CANADA: A Brief History
• How did we get here?
• Where are we now?
• What happened?
What is a Canadian?
• A Canadian is a fellow wearing English tweeds, a Hong
Kong shirt and Spanish shoes, who sips Brazilian coffee
sweetened with Philippine sugar from a Bavarian cup
while nibbling Swiss cheese, sitting at a Danish desk
over a Persian rug, after coming home in a German car
from an Italian movie... and then writes his Member of
Parliament with a Japanese ballpoint pen on French
paper, demanding that he do something about foreigners
taking away our Canadian jobs.
»
Anonymous
The Federal Government of
Canada
Who is the Boss?
•
•
•
•
(a) The Primeminister?
(b) The President of the United States?
(c) Simon
(d) The Queen of England?
D
• Her Majesty, Queen
Elizabeth II
That was a trick question. Who is
the next most powerful?
•
•
•
•
(a) The Primeminster of Canada
(b) The Primeminster’s oldest son
(c) The Governor General of Canada
(d) The Premier of Alberta
C
The Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean.
Finally, here he is:
• Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Stephen
Harper.
Next:
The Cabinet
• Minister of Foreign Affairs
Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the
Honourable Peter Mackay
• The Cabinet is made up of the members of the Prime Minister’s
party who are most trusted. They are the Prime Minister’s advisors.
Most of the time, the Cabinet is made up of some of the Ministers of
the Government.
The Minister of the Environment
• The Honourable John Baird
The Minister of Finance
• The Honourable Jim Flaherty
The Federal Government
• There are two parts:
• The House of Commons, and
• The Senate
Some Important Dates In Canadian
History
October 7, 1763
• The Royal Proclamation. Signed by King George
the Third, it defined British territory (ceded as the
Dominion of Canada) and American territory.
The Quebec Act of 1774
• The provincial
boundaries were
defined.
• The province was
officially subject to
British criminal law.
• The province was
subject to French Civil
law.
The Constitutional Act of 1791
• Divided Quebec into
Upper and Lower
Canada (HauteCanada et BasCanada)
• Upper Canada was
under English laws;
Lower Canada was
under French laws.
• Signed on December
26, 1791.
Act of Union 1840
• Merged the English-speaking Upper Canada with the Frenchspeaking Lower Canada.
• Made it illegal for French to be spoken in the Legislation of the
Province of Canada
• Merged Upper and Lower Canada as an attempt to use the riches of
Lower Canada to support the insolvent Upper Canada.
And, of
course, the big
one:
July 1st, 1867
• The British North American Act
• Canada becomes a country!
• We have four provinces
– Ontario
– Quebec
– New Brunswick
– Nova Scotia
Other Important Dates:
• 1870 – Manitoba is admitted to Canada
• May 16, 1871 – British Columbia is
admitted to Canada
• June 26, 1873 – Prince Edward Island is
admitted to Canada
• Sept. 1, 1880 – all British possessions not
including Newfoundland are admitted to
Canada
• 1898 – The Yukon Territory is admitted
• Sept. 1, 1905 – Alberta and Saskatchewan
join Canada
• 1931 – The Statute of Westminister is
passed
– This means that the British Parliament can no longer
pass most laws affecting Canada without the permission
of the Government of Canada
• March 3, 1949 – The British North America
Act (from 1867) is amended
Newfoundland joins Canada
• July 1, 1982 – The Canada Act is passed
July 1st, 1982
•We are free!
– Britain may no longer pass any law which affects Canada
• July 1993 – formal agreements are
reached in principle to form a territory for
the Dené people of the North
• July 1993 – formal land claims
agreements with the Dené people are
signed
• April 1, 1999 – the Territory of Nunavut is
officially formed