1.
Provinces and territories of Canada
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Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
2.
Ontario
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Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canadas most populous province by a margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and it is home to the nations capital city, Ottawa, and the nations most populous city, Toronto. There is only about 1 km of land made up of portages including Height of Land Portage on the Minnesota border. Ontario is sometimes divided into two regions, Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The great majority of Ontarios population and arable land is located in the south, in contrast, the larger, northern part of Ontario is sparsely populated with cold winters and is heavily forested. The province is named after Lake Ontario, a thought to be derived from Ontarí, io, a Huron word meaning great lake, or possibly skanadario. Ontario has about 250,000 freshwater lakes, the province consists of three main geographical regions, The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and central portions, which comprises over half the land area of Ontario. Although this area mostly does not support agriculture, it is rich in minerals and in part covered by the Central and Midwestern Canadian Shield forests, studded with lakes, Northern Ontario is subdivided into two sub-regions, Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario. The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the north and northeast, mainly swampy. Southern Ontario which is further sub-divided into four regions, Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, Golden Horseshoe, the highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 metres above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario. In the south, elevations of over 500 m are surpassed near Collingwood, above the Blue Mountains in the Dundalk Highlands, the Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern region of the province. A well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the Niagara Escarpment, the Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 87 percent of the area of the province. Point Pelee is a peninsula of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario that is the southernmost extent of Canadas mainland, Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the border of California. The climate of Ontario varies by season and location, the effects of these major air masses on temperature and precipitation depend mainly on latitude, proximity to major bodies of water and to a small extent, terrain relief. In general, most of Ontarios climate is classified as humid continental, Ontario has three main climatic regions
3.
House of Commons of Canada
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The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons chamber is located in the Centre Block of the Parliament Buildings on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, the House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as Members of Parliament. There were 308 members in the last Parliament, but that number has risen to 338 following the election on Monday October 19,2015, Members are elected by simple plurality in each of the countrys electoral districts, which are colloquially known as ridings. MPs may hold office until Parliament is dissolved and serve for constitutionally limited terms of up to five years after an election, historically however, terms have ended before their expiry and the sitting government has typically dissolved parliament within four years of an election according to a long-standing convention. In any case, an Act of Parliament now limits each term to four years, seats in the House of Commons are distributed roughly in proportion to the population of each province and territory. However, some ridings are more populous than others, and the Canadian constitution contains some provisions regarding provincial representation. As a result, there is some interprovincial and regional malapportionment relative to population, the lower of the two houses making up the parliament, the House of Commons in practice holds far more power than the upper house, the Senate. Although the approval of both Houses is necessary for legislation, the Senate very rarely rejects bills passed by the Commons, moreover, the Government of Canada is responsible solely to the House of Commons. The Prime Minister stays in office only as long as he or she retains the support, or confidence, the term derives from the Anglo-Norman word communes, referring to the geographic and collective communities of their parliamentary representatives and not the third estate, the commonality. This distinction is clear in the official French name of the body. Canada and the United Kingdom remain the only countries to use the name House of Commons for a house of parliament. The new Parliament of Canada consisted of the Queen, the Senate, the Parliament of Canada was based on the Westminster model. Unlike the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the powers of the Parliament of Canada were limited in that other powers were assigned exclusively to the provincial legislatures, the Parliament of Canada also remained subordinate to the British Parliament, the supreme legislative authority for the entire British Empire. Greater autonomy was granted by the Statute of Westminster 1931, after which new Acts of the British Parliament did not apply to Canada and these exceptions were removed by the Canada Act 1982. From 1867, the Commons met in the chamber until that was destroyed by fire in 1916. It relocated to the amphitheatre of the Victoria Memorial Museum—what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature, since then, the Commons has sat in its current chamber. The House of Commons comprises 338 members, each of whom represents a electoral district. The constitution specifies a minimum of 295 electoral districts
4.
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
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The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is one of two components of the Legislature of Ontario, the other being the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. The Legislative Assembly is the second largest Canadian provincial deliberative assembly by number of members after the National Assembly of Quebec, the Assembly meets at the Ontario Legislative Building at Queens Park in the provincial capital of Toronto. The premier is Ontarios head of government, while the Lieutenant Governor, as representative of the Queen, the largest party not forming the government is known as the Official Opposition, its leader being recognized as Leader of the Opposition by the Speaker. The Ontario Legislature is sometimes referred to as the Ontario Provincial Parliament, Members of the assembly refer to themselves as Members of the Provincial Parliament as opposed to Members of the Legislative Assembly as in many other provinces. Ontario is the province to do so, in accordance with a resolution passed in the Assembly on April 7,1938. However, the Legislative Assembly Act refers only to members of the Assembly, the current assembly was elected on June 12,2014 as part of the 41st Parliament of Ontario. The first session of the 41st Parliament opened on July 2,2014, on Friday May 2,2014, the 40th Parliament of Ontario was dissolved by Lieutenant Governor David C. Onley on the advice of Premier Kathleen Wynne after the NDP, the election was held on June 12,2014, as a result of which Kathleen Wynnes Liberal Party formed a majority government. Queens Park is a metonym for the Legislative Assembly, in accordance with the traditions of the Westminster System, most laws originate with the cabinet, and are passed by the legislature after stages of debate and decision-making. Ordinary Members of the Legislature may introduce privately, play an role in scrutinizing bills in debate and committee. Members are expected to be loyal to both their parliamentary party and to the interests of their constituents, in the Ontario legislature this confrontation provides much of the material for Oral Questions and Members Statements. Legislative scrutiny of the executive is also at the heart of much of the carried out by the Legislatures Standing Committees. Finally, it is the task of the legislature to provide the personnel of the executive, as already noted, under responsible government, ministers of the Crown are expected to be Members of the Assembly. The Legislative Assembly of Ontario is the first and the legislature in Canada to have a Coat of Arms separate from the provincial coat of arms. Green and gold are the colours in the shield of arms of the province. The Mace is the symbol of the authority of the Speaker. Shown on the left is the current Mace, on the right is the original Mace from the time of the first parliament in 1792. The crossed Maces are joined by the shield of arms of Ontario, the crown on the wreath represents national and provincial loyalties, its rim is studded with the provincial gemstone, the amethyst
5.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
6.
Ottawa River
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The Ottawa River, is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. For most of its length, it defines the border between two provinces. It is a tributary of the St. Lawrence River. The river rises from its source in Lake Capimitchigama, in the Laurentian Mountains of central Quebec, from there its route has been used to define the interprovincial border with Ontario. From Lake Timiskaming, the river flows southeast to Ottawa and Gatineau, the Ottawa River drains into the Lake of Two Mountains and the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. The river is 1,271 kilometres long, it drains an area of 146,300 square kilometres,65 percent in Quebec and the rest in Ontario, with a mean discharge of 1,950 cubic metres per second. The average annual mean waterflow measured at Carillon dam, near the Lake of Two Mountains, is 1,939 cubic metres per second, with average annual extremes of 749 to 5,351 cubic metres per second. Record historic levels since 1964 are a low of 529 cubic metres per second in 2005, the river flows through large areas of deciduous and coniferous forest formed over thousands of years as trees recolonized the Ottawa Valley after the ice age. Generally, the coniferous forests occur on old sand plains left by retreating glaciers, the deciduous forests, dominated by maple, beech, oak and ash occur in more mesic areas with better soil. The vast areas of pine were exploited by early loggers, later generations of logging removed hemlock for use in tanning leather, leaving a permanent deficit of hemlock in most forests. Associated with the logging and early settlement were vast wild fires which not only removed the forests, consequently, nearly all the forests show varying degrees of human disturbance. Tracts of older forest are uncommon, and hence they are considered of importance for conservation. The Ottawa River has large areas of wetlands, the Westmeath sand dune/wetland complex is significant for its relatively pristine sand dunes, few of which remain along the Ottawa River, and the many associated rare plants. Shirleys Bay has a biologically diverse shoreline alvar, as well as one of the largest silver maple swamps along the river, like all wetlands, these depend upon the seasonal fluctuations in the water level. High water levels help create and maintain silver maple swamps, while low water periods allow many rare plants to grow on the emerged sand. There are five principal vegetation types. One is swamp, mostly silver maple, there are four herbaceous vegetation types, named for the dominant plant species in them, Scirpus, Eleocharis, Sparganium and Typha. Which type occurs in a location depends upon factors such as substrate type, water depth, ice-scour
7.
Rideau Canal
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The Rideau Canal, also known unofficially as the Rideau Waterway, connects the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on the Ottawa River to the city of Kingston, Ontario, on Lake Ontario. It is 202 kilometres in length, the name Rideau, French for curtain, is derived from the curtain-like appearance of the Rideau Rivers twin waterfalls where they join the Ottawa River. The canal system uses sections of two rivers, the Rideau and the Cataraqui, as well as several lakes, the Rideau Canal is operated by Parks Canada. The canal was opened in 1832 as a precaution in case of war with the United States and it remains in use today primarily for pleasure boating, with most of its original structures intact, operated by Parks Canada. The locks on the open for navigation in mid-May and close in mid-October. It is the oldest continuously operated system in North America. Lawrence River, which would have severed the lifeline between Montreal and Kingston, the British built a number of other canals as well as a number of forts to impede and deter any future American invasions of Canadian territory. The initial purpose of the Rideau Canal was military, as it was intended to provide a secure supply, westward from Montreal, travel would proceed along the Ottawa River to Bytown, then southwest via the canal to Kingston and out into Lake Ontario. The objective was to bypass the stretch of the St. Lawrence bordering New York, the canal also served a commercial purpose. The Rideau Canal was easier to navigate than the St. Lawrence River because of the series of rapids between Montreal and Kingston, as a result, the Rideau Canal became a busy commercial artery from Montreal to the Great Lakes. However, by 1849, the rapids of the St. Lawrence had been tamed by a series of locks, the construction of the canal was supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers. Colonel John By decided to create a canal system instead of constructing new channels. This was an approach as it required fewer workers, was more cost effective. The canal work started in the fall of 1826, and it was completed by the spring of 1832, the final cost of the canals construction was £822,804 by the time all the costs, including land acquisitions costs, were accounted for. Given the unexpected cost overruns, John By was recalled to London and was retired with no accolades or recognition for the tremendous accomplishment hed achieved, once the canal was constructed, no further military engagements took place between Canada and the United States. Although the Rideau Canal never had to be used as a supply route. Tens of thousands of immigrants from the British Isles travelled the Rideau in this period, hundreds of barge loads of goods were shipped each year along the Rideau, allowing Montreal to compete commercially in the 1830s and 40s with New York as a major North American port. In 1841, for instance, there were 19 steamboats,3 self-propelled barges and 157 unpowered or tow barges using the Rideau Canal, as many as one thousand of the workers died from malaria, other diseases and accidents
8.
Rideau River
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The Rideau River is an Eastern Ontario river which flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. The Rideau Canal, which travel from Ottawa to the city of Kingston. The river diverges from the Canal at Hogs Back Falls in Ottawa and this practice has been going on for more than 100 years. The regulatory authority charged with protecting the Rideau River and its tributaries is the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, ISBN 0-8020-2573-0 – via Google Books. Rideau Valley Conservation Authority Biodiversity of the Rideau River
9.
ByWard Market
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ByWard Market is a district in Lower Town located east of the government and business district, surrounding the market buildings and open-air market on George, York, ByWard and William Streets. The district is bordered on the west by Sussex Drive and Mackenzie Avenue and it stretches northwards to Cathcart Street, while to the south it is bordered by Rideau Street. The name refers to the old By Ward of the City of Ottawa, the district comprises the main commercial part of the historic Lower Town area of Ottawa. According to the Canada 2011 Census, the population of the area was 3,063, the market itself is regulated by the City of Ottawas Markets Management group, which also operates the smaller west-end Parkdale Market. The market building is open year-round, and open-air stalls are operated in the warmer months offering fresh produce, traditionally, the ByWard Market area has been a focal point for Ottawas French and Irish communities. The large Catholic community supported Notre Dame Cathedral, one of the largest and oldest Roman Catholic churches in Ottawa, the shape of the cathedral was taken into account in the design of the National Gallery of Canada, which was built across Sussex Drive. The ByWard Market has constantly been an area of change, adapting to the increasingly cosmopolitan nature of downtown Ottawa. Recently, a multitude of restaurants and specialty food stores have sprouted around the market area, a four-block area around the market provides the most dense concentration of eating places, bars and nightclubs in the National Capital Region. The areas beyond this zone also offer boutiques and restaurants in abundance, having acquired a reputation as the citys premier bar district, Byward Market is thronged at night with university students and other young adults. Over the years the city has developed a series of five small, human-scale, open air courtyards, immediately east of Sussex Drive and these cobblestone courtyards are filled with flowers, park benches, fountains and sculptures. Several of the houses surrounding them are historic buildings, at the other extreme on the west side of Sussex Drive is the United States Embassy. The buildings design, by noted architect David Childs, was controversial in Ottawa. Others complained that the structure overshadowed the historic market, the neighbourhood is today markedly heterogeneous, being visited by a mix of young professionals, many families and some homeless people. At one time, the area had a serious prostitution problem, the area is mainly English-speaking but there exists a significant francophone population as well. The Market is located in proximity to the downtown, to the Rideau Centre shopping mall, to Parliament Hill. It was out of this project that the small community of Bytown grew into a flourishing commercial. Colonel By prepared plans for two sites, one on the west side of the Rideau canal, which was known as Upper Town. The land was cleared and surveyed, both villages were laid out in a grid system and divided into building lots
10.
Irish people
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The Irish people are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9,000 years according to archaeological studies, for most of Irelands recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities, including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof. The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, although Irish was their main language in the past, today the huge majority of Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, there have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Irelands conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, the 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the fathers of Europe, followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the father of chemistry, famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce, notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides, many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears, historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico and New Zealand, the United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears, in its summary of their article Who were the Celts. The National Museum Wales notes It is possible that genetic studies of ancient. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics, nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail. During the past 10,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed some different peoples arrive on its shores, the ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived, as late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Iouerne and Hiverne to the Greeks, other Latin names for people from Ireland in Classic and Mediaeval sources include Attacotti and Gael
Lower Town
