Canada and Stephen Joseph Harper- prime minister of Canada
Canada and Stephen Joseph Harper- prime minister of Canada
Canada (i/ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Sony SVS13AA11L Battery
Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the world's longest land border shared by the same two countries.
The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, the region's Atlantic coast. Sony SVS131A11L Battery
France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America to the United Kingdom in 1763 after the French and Indian War, which was essentially the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. In 1867,
Sony PCG-41413L Batterywith the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy, culminating in the Canada Act 1982. Sony SVS131B11L Battery
Canada is a federal state governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The country is officially bilingual and multicultural at the federal level, with a population of approximately 35 million as of 2013. Sony SVS151A11L Battery
Sony PCG-41412L Battery Canada's advanced economy is one of the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed trade networks, especially with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Sony SVS151B11L Battery
Canada is a developed country, with the ninth highest per capita income globally, and the 11th highest ranking in human development. Subsequently, Canada ranks among the highest in international measurements of education,
Sony PCG-41411L Battery government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, and economic freedom. Canada is a recognized middle power and a member of many international institutions, including the G7, G8, G20, NATO, NAFTA, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and the United Nations.[10] Sony SVS151G1GL Battery
The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[11] 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.[ Sony PCG-4121DL Battery
12] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.[12]
In the 17th and early 18th centuries, "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. The area was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada. They were reunified as the Province of Canada in 1841.[13] Sony PCG-4121EL Battery
Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title.[
14] However, as Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply Canada on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982.[15]
History
Main article: History of Canada
Further information: List of years in Canada
Aboriginal peoples
Archaeological studies and genetic analyses have indicated a human presence in the northern Yukon region from 24,500 BC, and in southern Ontario from 7500 BC.[16][17][18] The Paleo-Indian archaeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.[19Sony PCG-41211L Battery
Sony PCG-41215L Battery][20][21] The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.[22Sony PCG-41212L Battery
[23] Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and have only been discovered through archaeological investigations.[24] Sony PCG-41213L Battery
The aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000[25] and two million in the late 15th century,[26] with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.[27]
As a consequence of the European colonization, Canada's aboriginal peoples suffered from repeated outbreaks of newly introduced infectious diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), resulting in a forty- to eighty-percent population decrease in the centuries after the European arrival.[2Sony SVS13AB1GL Battery
5] Aboriginal peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations,[28] Inuit,[29] and Métis.[30] The Métis are a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers.[3Sony SVS131C1DL Battery
Sony PCG-71914L Battery1] In general, the Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the colonization period.[32]
European colonization
Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe (1771) dramatizes James Wolfe's death during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759. Sony SVS131C24L Battery
The first known attempt at European colonization began when Norsemen settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000 AD.[33] No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast for England.[34] Basque and Portuguese mariners established seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century.[3Sony SVS131E1DL Battery
Sony PCG-71912L Battery5] In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River, where on July 24 he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words "Long Live the King of France", and took possession of the territory in the name of King Francis I of France.[3
In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I.[37] French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603,
Sony PCG-71811L Battery and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608.[38] Among the French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes,
Sony PCG-71713L Batterywhile fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.[39] Sony SVS131G1DL Battery
The English established additional colonies in Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland, beginning in 1610.[40] The Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after.[35] A series of four French and Indian Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763.[41Sony SVS151C1GL Battery
Sony PCG-61913L Battery] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.[42] Sony SVS151C2DL Battery
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[15] St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[4Sony SVS151E1GL Battery
Sony PCG-61911L Battery3] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith,
Sony PCG-61813L Batteryand French civil law there. This angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the 1775 outbreak of the American Revolution.[15]
The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States.[44] New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. Sony PCG-61A11L Battery
Sony PCG-71C12L BatteryTo accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.[45]
Robert Harris's Fathers of Confederation (1884), an amalgamation of the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences of 1864.[46]
The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. Following the war, large-scale immigration to Canada from Britain and Ireland began in 1815.[26] Between 1825 and 1846, Sony PCG-61A13L Battery
Sony PCG-61A14L Battery 626,628 European immigrants reportedly landed at Canadian ports.[47] Between one-quarter and one-third of all Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891 died of infectious diseases.[25] Sony SVE141C11L Battery
The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[15] Sony SVE141D11L Battery
Sony PCG-61316L Battery The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.[ Sony SVE141L11L Battery
Sony PCG-61315L Battery48] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[49]
Confederation and expansion
An animated map showing the growth and change of Canada's provinces and territories since Confederation in 1867.
Following several constitutional conferences, the 1867 Constitution Act officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces – Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.[50][5Sony SVE151E11L Battery
Sony PCG-61311L Battery1][52] Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870.[ Sony SVE151G11L Battery
Sony PCG-61215L Battery53] British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the Confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.[5Sony SVE151G13L Battery
Sony PCG-61211L Battery4] Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative government established a National Policy of tariffs to protect the nascent Canadian manufacturing industries.[52]
To open the West, the government sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.[55]
Sony PCG-71216L Battery [56] In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon Territory. Under the Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[54] Sony SVE171C11L Battery
Early 20th century
Canadian soldiers and a Mark II tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.
Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Confederation Act, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I. Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps. Sony SVE171E11L Battery
Sony PCG-71215L BatteryThe Corps played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war.[57] Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, around 60,000 were killed and another 173,000 were wounded. Sony SVE171E12L Battery
Sony PCG-71212L Battery [58] The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objections of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain,[57
and the 1931 Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.[4]
The great depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.[
Sony PCG-71318L Battery9] In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.[60] 5Sony SVE171G112 Battery
Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.[57] Sony PCG-61713L Battery
Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.
Sony PCG-71317L Battery [57] Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied, and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[6
Sony PCG-71316L Battery1] The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[57] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.[62]
Modern times
At Rideau Hall, Governor General the Viscount Alexander of Tunis (centre) receives the bill finalizing the union of Newfoundland and Canada on March 31, 1949.
The Dominion of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) was unified with Canada in 1949.[
Sony PCG-71313L Battery63] Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965,[64] Sony PCG-91111L Battery
the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969,[65] and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.[6
Sony PCG-71217L Battery6] Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta,
opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions.[67] Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the 1982 patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[ Sony PCG-91112L Battery
68] In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.[69
At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a modern nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970,[70]
and the sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.[ Sony PCG-3B1L Battery
Sony PCG-3H3L Battery71] This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[72][73] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6 to 49.4 percent. In 1997,
Sony PCG-3H2L Batterythe Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[71] Sony PCG-3B3L Battery
In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[74Sony PCG-3B4L Battery
] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[75] and the Oka Crisis of 1990,[76] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Aboriginal groups.[77] Sony PCG-3C2L Battery
Sony PCG-3G3L Battery Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a US-led coalition force, and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.[78]
Sony PCG-3B1L Battery [79] Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to send forces to Iraq when the US invaded in 2003.[80] In 2009, Canada's economy suffered in the worldwide Great Recession, but has since rebounded modestly.[81] In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan civil war.[82] Sony PCG-3C3L Battery
Geography
Main article: Geography of Canada
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean.[83][84
Sony PCG-3F3L Battery] Greenland is to the northeast, while Saint Pierre and Miquelon is south of Newfoundland. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth.[84] The country lies between latitudes 41° and 84°N, and longitudes 52° and 141°W.
A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield, while ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains.
Sony PCG-3F2L Battery The flat and fertile prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River in the southeast, where lowlands host much of Canada's population. Sony PCG-3D4L Battery
Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude,[85] but this claim is not universally recognized. Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, Sony PCG-3E3L Battery
Sony PCG-3F1L Battery on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5°N – which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.[86] Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 202,080 kilometres (125,570 mi);[8Sony PCG-5N4L Battery
4] additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi).[87]
Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield.[88] Canada has around 31,700 large lakes,[ Sony PCG-5P2L Battery
Sony PCG-813L Battery89] more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.[90] There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, Sony PCG-5R1L Battery
Sony PCG-7185L Batteryand the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[91] The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia. Sony PCG-5R2L Battery
Sony PCG-7184L Battery The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.[92]
Canada's population density, at 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5 /sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. Sony PCG-3J1L Battery
Sony PCG-7183L BatteryThe most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[93]
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.[9Sony PCG-5P4L Battery
4] In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), Sony PCG-5S1L Battery
Sony PCG-7181L Battery while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).[95]
Government and politics
Main articles: Government of Canada and Politics of Canada
Parliament Hill in Canada's capital city, Ottawa
Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.[96][97][98
Sony PCG-7174L Battery][99] The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's ten provinces. As such, the Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada (at present David Lloyd Johnston), carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.[100][101] Sony PCG-5S2L Battery
The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in areas of governance is limited.[98][102]
Sony PCG-7173L Battery [103] In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (at present Stephen Harper),[1Sony PCG-5T1L Battery
Sony PCG-7171L Battery04] the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice.[10Sony PCG-5S3L Battery
Sony PCG-7172L Battery2] To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons.[10Sony PCG-5T2L Battery
5] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.[10Sony PCG-5T3L Battery
Sony PCG-7162L Battery2] The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Thomas Mulcair) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.[106]
The Senate chamber within the Centre Block on Parliament Hill
Each of the 308 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the governor general, either on the advice of the prime minister, within four years of the previous election, or if the government loses a confidence vote in the House.[1Sony PCG-9Z1L Battery
Sony PCG-7154L Battery07] The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75.[108] Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2011 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the New Democratic Party (the Official Opposition), Sony PCG-9Z2L Battery
Sony PCG-7153L Batterythe Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.
Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.[ Sony PCG-7142L Battery
103] Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.[109] The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.[110] Sony PCG-7151L Battery
Law
Main article: Law of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. Sony PCG-21313L Battery
Sony PCG-81411L Battery The Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to the UK, as well as adding a constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Sony PCG-31311L Battery
Sony PCG-81314L BatteryThe Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.[111] Sony PCG-41112L Battery
The Indian Chiefs Medal, presented to commemorate the Numbered Treaties of 1871–1921
Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. The Crown and Aboriginal peoples began interactions during the European colonialization period. The Indian Act, various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and native peoples.[1Sony PCG-51111L Battery
Sony PCG-81312L Battery12] Most notably, a series of eleven treaties known as the Numbered Treaties were signed between Aboriginals in Canada and the reigning Monarch of Canada between 1871 and 1921.[ Sony PCG-51113L Battery
Sony PCG-81311L Battery113] These treaties are agreements with the Canadian Crown-in-Council, administered by Canadian Aboriginal law, and overseen by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. The role of the treaties and the rights they support were reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982.[1Sony PCG-51211L Battery
Sony PCG-81214L Battery12] These rights may include provision of services such as health care, and exemption from taxation.[114] The legal and policy framework within which Canada and First Nations operate was further formalized in 2005, through the First Nations–Federal Crown Political Accord.[112]
The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill
Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down Acts of Parliament that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and has been led since 2000 by the Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin (the first female Chief Justice).[
Sony PCG-81113L Battery115] Its nine members are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with nongovernmental legal bodies. Sony PCG-51311L Battery
The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions.[116]
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.[11Sony PCG-51312L Battery
Sony PCG-81111L Battery7] Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces.[118] However, in most rural areas and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.[119]
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Canada and Military history of Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting President of the United States Barack Obama in 2009
Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of 65,000 regular personnel and approximately 53,000 reserve personnel, including supplementary reserves and civilian employees.[1
Sony PCG-61412L Battery20] The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2011, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately C$24.5 billion.[121] Sony PCG-51411L Battery
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.[12Sony PCG-51412L Battery
2] Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Sony PCG-51513L Battery Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.[1
23] Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II.[61]
Canada's strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[124][12Sony VPCF115FM battery
Sony VPCF114FX battery5] Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.[126]
Canadian Army soldiers from the Royal 22nd Regiment deploying during UNITAS exercises in April 2009
During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.[ Sony VPCF11MFX battery
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127] As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,[57Sony VPCF113FX battery] and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.[128] Sony VPCF11LFX battery
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.[129] Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).[130] Sony VPCF11DGX battery
The Halifax-class frigate HMCS Regina, a warship of the Royal Canadian Navy, near Hawaii during the 2004 RIMPAC exercises
In 2001, Canada deployed troops to Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. Starting in July 2011, Canada began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan. In all, Sony VPCF117FX battery
Canada lost 158 soldiers, one diplomat, two aid workers, and one journalist during the mission,[131] which cost approximately C$11.3 billion.[132]
In February 2007,
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Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.[13
Sony VPCF11HGX battery3] In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[134Sony VPCF112FX battery
Sony VPCF11BFX battery] Between March and October 2011, Canadian forces participated in a UN-mandated NATO intervention into the 2011 Libyan civil war.[135]
Provinces and territories
Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada
See also: Canadian federalism
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Sony VPCF11KFX battery
Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada ("Eastern Canada" refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, Sony VPCF11CGX battery
Sony VPCF11AFX battery and welfare. Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act;
Sony VPCF1190X battery the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.[136] Sony VPCF116FX battery
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A clickable map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Canada
Nations that have Free Trade Agreements with Canada as of 2009 are in dark blue, while nations in negotiations are in cyan. Canada is green.
Canada is the world's eleventh-largest economy, with a 2012 nominal GDP of approximately US$1.82 trillion.[6] It is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G8, and is one of the world's top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy.[137Sony VPCF11NFX battery][138] Canada is a mixed economy, ranking above the US and most western European nations on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom,[139Sony VPCF111FX battery
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] and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity.[140] In 2008, Canada's imported goods were worth over $442.9 billion, of which $280.8 billion originated from the United States, $11.7 billion from Japan, and $11.3 billion from the United Kingdom.[14Sony SVS13AA11L Battery
Sony PCG-41414L Battery1] The country's 2009 trade deficit totaled C$4.8 billion, compared with a C$46.9 billion surplus in 2008.[142]
Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one. Like many other First World nations, Sony PCG-41413L Batterythe Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.[143] However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the logging and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.[144]
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Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[145] Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The vastness of the Athabasca oil sands and other assets results in Canada having 13% of the global oil reserves,
Sony PCG-41411L Batterythe world's third-largest, after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.[146] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[147] Canada is a major producer of zinc and uranium, Sony SVS131A11L Battery
Sony PCG-41218L Batteryand is a leading exporter of many other minerals, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead.[145][148] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[149]
Representatives of the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States sign the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1992.
Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry. Sony SVS131B11L Battery
In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).[150] In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to "Investment Canada",Sony SVS151A11L Battery
Sony PCG-41216L Battery in order to encourage foreign investment.[151] The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994.[14
Sony PCG-41215L Battery7] In the mid-1990s, Jean Chrétien's Liberal government began to post annual budgetary surpluses, and steadily paid down the national debt.[152]
The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a major recession, which led to a significant rise in unemployment in Canada.[
Sony PCG-41214L Battery153] By October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate had reached 8.6 percent, with provincial unemployment rates varying from a low of 5.8 percent in Manitoba to a high of 17 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador.[15Sony SVS151B11L Battery
Sony PCG-41213L Battery4] Between October 2008 and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs.[155] Canada's federal debt was estimated to total $566.7 billion for the fiscal year 2010–11, up from $463.7 billion in 2008–09.[156] In addition, Canada's net foreign debt rose by $41 billion to $194 billion in the first quarter of 2010.[157
Sony PCG-41212L Battery] However, Canada's regulated banking sector (comparatively conservative among G8 nations), the federal government's pre-crisis budgetary surpluses, and its long-term policies of lowering the national debt, resulted in a less severe recession compared to other G8 nations.
Sony PCG-41211L BatteryAs of 2013, the majority of the Canadian economy has stabilized, although the country remains troubled by slow growth, sensitivity to the Eurozone crisis and higher-than-normal unemployment rates.[6][158][159] Sony SVS151G1GL Battery
Sony PCG-4121GL Battery [160] The federal government and many Canadian industries have also started to expand trade with emerging Asian markets, in an attempt to diversify exports; in 2011, Asia was Canada's second-largest export market, after the United States.[161][162] Widely debated oil pipeline proposals, in particular, are hoped to increase exports of Canadian oil reserves to China.[163][164] Sony PCG-4121DL Battery
Science and technology
Main article: Science and technology in Canada
The Canadarm robotic manipulator in action on Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-116 mission in 2006.
In 2011, Canada spent approximately C$29.9 billion on domestic research and development.[165] As of 2012, the country has produced fourteen Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine,[166] Sony PCG-4121EL Battery
Sony PCG-4121FL Battery and was ranked fourth worldwide for scientific research quality in a major 2012 survey of international scientists.[167] It is additionally home to a number of global technology firms.[168] Canada ranks seventeenth in the world for Internet users as a proportion of the population, with over 28.4 million users, equivalent to around 83 percent of its total 2012 population.[169] Sony SVS13AB1GL Battery
The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly active space program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research, and developing rockets and satellites. Canada was the third country to launch a satellite into space after the USSR and the United States, with the 1962 Alouette 1 launch.[170] Sony PCG-91311L Battery
In 1984, Marc Garneau became Canada's first astronaut. As of 2012, nine Canadians have flown into space, over the course of fifteen manned missions.[171]
Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is a pioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Sony SVS131C1DL Battery
Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS and NASA's Space Shuttle. Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospace industry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS and MOST.[1Sony SVS131C24L Battery
Sony PCG-91211L Battery72] Canada has also produced a successful and widely used sounding rocket, the Black Brant; over 1,000 Black Brants have been launched since the rocket's introduction in 1961.[173] Sony SVS131E1DL Battery
Demographics
Main article: Demographics of Canada
The 2011 Canadian census counted a total population of 33,476,688, an increase of around 5.9 percent over the 2006 figure.[5][
Sony PCG-71914L Battery174] Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth. The main drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About four-fifths of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the United States border.[ Sony SVS131G1DL Battery
Sony PCG-71913L Battery175] Approximately 80 percent of Canadians live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, the British Columbia Lower Mainland, and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.[176] Canada spans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north, Sony SVS151C1GL Battery
and approximately 95% of the population is found below the 55th parallel north. In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. Sony SVS151C2DL Battery
Sony PCG-71912L Battery In 2006, the average age was 39.5 years;[177] by 2011, it had risen to approximately 39.9 years.[178] As of 2013, the average life expectancy for Canadians is 81 years.[9]
According to the 2006 census, the country's largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (accounting for 32% of the population), followed by English (21%), French (15.8%), Scottish (15.1%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%),Sony SVS151E1GL Battery
Sony PCG-71911L Battery Italian (4.6%), Chinese (4.3%), First Nations (4.0%), Ukrainian (3.9%), and Dutch (3.3%).[179] There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands, encompassing a total of 1,172,790 people.[180] Sony PCG-61A11L Battery
Canada's aboriginal population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and four percent of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Another 16.2 percent of the population belonged to a non-aboriginal visible minority.[18Sony PCG-61A13L Battery
Sony PCG-71811L Battery1] The largest visible minority groups are South Asian (4.0%), Chinese (3.9%) and Black (2.5%). Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population rose by 27.2 percent.[182] In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) could be classified as belonging to a visible minority group, and less than one percent as aboriginal.[183]
Sony PCG-71713L Battery By 2007, almost one in five (19.8%) were foreign-born, with nearly 60 percent of new immigrants coming from Asia (including the Middle East).[18Sony PCG-61A14L Battery
Sony PCG-61913L Battery4] The leading sources of immigrants to Canada were China, the Philippines and India.[185] According to Statistics Canada, visible minority groups could account for a third of the Canadian population by 2031.[186]
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Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world,[187] driven by economic policy and family reunification. In 2010, a record 280,636 people immigrated to Canada.[1
Sony PCG-61911L Battery88] The Canadian government anticipated between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2012,[189] a similar number of immigrants as in recent years.[190] New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver.[191] Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees,[1Sony PCG-71C11L Battery
92] accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements.[193]
Canada is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of beliefs and customs. According to the 2011 census, 67.3 percent of Canadians identify as Christian; of this, Catholics make up the largest group,
Sony PCG-61813L Batteryaccounting for 38.7 percent of the population. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1% of Canadians), followed by Anglicans (5.0%), and Baptists (1.9%). Sony PCG-71C12L Battery
Sony PCG-61714L BatteryAbout 23.9 percent declare no religious affiliation, this is significantly up from 16.5% a decade earlier, as recorded in the 2001 Census. The remaining 8.8 percent are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which are Islam (3.2%) and Hinduism (1.5%).[194] Sony SVE141C11L Battery
Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,[195] contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.[84] As of 2011, 88 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 74 percent.[196] Sony SVE141D11L Battery
Sony PCG-61317L Battery In 2002, 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51 percent.[197] According to a 2012 NBC report, Canada is the most educated country in the world.[198] Sony PCG-61316L BatteryThe Programme for International Student Assessment indicates that Canadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly in mathematics, science, and reading.[199][2Sony SVE141L11L Battery
0]
Canada's two official languages are Canadian English and Canadian French. Official bilingualism is defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and Official Language Regulations;
Sony PCG-61315L Battery it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, Sony SVE151E11L Battery
Sony PCG-61312L Battery to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.[201]
English and French are the first languages of 59.7 and 23.2 percent of the population respectively. Approximately 98 percent of Canadians speak English or French: Sony SVE151G11L Battery
Sony PCG-61311L Battery 57.8 percent speak English only, 22.1 percent speak French only, and 17.4 percent speak both.[202] The English and French official-language communities, defined by the first official language spoken, constitute 73.0 and 23.6 percent of the population respectively.[203] Sony SVE151G13L Battery
he 1977 Charter of the French Language established French as the official language of Quebec.[204] Although more than 85 percent of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta, Sony SVE151J11L Battery
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T and southern Manitoba; Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec.[205] New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33 percent of the population. Sony SVE171C11L Battery
Sony PCG-61211L Battery There are also clusters of Acadians in southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and through central and western Prince Edward Island.[206]
Other provinces have no official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services, in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario,
Sony PCG-71216L Battery and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status, but is not fully co-official.[207] There are 11 Aboriginal language groups, composed of more than 65 distinct dialects.[20
Sony PCG-71215L Battery8] Of these, only the Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibway languages have a large enough population of fluent speakers to be considered viable to survive in the long term.[209] Several aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories.[21Sony SVE171E11L Battery
0] Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and is one of three official languages in the territory.[211]
In 2011, nearly 6.8 million Canadians listed a non-official language as their mother tongue.[212] Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (mainly Cantonese; 1,012,065 first-language speakers), Italian (455,040), Sony SVE171E12L Battery
Sony PCG-71212L Battery German (450,570), Punjabi (367,505) and Spanish (345,345).[213]
Culture
Main article: Culture of Canada
Bill Reid's 1980 sculpture Raven and The First Men. The Raven is a figure common to many of Canada's Aboriginal mythologies.
Canada's culture draws influences from its broad range of constituent nationalities, and policies that promote multiculturalism are constitutionally protected.[ Sony SVE171G112 Battery
Sony PCG-71211L Battery214] In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a culture of Quebec that is distinct from English Canadian culture.[215] However, as a whole, Canada is in theory a cultural mosaic – a collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures.[216] Sony PCG-61713L Battery
Sony PCG-71318L Battery Government policies such as publicly funded health care, higher taxation to redistribute wealth, the outlawing of capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, strict gun control, and the legalization of same-sex marriage are further social indicators of Canada's political and cultural values.[217] Sony PCG-91111L Battery
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Historically, Canada has been influenced by British, French, and aboriginal cultures and traditions. Through their language, art and music, aboriginal peoples continue to influence the Canadian identity.[218] Many Canadians value multiculturalism and see Canada as being inherently multicultural.[68
Sony PCG-71316L Battery] American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide.[21Sony PCG-91112L Battery
9] The preservation of a distinctly Canadian culture is supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).[220]
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The Jack Pine by Tom Thomson. Oil on canvas, 1916, in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.
Canadian visual art has been dominated by figures such as Tom Thomson – the country's most famous painter – and by the Group of Seven. Thomson's career painting Canadian landscapes spanned a decade up to his death in 1917 at age 39.[22Sony PCG-71312L Battery
Sony PCG-71313L Battery1] The Group were painters with a nationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1920. Though referred to as having seven members, five artists – Lawren Harris, Sony PCG-71217L Battery A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley – were responsible for articulating the Group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston, and by commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson became part of the Group in 1926.[22
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] Associated with the Group was another prominent Canadian artist, Emily Carr, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.[223] Since the 1950s, works of Inuit art have been given as gifts to foreign dignitaries by the Canadian government.[224] 2Sony PCG-71311L Battery
The Canadian music industry has produced internationally renowned composers, musicians and ensembles.[225] Music broadcasting in the country is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Sony PCG-3B1L Battery
Sony PCG-3G5L BatteryThe Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presents Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards, which were first awarded in 1970.[226] The national anthem of Canada, O Canada, was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony, and was officially adopted in 1980. Sony PCG-3B2L Battery
Sony PCG-3G3L Battery [227] Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.[228]
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Canada's ice hockey victory at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver
The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s.[229] Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse.[23Sony PCG-3B3L Battery
0] Seven of Canada's eight largest metropolitan areas – Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg – have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL). Other popular spectator sports in Canada include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Sony PCG-3B4L Battery
Sony PCG-3F3L Battery Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, cricket, volleyball, rugby league and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not widespread.[23
Sony PCG-3F2L Battery1] Canada has participated in almost every Olympic Games since its Olympic debut in 1900, and has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Sony PCG-3C2L Battery
Sony PCG-3F1L Battery the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, the 1994 Basketball World Championship and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada was the host nation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.[232] Sony PCG-3C3L Battery
Canada's national symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and Aboriginal sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depicted on Canada's current and previous flags, Sony PCG-3D3L Battery
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Sony PCG-3E3L Battery on the penny, and on the Arms of Canada.[233] Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada Goose, Common Loon, the Crown, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,[233] and more recently, the totem pole and Inuksuk.[234] Sony PCG-3H1L Battery
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---------------------------------------------
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959), PC, MP, is the twenty-second and current prime minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election. He is the first prime minister from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, following a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties. Sony PCG-3H2L Battery
Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, Sony PCG-3H3L Battery
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but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition.[2] In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party) and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003,
Sony PCG-9Z1L Batteryhe reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004. Sony PCG-5N4L Battery
Harper's Conservative Party won a stronger minority in the October 2008 federal election, showing a small increase in the percentage of the popular vote and increased representation in the Canadian House of Commons, with 143 of 308 seats. Sony PCG-5P2L Battery
Sony PCG-5T3L BatteryThe 40th Canadian Parliament was dissolved in March 2011, after his government failed a no-confidence vote on the issue of the Cabinet being in contempt of parliament.[3]
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In the May 2011 federal election, Harper's Conservative Party won a majority government, the first since the 2000 federal election. His party won 166 seats, an increase of 23 seats from the October 2008 election.[4]
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Harper was born and raised in Toronto, the first of three sons of Margaret (née Johnston) and Joseph Harris Harper, an accountant at Imperial Oil.[ Sony PCG-5R1L Battery
Sony PCG-5S3L Battery5] He attended Northlea Public School and, later, John G. Althouse Middle School and Richview Collegiate Institute, both in Central Etobicoke. He graduated in 1978, and was a member of Richview Collegiate's team on Reach for the Top, a television quiz show for Canadian high school students.[
Sony PCG-5S2L Battery6] Harper then enrolled at the University of Toronto but dropped out after two months.[7] He then moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he found work in the mail room at Imperial Oil.[7]
Sony PCG-5S1L Battery Later, he advanced to work on the company's computer systems. He took up post-secondary studies again at the University of Calgary, where he completed a bachelor's degree in economics. He later returned there to earn a master's degree in economics, completed in 1993.
Sony PCG-5P4L BatteryHarper has kept strong links to the University of Calgary, where he often lectured students. Harper is the most recent prime minister since Joe Clark without a law degree.
Political beginnings Sony PCG-5N2L Battery
Harper became involved in politics as a member of his high school's Young Liberals Club.[8] He later changed his political allegiance because he disagreed with the National Energy Program (NEP) of Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government.[9] Sony PCG-5R2L Battery
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He became chief aide to Progressive Conservative MP Jim Hawkes in 1985, but later became disillusioned with both the party and the government of Brian Mulroney, especially the administration's fiscal policy[8] and its inability to fully revoke the NEP until 1986. He left the PC Party that same year.[10] Sony PCG-5R2L Battery
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He was then recommended by the University of Calgary's economist Bob Mansell to Preston Manning, the founder and leader of the Reform Party of Canada. Manning invited him to participate in the party, Sony PCG-7142L Battery
and Harper gave a speech at Reform's 1987 founding convention in Winnipeg. He became the Reform Party's Chief Policy Officer, and he played a major role in drafting the 1988 election platform. He is credited with creating Reform's campaign slogan, "The West wants in!"[11] Sony PCG-7151L Battery
Harper ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1988 federal election, appearing on the ballot as Steve Harper in Calgary West. He lost by a wide margin to Hawkes, his former employer. The Reform Party did not win any seats in this election, Sony PCG-7152L Battery
Sony PCG-8151L Battery although party candidate Deborah Grey was elected as the party's first MP in a by-election shortly thereafter. Harper became Grey's executive assistant, and was her chief adviser and speechwriter until 1993. Sony PCG-7153L Battery
Sony PCG-8141L Battery [12] He remained prominent in the Reform Party's national organization in his role as policy chief, encouraging the party to expand beyond its Western base, and arguing that strictly regional parties were at risk of being taken over by radical elements.[13]
Sony PCG-7185L BatteryHe delivered a speech at the Reform Party's 1991 national convention, in which he condemned extremist views.[14]
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Harper's relationship with Manning became strained in 1992, due to conflicting strategies over the Charlottetown Accord. Harper opposed the Accord on principle for ideological reasons, while Manning was initially more open to compromise. Sony PCG-7154L Battery
Sony PCG-7184L Battery Harper also criticized Manning's decision to hire Rick Anderson as an adviser, believing that Anderson was not sufficiently committed to the Reform Party's principles.[15] He resigned as policy chief in October 1992. Sony PCG-7161L Battery
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Harper stood for office again in the 1993 federal election, and defeated Jim Hawkes amid a significant Reform breakthrough in Western Canada. His campaign likely benefited from a $50,000 print and television campaign organized by the National Citizens Coalition against Hawkes, although the NCC did not endorse Harper directly.[16] Sony PCG-7162L Battery
Reform MP
Harper emerged a prominent member of the Reform Party of Canada caucus. He was active on constitutional issues during his first term in Parliament, and played a prominent role in drafting the Reform Party's strategy for the 1995 Quebec referendum. Sony PCG-7171L Battery
Sony PCG-7182L BatteryA long-standing opponent of centralized federalism, he stood with Preston Manning in Montreal to introduce a twenty-point plan to "decentralize and modernize" Canada in the event of a "no" victory.[ Sony PCG-7181L Battery7] Harper later argued that the "no" side's narrow plurality was a worst-case scenario, in that no-one had won a mandate for change.[18]
Harper has expressed socially conservative views on some issues.[191Sony PCG-7172L Battery
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] In 1994, he opposed plans by federal Justice Minister Allan Rock to introduce spousal benefits for same-sex couples. Citing the recent failure of a similar initiative in Ontario, he was quoted as saying, "What I hope they learn is not to get into it. There are more important social and economic issues, Sony PCG-7173L Battery not to mention the unity question."[20] Harper also spoke against the possibility of the Canadian Human Rights Commission or the Supreme Court changing federal policy in these and other matters.[21] Sony PCG-21313L Battery
At the Reform Party's 1994 policy convention, Harper was part of a small minority of delegates who voted against restricting the definition of marriage to "the union of one man and one woman".[
Sony PCG-81411L Battery22] He actually opposed both same-sex marriage and mandated benefits for same-sex couples, but argued that political parties should refrain from taking official positions on these and other "issues of conscience".[23] Sony PCG-31311L Battery
Harper was the only Reform MP to support the creation of the Canadian Firearms Registry at second reading in 1995, although he later voted against it at third reading stage. He said at the time that he initially voted for the registry because of a poll showing that most of his constituents supported it, Sony PCG-41112L Battery
and added that he changed his vote when a second poll showed the opposite result. Some accused him of manipulating the second poll to achieve the result he wanted.[24] It was reported in April 1995 that some Progressive Conservatives opposed to Jean Charest's leadership wanted to remove both Charest and Manning, and unite the Reform and Progressive Conservative parties under Harper's leadership.[25] Sony PCG-51111L Battery
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Despite his prominent position in the party, Harper's relationship with the Reform Party leadership was frequently strained. In early 1994, he criticized a party decision to establish a personal expense account for Preston Manning at a time when other Reform MPs had been asked to forego parliamentary perquisites.[2Sony PCG-51113L Battery
Sony PCG-81313L Battery6] He was formally rebuked by the Reform executive council despite winning support from some MPs. His relationship with Manning grew increasingly fractious in the mid-1990s, and he pointedly declined to express any opinion on Manning's leadership during a 1996 interview.[2
Sony PCG-81312L Battery7] This friction was indicative of a fundamental divide between the two men: Harper was strongly committed to conservative principles and opposed Manning's inclinations toward populism, which Harper saw as leading to compromise on core ideological matters.[28][not in citation given] Sony PCG-51211L Battery
These tensions culminated in late 1996 when Harper announced that he would not be a candidate in the next federal election. He resigned his parliamentary seat on January 14, 1997, the same day that he was appointed as a vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative think-tank and advocacy group.[ Sony PCG-51311L Battery
Sony PCG-81311L Battery9] He was promoted to NCC president later in the year.
In April 1997, Harper suggested that the Reform Party was drifting toward social conservatism and ignoring the principles of economic conservatism.[30] The Liberal Party lost seats but managed to retain a narrow majority government in the 1997 federal election, while Reform made only modest gains. Sony PCG-51312L Battery
Out of Parliament
1997–2000
Soon after leaving Parliament, Harper and Tom Flanagan co-authored an opinion piece entitled "Our Benign Dictatorship", which argued that the Liberal Party only retained power through a dysfunctional political system and a divided opposition. Sony PCG-51411L Battery
Sony PCG-81214L Battery Harper and Flanagan argued that national conservative governments between 1917 and 1993 were founded on temporary alliances between Western populists and Quebec nationalists,
Sony PCG-81114L Battery and were unable to govern because of their fundamental contradictions. The authors called for an alliance of Canada's conservative parties, and suggested that meaningful political change might require electoral reforms such as proportional representation.
Sony PCG-81113L Battery"Our Benign Dictatorship" also commended Conrad Black's purchase of the Southam newspaper chain, arguing that his stewardship would provide for a "pluralistic" editorial view to counter the "monolithically liberal and feminist" approach of the previous management.[31]
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Harper remained active in constitutional issues. He was a prominent opponent of the Calgary Declaration on national unity in late 1997, describing it as an "appeasement strategy" against Quebec nationalism. He called for federalist politicians to reject this strategy, and approach future constitutional talks from the position that "Quebec separatists are the problem and they need to be fixed".[3
Sony PCG-81111L Battery2] In late 1999, Harper called for the federal government to establish clear rules for any future Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[33] Some have identified Harper's views as an influence on the Chrétien government's Clarity Act.[34] Sony PCG-51412L Battery
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As National Citizens Coalition (NCC) leader, Harper launched an ultimately unsuccessful legal battle against federal election laws restricting third-party advertising.[35] He led the NCC in several campaigns against the Canadian Wheat Board,[36] and supported Finance Minister Paul Martin's 2000 tax cuts as a positive first step toward tax reform.[37] Sony PCG-51511L Battery
In 1997, Harper delivered a controversial speech on Canadian identity to the Council for National Policy, a conservative American think tank. He made comments such as "Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, Sony PCG-51513L Battery
Sony PCG-61412L BatterySony PCG-51513L Battery
Sony PCG-61412L Batteryand very proud of it", "if you're like all Americans, you know almost nothing except for your own country. Which makes you probably knowledgeable about one more country than most Canadians", and "the NDP [New Democratic Party] is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men."[3Sony VPCF115FM battery
8] These statements were made public and criticized during the 2006 election. Harper argued that the speech was intended as humour, and not as serious analysis.[39]
Harper considered campaigning for the Progressive Conservative Party leadership in 1998, after Jean Charest left federal politics. Among those encouraging his candidacy were senior aides to Ontario Premier Mike Harris, including Tony Clement and Tom Long.[40] Sony VPCF11JFX battery
He eventually decided against running, arguing that it would "burn bridges to those Reformers with whom I worked for many years" and prevent an alliance of right-wing parties from taking shape.[41
Sony VPCF114FX battery] Harper was skeptical about the Reform Party's United Alternative initiative in 1999, arguing that it would serve to consolidate Manning's hold on the party leadership.[42] He also expressed concern that the UA would dilute Reform's ideological focus.[43]
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2000–01
When the United Alternative created the Canadian Alliance in 2000 as a successor party to Reform, Harper predicted that Stockwell Day would defeat Preston Manning for the new party's leadership. He expressed reservations about Day's abilities, however, and accused Day of "[making] adherence to his social views a litmus test to determine whether you're in the party or not".[44
Sony VPCF11HGX battery] Harper endorsed Tom Long for the leadership, arguing that Long was best suited to take support from the Progressive Conservative Party.[45] When Day placed first on the first ballot, Harper said that the Canadian Alliance was shifting "more towards being a party of the religious right".[46] Sony VPCF11MFX battery
After the death of Pierre Trudeau in 2000, Harper wrote an editorial criticizing Trudeau's policies as they affected Western Canada. He wrote that Trudeau "embraced the fashionable causes of his time, with variable enthusiasm and differing results", but "took a pass" on the issues that "truly defined his century".[Sony VPCF11FGX battery
Sony VPCF11BFX battery47] Harper subsequently accused Trudeau of promoting "unabashed socialism", and argued that Canadian governments between 1972 and 2002 had restricted economic growth through "state corporatism".[48] Sony VPCF113FX battery
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After the Canadian Alliance's poor showing in the 2000 election, Harper joined with other Western conservatives in co-authoring a document called the "Alberta Agenda". The letter called on Alberta to reform publicly funded health care, replace the Canada Pension Plan with a provincial plan and replace the Royal Canadian Mounted Police with a provincial police force. It became known as the "firewall letter", Sony VPCF11LFX battery
Sony VPCF1190X batterybecause it called on the provincial government to "build firewalls around Alberta" in order to stop the federal government from redistributing its wealth to less affluent regions.[49] Alberta Premier Ralph Klein agreed with some of the letter's recommendations, but distanced himself from the "firewall" comments.[50] Sony VPCF11DGX battery
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Harper also wrote an editorial in late 2000 arguing that Alberta and the rest of Canada were "embark[ing] on divergent and potentially hostile paths to defining their country". He said that Alberta had chosen the "best of Canada's heritage—Sony VPCF117FX battery
Sony VPCF11NFX battery a combination of American enterprise and individualism with the British traditions of order and co-operation" while Canada "appears content to become a second-tier socialistic country [
Sony VPCF11GGX battery...] led by a second-world strongman appropriately suited for the task". He also called for a "stronger and much more autonomous Alberta", while rejecting calls for separatism.[5
Sony VPCF111FX battery1] In the 2001 Alberta provincial election, Harper led the NCC in a "Vote Anything but Liberal" campaign.[52] Some articles from this period described him as a possible successor to Klein.[53]
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Harper and the NCC endorsed a private school tax credit proposed by Ontario's Progressive Conservative government in 2001, arguing that it would "save about $7,000 for each student who does not attend a union-run public school".Sony VPCF112FX battery
Education Minister Janet Ecker criticized this, saying that her government's intent was not to save money at the expense of public education.[54]
Day's leadership of the Canadian Alliance became increasingly troubled throughout the summer of 2001, as several party MPs called for his resignation. In June, Sony VPCF11KFX battery
Sony VPCF11CGX battery the National Post newspaper reported that former Reform MP Ian McClelland was organizing a possible leadership challenge on Harper's behalf.[55] Harper announced his resignation from the NCC presidency in August 2001, to prepare a campaign.[56]
Canadian Alliance leadership Dell XPS 14 Battery
Stockwell Day called a new Canadian Alliance leadership race for 2002, and soon declared himself a candidate. Harper emerged as Day's main rival, and declared his own candidacy on December 3, 2001. He eventually won the support of at least 28 Alliance MPs,[57] including Scott Reid, James Rajotte[58] and Keith Martin.[5Dell XPS 14D Battery
Dell Inspiron 14R Battery9] During the campaign, Harper reprised his earlier warnings against an alliance with Quebec nationalists, and called for his party to become the federalist option in Quebec.[60
Dell Inspiron 13R Battery] He argued that "the French language is not imperilled in Quebec", and opposed "special status" for the province in the Canadian Constitution accordingly.[61] He also endorsed greater provincial autonomy on Medicare, and said that he would not co-operate with the Progressive Conservatives as long as they were led by Joe Clark.[6Dell XPS 14D-L401X Battery
Dell Inspiron N4110 Battery2] On social issues, Harper argued for "parental rights" to use corporal punishment against their children and supported raising the age of sexual consent.[63] He described his potential support base as "similar to what George Bush tapped".[64] Dell XPS 15 Battery
The tone of the leadership contest turned hostile in February 2002. Harper described Day's governance of the party as "amateurish",[65] while his campaign team argued that Day was attempting to win re-election by building a narrow support base among different groups in the religious right.[66Dell XPS 15D Battery
] The Day campaign accused Harper of "attacking ethnic and religious minorities".[67] In early March, the two candidates had an especially fractious debate on CBC Newsworld.[68] The leadership vote was held on March 20, 2002. Dell XPS 15-L501X Battery
Harper was elected on the first ballot with 55% support, against 37% for Day. Two other candidates split the remainder.
After winning the party leadership, Harper announced his intention to run for Parliament in a by-election in Calgary Southwest, recently vacated by Preston Manning. Ezra Levant had already been chosen as the riding's Alliance candidate and initially declared that he would not stand aside for Harper; he subsequently reconsidered.[69Dell XPS 15-L502X Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010D Battery] The Liberals did not field a candidate, following a parliamentary tradition of allowing opposition leaders to enter the House of Commons unopposed. The Progressive Conservative candidate, Jim Prentice, also chose to withdraw.[7Dell XPS 15Z Battery
Dell Inspiron 15R Battery0] Harper was elected without difficulty over New Democrat Bill Phipps, a former United Church of Canada moderator. Harper told a reporter during the campaign that he "despise[d]" Phipps, and declined to debate him.[71] Dell XPS 17 Battery
Harper officially became Leader of the Opposition in May 2002. Later in the same month, he said that the Atlantic Provinces were trapped in "a culture of defeat" which had to be overcome, the result of policies designed by Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments. Many Atlantic politicians condemned the remark as patronizing and insensitive. The Legislature of Nova Scotia unanimously approved a motion condemning Harper's comments,[72] which were also criticized by New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord, federal Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark and others. Harper refused to apologize, and said that much of Canada was trapped by the same "can't-do" attitude.[73]
In March 2003, their speeches in favour gaining no traction in Parliament, Harper and Stockwell Day co-wrote a letter to The Wall Street Journal in which they condemned the Canadian government's unwillingness to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[74][75] Dell XPS L702X Battery
Conservative Party leadership
See also: Conservative Party of Canada leadership election, 2004
On January 12, 2004, Harper announced his resignation as Leader of the Opposition, in order to run for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. Harper was elected the first leader of the Conservative Party, Dell XPS 17-L701X Battery
with a first ballot majority against Belinda Stronach and Tony Clement on March 20, 2004. Harper's victory included strong showings in Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada.
2004 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2004
Harper led the Conservatives into the 2004 federal election. Initially, new Prime Minister Paul Martin held a large lead in polls, but this eroded due to infighting, Adscam and other scandals surrounding his government. Dell XPS 17-L702X Battery
Dell Inspiron 17R BatteryThe Liberals attempted to counter this with an early election call, as this would give the Conservatives less time to consolidate their merger.[citation needed]
Martin's weak performance in the leader's debate, along with an unpopular provincial budget by Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty in Ontario, Dell XPS L501X Battery
Dell Inspiron N7010 Batterymoved the Conservatives into a lead for a time. However, comments by Conservative MPs, leaked press releases slandering the then Prime Minister, as well as controversial TV attack ads suggesting that the Conservatives would make Canada more like the United States, caused Harper's party to lose some momentum.[citation needed] Dell XPS L502X Battery
Harper made an effort to appeal to voters in Quebec, a province where the Reform/Alliance side of the merged party had not done well. He was featured in several of the Tories' French-language campaign ads.[citation needed] Dell XPS L701X Battery
The Liberals were re-elected to power with a minority government, with the Conservatives coming in second place. The Conservatives managed to make inroads into the Liberals' Ontario stronghold, primarily in the province's socially conservative central region. However, they were shut out of Quebec, Dell Inspiron 14V Battery
Dell Inspiron N4010D Battery marking the first time that a centre-right party did not win any seats in that province. Harper, after some personal deliberation, decided to stay on as the party leader. Many credited him with bringing the Progressive Conservative Party and Canadian Alliance together in a short time to fight a close election.[citation needed] Dell Inspiron N4020 Battery
Agreement with the BQ and the NDP
Two months after the federal election, Stephen Harper privately met with Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe and New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton in a Montreal hotel.[76] On September 9, 2004, the three signed a letter addressed to then-Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, stating,
We respectfully point out that the opposition parties, who together constitute a majority in the House, have been in close consultation. We believe that, should a request for dissolution arise this should give you cause, as constitutional practice has determined, Dell Inspiron N4030 Battery
to consult the opposition leaders and consider all of your options before exercising your constitutional authority.[77][78]
On the same day the letter was written, the three party leaders held a joint press conference at which they expressed their intent to co-operate on changing parliamentary rules, and to request that the Governor General consult with them before deciding to call an election.[79] Dell Inspiron N7110 Battery
At the news conference, Harper said "It is the Parliament that's supposed to run the country, not just the largest party and the single leader of that party. That's a criticism I've had and that we've had and that most Canadians have had for a long, Dell Inspiron N7010R Battery
Dell Inspiron N3010 Batterylong time now so this is an opportunity to start to change that." However, at the time, Harper and the two other opposition leaders denied trying to form a coalition government.[76] Harper said, "This is not a coalition, but this is a co-operative effort."[
Dell Inspiron N3010R Battery79]
One month later, on October 4, Mike Duffy, now a Conservative senator (appointed by Harper), said "It is possible that you could change prime minister without having an election," and that some Conservatives wanted Harper to temporarily become prime minister without holding an election.
Dell Inspiron N5010R Battery The next day Layton walked out on talks with Harper and Duceppe, accusing them of trying to replace Paul Martin with Harper as prime minister. Both Bloc and Conservative officials denied Layton's accusations.[76] Dell Inspiron N7010D Battery
On March 26, 2011, Duceppe stated that Harper had tried to form a coalition government with the Bloc and NDP in response to Harper's allegations that the Liberals may form a coalition with the Bloc and the NDP.[80] Dell Inspiron N5110 Battery
Harper as Conservative leader and Leader of the Opposition
The Conservative Party's first policy convention was held from March 17–19, 2005, in Montreal. Harper had been rumoured to be shifting his ideology closer to that of a Blue Tory, and many thought he'd wanted to move the party's policies closer to the centre. Dell Latitude E4200 Battery
Dell Latitude E6530 BatteryAny opposition to abortion or bilingualism was dropped from the Conservative platform. Harper received an 84% endorsement from delegates in the leadership review.
Despite the party's move to the centre, the party began a concerted drive against same-sex marriage. Harper was criticized by a group of law professors for arguing that the government could override the provincial court rulings on same-sex marriage without using the "notwithstanding clause",Dell Latitude E4300 Battery
Dell Latitude E6520N Battery a provision of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also argued, in general, for lower taxes, an elected Senate, a tougher stance on crime, and closer relations with the United States.[citation needed] Dell Latitude E4310 Battery
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Following the April 2005 release of Jean Brault's damaging testimony at the Gomery Commission, implicating the Liberals in the scandal, opinion polls placed the Conservatives ahead of Liberals. The Conservatives had earlier abstained from the vote on the 2005 budget to avoid forcing an election. Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
Dell Latitude E6430 ATG BatteryWith the collapse in Liberal support and a controversial NDP amendment to the budget, the party exerted significant pressure on Harper to bring down the government. In May, Harper announced that the government had lost the "moral authority to govern".
Dell Latitude E6430 Battery Shortly thereafter, the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois united to defeat the government on a vote that some considered to be either a confidence motion or else a motion requiring an immediate test of the confidence of the House. The Martin government did not accept this interpretation and argued that vote had been on a procedural motion, Dell Latitude E5420 Battery
although they also indicated that they would bring forward their revised budget for a confidence vote the following week. Ultimately, the effort to bring down the Government failed following the decision of Conservative MP Belinda Stronach to cross the floor to the Liberal Party. The vote on the NDP amendment to the budget tied, Dell Latitude E5500 Battery
Dell Latitude E5530 Battery and with the Speaker of the House voting to continue debate, the Liberals stayed in power. At the time, some considered the matter to be a constitutional crisis.[81][82]
Harper was also criticized for supporting his caucus colleague MP Gurmant Grewal.[83] Dell Latitude E5520 Battery
Dell Latitude E5430 Battery Grewal had produced tapes of conversations with Tim Murphy, Paul Martin's chief of staff, in which Grewal claimed he had been offered a cabinet position in exchange for his defection.
Stephen Harper gives a victory speech to party faithful in Calgary after his Conservatives won the 2006 federal election.
The Liberals' support dropped after the first report from the Gomery Commission was issued. On November 24, 2005, Harper introduced a motion of non-confidence on the Liberal government, telling the House of Commons "that this government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons and needs to be removed." Dell Latitude E6120 Battery
Dell Latitude E5420M Battery As the Liberals had lost NDP support in the house by refusing to accept an NDP plan to prevent health care privatization, the no-confidence motion was passed by a vote of 171–133. It was the first time that a Canadian government had been toppled by a straight motion of non-confidence proposed by the opposition. Dell Latitude E6220 Battery
Dell Latitude E5520 Battery As a result, Parliament was dissolved and a general election was scheduled for January 23, 2006.
On February 27, 2008, allegations surfaced that two Conservative Party officials offered terminally ill, Independent MP Chuck Cadman a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government in a May 2005 budget vote.[ Dell Latitude E6320 Battery
Dell Latitude E6230 Battery84] If the story had been proved true, the actions may have been grounds for charges as a criminal offence since, under the Criminal Code of Canada, it is illegal to bribe an MP.[85]
When asked by Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk about the alleged life insurance offer then-opposition leader Stephen Harper states on an audio tape "I don't know the details. I know there were discussions"[86
Dell Latitude E6210 Battery] and goes on to say "The offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election".[86] Harper also stated that he had told the Conservative party representatives that they were unlikely to succeed. "I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind."[8Dell Latitude E6400 Battery
Dell Latitude E6410 ATG Battery
6][87] In February 2008 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigated the allegations that Section 119's provisions on bribery and corruption in the Criminal Code had been violated.[88][89] The RCMP concluded their investigation stating that there is no evidence for pressing charges.[90]
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Harper denied any wrongdoing and subsequently filed a civil libel suit against the Liberal Party of Canada. Since libel laws do not apply for statements made in the House of Commons, the basis of the lawsuit was that statements made by Liberal party members outside the House and in articles which appeared on the Liberal party web site made accusations that Harper had committed a criminal act.[87][91Dell Latitude E6410 Battery
]
The audio expert hired by Harper to prove that the tape containing the evidence was doctored reported that the latter part of the tape was recorded over, but the tape was unaltered where Harper's voice said "I don't know the details, Dell Latitude E6420 Battery
Dell Latitude E6400 ATG Battery I know that, um, there were discussions, um, but this is not for publication?" and goes on to say he "didn't know the details" when asked if he knew anything about the alleged offer to Cadman.[92] Dell Latitude E6420 ATG Battery
2006 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2006
The Conservatives began the campaign period with a policy-per-day strategy, contrary to the Liberal plan of holding off major announcements until after the Christmas holidays, so Harper dominated media coverage for the first weeks of the election. Though his party showed only modest movement in the polls, Dell Latitude E6500 Battery
Dell Latitude E6510 BatteryHarper's personal numbers, which had always significantly trailed those of his party, began to rise. In response, the Liberals launched negative ads targeting Harper, similar to their attacks in the 2004 election. Dell Latitude E6500 Battery
Dell Latitude E6510 BatteryHowever, their tactics were not sufficient to erode the Conservative's advantage, although they did manage to close what had been a ten-point advantage in public opinion. As Harper's personal numbers rose, polls found he was now considered not only more trustworthy, but a better choice for Prime Minister than Martin.[93] Dell Latitude E5500 Battery
Immediately prior to the Christmas break, in a faxed letter to NDP candidate Judy Wasylycia-Leis, the Commissioner of the RCMP, Giuliano Zaccardelli announced the RCMP had opened a criminal investigation into her complaint that it appeared Liberal Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office had leaked information leading to insider trading before making an important announcement on the taxation of income trusts. Dell Latitude E5400 Battery
On December 27, 2005, the RCMP confirmed that information in a press release. At the conclusion of the investigation, Serge Nadeau, a top Finance Department bureaucrat, was charged with criminal breach of trust. No charges were laid against then Finance Minister Ralph Goodale.[94]
The election gave Harper's Conservatives the largest number of seats in the House, although not enough for a majority government, and shortly after midnight on January 24, Martin conceded defeat. Later that day, Martin informed Governor General Michaëlle Jean that he would resign as Prime Minister, and at 6:45 p.m. Jean asked Harper to form a government. Dell Latitude E5410 Battery
Dell Latitude E6420 BatteryHarper was sworn in as Canada's 22nd Prime Minister on February 6, 2006. In his first address to Parliament as head of government, Harper opened by paying tribute to the Queen and her "lifelong dedication to duty and self-sacrifice," referring to her specifically as Canada's head of state.[ Dell Latitude E5510 Battery
95] He also said before the Canada-UK Chamber of Commerce that Canada and the United Kingdom were joined by "the golden circle of the Crown, which links us all together with the majestic past that takes us back to the Tudors, the Plantagenets, the Magna Carta, habeas corpus, petition of rights, and English common law."[9Dell latitude e6400 Battery
Dell Latitude E5520 Battery6] Journalist Graham Fraser said in the Toronto Star that Harper's speech was "one of the most monarchist speeches a Canadian prime minister has given since John Diefenbaker."[97] An analysis by Michael D. Behiels suggests a political realignment may be underway based on the continuance of Harper's government.[98] Dell latitude e6500 Battery
Prime Minister
Main article: Premiership of Stephen Harper
2008 federal election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2008
On October 14, 2008, after a 5-week-long campaign, the Conservative Party won a federal election and increased its number of seats in Parliament to 143, up from 127 at the dissolution of the previous Parliament; however, Dell Latitude E6400 ATG Battery
Dell Latitude E4300 Battery the actual popular vote among Canadians dropped slightly by 167,494 votes. As a result of the lowest voter turnout in Canadian electoral history, this represented only 22% of eligible Canadian voters, the lowest level of support of any winning party in Canadian history.[9Dell Latitude E6400 XFR Battery
Dell Latitude E4200 Battery9] Meanwhile, the number of opposition Liberal MPs fell from 95 to 77 seats. It takes 155 MPs to form a majority government in Canada's 308 seat Parliament.
2008 Parliamentary dispute and prorogation
Main article: 2008-2009 Canadian parliamentary dispute
On December 4, 2008, Harper asked Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament in order to avoid a vote of confidence scheduled for the following Monday, becoming the first Canadian PM ever to do so.[1Dell Latitude E6410 Battery
Dell Latitude E4320 Battery00] The request was granted by Jean, and the prorogation lasted until January 26, 2009. The opposition coalition dissolved shortly after, with the Conservatives winning a Liberal supported confidence vote on January 29, 2009. Dell Latitude E6410 ATG Battery
2010 prorogation
See also: 2010 Canada anti-prorogation protests and Prorogation in Canada
On December 30, 2009, Harper announced that he would request the governor general prorogue Parliament again, effective immediately on December 30, 2009, during the 2010 Winter Olympics and lasting until March 3, 2010. Dell Latitud e E6510 Battery
y
Harper stated that this was necessary for Canada's economic plan. Jean would grant the request. In an interview with CBC News, Prince Edward Island Liberal member of Parliament Wayne Easter accused the Prime Minister of "shutting democracy down".[101][102] Tom Flanagan, Harper's University of Calgary mentor and former Chief of Staff, also questioned Harper's reasoning for prorogation,
Dell Precision M6400 Batter stating that "I think the government's talking points haven't been entirely credible" and that the government's explanation of proroguing was "skirting the real issue—which is the harm the opposition parties are trying to do to the Canadian Forces" regarding the Canadian Afghan detainee issue.[1 Dell Precision M2400 Battery
03] Small demonstrations took place on January 23 in 64 Canadian cities and towns, and five cities in other countries.[104Dell Precision M4400 Battery
Dell Precision M4500 Battery] A Facebook protest group attracted over 20,000 members.[105]
A poll released by Angus Reid on January 7, found that 53% of Canadians were opposed to the prorogation, while 19% supported it. 38% of Canadians believed that Harper used the prorogation to curtail the Afghan detainee inquiry, while 23% agreed with Harper's explanation that the prorogation was necessary economically.[106] Dell Latitude E5530 Battery
2010 Senate appointments
Harper filled five vacancies in the Senate of Canada with appointments of new Conservative senators, on January 29, 2010. The Senators filled vacancies in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and New Brunswick, as well as two vacancies in Ontario. The new senators were Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu,
Dell Latitude E5430 Battery of Quebec, Bob Runciman, of Ontario, Vim Kochhar, of Ontario, Elizabeth Marshall of Newfoundland and Labrador and Rose-May Poirier, of New Brunswick. This changed the party standings in the Senate, which had been dominated by Liberals, to 51 Conservatives, 49 Liberals, and five others.[107] Dell Latitude E6120 Battery
2011 vote of non-confidence
Harper's Cabinet was defeated in a no-confidence vote on March 25, 2011, after being found in contempt of Parliament, thus triggering a general election.[108] This was the first occurrence in Commonwealth history of a government in the Westminster parliamentary tradition losing the confidence of the House of Commons on the grounds of contempt of Parliament. The no-confidence motion was carried with a vote of 156 in favor of the motion, and 145 against.[109]
2011 election
Main article: Canadian federal election, 2011
On May 2, 2011, after a 5-week campaign, Harper led the Conservatives to their third consecutive election victory—the first time a right wing party has accomplished this in half a century. The Conservatives increased their standing in Parliament to 166, up from 143 at the dissolution of the previous Parliament. Dell Latitude E6220 Battery
Dell Latitude E5220 BatteryThis resulted in the first centre-right majority government since the Progressive Conservatives won what would be their last majority in 1988. The Conservative Party also received a greater number of total votes than in 2008. Aside from ending five years of minority governments,
Dell Latitude E6530 Battery this election was notable for a number of firsts: bringing the New Democratic Party to official opposition status, the relegation of the Liberals to third place, the election of Canada's first Green Party Member of Parliament, and the decline of the Bloc Québécois (from 47 to 4 seats). Dell Latitude E6230 Battery
Domestic policy
Main article: Domestic policy of the Harper government
Stephen Harper (left) seated with Ahmadiyya leader Mirza Masroor Ahmad (right) at the grand opening of Baitun Nur, the largest mosque in Canada. (July 5, 2008)
Unlike his recent predecessors, Harper did not name one of his colleagues to the largely honorific post of Deputy Prime Minister.
Dell Latitude E6430-XFR BatteryVarious observers had expected him to name MacKay, the former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party and his deputy party leader, or Lawrence Cannon, as a Quebec lieutenant, to the post. Harper did, however, name an order of succession to act on his behalf in certain circumstances, starting with Cannon, then Jim Prentice, then the balance of his cabinet in order of precedence.[citation needed] Dell Latitude E6330 Battery
Wikinews has related news:
Harper to recognize Quebec as nation within Canada
Canadian House of Commons passes Québécois nation motion
After sidestepping the political landmine for most of the first year of his time as prime minister, much as all the post-Charlottetown Accord prime ministers had done, Harper's hand was forced to reopen the Quebec sovereignty debate after the opposition Bloc Québécois were to introduce a motion in the House that called for recognition of Quebec as a "nation". Dell Latitude E6420-ATG Battery
On November 22, 2006, Harper introduced his own motion to recognize that "the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada."[110] Five days later, Harper's motion passed, with a margin of 266–16; all federalist parties, as well as the Bloc Québécois, were formally behind it.[111]
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Economic management
As of January 2010, the ruling Conservatives had raised the federal deficit back to $36 billion dollars. It is claimed by certain pundits that the Conservatives raised Canada's deficit to the largest in the country's history.[112] Dell XPS 14 Battery
Dell Inspiron 14R Battery [113] At the same time, Canada had the lowest Debt-to-GDP in the G7 economies.[114] The Economist magazine stated that Canada had come out the recession stronger than any other rich country in the G7.[115][116]
Senate
In 2004, Harper said "the Upper House remains a dumping ground for the favoured cronies of the prime minister."[11
Dell Inspiron 13R Battery7] During his term as prime minister from 2006 to 2008, Harper let Senate retirements go unfilled, resulting in 16 Senate vacancies by the October 2008 election.[118] The one exception to this policy was Michael Fortier. When Harper first took office, he directed the Governor General to appoint Michael Fortier to both the Senate and the Cabinet, arguing the government needed representation from the city of Montreal.[11Dell XPS 14D Battery
9] Although there is a precedent for this action in Canadian history, the appointment led to criticism from opponents who claimed Harper was reneging on his push for an elected Senate. In 2008 Fortier gave up his Senate seat and sought election as a Member of Parliament (MP), but was defeated by a large margin by the incumbent Bloc Québécois MP.[120Dell XPS 14D-L401X Battery
]
After the October 2008 election, Harper again named Senate reform as a priority.[118] By December 2008, he recommended the appointment of 18 senators and in 2009 directed the Governor General to appoint an additional 9 senators. Many of those appointed had close ties with the Conservative Party, Dell XPS 15 Battery
including the campaign manager of the Conservative Party, Doug Finley. Critics accused Harper of hypocrisy (the Liberals coined the term "Harpocrisy"). Conservative Senator Bert Brown defended Harper's appointments and said "the only way [the Senate]'s ever been filled is by having people that are loyal to the prime minister who's appointing them."[117] Dell XPS 15D Battery
2011 Census
See also: 2011 Census
Ahead of the Canada 2011 Census, the government announced that the long-form questionnaire (which collects detailed demographic information) will no longer be mandatory. According to Minister of Industry Tony Clement, the change was made because of privacy-related complaints and after consulting with Statistics Canada.[121] However, Canada's privacy commissioner reported only receiving three complaints between 1995 and 2010, according to a report in the Toronto Sun.[122]
Munir Sheikh, Canada's Chief Statistician appointed on Harper's advice,[123] resigned on July 21, 2010, in protest of the government's change in policy.[124] Ivan Fellegi, the former Chief Statistician of Canada, criticized the government's decision, saying that those who are most vulnerable (such as the poor, new immigrants, and aboriginals) are least likely to respond to a voluntary form, which weakens information about their demographic.[125]
The move was opposed by some governmental and non-governmental organizations.[126] Federation of Canadian Municipalities; City of Toronto;[127] Canadian Jewish Congress; Evangelical Fellowship of Canada;[128] Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops;[129] Canadian Medical Association;[130
Dell Inspiron N5010 Battery] Statistical Society of Canada; the American Statistical Association;[131] and Registered Nurses Association of Ontario all opposed the change. However, the Fraser Institute supported the change.[13Dell XPS 15-L501X Battery
Dell Inspiron N5010D Battery2] The provincial governments of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, also opposed the change.[133]
Foreign policy
Main article: Foreign policy of the Harper government
During his term, Harper has dealt with many foreign policy issues relating to the United States, War on Terror, Arab-Israeli conflict, free trade, China and Africa.
In 2009, Harper visited China. During the visit Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao publicly scolded Harper for not visiting earlier, pointing out that "this is the first meeting between the Chinese premier and a Canadian prime minister in almost five years";[134Dell XPS 15-L502X Battery
] Harper in response said that, "it's almost been five years since we had yourself or President Hu in our country.”[134] In 2008, former prime minister Jean Chrétien had criticized Harper for missing opening ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing;[1Dell XPS 15Z Battery
Dell Inspiron 15R Battery35] in response, Dmitri Soudas, a spokesperson for Harper, called the remarks hypocritical, pointing out that Chrétien "attended one of six Olympic opening ceremonies during his 13 years as Prime Minister.[135]
On September 11, 2007, Harper visited Australia and addressed its Parliament.[136]
Michael Ignatieff criticized Harper for cutting foreign aid to Africa by $700 million, falling short of the UN Millennium Development Goals, and cutting eight African countries from the list of priority aid recipients.[137] Dell XPS 17 Battery
Afghanistan
On March 11 and March 12, 2006, Harper made a surprise trip to Afghanistan, where Canadian Forces personnel have been deployed as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force since late 2001, to visit troops in theatre as a show of support for their efforts, and as a demonstration of the government's commitment to reconstruction and stability in the region. Harper's choice of a first foreign visit was closely guarded from the press until his arrival in Afghanistan (citing security concerns), Dell XPS L702X Battery
Dell Inspiron 17R Battery and is seen as marking a significant change in relationship between the government and the military. Harper returned to Afghanistan on May 22, 2007, in a surprise two-day visit which included visiting Canadian troops at the forward operating base at Ma'Sum Ghar,
Dell Inspiron N7010 Battery located 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Kandahar, making Harper the first Prime Minister to have visited the front lines of a combat operation.[138]
Israeli and Jewish affairs
President of Argentina Cristina Kirchner and Harper
See also: International reactions to the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
At the outset of the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Harper defended Israel's "right to defend itself" and described its military campaign in Lebanon as a "measured" response, arguing that Hezbollah's release of kidnapped IDF soldiers would be the key to ending the conflict.[139]
Dell Inspiron N4010R BatterySpeaking of the situation in both Lebanon and Gaza on July 18, Harper said he wanted "not just a ceasefire, but a resolution" but such a thing would not happen until Hezbollah and Hamas recognize Israel's right to exist. Harper blamed Hezbollah for all the civilian deaths. He asserted that Hezbollah's objective is to destroy Israel through violence.[140] Dell XPS 17-L701X Battery
The media noted that Harper didn't allow reporters opportunities to ask him questions on his position. Some Canadians, including many Arab and Lebanese Canadians, criticized Harper's description of Israel's response.[141] Dell XPS 17-L702X Battery
In December 2008, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations recognized Harper's support for Israel with its inaugural International Leadership Award, pointing out Harper's decision to boycott the Durban II anti-racism conference, and his government's "support for Israel and [its] efforts at the U.N. against incitement and ... the delegitimization [of Israel]".[142]
In March 2009, Harper spoke at a Parliament Hill ceremony organized by Chabad-Lubavitch to honor the Jewish victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which included an attack on the Nariman House. He expressed condolences over the murder at Chabad's Mumbai center of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka. Dell XPS L501X Battery
Dell Inspiron N3010 BatteryHarper described the killings as "affronts to the values that unite all civilized people". Harper added that the quick installment of a new rabbi at the Chabad center in Mumbai as a signal that the Jewish people will "never bow to violence and hatred".[143] Dell XPS L502X Battery
In 2010, Canada lost a bid for a seat on the UN Security Council. While initially blaming the loss on his rival Ignatieff, Harper later said that it was due to his pro-Israeli stance. Harper then said that he would take a pro-Israeli stance, no matter what the political cost to Canada.[144][145][146] Ignatieff criticized Harper's stance as a "mistake", saying Canada would be better able to defend Israel through the Security Council than from the sidelines and pointed out that it is the Security Council that will determine if sanctions are imposed on Iran.[145]
Dell Inspiron N5010R BatteryIgnatieff also accused Harper of steering the discussion away from implementing the two-state solution, and instead rendering all discussion into a competition "about who is Israel's best friend".[137] Dell XPS L701X Battery
Free Trade with EFTA
On June 7, 2007, the Conservative government announced it had finalized free trade negotiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). Under this agreement, Canada increased its trade ties with Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. In 2006, the value of trade between these partners was $10.7 billion. Dell Inspiron 14V Battery
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Dell Inspiron N5110 BatteryCanada had originally begun negotiations with the EFTA on October 9, 1998, but talks broke down due to a disagreement over subsidies to shipyards in Atlantic Canada.[147]
Former U.S. President George W. Bush, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and Stephen Harper, right, at the Chichen-Itza archaeological ruins in 2006
United States
See also: Canada–United States relations
Shortly after being congratulated by George W. Bush for his victory, Harper rebuked U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins for criticizing the Conservatives' plans to assert Canada's sovereignty over the Arctic Ocean waters with armed forces.[148] Harper's first meeting as Prime Minister with the U.S. President occurred at the end of March 2006. Dell Inspiron N4020 Battery
The government received American news coverage during the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential primaries after the details of a conversation between Barack Obama's economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, Dell Inspiron N4030 Battery
Dell Inspiron N7110 Battery and Canadian diplomat Georges Rioux were revealed. Reportedly Goolsbee was reassuring the Canadians that Obama's comments on potentially renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were more political rhetoric than actual policy. The accuracy of these reports has been debated by both the Obama campaign and the Canadian Government. Sony PCG-4121DL Battery
The news came at a key time nearing the Ohio and Texas primaries, where perceptions among Democratic voters was (and is) that the benefits of the NAFTA agreement are dubious. Thus the appearance that Obama was not being completely forthright was attacked by his opponent Hillary Clinton.[149
Sony PCG-41414L Battery] ABC News reported that Harper's Chief of Staff, Ian Brodie was responsible for the details reaching the hands of the media.[150] Harper has denied that Brodie was responsible for the leak, and launched an investigation to find the source. The Opposition, as well as Democratic strategist Bob Shrum,[15Sony PCG-4121EL Battery
Sony PCG-41413L Battery1] criticized the Government on the issue, stating they were trying to help the Republicans by helping Hillary Clinton win the Democratic nomination instead of Obama. They also alleged the leak would hurt relations with the United States if Obama ever were to become President.[15
Sony PCG-41412L Battery2] Obama was elected President in November. In February, Obama made his first foreign visit, as president, to Ottawa, in which he affirmed support for free trade with Canada, as well as complimenting Canada on its involvement in Afghanistan.[153]
United States President Barack Obama meets with Stephen Harper in Ottawa.
Media relations and information
Harper has insisted on his right to choose who asks questions at press conferences,[154] which has caused the national media to lodge complaints.[155] In 2007, Harper was awarded the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) Sony PCG-4121FL Battery
"Code of Silence Award" for his "white-knuckled death grip on public information". "If journalists can't get basic information from the federal government, Canadians can't hold the government accountable.
Sony PCG-41218L Battery The Prime Minister's Office has repeatedly demonstrated contempt for the public's right to know," [CAJ President] Welch said. "Harper pledged to run a government that was open, transparent and accountable, but his track record to-date has been abysmal."[156] Sony PCG-4121GL Battery
Some have alleged that the Prime Minister's Office also "often informs the media about Harper's trips at such short notice that it's impossible for Ottawa journalists to attend the events".[15
Sony PCG-41216L Battery7] Harper's director of communications has denied this, saying that "this prime minister has been more accessible, gives greater media scrums and provides deeper content than any prime minister has in the last 10 to 12 years".Sony PCG-41211L Battery
Sony PCG-41215L Battery Some suggest that the Conservatives' then recent electoral success could be credited to their control of the campaign message, a practice that they continued when they became the government.[158]
The CAJ again criticized Harper's control over the media in an open letter in June 2010. The CAJ wrote "Politicians should not get to decide what information is released. This information belongs to Canadians, the taxpayers who paid for its production. Its release should be based on public interest, not political expediency. Sony PCG-41212L Battery
This breeds contempt and suspicion of government. How can people know the maternal-health initiative has been well thought out or that the monitoring of aboriginal bands has been done properly if all Canadians hear is: 'Trust us'?"[159] Sony SVS13AB1GL Battery
In keeping with Harper's election promise to change the appointment process, Rothstein's appointment involved a review by a parliamentary committee, following his nomination by the Prime Minister. Rothstein had already been short-listed, with two other candidates, by a committee convened by Paul Martin's previous Liberal government, Sony SVS131C1DL Battery
Sony PCG-91211L Battery and he was Harper's choice. Harper then had Rothstein appear before an 'ad hoc', non-partisan committee of 12 Members of Parliament. This committee was not empowered to block the appointment, though, as had been called for by some members of Harper's Conservative Party.[161] Sony SVS131C24L Battery
Justice Cromwell
On September 5, 2008, Harper nominated Justice Cromwell of Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the departure of Justice Michel Bastarache. By and large Cromwell's nomination has been well received, with many lauding the selection,[162][163] however dissent has been noted surrounding the nomination. First, Harper bypassed Parliament's Supreme Court selection panel, which was supposed to produce a list of three candidates for him to choose from.[16Sony SVS131E1DL Battery
2] Second, Newfoundland Justice Minister Jerome Kennedy criticized the appointment, citing the Newfoundland government's belief that constitutional convention stipulates that a Newfoundlander should have been named to the Court in the rotation of Atlantic Canadian Supreme Court representation.[164] Sony SVS131G1DL Battery
Honours
Harper received the Woodrow Wilson Award on October 6, 2006, for his public service in Calgary. The awards ceremony was held at the Telus Convention Centre in Calgary, the same place where he made his victory speech.[165] Sony SVS151C1GL Battery
The Time magazine also named him as Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in 2006. Stephen Handelman wrote "that the prime minister who was once dismissed as a doctrinaire backroom tactician with no experience in government has emerged as a warrior in power".[166]
On June 27, 2008, Harper was awarded the Presidential Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism by B'nai B'rith International. He is the first Canadian to be awarded this medal.[167]
On July 11, 2011, Harper was honoured by Alberta's Blood tribe. He was made honorary chief of the Kainai Nation during a ceremony, in which they recognized him for making an official apology on behalf of the Government of Canada for the residential schools abuse. Harper issued this apology in the year 2008.
Sony PCG-71913L BatteryThe chief of the tribe explained that he believes the apology officially started the healing and rebuilding of relations between the federal and native councils. Lester B. Pearson, John Diefenbaker, and Jean Chrétien are the only other prime ministers of Canada to have been awarded the same honorary title.[168] Sony SVS151C2DL Battery
September 27, 2012, Harper received the World Statesman of the Year award. This award was offered through a U.S. group of various faith representatives. This occurred at a black tie banquet in New York. Jean Chrétien was one of the previous recipients from Canada.[169] Sony SVS151E1GL Battery
Personal life
Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaking at 2009 Canada Day celebrations on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Harper married Laureen Teskey on December 11, 1993.[170] Laureen was formerly married to New Zealander Neil Fenton from 1985 to 1988.[1
Sony PCG-71911L Battery71] They have two children: Benjamin and Rachel. He is the third prime minister, after Pierre Trudeau and John Turner, to send his children to Rockcliffe Park Public School, in Ottawa. He is a member of the evangelical Christian and Missionary Alliance and attends church at the East Gate Alliance Church in Ottawa.[172] According to party literature, he is learning Spanish.[173]
An avid follower of ice hockey, he has been a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs since his childhood in the Leaside and Etobicoke communities in Toronto. He is working on a book of the history of hockey, which he hopes to publish in 2012,[1Sony PCG-61A11L Battery
Sony PCG-71713L Battery74] and writes articles occasionally on the subject.[175] Harper appeared on The Sports Network (TSN) during the broadcast of the Canada–Russia final of the 2007 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. He was interviewed and expressed his views on the state of hockey, and his preference for an overtime period in lieu of a shoot-out.[ Sony PCG-61A13L Battery
176] In February 2010, Harper interviewed former National Hockey League greats Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe for a Saskatoon Kinsmen Club charity event.[177]
Harper taped a cameo appearance in an episode of the television show Corner Gas which aired March 12, 2007.[1
Sony PCG-71614L Battery8] He reportedly owns a large vinyl record collection and is a fan of The Beatles and AC/DC.[179] In October 2009, he joined Yo-Yo Ma on stage in a National Arts Centre gala and performed "With a Little Help from My Friends". He was also accompanied by Herringbone, an Ottawa band with whom he regularly practises.[187Sony PCG-61A14L Battery
Sony PCG-61913L Battery0] He received a standing ovation after providing the piano accompaniment and lead vocals for the song.[181]
In October 2010, Harper taped a cameo appearance in an episode of the television show Murdoch Mysteries, which aired July 20, 2011, during the show's fourth season.[182][183]
Harper is 6 feet 2 inches (188 cm) tall.[184Sony PCG-71C11L Battery
Sony PCG-61911L Battery] He is the first Prime Minister to employ a personal stylist, Michelle Muntean, whose duties range from co-ordinating his clothing to preparing his hair and makeup for speeches and television appearances. While formerly on public payroll, she has been paid for by the Conservative Party since "some time [in] 2007".[185] Sony PCG-71C12L Battery
The Harper family has two cats, Stanley and Gypsy.[186]