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Monday, July 15, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. It is a sparsely inhabited country of 40 million people, the vast majority residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

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

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

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King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stretches 828 kilometres (514 mi) from Windsor in the west to the Ontario–Quebec border in the east. The part of Highway 401 that passes through Toronto is North America's busiest highway, and one of the widest. Together with Quebec Autoroute 20, it forms the road transportation backbone of the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, along which over half of Canada's population resides. It is also a Core Route in the National Highway System of Canada. The route is maintained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) and patrolled by the Ontario Provincial Police. The speed limit is 100 km/h (62 mph) throughout the majority of its length, with the remaining exceptions being the posted 80 km/h (50 mph) limit westbound in Windsor, in most construction zones, and the 110 km/h (68 mph) speed limit on the 40 km (25 mi) stretch between Windsor and Tilbury that was raised on April 22, 2022, the 7 km (4.3 mi) extension east of the aforementioned, the 35 km (22 mi) stretch between Highway 35 / 115 and Cobourg, the 44 km (27 mi) stretch between Colborne and Belleville, the 66 km (41 mi) stretch between Belleville and Kingston, and the 107 km (66 mi) stretch between Highway 16 and the east end of the highway that were raised on July 12, 2024. (Full article...)

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Mary Greyeyes Reid (November 14, 1920 – March 31, 2011) was a Canadian World War II servicewoman. A Cree from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, she was the first First Nations woman to enlist in the Canadian Armed Forces. After joining the Canadian Women's Army Corps (CWAC) in 1942, she became the subject of an internationally famous army publicity photograph, and was sent overseas to serve in London, England, where she was introduced to public figures such as George VI and his daughter Elizabeth. Greyeyes remained in London until being discharged in 1946, after which she returned to Canada. (Full article...)

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Tuktoyaktuk in 2010 taken from ice road to Inuvik

Credit: Dlogic

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Snow Dome, Mt. Forbes, the Lyells, and others from Mt. Kitchener at the edge of the Columbia Icefield

The Canadian Rockies (French: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, which is the northern segment of the North American Cordillera, the expansive system of interconnected mountain ranges between the Interior Plains and the Pacific Coast that runs northwest–southeast from central Alaska to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico. (Full article...)

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Government of Canada wordmark

The Government of Canada (French: Gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term Government of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown (together in the Cabinet) and the federal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it is alternatively known as His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté) and is corporately branded as the Government of Canada. There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out the programs and enforce the laws established by the Parliament of Canada. (Full article...)

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House built by Mungo Martin in 1953, displaying a heraldic pole
Credit: Ryan Bushby

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Current events

June 19, 2024 – Canada–Iran relations: Canada adds Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to its list of terrorist entities. (Bloomberg)
June 12, 2024 –: The Royal Canadian Geographical Society announces that a Canadian-led team has located the wreckage of Quest, the polar exploration ship of the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition off the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. (Reuters)
May 31, 2024 –: Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton dies in prison after being attacked by another inmate earlier this month. (AP)
May 21, 2024 –: Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is reported to be on life support after being physically attacked in a prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec. (Vancouver Sun)
May 18, 2024 –: Three people are killed and five others are injured in a boat collision on Bobs Lake in Ontario, Canada. (CBC News)
May 17, 2024 –: A child in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, dies of measles, the province's first such death since 1989. (CBC News)

Past Canadian events

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... that the Canadian League for Peace and Democracy organized a 10,000-person rally at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to protest a 2,500-person fascist rally?
... that Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer who died in 1903, should not be confused with Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer and editor who died in 1903?
... that ethnic broadcasting pioneer Shushma Datt was the first Canadian woman to obtain a CRTC broadcast licence?
... that the entire inventory of historic string instruments in Canada's Musical Instrument Bank are loaned to musicians in a competition held every three years?
... that the book Sinews of Survival by Canadian ethnologist Betty Kobayashi Issenman was described on release as "a cardinal reference in the field"?
... that the Falcon Lake Incident is considered "Canada's best-documented UFO case"?
... that Canadian cricketer Divya Saxena was accused of obstructing the field in an international match but was ruled "not out"?

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The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champion. Each year the champions from three CHL member leagues—the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), along with a host team—compete in the Memorial Cup Tournament. The OHL's Saginaw Spirit are the defending champions. (Full article...)