Canadian Global Issues
BRIEF HISTORY
The first people that lived in Canada were natives, primarily the Inuit (Eskimo). The Norse explorer Leif Eriksson may have reached the shores of Canada in 1000, but the actual history of the white man in the country actually began in 1497. This was when “John Cabot, an Italian in the service of Henry VII of England, reached Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. Canada was taken for France in 1534 by Jacques Cartier. France's colonization efforts were not very successful, but French explorers by the end of the 17th century had gone beyond the Great Lakes and south along the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.” (Canada) Hudson's Bay Company an English outfit had been established in 1670 and began exploiting the fisheries and fur trades. Over time, a conflict began to develop between the French and English and subsequently in 1713 Newfoundland, Hudson Bay, and Nova Scotia (Acadia) were lost to England. Later that century, during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), England extended its conquest, and Quebec fell on Sept. 13, 1759. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave England control. At that time, Canada’s population was nearly all French, but over the next few decades thousands of British colonists immigrated to Canada from the British Isles and from the American colonies. In 1849, Canada won the right to self-government. By the British North America Act of 1867, the dominion of Canada was created through the confederation of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. In 1869, Canada purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company the vast middle-west (Rupert's Land) from which the provinces of Manitoba (1870), Alberta (1905), and Saskatchewan (1905) were later formed. In 1871, British Columbia joined the dominion, and in 1873, Prince Edward Island followed. The country was linked from coast to coast in 1885 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. (Canada)
VITAL STATISTICS Population (2009 est.): 33,759,742 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 10.2/1000; infant
The first people that lived in Canada were natives, primarily the Inuit (Eskimo). The Norse explorer Leif Eriksson may have reached the shores of Canada in 1000, but the actual history of the white man in the country actually began in 1497. This was when “John Cabot, an Italian in the service of Henry VII of England, reached Newfoundland or Nova Scotia. Canada was taken for France in 1534 by Jacques Cartier. France's colonization efforts were not very successful, but French explorers by the end of the 17th century had gone beyond the Great Lakes and south along the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.” (Canada) Hudson's Bay Company an English outfit had been established in 1670 and began exploiting the fisheries and fur trades. Over time, a conflict began to develop between the French and English and subsequently in 1713 Newfoundland, Hudson Bay, and Nova Scotia (Acadia) were lost to England. Later that century, during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763), England extended its conquest, and Quebec fell on Sept. 13, 1759. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 gave England control. At that time, Canada’s population was nearly all French, but over the next few decades thousands of British colonists immigrated to Canada from the British Isles and from the American colonies. In 1849, Canada won the right to self-government. By the British North America Act of 1867, the dominion of Canada was created through the confederation of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. In 1869, Canada purchased from the Hudson's Bay Company the vast middle-west (Rupert's Land) from which the provinces of Manitoba (1870), Alberta (1905), and Saskatchewan (1905) were later formed. In 1871, British Columbia joined the dominion, and in 1873, Prince Edward Island followed. The country was linked from coast to coast in 1885 by the Canadian Pacific Railway. (Canada)
VITAL STATISTICS Population (2009 est.): 33,759,742 (growth rate: 0.8%); birth rate: 10.2/1000; infant