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Thursday, August 15, 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. It is a sparsely inhabited country of just over 41 million people, the vast majority residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. 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 gender equality. 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 Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The club is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, a company that owns several professional sports teams in the city. The Maple Leafs' broadcasting rights are split between BCE Inc. and Rogers Communications. For the first 14 seasons, the team played its home games at the Mutual Street Arena, before moving to Maple Leaf Gardens in 1931. The Maple Leafs moved to their present home, Scotiabank Arena (originally named Air Canada Centre), in February 1999. (Full article...)

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Gauthier in 1919

Ida Joséphine Phoebe Éva Gauthier (September 20, 1885 – December 20 or 26, 1958) was a Canadian-American mezzo-soprano and voice teacher. She performed and popularized songs by contemporary composers throughout her career and sang in the American premieres of several works by Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky, including the title role in the latter's Perséphone. (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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Parliament Hill, 2009

Parliament Hill (French: Colline du Parlement), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose architectural elements were chosen to evoke the history of parliamentary democracy. Parliament Hill attracts approximately three million visitors each year. The Parliamentary Protective Service is responsible for law enforcement on Parliament Hill and in the parliamentary precinct, while the National Capital Commission is responsible for maintaining the nine-hectare (22-acre) area of the grounds. (Full article...)

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The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is one of the key components of Canadian sovereignty and sits at the core of Canada's constitutional federal structure and Westminster-style parliamentary democracy. The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (King-in-Council), legislative (King-in-Parliament), and judicial (King-on-the-Bench) branches of both federal and provincial jurisdictions. The current monarch is King Charles III, who has reigned since 8 September 2022. (Full article...)

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The two peaks of Mount Asgard Quttinirpaaq National Park, Nunavut
Credit: Ansgar Walk

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Current events

August 10, 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics: In the first-ever men's breakdancing event at the Olympics, Philip "Phil Wizard" Kim of Canada wins the B-Boys gold medal, with Danis "Dany Dann" Civil of France winning the silver and Victor Montalvo of the United States winning the bronze. (CBC News)
July 31, 2024 –: One person is killed and at least 40 others are injured when a tent collapses in a windstorm at a Buddhist retreat in Busby, Alberta, Canada. (CBC News)
July 28, 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics: Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics; Eleanor Harvey wins a bronze medal in fencing at the 2024 Olympics, making it the first medal Canada has ever won in fencing. (TSN)
July 27, 2024 – 2024 Summer Olympics, Canada Soccer drone spying scandal: In response to the spying incident involving the Canada women's national soccer team coaching staff using drones to spy on the New Zealand team, FIFA deducts six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women's football tournament and bans three coaches for one year, including head coach Bev Priestman. (Al Jazeera)
July 25, 2024 –: The Canada Revenue Agency announces it will revoke the charity status of the Jewish National Fund, stating that the use of its donations to fund the IDF's military infrastructure violates Canadian tax laws. (National Post)

Past Canadian events

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... that Canadian peacekeepers participated in every UN peacekeeping effort from its inception until 1989?
... that celebrities who were interviewed in The Canadian Conspiracy were paid US$500?
... that Canadian doctor James Maskalyk's book Six Months in Sudan was based on his blog?
... that Score: A Hockey Musical has been described as "so Canadian it hurts"?
... that Amanda Asay was the longest-serving member of the Canadian women's baseball team when she died at 33, having played on the team for sixteen years?
... that the Ukrainian Holodomor Memorial Day, commemorating the victims of the 1932–33 famine, is also observed in Canada?
... that in 1819 Michael O'Sullivan, a member of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, fought a duel in Montreal with William Caldwell over a proposal to create the Montreal General Hospital?

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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 highway 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...)