1990- Canada joined the Gulf War as a part of the US. Moreover Canada was active in several peacekeeping mission in the 1990s including a mission in the former Yugoslavia.
2001- Also Canada sent troops to Afghanistan.
2003- Canada declined to join the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Canadian history 1931-present – Kimberly 12 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 6. Canada - A Country of Religious Pluralism
Canada prides itself in being a country that not only respects but also welcomes all religions, and therefore does not have an official religion. However, The Preamble of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms still refers to the supremacy of God, as does the national anthem which is sung in both the French and English language. As Canada still belongs to the Commonwealth, it also accepts the Queen of England as the ”Defender of Faith” who rules „by the grace of God”.
Nevertheless, some changes have been made in Canadian society. The former Christmas holidays, for example, are now called winter festivals in Canadian public schools, and while both Christmas and Easter are still national holidays, other religions can take their holy days off from work and school.
History 1700s-1900s Before Europeans started to settle in Canada in the 1700s, most native Canadians followed animistic religions and spirituality.
After arriving in Canada in the eighteenth century, Catholic and Jesuit Frenchmen began converting the natives to Christianity.
As Canada belonged to the British Commonwealth, the Crown wanted to bring the English Church to Canada. While they did not find many British who wanted to emigrate to Canada, they found German and Swiss Protestants willing to make the journey and spread Protestantism in Canada. Even though these settlers managed to convert people to the English Church, the Roman Catholic Church was still predominant in Canada. This forced the English Crown to officially acknowledge the Roman Catholic Church in 1774.
The American Revolution brought more Protestants to Canada, which made the country home to many different religious denominations by the late 1800s. However, the Protestants were not the only ones gaining new members; the Catholic Church also grew rapidly due to new settlers from Ireland and southern Europe.
1900-now Just after the end of World War I in 1919, the ”Forward Movement” was founded by the five biggest Protestant churches: the Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationals, Methodists and Presbyterians. Together they raised money for humanitarian projects and strengthened Christian spirituality in Canada.
Following the end of World War II in the 1960s, Protestant and Catholic churches liberalized their views after the end of the “Quiet Revolution of Quebec, where the former predominantly Catholic region became more liberal and started supporting same-sex marriage and abortion.
English Canada also became more secular and nowadays the United Church is one of the most liberal churches in the world, allowing the ordination of women as well as gay marriage.
A Country of Religious Pluralism – Fiona G. 13 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Different Religions in Canada
Christianity The Roman Catholic Church still proves to be the biggest church with 38.7% of Canadians being members, though other Christian churches follow close behind with 28.5%. However, both the Protestant Churches and the Roman Catholic Church have been experiencing a dramatic decline in membership in recent years.
Islam Members of the Islamic faith have been in Canada as early as 1871, according to a census , where 4 Canadians were identified as Muslims. Nowadays, Islam is the second largest religion with 3.2% of Canadians being Muslim. The first mosque was built in the city of Edmonton in 1938 and was a place of worship for about 700 Muslims living in Canada at that time. Due to it being the fastest growing religion in Canada, Islam has been greatly increasing in members since the 1960s.
Indian Religions Sikhism in Canada can be dated back to as far as 1887. Nowadays, Sikhs make up the largest group among Indo-Canadians by being 1.4% of the general population. Hinduism has spread in Canada, mostly through Indian immigrants during the 1900s, as well as by Tamils from Sri Lanka who fled to Canada to escape the Sri Lanka riots in the nineteenth century. According to a recent census, Hindus now make up about 1.2% of the Canadian population. Buddhism is another religion rapidly growing in Canada, dating back in Canadian history to the 19th century when Chinese laborers came to the country. Now it is mostly spread through Japanese immigration and Buddhists now make up 1.1% of the population.
Judaism While Canada has the sixth largest Jewish community worldwide, Jews only make up 1% of the population. Even though they have been living in Canada since as early as 1754, they still face anti- Semitism. From 2013 to 2014 alone, anti-Semitic incidents rose 28%.
Modern Developments
Much like people in many other countries, Canadians are becoming more and more secular. This is leading to a decrease in members of the Christian churches, but unlike in the neighboring country, the USA, atheists have a fairly good reputation in Canada and are widely respected by believers. Through the new numbers of immigrants, Islam and the Indian Religions are also steadily gaining followers. Up to now, this has not caused many problems for the generally very open-minded Canadians, but as one can see in the increasing anti-semitism, mostly fueled by the animosity between Israel and Palestine, it has the potential of becoming a conflict for the otherwise very peaceful country. Sources http://angusreid.org/faith-in-canada/ http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/04/06/atheists-arent-the-most-hated- religious-group-in-canada-according-to-new-survey/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_Canada#cite_note-Statistics_Canada-69 http://www.canada.com/life/Religion+Canada+breakdown/8354112/story.htmlhttp:// http://www.pewforum.org/2013/06/27/canadas-changing-religious-landscape/
A Country of Religious Pluralism – Fiona G. 14 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 7. Economy
Thinking about the Canadian economy I took a special view on: 1) History 2) Actual situation 3) Future 4) GDP (gross domestic product) 5) Taxes 6) Commercial agreements 7) Sources 1) History of the Canadian economy The first business in Canada was influenced by the Europeans, who first came to fish. Later they also needed wood and furs, in result a lot of immigrants come and a lot of new economy get into the interior of Canada.
2) Current situation
While only 8% oft he Canadian land is used for the first sector, the Canadian agriculture is on a very high technology level and is one of the biggest exporters. The manufacturing sector is also not very big, while Canada is very attractive for concerns for other countries because of the educated population and lower labor cost then in the USA, what makes the country very interesting for affiliates of big companies like General Motors. The third sector employs 75% of the population and produces 78% of the GDP. Very important is the retail sector and the business sector that includes financial service, real estate and commercial industries. Influenced by the government the education and health sector has raised in the last years.
3) Future In the near feature we would have some very important economic questions in Canada. The arctic maybe will give Canada some new businesses: On the one hand Canada can get a lot of taxes because of the ships that use the North-West passage and Canada is a neighbor state of the arctic so the are maybe able to find some new
Economy – Finn 15 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 resources under the ice. Another big topic will be the economies dealing with fracking and the reaction of the inhabitants. 4) GDP (gross domestic product)
The GDP is a world wide system to check the economic evolution of a country. Taking a look on this graph, you can see that the Canadian economy has grown very well, but you are able to spot some periods of stagnation. The first period was in the 1980th when there was the Savings-and Loan crisis in the USA. The second one was the financial crisis in Japan and the decreasing of the dollar in 1990th and the last period of stagnation was at the time of Global Financial Crisis in the year 2007. Today Canada has a GDP of 46.300 billion US-dollar ( for a better understanding: Germans GDP is near 52.000 billion US-dollar).
5) Taxes There are two big taxes on every product in Canada: the first is the Goods an Service Tax (GTS) in a height of 6%. The second tax is the Provincial Sales Tax (PST) which is very different in each province. For example in British Columbia you have to pay a tax of 7% while in Alberta you don’t have to pay any PST.
6) Commercial Agreements Canada has some special commercial agreements for example Canada is a member state in the group of 7 (G7) or in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which includes a no-duty-zone between Canada, the USA and Mexico.
7) Sources pictures: texts: http://advanceit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/canadian-economy-2.jpg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G7_(major_advanced_economies) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aboutement_de_bois_equarri_Quebec_1872.jpg http://www.ahk.de/fileadmin/ahk_ahk/GTaI/kanada.pdf http://ikanmedia.tv/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/SAGD-GRAPHIC.jpeg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Paris_(1763) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/SyncrudeWoodBuffalo.JPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism http://www.drink-shop.ch/1316-thickbox_default/moosehead-lager-bier-355-ml-5-kanada.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Prairies http://cdns2.freepik.com/fotos-kostenlos/_30-2234.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Canada#Atlantic_fisheries https://webberenergyblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/carbon.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrialisation#References
Economy – Finn 16 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 8. Migration Immigration Act of 1967: → forms the foundation of the immigration laws Canada follows today → made to promote Canada's economy and social goals → classification into three classes (“landing classes”) First class: family class – brings family members together; those immigrant's families already live in Canada Second class: refugee class – people who flee due to war or environmental issues Third class: economic immigrants – highly educated immigrants who need to pass the point system
Point System: → system was created for finding people who have the skills and experience that promote Canada's economy → the highest score is 100 points → 67 points are needed to pass the point system
→ the point system contains six selection factors with different scores which can be reached
→ the Canadian point system is internationally regarded as successful (and also as a potential future possibility for Germany!)
Migration – Vanessa 17 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Multiculturalism: → Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988 → a policy that supports the idea of cultural diversity → should suppress racism and discrimination → recent studies show that for the definite majority of the Canadian's immigration is a positive thing (which shows the success of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988!)
facts and figures: → solid economy → the people living in Canada were born in about 200 different countries (study from 2006) → about 66% of the immigrants are economic immigrants, the rest is part of the family class or refugee class → economic boom after the Second World War; many Europeans came to Canada → 1960's: over 90% of the immigrants came from Europe → nowadays: 58,3% of the immigrants come from Asia (especially from China and India) because of their high education
Migration – Vanessa 18 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 recent problems: → economic boom in 2006 (new oil reserves were found in Alberta); lack of workers → Canada enlisted too many immigrants to work in Canada → now that the boom is over thousands of those immigrants have to leave the country unwillingly again
sources: http://www.lawlessons.ca/sites/default/files/handouts/Handout-1-5-4.pdf http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/ http://www.immigration.ca/index.php/en/who-qualifies-for-canadian-immigration-under-the- skilled-worker-program http://www.loc.gov/law/help/points-based-immigration/canada.php https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism_in_Canada http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/citizenship.asp http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/statistics/facts2013/index.asp
Here is a link to a YouTube video I recommend to you if you search for a detailed explanation of Canada's point system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6xWPomo5MU
Migration – Vanessa 19 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 9. Sport, Food and Drink
Sports
As every country Canada has its traditions in food, drink and its national sports.
Canada is one of the few countries which has two national sports : (ice) hockey and lacrosse. Original Canada's national sport was lacrosse but by and by hockey got more and more popular, so the government wanted to change the national sport of Canada into hockey in 1944. Though there were representatives of interests of the first nations who argued against the change by saying it would lessen the meaning of lacrosse. The government decided hockey and lacrosse to be both the national sports of Canada. This event was called the „National Sports of Canada Act“ and happened on the 12th May in 1944.
Ice hockey which is simply called „hockey“ in Canada has its origin by students of a university of Montréal in the late 19th century. Those students transferred the traditional Celtic sport on the ice and that was the cornerstone for the modern hockey.
Meanwhile hockey is the most popular sport in Canada and the National Hockey League has unearthed one of the world's best hockey players : Wayne Gretzky who was born on the 26th January 1961. He scores nearly 900 goals plus 2393 score points in one regular season.
Canada's second national sport is as mentioned lacrosse. In Canada there is the Lacrosse Association whose job is to organize the lacrosse championships for men and women, adult and junior each. Both classes of men (juniors and adults) can win the „Ross Cup ''. Women play to win the „Robertson Cup“.
The Canadians love indoor lacrosse the most. For playing it hockey halls are defrosted and laid up with artificial turf.
Lacrosse has its own league, too. It's the National Lacrosse League which contains teams of Canada but also teams of the USA.
Food- Drinks- Sport – Hannah 20 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Other sports which are done in Canada are basketball, soccer, golfing, biking, motorsports, rugby, skiing and snowboarding, quididge, Canadian football, cricket, curling and roller derby.
Sport events in Canada are the Canada games where every single person who participates has to be amateur and the Commonwealth Games. Even the Olympic games have taken place in Canada four times.
Food & drink
In general food and drink in Canada is as various as the country itself: Every province has its own specialties .
Food- Drinks- Sport – Hannah 21 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 province specialty
Yukon Cinnamon buns
Northwest Territory Calibou stew
Nunavut Seal meat & whale meat
British Columbia King prawns, shrimps & Victoria creams
Alberta Seafood, beef as stew or pie
Saskatchewan Whitefish, wild fowl, cranberries
Manitoba seafood
Québec Pea soup with bacon, poutine, blueberry cake
Ontario Fresh seafood
New Brunswick Seafood and salmon
Nova Scotia Scallops with remoulade
Prince Edward Island Hummer
New Foundland & Labrador Salty fish with pork skin
To top that list Canada has a long tradition in brewing beer and making wine. A very famous Canadian beer is the moosehead beer . In Canada there are also many microbreweries .
Canada’s most famous wine is the ice wine which is made of Riesling grapes.
Also whiskey has a long tradition in Canada. The produce it since the 18th century. Nowadays there are also laws about producing it : the whiskey has to mature in the wood which mustn't have the possibility to store more than 700 liters for at least three years.
Food- Drinks- Sport – Hannah 22 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Food- Drinks- Sport – Hannah 23 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 10. Famous people from Canada
Of course everyone knows people like Pamela Anderson, Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen, Avril Lavigne or Bryan Adams. And yes, they are from Canada. But much more interesting and at last also more useful is the knowledge of other people who influenced our life today. And that, not only by a new song or a great red swimsuit. For example, without James Naismith, there will be no blue place on our schoolyard because he is the person who developed basketball. He was born on 6th November 1861 in Almonte in Ontario and died on 28th November 1939 in Lawrence in the US. Grown up as orphan, he later studied physical education in Montreal before moving to the US to become a great educator and doctor later on. He worked as educator at the Springfield College and had to deal with a rowdy class in winter. Because of the cold weather outside he was forced to make something inside and so he developed a game to make the class run and impoverish themselves. He also studied medicine in Denver and stayed there as faculty member and part-time basketball coach before he became the Kansas’ Jayhawks’ athletic director. Also interesting is the physicist Richard E(dward) Taylor. Born on 2nd November 1929 in Medicine Hat, he is still alive. He studied at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and worked after that at the Stanford University. There he joined the “High Energy Physics laboratory” where he was involved in experiments in the late 60’s and early 70’s. With his associates he provided the first evidence that the protons and neutrons are made up of point-like particles. Also today content of teaching at school, this theme was also taught in those days. But previously all about that has been proposed on theoretical grounds. For that proof he and his two colleagues Jerome Friedman and Henry Kendan, they got the Nobel Prize in 1990. In March 1768, a Native American named Tecumseh was born. That man grew up during the American Revolutionary war and was early confronted with war and the hate from his own folk against the Americans. Later, he got a leader of the tribe of the Shawnee and he also leaded a large tribal confederacy (like a union) against the US. To his lifetime, the Americans tried to take the Native Americans their land and during the war of 1812, his union allied with the British. But the US took more and more control and soon the Native Americans and the British retreated. But American forces caught them and Tecumseh was killed by that on 5th October 1813 in Moravian town in Ontario. After his death the confederation fell apart, yet Tecumseh became a folk hero in Aboriginal, Canadian and American history. A monument to honor Tecumseh One of the most famous authors from Canada is Timothy (Irving Frederick) Findley. He was born on 30th October 1930 in Toronto and died on 20th June 2000 in Brignoles what is in France. He was a novelist, playwright and short story writer. To his most successful works count “The Wars”, “Headhunter”, “Pilgrim” and “Elizabeth Rex”. After studying play-acting, he worked only as a playwright and 1970 the novel “The Wars” made him famous overnight. For this book he got the Canadian award “Governors General’s Award for Fiction” and today a star on Canada’s walk of Fame reminds of his great success.
Famous People – Nele 24 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 A very impressive person from Canada is the athlete Terry Fox. He was born on the 28th July 1958 in Winnipeg and was in his school time a distance runner and basketball player. But 1977 he got the diagnose that he has the disease “osteosarcoma” what is a hard type of cancer and begins in the bones. Because of that, one leg was amputated in 1980. But Terry never gave up the sport. So he started to train for a big tour through Canada. Every day he ran 42 kilometers, the length of a marathon. After he ran about 5000 kilometers only in training, he began his “marathon of hope” as he named it. His aim was to collect money with each kilometer for cancer research. For Terry was a convinced humanitarian and cancer research activist, he ran 143 days, 5373 kilometers and collected over 600 million C$ (about 408,000,000 €). He would have run further if there wasn’t his disease. He had to end his run in New Westminster because the cancer already spread in his lungs. It is clear that he is honored in many ways like the annual “marathon of hope” to collect money for cancer research.
Now to a medical wonder. On 28th May 1934 in Corbeil, Ontario, the first Quins ever who all survived their childhood were born. The five sisters Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Émilie and Marie Dionne had a close relationship for that that they were used early to make money even by their own parents. Because of that, they were taken from their family and give to a hospital. But there they were also brought to market. There is probably no normal family photograph that was not published and sold. They could be seen in many different ads and today there still exists a museum in their hometown (which already existed when they lived there). Their lives are also documented in various films. In 1954, Émilie died because of a seizure and in 1970, Marie followed. 2001, Yvonne died because of cancer and today only Annette and Cécile are alive.
this photo is a postcard for tourists http://www.goruma.de/Laender/Amerika/Kanada/Persoenlichkeiten https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Naismith https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_E._Taylor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecumseh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Findley https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox http://www.finanzen.net/waehrungsrechner/kanadischer-dollar_euro https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox#/media/File:Marathon_of_Hope_path.png https://images.google.com/
Famous People – Nele 25 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 11. Newfoundland and Labrador The province of Newfoundland and Labrador is located in the far east of Canada. It was divided into two parts: the northern part (Labrador) and the southern part (Newfoundland). The Dominion of Newfoundland was found 1907 and in the year 1927 Labrador got included. The island covers about 111,390square kilometers and the vast territory of Labrador covers a total of 405,212 square kilometers. The capital city St. John’s (lower right hand corner on the map) has 1/3 of the population with a total of 181thousand inhabitants. On the northern border to Nunavut temperatures of +20°C to - 40°C while the temperature in St. John’s goes from +20°C to -9°C . Regarding to this difference most of the population is settled in the southern regions and the further you go to the north the more icebergs can be found.
History About 9,000 years ago the first Aboriginals moved to the southeastern Labrador. Within the next 1,000 years they developed the culture which is called Maritime Archaic Indians (Inuits). The first people on Newfoundland were descendants of their culture, which happened about 5,500 years ago. Around 1,000 years ago the first European settlers came to Newfoundland, they were Vikings under the leadership of Leif Eriksson. Even though they didn’t settle permanently they still left a mark, which is now a National Historic Site. 1496 England started to capture the whole world under the leadership of King Henry VII, who said: "sail to all parts, countries and seas of the East, the West and of the North, under our banner and ensign and to set up our banner on any new-found-land". This was probably the reason why this province is called Newfoundland.
Demography and Economy
As mentioned before Newfoundland and Labrador has a total population of round about 500,000. With this information the following chart from my presentation gets way more impressive. It shows the moving population. Until 1990 they had mostly immigrants but
Newfoundland and Labrador – Jannik 26 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 then many moved away which is symbolized in red. We can see a maximum of 10.000 people moving away in one year which is 2% of the whole population. Most people were living apart from bigger cities so they took their chance to move to Quebec and live in more modern regions.
Most of the economy from Newfoundland and Labrador comes from minerals that can be found mostly in the northern part of the province. These resources are mainly ores(like iron, tin, copper) and also oil from the sea. Since there is a very long coast we have many good fishing grounds leading to big fish companies. Also some profit is made by lumberjacks, but compared with other provinces of Canada it’s rather low.
Culture The Culture is a product of their English, Irish, French and Aboriginal heritage. This leads to the biggest variation of spoken English on the whole world. The language is one specialty of the province, another one is sports. Newfoundland and Labrador is the only province of Canada that was not able to support a Ice hockey team financially so they can’t participate on the international cup (which is some sort of must have for every Canadian). They have a bigger focus on rugby and soccer then the others do. Since there is multiculturalism in this province we can find a big variety of religions. Regarding to the data from the chart, most people are christian (catholic 36%; Anglican 25%). 1% equals only 5000 people, which leads to the question why 6% don’t belong to any religion. These 30.000 people are mostly Aboriginals and live with their tribe their own religion, which cant be shown by a general graph like this.
Newfoundland and Labrador – Jannik 27 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 12. New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island (“Maritimes”)
General Information: The Canadian coastal provinces of the East are New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and the Prince Edward Island, also known as “Maritimes”. The overall population of these provinces amounts to about 5 percent of Canada. As a whole, the “Maritimes” cover roughly one percent of Canada.
Green: New Brunswick Blue: Nova Scotia Red: Prince Edward Island (PEI)
New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island underwent the process of urbanization, causing roughly half of the population to dwell in urban areas. The Urban centers of New Brunswick are primarily Saint John and Moncton. Halifax is Nova Scotia’s urban centre and capital with about forty percent of the population. Prince Edward Island’s largest city is (also) their capital, Charlottetown.
Surveys shows that about two-thirds of New Brunswick’s citizens say English is their native language. However, close to one hundred percent reported English as their native language in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
28 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island – Lennart CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Brief summary of the history:
First settler, Mi’kmaq, were the aboriginal people of the “Maritimes” Around 1604 French settlements at St. Croix River and Port Royal Later on Québec attracted the attention of France (fur) trade routes on the Saint John River(New Brunswick) to Port Royal (Nova Scotia) Develop their independence After the Treaty of Paris in 1763 and thus under the British dominion, the “Île of St-Jean” was renamed to “Saint John Island”, and 1799 to “Prince Edward Island” (PEI) by order of King George III While New Brunswick was part of the conflict area in the struggle between Britain and France, people returned to France Times of peace some returned again, as well as English, Irish, Scottish and German settler Throughout the American Revolution, a lot of refugees were moving to New Brunswick too These refugees founded Saint John During the 20th century, New Brunswick suffered a great depression A low living standard in comparison to the rest of Canada was the result Hence the federal government supported their economy by investments in mining, forestry and fishing
29 New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island – Lennart CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 13. Québec ``Other countries have too much history, however we have too much countryside´´, that is what some people say in Quebec.
Québec is located between the Hudson Bay and the border to the USA along the Saint Lawrence River. With a vast expanse of land Québec is the biggest province of Canada. It is about four times as big as Germany, though it has got only 8Mio inhabitants, who mostly live in the south. The Saint Lawrence River is very important as a trading gate to the USA and belongs to the largest rivers of the world. In the north the river is even comparable to the ocean because of the ebb, flow and saltwater. The name ``Québec´´ comes from the language of the Native Americans and means ``Where the river gets smaller´´. This refers to Québec-City, the capital of the province because the Saint Lawrence River gets very small in this place. All in all Québec is very popular for the impressive nature. There are not only big forests but also much water. Altogether we can find about 1Mio lakes and rivers in Quebec. Moreover a huge diversity of animals lives there.
Quebec– Anna 30 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
So as I have already mentioned, the capital is called Quebec-City but it is not the biggest city. The biggest one is Montreal. Montreal is also the largest French-speaking city after Paris. Nearly 4Mio people live in Montreal, which means the half of Quebec’s inhabitants. Québec is also a very wealthy province because there is a good economic potential due to the fact that they can use water power and you can find a distinct aircraft, timber and paper industry. And the last but not least general fact is that Québec is the only region of North America, where the majority is French-speaking. So the official language is only French. HISTORY Why are they actually speaking only French and not English officially? After Jacques Cartier’s expeditions the first French settlers came to the area of today’s Quebec at the beginning of the 17th Century.
Jacques Cartier
France lost this territory around the Saint Lawrence River in a war with England, but the French language in North America didn’t become extinct because Great Britain allowed the French- speaking population to keep their language and religion. Afterwards there were still some tries to adapt the French to the British culture but the inhabitants of Quebec defended their language and culture successfully. Since than the people in Lower Canada felt themselves as French Canadians. A very important period in Québec’s history is the Quiet Revolution during the early 1960s. It was an intense political and cultural change for this province with a period of growing economic and social development in Quebec. So Quebec’s economy became more powerful, especially through the modernization. Since that time the inhabitants of Quebec regarded themselves not as French Canadians anymore. They namely developed a new positive identity as a Quebecer that is not focused on the home country France any longer. As a logical consequence, movements with the aim to declare Québec’s independence, were created. They caused a voting exactly about this topic in 1980, but the majority refused an independence. 1995 a second referendum was organized. This voting was very narrow because 49,6% voted with ``Yes´´. But in the end Québec stayed in Canada. All in all the French language was very important for the identity of Quebecers and also for the ``Parti Québécois´´, a political party, who wanted at least to protect the French language officially
Quebec– Anna 31 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 and succeeded 1977 as the Charter of the French Language was announced. That’s a law which defines the dominance of the French language in all public interests.
TODAY: More and more people immigrate to Québec. That’s why some people say that they have to think about the cultural and linguistic identity of the province seriously because Québec has a multicultural society right now.
SIGHTS: The Château Frontenac is one of the most exclusive luxury hotels in Canada and a famous sight for Quebec City. It is known as one of the most photographed hotels of the world and located on top of a hill wherefrom you have a beautiful view about the whole city and the Saint Lawrence River.
Montmorency-Fall This waterfall is located at the end of the river Montmorency. The water falls over a cliff 83 meters until it ends up in the Saint Lawrence River. So it is the highest cascade in Quebec and 30 meters higher than the Niagara Falls. The river basin is 17 meters deep. During winter the river underneath the fall is frozen and ice climbing is organized.
The Ice Hotel near Quebec City is the first ice hotel in North America. They start building it each December and it takes about a month and a half to build with 50 workers. The hotel has a three-month lifespan each year before being brought down in April. It has now 51 double beds. Only the bathrooms are heated and located in a separate insulated structure. The hotel is made of 30,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice and the walls are up to four feet thick. All furniture is made of ice. The bar serves drinks and cocktails in ice glasses.
Quebec– Anna 32 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 14. Ontario
General information Ontario is one of the ten Canadian provinces being located in the south - east of Canada. It is the province with the highest population in Canada and only the Province Québec has a larger expanse. Nearly 13 million people live in Ontario making up about 38% of the Canadian population. The surface is 1076395 km^2 wide. Toronto being the biggest Canadian city is the capital of Ontario. The second biggest city is Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Ontario borders on the province Manitoba in the west and Québec in the east. It also borders five US states. Picture: flag of Ontario http://www.1zoom.me/de/wallpaper/341770/z820.9/%26original=1
History
People have been living in Ontario for more than 12,000 years. Before European pioneers travelled abroad Algonquian- and Iroquoian Aboriginals had lived in Canada. Therefore, the name Ontario comes from an old word for water or lake. In the 17th century the English pioneer Henry Hudson discovered the bay which was then named after him. Also the French tried to claim land for their use. Though, they had problems with parts of the Aboriginals fighting on the British side. Most of the land belonged to Britain after the Seven Years` War (1756-1763). The district became a part of the province Quebec. After the American revolution many American colonist declared their support for the British empire and were welcomed to live in Ontario . As the population rose the province was divided into a French and a British part. Ontario became Upper Canada und Quebec became Lower Canada. American troops were beaten by the Canadian and British soldiers as they tried to advance on Canadian land in the British - American war (1812-1814). Consequently, the American army conquered York (now names Toronto and a part of Ontario) and set the parliament building on fire. After the war the population grew further during the reign of several aristocratic families. After two unsuccessful rebellions against them the British Empire sent a Lord to deal with the problem and 1840 both provinces were united to Canada. At least Canada was allowed to self – fulfillment in 1840. In 1867, Ontario and Quebec became separate provinces again. This was declared in the British North America Act in order to stop the American aggression. Ottawa became the new capital and Sir John Macdonald the prime minister. Oliver Mowat, the prime minister of Ontario from 1872 to 1896 improved the school system and under his reign the province became the center of the Canadian economy. The province started mining raw material and erected waterworks. 1916 the ban on alcohol was set so that alcohol could only be exported or produced out of self- interest. Since alcohol was totally banned in the USA it was smuggled there from Canada. Today spirits are only sold in shops of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. After the Second World War most of the immigrants coming to Canada settled in Ontario. Later not only Europeans but also people from Asia settled in Ontario. After the political success of a national party many companies settled in Canada. As a result, Toronto became the biggest city and the meeting point of the Canadian economy.
Geography As mentioned, Ontario is the second largest province of Canada with more than one million square kilometers. This is an area as long as France and Spain combined. It borders on the Hudson Bay in the north and five American states (Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York) in the
Ontario – Jannes 33 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 south. Ii also borders on Quebec in the east and on the Canadian province Manitoba in the west. The frontier to USA mostly consists of lakes and rivers. Ontario is divided into three parts: 1. Canadian Shield: The big Canadian Shield covers about half of the Canadian province in the north. This part containing hilly forests and also lakes and rivers is less fertile. Even though the land is interrupted by tops of granite it is also rich in minerals.
Picture: Canadian Shield https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Shield 2. The Hudson Bay Lowland : This is a small stripe located in the north east near the Hudson Bay. It is mostly uninhabited. The land is dominated by tundra vegetation. The Hudson Bay also contains bogs. Therefore the land is low in nutrients and there is hardly any agriculture in the north of Ontario.
Picture: Hudson Bay Lowland http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/hudson-bay-lowlands-show-recent-effects-of-global-warming- 1.1930050 3. The South: This is the place in which most of the population in Ontario lives and where agriculture takes up a big place. It is divided into four sub-regions.(Central Ontario , Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe and Southwestern Ontario). 75% of the population of Ontario lives in the region called Golden Horseshoe. The south is the center of Ontario’s economy containing both the industry and commerce sector. The lowlands are also characteristic for this region.
Picture: The South http://nikharron.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/nh_ignitewat_010.jpg Although without large mountains a big part of the country is covered by hills, for example the well-known moraines or the Niagara Escarpment in the south. The highest point of Ontario is 693 meters above sea level in the Timiskaming area. The province also has 250000 lakes and rivers which are more than 100000 kilometers long in total. The best known feature is the Niagara Falls. There are also 5 national parks in Ontario. Moreover, 70 million hectare is classified as forests. They represent 18% of all forestland in Canada. The very varied climate of Ontario makes it possible for more than 3600 species to live there as well as 154 species of fish and 50 species of amphibians and reptiles. There are also nearly 500 species of birds and more than 80 species of mammals as well as bears living in Ontario
Climate The climate varies in three different locations. Mostly the entire south has a wet, continental climate. In fact, there are hot, damp summers and cold winters. The influence of the great lakes also moderates the temperatures with their winds. The annual precipitation ranges from 750 to 1000 millimeters. Being located near to the Great lakes much snow falls in some areas. The second region is located more northern and thus has short and warm summers and long winters. By contrast, the growth phase is shorter than in the first region. The northernmost part of Ontario has a sub polar climate with very long and cold winters and only cold summers. It is minted by airstreams of the Arctic and the Hudson Bay. Picture: climate http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.nrcan.gc.ca/files/oee/images/residential/business/manufactu rers/images/Ontario-Map-EN.JPG politics
Ontario – Jannes 34 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Ontario’s political system is based on the Westminster system. There is only on chamber with 107 members elected by the different constituencies. The legislative period is four years long. Ontario’s prime minister is Kathleen Wynne, the vice governor is called Elizabeth Dowsdell. With 24 seats, Ontario has more seats than any other province and thus plays and important role during elections.. Furthermore, three big parties compete against each other. - The Ontario Liberal Party
- The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
- The social-democratic Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario Liberal Party was most successful at the last elections.
Picture: government: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Ontario Education In Canada the provinces organize the school system on their own. In Ontario, the Ministry of Education has declared that the high school takes 12 years. Both English are French are taught in Ontario, English as the first and French as the second language., You can also find 22 universities , 24 colleges and more than 500 private colleges in Ontario. More than 73.000 students study at the province’s biggest university, which is in Toronto.
Picture: education http://cicic.ca/1138/Ontario/index.canada
Economy The agriculture, having been the main part of Ontarian industries in former times, is now less important. Today they concentrate on cattle breeding and the dairy industry. But the forests of Ontario are still important for the economy. As a result, the forest industry guarantees almost 200,000 direct and indirect jobs across the 260 Ontarian communities. Because of the high number of rivers Ontario uses waterworks producing electricity. Today, 30% of used energy is produced by waterworks. In 2009 Ontario decided to start a project called Green Energy Act. Today they have closed all of their coal-fired power stations. Ontario has also more than 1,000 wind turbines to reach their goal of Green Energy making them the leader of Canada in wind power. Moreover, Ontario is an important region for refining petroleum. Toronto is the center of Canadian banking) and public finance. Other cities of Ontario are leaders in information technology. Golden Horseshoe seems to be the most industrial city of Canada having an important car, electro and other industries. Culture Ontario has a population of more than 13, 5 million people, being the home of 2 in 5 Canadians. Ontario has one of the largest variety of theaters in Canada and has produced several famous films.. There are festivals and also well-known art galleries in Ontario. Furthermore, Ontario’s entertainment industry is the third largest in North America. The Toronto film festival is known all over the world. Finally, the 2 % of aboriginal people have their own languages and cultures.
Sources: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario https://www.ontario.ca/page/about-ontario http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/about/OI_ABOUT_PEOPLE_HISTORY.html http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ontario/
Ontario – Jannes 35 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 15. Manitoba
Manitoba is a province in the center of Canada and the fifth-most populous province with a population of 1.208.268. It covers an area of 649.950 square kilometers, but 730.018 people (60% of the total provincial population) residing in the region of the capital city Winnipeg.
Location Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east, Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the two US states of North Dakota an Minnesota to the south.
Nature / Climate Temperatures and rainfall decrease from south to north in Manitoba. So all in all Manitoba has a very continental climate.
Community Region July daily maximum January daily maximum Winnipeg Winnipeg/south 26°C -10° C Churchill Northern 18°C -22° C
Manitoba is home to many different species of animals. Especially arctic animals like the Polar Bear are often seen in the Northern Region of Manitoba, because of the very low average temperature.
History The first inhabitants of Manitoba were Aboriginal Canadians (First Nations, Inuits and Métis) and lived there for over 6000 years. In the late 17th century, fur traders arrived in the area and started to civilize Manitoba. The plan of the creation of the Canadian province of Manitoba caused an armed uprising of the Métis against the Government of Canada. As a result of that, the Parliament of Canada officially created the province of Manitoba using the „Manitoba Act“.
Economy Manitoba has a moderately strong economy based largely on natural resources and the unemployment rate is about 6%. The main economy sectors are agriculture, tourism, energy, oil, mining and forestry. Especially agriculture is a strong sector but mostly found in the southern part of the province.
Manitoba – Colin 36 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 16. Saskatchewan
Motto: Multis e gentibus vires "Strength from many peoples"
Saskatchewan has got his origin of name from the Indian word „kisiskatchewan“, which means „the river that flows swiftly“ and refers to the area’s major river, the Saskatchewan river.
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada. It is located in the heart of North America. To the east and west are the provinces of Manitoba and Alberta. To the south it borders the American states of Montana and North Dakota. To the north are Canada’s Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Size: 651,900 km2
Number of inhabitants: 1,129,899
Density of population: 1,6 inhabitants per km2
Official language: English
Capital city: Regina
Largest city: Saskatoon
History
Saskatchewan – Marleen 37 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
7000 B.C. → Saskatchewan becomes ice-free since 6000 B.C. → various indigenous groups inhabit the province 1690 → first Europeans come to Saskatchewan to trade with fur 1800-1900 → recurrent conflicts between Indians and immigrants 1906 → grant of the coat of arms of Saskatchewan
Geography
One half of the province is covered by forest (boreal region in the north), one third by farmland (prairie in the central and the south) and one eight by water (lakes in the north, rivers). The landscape rises from north-east to south-west. The highest elevation are the Cypress Hills (about 1,392 m above sea level).
Climate
The climate in Saskatchewan is continental. That means warm summers (temperatures from 15°C to 40°C), very cold winters (temperatures generally remain below the freezing point) and little rainfall.
Population
13,2 % of the residents are Indian or Métis. So Saskatchewan has got the highest share of Indians in the total population of all Canadian provinces.
Saskatchewan – Marleen 38 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Saskatchewan is culturally diverse. There are people with different ethnic backgrounds (diagram). The first immigrants were traders from Europe. Later on people left their country and came to Canada, especially to Saskatchewan, because of political or economical problems in their home countries.
Economy
oil and gas industry (big gas in place in the west) mining manufacturing tourism agriculture
Saskatchewan in photos
Saskatchewan – Marleen 39 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 17. Alberta
Geography:
Alberta Geography: Alberta has a surface of 661.848 km² (twice the size of Germany)and it covers almost 7% of Canada’s land mass. The capital city is Edmonton but the city with the highest population is Calgary. Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the US state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces. Canada is full of lakes and rivers. The three largest water bodies are Lake Athabasca (7.898 km²) in the east, Lake Claire (1.436 km²) in the west and Lesser Slave Lake(1.168 km²), in the northwest of Edmonton. Approximately 90 per cent of Alberta is part of North America's interior plain, with forested areas and peat lands in the north, grasslands in the south and parkland in the east and central areas. (Some of the world’s most important paleontological finds have been made in the badlands of southern Alberta near Dinosaur Provincial Park – a Unesco World Heritage Site). Also, Alberta has a rocky region in the south. The population of Alberta is growing: In 2013 3.645.257 people have been living there, one year later, in 2014, the number of inhabitants reached 4,145,992 (look at „Demographics“)
History
8000 years ago, the first natives settled down at Alberta. They hunted bisons and spend their life as nomads. The natives were called Blackfoot, Blood, Peigans, Arsinas, Crees, Sacees and Assiniboines. The first European in Alberta was Anthony Henday who met the Blackfoot natives, started to trade and hunt with them. The first European settlement was Fort Chipewyan near the Athabasca River. The life of the natives changed through the trade with coats. They received arms, blankets and metal wares for the coats. The Hudson's Bay Company, as well as the Northwest Company built settlements through the whole province. In 1870 the Hudson's Bay Company gave the control of the areas to Canada which was the cornerstone of the colonization. The Northwest Mounted Police was founded in 1870 in order to take care of law and order. As one of their first actions, they took control about the sale of whiskey. The natives received cheap alcohol in exchange of bison coats. In 1897 there was a big campaign which advertised to move to the west of Canada. This campaign was a huge success. In 1881 only 17,500 settlers lived in the west, whereas the number of settlers reached to 584,000 until 1921. In 1905 Alberta turned into a province of Canada and Edmonton became the capital of the province. The second world war was the reason why the economy of Alberta collapsed but then, in 1947, the Canadians explored a giant amount of oil, which helped to let Alberta’s economy grow again. Nowadays, Alberta is one of the most popular regions in whole Canada.
Alberta – Alvar 40 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Demographics
The demographic situation in Alberta is a special one. It is the Region with the highest rate of growth. Between 2004 and 2014 Alberta’s population grew by 27.3 per cent, the largest increase of any province or state in North America. Nowadays, Alberta is home to an ethnically diverse population of over four million people. One in six Albertans was born outside of Canada, making Alberta one of the most multi-national and multicultural provinces in the country. In 2011, the most commonly cited ethnic origin in Alberta was English, followed by Canadian, German, Scottish, Irish, French and Ukrainian. Alberta has the youngest population of all Canadian provinces with a median age of 36.0. This compares to a median age of 40.4 in Canada. The high rate of migration also influences language. English is the official language with about 78 percent English speaking people. Only 1.93% of the population speaks French and there are also people speaking Chinese or German.
Economy
During the past 20 years, Alberta’s economy has led the nation in economic growth. Alberta's economy is one of the strongest in the world, supported by the burgeoning petroleum industry and to a lesser extent, agriculture and technology. In 2013 Alberta's per capita GDP exceeded that of the United States, Norway, or Switzerland, and was the highest of any province in Canada at $84,390. This was 56% higher than the national average of $3,870 and more than twice as large as some of the Atlantic provinces. The most important source of income for Alberta is the petroleum occurrence. Only Saudi Arabia and Venezuela have a higher oil reserve. In 2014,the energy resource exports totaled $90.8 billion, which was about 75 per cent of Alberta’s total commodity exports that year. The economic boom of Alberta is caused by a new technology which made the process of getting oil out of oil sand profitable. Though, this technology causes environmental problems and is only profitable if the worldwide price of oil is relatively high. The sudden low price of oil in autumn 2014 was the reason why Alberta had to restrict the oil production. The consequence was that the unemployment raised from 6,5% in 2010 to 12,6% in 2015. Compared to other regions this rate is still under the national average. Another important part of the economy is agriculture: Alberta has one of the world’s most productive agricultural economies, with a total farm area of 50.5 million acres or 20.4 million hectares. Alberta’s Major Agricultural products are cattle, calves, canola and wheat. Other strong economic sectors are forestry, manufacturing and tourism.
Culture
Alberta’s most important places of interest are the countless number of national parks. The two Alberta – Alvar 41 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 most popular parks are the „Jasper National Park“ and the „Banff National Park“, located at the Rocky Mountains. Also, there is the Dinosaur Provincial Park. The park is well known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locations in the world. Forty dinosaur species have been discovered at the park and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums around the globe. That’s why Alberta owns the biggest dinosaur in the world, located in the town Drumheller. But the most characteristic feature of Alberta is the cultural diversity, caused by the immigration.
Sources: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/alberta/ https://albertacanada.com/files/albertacanada/SP-EH_highlightsABEconomyPresentation.pdf http://www.albertacanada.com/business/overview/location-and-geography.aspx http://www.petroleumhistory.ca/history/wells.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Alberta http://oilsands.alberta.ca/economicinvestment.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta#Economy http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21615488-new-technologies-are-being-used-extract-bitumen-oil-sands-steam http://www.kanada-alberta.de/ http://travelalberta.de/alberta-entdecken/jasper https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Alberta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Alberta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Alberta http://www.albertacanada.com/business/statistics/slave-lake-forestry.aspx https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkJ_5iiEqnc https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chipewyan
Alberta – Alvar 42 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 18. British Columbia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia
British Columbia – Jasper 43 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 19. Yukon Territory
A long time ago First settlers came between 18,000-3,000 BC from Siberia over the Bering land bridge to Yukon.
800 AD A volcano, nowadays called Mount Churchill, erupts.
At first, it was thought of as a more or less smaller eruption, but in 2014 scientists discovered some of its ash even in northern Germany. One must assume that all humans living in the Yukon area died or had to flee. One piece of evidence may be the sudden technology advancements afterwards. This indicates an emigration of nations which changed all cultures in Northern America.
1896 George Washington Carmack and relatives find gold on rabbit creek, later Bonanza Creek, near Dawson. Because of the low population density, the message spread very slowly and after eleven months, the first ship of gold rushers arrived and the Klondike gold rush started. Within these months, local gold diggers, so called 'Klondike Kings' had already claimed the best parts of the land. Taking the ship was really expensive, thus a lot of the hopeful men came by foot, but the low temperatures soon became apparent as real dangers since temperatures of -40° C were normal and even -60°C were in the range of possibility.
Despite this fact, over 100,000 man and women started the hard journey to the Klondike River. Only 30,000 made it. The rest had to return or died.
By that time, the Yukon area actually belonged to the North-Western- Territories. The Canadian government decided in 1898 to split into NWT and Yukon because then they could increase the taxes for the gold rushers only.
Yukon – Jakob B. 44 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Some of them made big money. Not only with gold digging; the gold rush brought business to Yukon. For example, Fred Trump, Donald Trump's grandfather, became quite wealthy with his hotel along the Chilkoot Trail.
Most prospectors ended up really poor, they worked on claims and life quality was low. The Klondike gold rush ended suddenly when gold was found at Nome, Alaska in 1899 and big parts of Dawson's inhabitants disappeared over night.
Still today, you can see what all the stampeders left. There are a lot of ghost towns, forgotten hoods and even sunken ships.
1983 Three men start to host a dog sled race of over 1,000 miles (1,600 km). Nowadays, the Yukon Quest is known as one of the hardest races all over the world.
Today Although roughly as big as Spain, Yukon has only 37,183 inhabitants. The population density is therefore at about 0,08 people per km² (Germany ~ 226 /km²). Three quarters of them live in the capital Whitehorse. While the biggest ethnic group consists of Europeans, the First Nations still make a significant part of the population with 22%. watch my Prezi here: https://prezi.com/w2a1vfieajqc/yukon/
References: http://scaa.sk.ca/ourlegacy/images/museums/large/MG289-2.2-10-p09-lg.jpg http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/08_18_2010_h41Ogs6FEa_08_18_2010_5#.VgLXp5cmFvY https://saddahaq.blob.core.windows.net/multimedia/90594764- c5ce2b67d4e5f736e6e7864953ff27b3.jpg http://www.washelli.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/George-Washington- Carmack.jpg https://content.lib.washington.edu/extras/goldrush.html http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/hegg/id/725/rec/269 http://s3.photobucket.com/user/Rayfromalaska/media/Mackey2008.jpg.html https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2a/2009_Yukon_Quest_map.svg/200 0px- 2009_Yukon_Quest_map.svg.png http://www.yukonquest.com/ http://www.canadianmysteries.ca/sites/klondike/contenders/3304en.html http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/canada/Nunavut-to-Yukon/Yukon-Territory.html
Yukon – Jakob B. 45 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 20. The Northwest Territories (NT) and Nunavut (NU)
When the Northwest Territories came under government authority in July 1870, it stretched across large parts of modern Canada. Only the areas of the early signors of the Canadian Confederation, such as British Columbia and early forms of what is now Ontario and Quebec.
However, soon after (July 15 of the same year) parts of this immense territory were used to form or enlarge other provinces like Manitoba (1870, 1881), Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905).
In fact, Nunavut has been a part of the Northwest Territories until April 1, 1999 after which 3/5 of the remaining area became present-day Nunavut.
The Land
Most of the Northwest Territories is north of the tree line. Because of this, the regions which lie in the north have either scarce tundra vegetation or are permanently frozen over, as is the case with the Arctic Archipelago. Only the Mackenzie Valley Area is within the boreal forest area and is therefore covered by a great number of different kinds of trees.
Most of the local hotspots for tourism are based on or around the natural landscape of the Northwest Territories, as there are various sites scattered throughout the area. Apart from the national parks, two of which include World Heritage Sites, the Great Bear Lake is the largest in Canada and the Great Slave Lake is the deepest body of water in all of North America.
The People
Despite the vast amount of space available, only about 73.368 people actually live in both areas combined, meaning that the population density is lower than Greenland’s with merely 0,02 inhabitants per square kilometer. The respective capitals are the largest "cities", or rather urban centers, with 19.234 in NT's capital Yellowknife and less than 7000 in Iqaluit, which is the capital of Nunavut.
The Northwest Territories and Nunavut are the only two jurisdictions in Canada where the
NT & NU – Jakob S. 46 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 aboriginal population is in the majority, with roughly 50% in NT and over 66% in NU. This means that the list of official languages for this area is not limited to "French" or "French, English", but instead includes more native languages. In the case of Nunavut, this means including Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut, while the Northwest Territories' list goes on for another nine lines.
The Economy
After the traditional fur trade lost its importance over time, the mining industry took over the number one spot. While the Northwest Territories and Nunavut have base and precious metal such as gold or tungsten, the focus of mining operations has moved to primarily diamonds.
Now, the per capita GDP of C$108.394 is the highest of all provinces or territories in Canada, with great parts coming from mining or the service industry. Since regular agriculture is largely impossible, many inhabitants support themselves at least partially through fishing or hunting.
Sources: text: http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/northwest-territories/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territories https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowknife http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/nunavut/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nunavut pictures: http://www.snipview.com/q/First%20Nations%20in%20the%20Northwest%20Territories http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/northwest-territories/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Territories https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRpe6MpJvzon- 3muVbB9HnHMZHIJFuq8p4XHiTX3CoSB1433Pf9lw http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/provincial/education/edu-territories.aspx NT & NU – Jakob S. 47 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 21. Canada’s natives: Traditions & Mythology
Hello, my name is Anana and I’m an Inuit girl. I think you might have heard of my people. We are a part of the great amount of Canada’s natives. I want to tell you something about my life and my story. My story starts with my name which was given to me before my birth from the best hunter of my tribe and means beautiful in your language. It was the name of an old woman living with us who died some days before my birth. It had to be my name because we think that a ghost f a name without a cover brings bad luck to all of us. With her name I got all the properties old Anana had. She was very blithesome and skilled, so I am too. When I became older more and more names were given to me, every time when someone died. When I was old enough I was also able to chose new names, the names of people I liked. By choosing their name I become related to them. I grew up together with my husky Illuq (frost). Huskies are really very important for us, that’s the reason why we have a lot of them living with us. Here you can see me with my beloved Illuq. I live with my family in Labrador, a province in the north-east of Canada in an igloo, as you can see it on the second picture. But we live there only in winter because in summer we travel with our tents through the whole country and follow the caribous which we hunt. Only in winter we have our igloos and travel only with our dog sledges to hunt. Hunting is very important for us. If you are a good hunter you are popular in your tribe. Your armor is the only thing you really own the rest is the tribe’s property. We hunt for caribous, seals and whales but just for our surviving. We eat their meat and use their skin and fur for cloths and tents. We have very hard winters here in Canada, that’s why we have our igloos then and our warm clothes out of different fur. Fire is also very important for us because we don’t have electricity like you. So we cook with fire and it’s the only thing to keep us warm in the long winters. We often sit together around our fires and listen to my grandparent’s stories in an old language called Inuktitut that means the language of humans. This language is only oral because we don’t write a lot. Writing got popular for my people in the 20th century and we use the same letters as you do but we also have our own. One of my favorite stories is a story called „On a bear hunt with dwarfs“. It goes like this: There was once a human who was the foster son of some dwarfs. Once they were out breathing-hole hunting, and while doing so they began to hunt a bear. Their dogs set out after the bear, caught up with it and held it at bay. When the dwarfs came up with the bear the foster son saw that it was a little lemming, and he killed it by simply putting his foot on it; and as it was
FN - traditions and mythology – Isabelle 48 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 dying it snapped at his foot. Now the dwarfs told the human to go home first, and they cut it up while he went home in advance; but when the dwarfs came home it was a real bear they had with them. They had turned the little lemming into a big bear. (If you want to read more, look here: http://www.inuitmyths.com/index.htm) Or we make some music for example with drums and we sing. Our special kind of singing is called Throat Singing; it’s often a kind of competition (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnGM0BlA95I). When we do music we dance too of course (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyIYYgRgTkA). We don’t believe in God. We think that the world is a great community of impressed thinks. We are all part of this community and everybody no matter if human or animal has the same worth. All souls are related and similar to each other. The commonality of all these things (humans, animals and mountains) is Sila, the greatest creatures of all. There are different creatures in our worldview too. One of them is Sedna, the woman on the picture. She lives in the cold water of the Arctic Ocean and is half human half whale. Sedna is the soul of the sea and we have to obey her rules. If one of our hunters kills a seal it must not touch a human dead body. Also the hunter has to give the dead animal some water as refreshment for its soul. The hunter should give the animal’s soul some presents too, like a fish hook or something like that. Another very important soul for us is the Moon. The moon’s soul is Tatqeq or Aninga. The moon is the master over the tides, the fecundity of humans and animals, the compliance of the rules and prohibitions and the moon is the teacher and guardian of the hunters. We stay in contact with all these souls especially with Sila we have shamans. They are like priests and do some rites when somebody is born or somebody dies and they contact the ghosts and souls with magic rites and dances. They are masters of the transmigration and can travel to Sedna to calm her to enable a successful hunt. As you can see we are very traditional and very close to nature. I hope you were able to learn some new and interesting things about my folk. ᑕᕝᕙᐅᔪᓯ (It is spoken Tavvaujusi and means goodbye in your language).
Sources: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit-Mythen http://www.inuitmyths.com/index.htm http://www.br-online.de/kinder/fragen-verstehen/wissen/2003/00313/
FN - traditions and mythology – Isabelle 49 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 22. First Nations: Clash of Cultures
Beginning In Canada First Nations people (Fr: Prèmieres Nations) have a total population of more than 850.000; divided into 634 tribes. About half of them live in the provinces British Columbia or Ontario, which are located in the very east and west of the country, so they are directly at the sea, which was good when they first arrived. The first settlers came to Canada about 1000 BC to 500 BC but the first contacts to any Europeans happened as far back as 1000 AD. Those had been contacts of economical reasons and both sides got along with each other really well. It did even happen that some of the Europeans sent extra gifts because they liked that other culture so much. The debut of the steady contact, though, was when 1493 Pope Alexander VI claimed Canada to be Spanish (got the west) and Portuguese (got the east) because he acted on the assumption that this land is under international jurisdiction. Aboriginal people had no clue that their land officially didn’t belong to them anymore until Portugal’s Crown sent men to explore their land. They took sixty slaves and described them with the following words: “… [They] resemble gypsies in color, features, stature and aspect; are clothed in the skins of various animals ...They are very shy and gentle, but well formed in arms and legs and shoulders beyond description. ...". A lot of them died on the way to Portugal along with the crew but a very few number was able to survive. This is how the slavery started. This fatal expedition, in which died about 200 people, was the starting point of five centuries of war, slavery and suppression. Anyway, the next step was made by France 1604 by Henry IV when he promised a merchant (Pierre Du Gua De Monts) a fur-trade monopoly. He then went off to explore the country he was about to trade with and a few months later Acadia with the Capital City Port Royal was the most powerful French colony of that time. The trade was good for the Aboriginals but only for a small number of them because only a few workers were needed. The result was that the agricultural part got smaller and it was harder to live by it; also, the difference between the richer fur-traders and the farmers increased. In ~1748 Great Britain got interested and later conquered New France and after the Treaty of Paris, which basically says that The British won the Seven Years war (1756 – 1763), they began to populate their land. During the six wars First Nations People fought each other because they had to fight alongside with their conquerors and suppressors. This victory was the start of a quite long period of British dominance in the whole world.
FN: Clash of Cultures – Madelaine 50 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
1/3
Humanistic aspects The start of the European-Canadian relationship was acceptable but it soon got out of hand when the Europeans started to realize and use their superior position in aspects like weapons or military force. And a lot of Aboriginal tribes also practiced slavery for quite a while so they simply picked it up. It is said that mostly the treatment of slaves by Aboriginals is humanely but there were also very harsh and cruel methods like the punishment to starve to death or to be sacrificed in a ceremony for social events. But the conquerors found new ways to use them: the women for their masters and the men to work hard and way too long. It were even records found that specified which slave you should buy if intending to do so. They say that the average First Nation slave died at an age of 18 (!!). Compared to an African slave, which is expected to serve until he/she dies with an age of 25 years, this is rather young, but Aboriginals were lower in price. To give an actual idea how long this can be considered today: The average life expectancy for an European merchant was set for 35 years. 1790 an Abolition Movement occurred but it still took three years until in 1793 the Act against Slavery was remitted. It more was an Act of Slavery though, because it instructed simply no import of new slaves, which wasn’t necessary anyway because Aboriginals were there in huge number, that already enslaved had to remain such till death and that every child of an enslaved mother will be a slave but had to be freed, when it’s 25. This makes no sense at all because, as I mentioned above, the very most do not even reach their twentieth birthday. It really didn’t change anything for the Slaves but rather made the situation worse because now more slaves from nearby were needed. The formerly-skeptics were silent for a pretty long time because it looked like something had been done and their conscience had been salved. So the people had to endure this another forty years until in 1833 the British parliament’s Slavery Abolition Act forbid all slavery, no matter performed by whom. The Canadian Historian Marcel Trudel (1917-2011) counted every registered slave he could possibly find and got to a total amount of 4.092 slaves, of which 1400 were Blacks enslaved by the Britain and 2.692 First Nations people enslaved by the French. They were controlled by roughly 1.400 masters. But Trudel also found out that 31 marriages between French and Aboriginals took place. The children of French men and mostly Neyiyow Women formed a new tribe which is still today pretty high in number: the Métis. They speak a mixture of English and Michif.
FN: Clash of Cultures – Madelaine 51 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Another major problem was that the diseases the conquerors brought with them were deadly for the Aboriginals because their immune system was not prepared for this kind of infection in any way. So the consequence was that when illnesses like smallpox or measles took over the body the people were already fated to die. In fact we can say that in the late 15th century the Aboriginal population was about two million in Canada. Post-contact 80 % of the population was erased. Later in the 19th century more epidemics wiped out whole families.
Uprising & Cultural Assimilation Beginning 1880 and for a duration of five years about 3000 Aboriginals starved to death. This was the consequence of a lot of tribes agreeing to treaties that promised them food. But the Lieutenant-Governor cut them because he wanted to reduce the costs for the government at all costs. For example Big Bear aka Mistahi-maskwa tried not to sign the contracts as long as somehow possible but eventually he was forced to do so because his people were dying in a really high number. In the following years the Red River Rebellion (1869-’70), the North-West Rebellion (1885) and a few of smaller resistances took place but none of them was really successful. It started to change when people from Ontario came to Manitoba and started to spread the English Canadian culture. The before very active Métis moved from Manitoba to Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River and the situation began to calm.
In the late 18th century the government(s…) started the try to encourage First Nations to distance themselves from 2/3 their culture. The European way of life was the only one accepted and “of course the right one”. In the 19th century they founded the “Canadian Indian residential school system”. These were schools in which they had the aim of "killing the Indian in the child." Also, there were two kinds: day schools on reserve which educated the majority of First Nation children and residential schools which brought children from several different reserves together. Through these schools, First Nations children were educated on the same subjects as non-Aboriginal children: reading, writing, arithmetic, languages and other extra classes to force them to abandon their traditional languages, dress, religion and lifestyle. By 1948, there were 78 schools with nearly 10,000 students. The last schools were closed in the late 20th century. But these mainly two cultures crashing and one suppressing the other had also negative effects on the health. The suicide rate of Aboriginals was higher and - according to the historian Mary-Ellen Kelm - “inadequate reserve allocations, restrictions on the food fishery, overhunting, and over- trapping alienated First Nations from their traditional way of life, which undermined their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health“. All in all the clash of these cultures was quite fatal and cost a lot of lives but after 500 years there now is a cooperative and friendly acquaintance and unlike a few decades ago a coexisting is very possible and now in contrast even desired.
Interesting to know: In the world wars approximately 6000 First Nations people died but they volunteered. This loss wasn’t good for the inner-peace but they agreed to fight hand in hand with their former- suppressors. In 1960 they received the right to vote in federal elections (in comparison: in the USA they received it already 1920). In addition they have their own party, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and even an own university (the First Nations University of Canada).
FN: Clash of Cultures – Madelaine 52 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nations https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100013791/1100100013795 http://www.firstnations.org/ http://www.afn.ca/index.php/en http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/first-nations/ http://www.technologycouncil.ca/who-we-are/about-us https://www.google.de/search?q=first+nations&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAmoVChMIoda xmLyQyAIVA7oUCh2ffA8Y&biw=1920&bih=955
3/3
FN: Clash of Cultures – Madelaine 53 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 23. First Nations: Lives Today
Modern Definition: Three groups: Indian, Inuit and Métis people (not every Indian is a registered Indian)
Geography: High population rate of Aboriginal people in rural areas of Canada Off-reserve = 60% in rural or urban areas On-reserve = 360.000 Indians in 2300 reserves
Demography: 1,4 million Aboriginal people in Canada = 4,3% Median age = 27 in comparison to the median age of 40 (Non-Aboriginal people) Fast growing population
Education: It is a very important way for the Aboriginal people out of the isolation. The standards in the reserves are often very bad. Off-reserved school/university is harder for Aboriginal people than for the standard Canadian.
The Situation/conclusion: The consequences of colonialism are still noticeable. The Aboriginal people haven’t got a high living standard and there are very many deficits. Canada has to integrate the First Nations and support them in different ways.
Mareike’s video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWK6ChJw8hs
WE WILL BE FREE - Aboriginal Peoples in Canada (full movie) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXT2JXe8mnA
FN lives today– Mareike 54 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 24. Canada’s Political System
Canada’s political system Due to the prior relation between the United Kingdom and Canada the political system is still strongly influenced by the British one. The biggest prove for the derivation is shown by the Parliament consisting of the Crown and an upper and lower legislative Chamber. The division of power between the three branches: the executive, the legislative &the judiciary and the composition of Parliament have already been stated in the Constitution Act and remained nearly unchanged until today. Only the Westminster Statue made a major change in 1932: The legislative independence of the self-governing Dominions of the British Empire from the United Kingdom was established.
Canada’s political system is based on the Constitution Act of 1867 which created the federal dominion .Consisting of ten provinces of three territories the characteristics of a federation apply to Canada: A federation is characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions under a central federal government-the power is divided up between the three different levels of government: the federal , provincial& territorial and the municipal government. They have all different responsibilities: Only the federal government deals with areas which affect the whole country, e.g. national defense or foreign affairs, whereas some responsibilities are shared with the provincial and territorial governments. Moreover these governments are responsible for their own domains, e. g. education and health care. Provincial governments give authority to the municipalities, like towns or cities, to take care of local matters ,e.g. libraries, park or the local police. Consequently the Parliament of Canada and the provincial and territorial legislatures both have the jurisdiction to make laws. In General the structure of the political system is similar on all three levels which is why the following texts concentrate exemplarily on the federal government being the most important and powerful.
Who is allowed to participate and who does participate in the Canadian elections/political system?
Political System – Johanna. 55 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 Therefore the conditions for being eligible to vote in Canada have to be regarded: Having the right to vote requires the Canadian citizenship; it is not sufficient to be a temporary or permanent resident in Canada .Moreover one must be at least eighteen years of age. This requirement applies to all three levels-the federal, provincial and territorial , municipal. However, it has to be questioned which of these 24 million Canadians fulfilling these requirements, do really vote .The voter turnout provides information about the important issue of participation. In the last election of 2011 with 61,4% a slight increase was registered; nonetheless this figure was still the third lowest in Canadian history and signifies that only 14 million Canadian cast a ballot in the election. Compared to peer countries Canada comes only to the 14th out of 17 places.
Which electoral system is used in Canada and what are the consequences of it? Canada’ electoral system is the First-past-the-post which is characterized by simple plurality and as well used in the United Kingdom and in the United Stated. The whole country is divided up in electoral districts, called ridings or constituencies, which are adjusted every ten years after the decennial census. That’s why in 2011 there were 308 ridings and in 2015 this number will rise to 338. Consequently the number of Member of Parliament will increase as well to 338 because each riding sends one MP to the House of Commons. Each party fields one candidate per riding so that the electorate has as many choices as there are candidates. Casting a ballot they are only allowed to elect one of them. The votes are tallied separately in each riding- the candidate with the most votes wins its riding and is sent to the House of Commons. The other votes have no value, they are just dropped because it is only possible for each riding to send one candidate. As an example: In the riding .. the NDP got .. percentage of the votes and the Conservatives got .. which is very close together on the first sight. Nonetheless, only the Conservatives’ votes count because he received the simple plurality. Consequently the vote split can create a lack of representation as it happened in 2011: Once all the ballots were counted, the Conservatives came away with 39,6 per cent of the popular vote but earned 166 of the 305 seats(54,4 per cent) and therefore a majority government. Due to this injustice Canada’s electoral system is criticized and a change of it is demanded by many, e.g. the leader of the Liberals: “We need change. We need to know that when we cast a ballot, it counts. That when we vote, it matters,” Trudeau said. “So I’m proposing we make every vote count.” That would imply that the system proportional representation or the mixed member proportional, as in Germany for example, is introduced. This electoral system encourages the aspect of concentration concerning political parties but neglects the aspect of representation of its voters. It often leads to a two-party-plus system. Legislative Theoretically the power of the Senate and the House of Commons is equal concerning the legislation. In fact the House of Commons with its 308 members is the most powerful component of the Parliament- only it has the authority to introduce bills to spend public money or impose taxes. Most of the bills originate in the House of Commons: Legislation must receive three readings in each of house of Commons and Senate . Although it is mostly only a formal process, no bill can become law without Royal Assent. Beside its legislation function the House of Commons is as well responsible for an important control function: It can call on the government to explain its actions demanding a motion of no confidence. The Royal Assent is given by the federal representative of the Canadian monarch- the Governor General. He carries out most of the Monarch’s constitutional and ceremonial duties. The current incumbent is David Lloyd Johnston. The 105 Senate’s members are appointed by the Governor General on advice of the Prime Minister and are allowed to keep their seats until they retire at the age of 75.
Political System – Johanna. 56 CANADA - a handout KfE Ne 2015/16 The Senate’s core function is the legislative review and in-depth study. Receiving the bill from the House of Commons there are three options: 1.approve 2.amend 3. Reject the bill. In nearly all cases the Senate approves the bill or makes amendments and approves the bill in the following process. Even though this right is in practice nearly never used, bills can as well originate in the Senate and in this case go through the same process but only the other way round and the Senate has a veto right.
Why is the Senate’s power criticized? Although the Senate’s members are not democratically elected it is given similar rights concerning the legislation as the House of Commons by the Constitution. That’s why people point out that giving legislative veto power to a group of appointed wealthy men might not be in the best interests of the country. They demand a merit-based Senate who is legitimized. Executive The executive embraces the Prime Minister and its Cabinet. The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor General of Canada on behalf of the Queen but this is a mere formality. The leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in the House of Commons becomes Prime Minister. Controlling the appointments of many key figures(Governor General ,Cabinet, Senators, ambassadors to foreign countries ,justices of the Supreme Court,..) in Canada’s system of governance he is often declared the most powerful member of the Canadian political system. Judiciary The Canadian constitution gives the federal government the exclusive right to legislate criminal law whereas the provinces have exclusive control over civil law. The federal government appoints the judges of the federal courts and the judges of the superior and appellate level courts of each province. The provincial governments are responsible for appointing judges of the lower provincial courts. The Supreme Court of Canada is the ultimate expression and application of Canadian law and binding upon all lower courts of Canada and therefore the last instance for appeal. Moreover it is the only court authorized to deliver references on constitutional questions.
Political System – Johanna. 57