2.

Important facts on Canadian history

The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of Paleo-Indians thousands of years ago to the present day. Canada has been inhabited for millennia by distinctive groups of Aboriginal peoples, with distinct trade networks, spiritual beliefs, andsocial hierarchies. Some of these civilizations had long faded by the time of the first European arrivals and have been discovered through archaeological investigations. Various treaties and laws have been enacted between European settlers and the Aboriginal populations. There are reports of contact made before the 1492 voyages of Christopher Columbus and the age of discovery betweenFirst Nations, Inuit and those from other continents. The earliest known documented European exploration of Canada is described in the Icelandic Sagas, which recount the attempted Norse colonization of the Americas.[31][32] According to the Sagas, the first European to see Canada was Bjarni Herjlfsson, who was blown off course en route from Iceland toGreenland in the summer of 985 or 986 CE.[33] Around the year 1001 CE, the Sagas then refer to Leif Ericson's landing in three places to the west,[34] the first two being Helluland (possibly Baffin Island) and Markland (possibly Labrador).[32][35]Leif's third landing was at a place he called Vinland (possibly Newfoundland).[36] Norsemen (often referred to as Vikings) attempted to colonize the new land; they were driven out by the local climate and harassment by the Indigenous populace.[33] Archaeological evidence of a short-lived Norse settlement was found in L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland (carbon dating estimate 990 - 1050 CE).[31][37] The next European explorer acknowledged as landing in what is now Canada was John Cabot, who landed somewhere on the coast of North America (probably Newfoundland or Cape Breton Island) in 1497 and claimed it for King Henry VII of England. Portuguese and Spanish explorers also visited Canada, but it was the French who first began to explore further inland and set up colonies, beginning with Jacques Cartier in 1534. Under Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, the first French settlement was made in 1604 in the region of New France known as Acadie on Isle Ste-Croix (which now belongs to Maine) in the Bay of Fundy. That winter was particularly long and harsh and about half of the settlers that had accompanied Sieur de Mons died of scurvy. The following year they decided to move to a better sheltered area, establishing a new settlement atPort-Royal. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain, established a settlement at Donnacona; it would later grow to become Quebec City. The French claimed Canada as their own and 6,000 settlers arrived, settling along the St. Lawrence and in the Maritimes. Britain also had a presence in Newfoundland and, with the advent of settlements, claimed the south of Nova Scotia as well as the areas around the Hudson Bay. The first contact with the Europeans was disastrous for the first peoples. Explorers and traders brought European diseases, such as smallpox, which killed off entire villages. Relations varied between the settlers and the Natives. The French befriended the Huron peoples and entered into a mutually beneficial trading relationship with them. The Iroquois, however, became dedicated opponents of the French and warfare between the two was unrelenting, especially as the British armed the Iroquois in an effort to weaken the French. After Champlain's founding of Quebec City in 1608, it became the capital of New France. While the coastal communities were based upon the cod fishery, the economy of the interior revolved around beaver fur, which was popular in Europe. French voyageurs would travel into the hinterlands and trade with the natives. The voyageurs ranged throughout what is today Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba trading guns, gunpowder, textilesand other European manufacturing goods with the natives for furs. The fur trade encouraged only a small population, however, as minimal labour was required. Encouraging settlement was always

difficult, and while some immigration did occur, by 1760 New France had a population of only some 70,000. There were four French and Indian Wars and two additional wars in Acadia and Nova Scotia between the Thirteen American Colonies and New France from 1689 to 1763. During King William's War (1689 to 1697), military conflicts in Acadia included: Battle of Port Royal (1690); a naval battle in the Bay of Fundy (Action of July 14, 1696); and the Raid on Chignecto (1696) .[81] The Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 ended the war between the two colonial powers of England and France for a brief time.[82] During Queen Anne's War(1702 to 1713), the British Conquest of Acadia occurred in 1710,[83] resulting in Nova Scotia, other than Cape Breton, being officially ceded to the British by theTreaty of Utrecht including Rupert's Land, which France had conquered in the late 17th century (Battle of Hudson's Bay).[84] As an immediate result of this setback, France founded the powerful Fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island.[75] With the end of the Seven Years' War and the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1763), France ceded almost all of its territory in mainland North America, except for fishing rights off Newfoundland and two small islands where it could dry that fish. In turn France received the return of its sugar colony, Guadeloupe, which it considered more valuable than Canada. [91] In 1866, the Colony of British Columbia and the Colony of Vancouver Island merged into a single Colony of British Columbia, until their incorporation into the Canadian Confederation in 1871.[125] In 1873, Prince Edward Island, the Maritime colony that had opted not to join Confederation in 1867, was admitted into the country.[125] That year, John A. Macdonald (First Prime Minister of Canada) created the North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to help police the Northwest Territories.[126] Specifically the Mounties were to assert Canadian sovereignty over possible American encroachments into the sparsely populated land.[126] The Canadian Forces and civilian participation in the First World War helped to foster a sense of British-Canadian nationhood. The highpoints of Canadian military achievement during the First World War came during the Somme, Vimy, Passchendaele battles and what later became known as "Canada's Hundred Days".[135] The reputation Canadian troops earned, along with the success of Canadian flying aces including William George Barker and Billy Bishop, helped to give the nation a new sense of identity.[136] TheWar Office in 1922 reported approximately 67,000 killed and 173,000 wounded during the war.[137] This excludes civilian deaths in war-time incidents like the Halifax Explosion.[137] Support for Great Britain during the First World War caused a major political crisis over conscription, with Francophones, mainly from Quebec, rejecting national policies.[138] During the crisis, large numbers of enemy aliens (especially Ukrainians and Germans) were put under government controls.[139] The Liberal party was deeply split, with most of its Anglophone leaders joining the unionist government headed by Prime Minister Robert Borden, the leader of the Conservative party.[140] The Liberals regained their influence after the war under the leadership of William Lyon Mackenzie King, who served as prime minister with three separate terms between 1921 and 1949.[141]

Prosperity returned to Canada during the Second World War and continued in the proceeding years, with the development of universal health care, old-age pensions, and veterans' pensions.[181][182] The financial crisis of the Great Depression had led the Dominion of

Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a crown colony ruled by a British governor.[183] In 1948, the British government gave voters three Newfoundland Referendum choices: remaining a crown colony, returning to Dominion status (that is, independence), or joining Canada. Joining the United States was not made an option. After bitter debate Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province. [184] The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow(Recreation). The foreign policy of Canada during the Cold War was closely tied to that of the United States. Canada was a founding member of NATO (which Canada wanted to be a transatlantic economic and political union as well[185]). In 1950, Canada sent combat troops to Korea during the Korean War as part of the United Nations forces. The federal government's desire to assert its territorial claims in the Arctic during the Cold War manifested with the High Arctic relocation, in which Inuit were moved from Nunavik (the northern third of Quebec) to barren Cornwallis Island;[186] this project was later the subject of a long investigation by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.[187] In the 1960s, what became known as the Quiet Revolution took place in Quebec, overthrowing the old establishment which centred on the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec and led to modernizing of the economy and society.[191] Qubcois nationalists demanded independence, and tensions rose until violence erupted during the 1970 October Crisis.[192] In 1976 the Parti Qubcois was elected to power in Quebec, with a nationalist vision that included securing French linguistic rights in the province and the pursuit of some form of sovereignty for Quebec. This culminated in the 1980 referendum in Quebec on the question ofsovereigntyassociation, which was turned down by 59% of the voters.[192] In 1982, the Canada Act was passed by the British parliament and granted Royal Assent by Queen Elizabeth II on March 29, while the Constitution Act was passed by the Canadian parliament and granted Royal Assent by the Queen on April 17, thus patriating the Constitution of Canada.[200] Previously, the constitution has existed only as an act passed of the British parliament, and was not even physically located in Canada, though it could not be altered without Canadian consent.[201] At the same time, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was added in place of the previous Bill of Rights.[202] The patriation of the constitution was Trudeau's last major act as Prime Minister; he resigned in 1984. Following Mulroney's resignation as prime minister in 1993, Kim Campbell took office and became Canada's first female prime minister.[210] Campbell remained in office for only a few months: the 1993 election saw the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party from government to two seats, while the Quebec-based sovereigntist Bloc Qubcois became the official opposition.[211] Prime Minister Jean Chrtien of the Liberals took office in November 1993 with a majority government and was re-elected with further majorities during the 1997 and 2000 elections.[212] Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act.[215] Court decisions, starting in 2003, had already legalizedsame-sex marriage in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories. Before the passage of the Act, more than 3,000 same-sex couples had married in these areas.[216]

The Canadian Alliance and PC Party merged into the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003, ending a 13-year division of the conservative vote. The party was elected twice as a minority government under the leadership of Stephen Harperin the 2006 federal election and 2008 federal election.[212] Harper's Conservative Party won a majority in the 2011 federal election with the New Democratic Party forming the Official Opposition for the first time.[217] Under Harper, Canada and the United States continue to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the Canada-United States border through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.[218] From 2002 to 2011,Canada was involved in the Afghanistan War as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the NATO-commandedInternational Security Assistance Force. In July 2010, the largest purchase in Canadian military history, totalling C$9 billion for the acquisition of 65 F-35 fighters, was announced by the federal government.[219] Canada is one of several nations that assisted in the development of the F-35 and has invested over C$168 million in the program.[220] The industry varies as you look across Canada. British Columbia, on the west coast, has historically relied on natural resources such as mining and timber. Manufacturing is now becoming much more important to the economy. Alberta has benefited from considerable natural resources including oil and natural gas. It is also rich in minerals such as zinc, silver, nickel and uranium. Ontario and Quebec are the industrial center of Canada. They have a wide variety of manufactured goods. The lower part of Ontario also has very rich farm land, with many orchards. This Niagara area is also known for its wine production.