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P:CA

Saturday, November 16, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

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

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

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

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The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, formally Le Club de Hockey Canadien, was founded on December 4, 1909. The Canadiens are the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world. Created as a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA) with the aim of appealing to Montreal's francophone population, the Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910, and captured their first Stanley Cup in 1916. The team left the NHA and helped found the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917. They returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1919, but their series against the Seattle Metropolitans was cancelled without a winner due to the Spanish flu pandemic that killed defenceman Joe Hall. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times: once while part of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and 23 times as members of the NHL. With 24 NHL titles overall, they are the most successful team in league history. (Full article...)

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Joseph Georges Gonzague Vézina (/ˈvɛzɪnə/; French: [ʒɔʁʒ vezina]; January 21, 1887 – March 27, 1926) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and nine in the National Hockey League (NHL), all with the Montreal Canadiens. After being signed by the Canadiens in 1910, Vézina played in 327 consecutive regular season games and a further 39 playoff games, before leaving early during a game in 1925 due to illness. Vézina was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and died on March 27, 1926. (Full article...)

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See also: historically significant biographies

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Panoramic view of skyline, Hamilton, Ontario

Credit: Nhl4hamilton

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Men's field lacrosse game between North Carolina and Duke

Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively modified by European colonists, reducing the violence, to create its current collegiate and professional form. (Full article...)

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The History of women in Canada is the study of the historical experiences of women living in Canada and the laws and legislation affecting Canadian women. In colonial period of Canadian history, Indigenous women's roles were often challenged by Christian missionaries, and their marriages to European fur traders often brought their communities into greater contact with the outside world. Throughout the colonial period, European women were encouraged to immigrate to Canadian colonies and expand the white population. After Confederation in 1867, women's experiences were shaped by federal laws and by legislation passed in Canada's provincial legislatures. (Full article...)

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Barred Owl, Whitby, Ontario
Credit: Mdf

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Current events

October 25, 2024 –: A man fatally shoots two of his family members before killing himself in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada. (CTV News Barrie); Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government announces that Ontario is planning to ban international students from medical schools in the province beginning in 2026. (Pelham Today)
October 24, 2024 –: Four people are killed and one other is seriously injured when a Tesla car crashes into a guardrail and struck a concrete pillar at high speed after losing control causing a fire in Toronto, Canada. (CTV News Toronto)
October 15, 2024 –: The Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is designated as a terrorist group by the Canadian government and is sanctioned by the U.S. government, due to the group's alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. (CTV News)
October 10, 2024 – Russian invasion of Ukraine: The World Bank approves a new financial intermediary fund consisting of grants from the United States, Japan, Canada, and other countries coupled with interest from frozen Russian assets to give to Ukraine as part of a $50 billion loan. (Reuters)
October 4, 2024 –: At least two people are killed and three others are injured, including one critically, in a suspected arson at a 100-year-old three-story building in the Old Montreal neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (CBC News) (CFCF-TV)

Past Canadian events

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... that Sheila Egoff, Canada's first professor of children's literature, returned to her library work immediately after retirement?
... that Canadian surgeon Robin McLeod advocated for post-operative patients to get back on their feet and move around immediately, against the prevailing guidance that they should stay in bed?
... that Fredrick Wangabo Mwenengabo, a Congolese-Canadian anthropologist and human rights activist, survived being kidnapped and held for ransom in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
... that Canadian punk rock musician Talli Osborne had only briefly spoken to the frontman of NOFX before the band wrote a song about her?
... that both Christian Albright and De'Montre Tuggle were born on the same day, named second-team all-Mid-American Conference in 2020, signed with the Chicago Bears in 2022, and debuted in the CFL in 2023?
... that Bethune: The Making of a Hero, once Canada's most expensive film, had a documentary about its troubled production shown at the 1988 Toronto International Film Festival instead of itself?
... that when Ralph Sazio, a Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductee, visited Boston University to scout a player, he became so impressed by Dave Viti that he signed him instead?

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The 400-series highways are a network of controlled-access highways in the Canadian province of Ontario, forming a special subset of the provincial highway system. They are analogous to the Interstate Highway System in the United States or the Autoroute system of neighbouring Quebec, and are regulated by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO). The 400-series designations were introduced in 1952, although Ontario had been constructing divided highways for two decades prior. Initially, only Highways 400, 401 and 402 were numbered; other designations followed in the subsequent decades. To this day, not all controlled-access highways in Ontario are a part of the 400-series highway network. The network is situated almost entirely in Southern Ontario, although Highway 400 extends into the more remote northern portion of the province. (Full article...)