The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, also known as the Battle of Quebec was a pivotal battle in the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War in the United States). The battle, which began on 13 September 1759, was fought between the British Army and Navy, and the French Army, on a plateau just outside the walls of Quebec City, on land that was originally owned by a farmer named Abraham Martin, hence the name of the battle.
The battle involved fewer than 10,000 troops between both sides, but proved to be a deciding moment in the conflict between France and Britain over the fate of New France, influencing the later creation of Canada.
The culmination of a three-month siege by the British, the battle lasted about 15 minutes. British troops commanded by General James Wolfe successfully resisted the column advance of French troops and Canadian military under Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm, using new tactics that proved extremely effective against standard military formations used in most large European conflicts. Both generals were mortally wounded during the battle; Wolfe received a blow that would end his life within only a few minutes of engagement and Montcalm died the next morning after receiving a musket ball wound just below his ribs. In the wake of the battle, France's remaining military force in Canada and the rest of North America came under increasing pressure from British forces.
While the French forces continued to fight and prevailed in several battles after Quebec was captured, the British did not relinquish their hold on the fortress. That tenacity carried over to other areas in North America; within four years, with the Treaty of Paris, most of France's possessions in eastern North America would be ceded to Great Britain.
Upper and Lower Canada
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The Canada Act of 1791 divided the colony of Quebec into two parts along the Ottawa River.
The names "upper" and "lower" come from their position along the St. Lawrence River. Upper Canada was up river, closer to the source and Lower Canada was down river, closer to the mouth of the great waterway. To travel "up river" you had to paddle against the current. To travel "down river" you would be paddling with the current as it flowed to the Atlantic Ocean.
Fenians
With the end of the American Civil War in 1865, another kind of menace was building on the United States border. This threat to the security of British North America would also push the colonies closer to union.
The Fenians were an Irish Catholic Group that hoped to free Ireland. For years they had been preparing to do battle with the British Army in North America. The Fenians' idea was to tie the enemy down, while brothers back home fought in Britain. When the American Civil War ended in April 1865, a group of former northern solders, mostly Irish Americans, formed small units intent on raiding Canada.
Rumours reached New Brunswick that the Fenians intended to occupy Campobello Island, in the mouth of Passamaquoddy Bay. The invasion collapsed, but it instilled in Maritimers the fear of possible war.
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An election was called, and a pro-Confederation party was returned to power, partly on the threat of a Fenian invasion and partly through bribes to the electorate.
The Fenians presented a more palpable threat in Upper Canada. On June 1, 1866, an estimated 1,500 Fenians crossed into Canada at the Niagara River at Buffalo.
Two days later, the news that thousands of Fenians had crossed into Upper Canada reached Harris in church, and the militia left during the Litany. The volunteers clashed with the Fenians at Ridgeway and the volunteers were routed. Ten Canadian were killed and 38 wounded.
But by June 5, the fear in London, (Upper Canada) at least, had waned. "The Fenian excitement continues but not so absorbing as it was," Harris reported. "There is a great feeling against General Napier & Colonel Peacock... It is said that Gen Napier was drunk and that Col Peacock delayed so that the volunteers at [the Battle of] Ridgeway were sacrificed."
On June 18, the volunteers all returned to their homes.
The next spring, the Fenians threatened again. John A. Macdonald suspended the protection of habeas corpus for anyone suspected of being involved with them.
But the Fenians remained a largely ineffective group. Their main gift was instilling fear. Although the Fenians failed to mount a decisive military action, they became a compelling symbol for the need for Confederation.
32. Canadas national railroad
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad".
CN is the largest railway in Canada, in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its rail network, and is currently Canada's only transcontinental railway company, spanning Canada from the Atlantic coast in Nova Scotia to the Pacific coast in British Columbia.
The Canadian National Railway is a public company with 22,000 employees and market capitalization of 32 billion CAD in 2011. CN was government-owned, having been a Canadian Crown corporation from its founding to its privatization in 1995.
Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies became four provinces of the new dominion. The existing Province of Canada was divided into the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec, and two other colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, also became provinces of the Dominion of Canada.
Canada is a federal state and not a confederate association of sovereign states, the usual meaning of confederation; but is often considered to be among the world's more decentralized federations.
In this Canadian context, confederation generally describes the political process that united the colonies in the 1860s and related events, and the subsequent incorporation of other colonies and territories. The term confederation is now often used to describe Canada in an abstract way, "the Fathers of Confederation" itself being one such usage. Provinces and territories that became part of Canada after 1867 are also said to have joined, or entered into, confederation (but not the Confederation). Confederation is, loosely translated, a confederation of colonies. The term is also used to divide Canadian history into pre-Confederation (i.e. pre-1867) and post-Confederation (i.e. post-1867) periods.
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John A. Macdonald
Sir John Alexander Macdonald (11 January 1815 6 June 1891), was the first Prime Minister of Canada. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career which spanned almost half a century. Macdonald served 19 years as Canadian Prime Minister; only William Lyon Mackenzie King served longer.
Macdonald was born in Scotland; when he was a boy his family emigrated to Kingston, Upper Canada (today in eastern Ontario). He articled with a local lawyer, who died before Macdonald qualified, and Macdonald opened his own practice, although not yet entitled to do so. He was involved in several high-profile cases and quickly became prominent in Kingston, which enabled him to seek and obtain a legislative seat in 1844. He served in the legislature of the colonial Province of Canada and by 1857 had become premier under the colony's unstable political system.
When in 1864 no party proved capable of governing for long, Macdonald agreed to a proposal from his political rival, George Brown, that the parties unite in a Great Coalition to seek federation and political reform. Macdonald was the leading figure in the subsequent discussions and conferences, which resulted in the British North America Act and the birth of Canada as a nation on 1 July 1867.
Macdonald was designated as the first Prime Minister of the new nation, and served in that capacity for most of the remainder of his life, losing office for five years in the 1870s over the Pacific Scandal (corruption in the financing of the Canadian Pacific Railway). After regaining his position, he saw the railroad through to completion in 1885, a means of transportation and freight conveyance that helped unite Canada as one nation. Macdonald is credited with creating a Canadian Confederation despite many obstacles, and expanding what was a relatively small colony to cover the northern half of North America. By the time of his death in 1891, Canada had secured most of the territory it occupies today.
Bloc Quebecois
The Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada devoted to the protection of Quebec's interests in the House of Commons of Canada, and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty. The Bloc was formed by Members of Parliament who defected from the federal Progressive Conservative Party and Liberal Party. BQ founder Lucien Bouchard was a cabinet minister in the federal Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney. The BQ seeks to create the conditions necessary for the political secession of Quebec from Canada and campaigns actively only within the province during federal elections.
As with its provincial counterpart, the Bloc Québécois has been supported by a wide range of voters in Quebec, from large sections of organised labour to more conservative rural voters. Members and supporters are known as Bloquistes. English-speaking Canadians commonly refer to the BQ as "the Bloc". The party is sometimes known as the BQ in the English-speaking media.
The Bloc won four seats in the 2011 federal election, fewer than the 12 required for official party status in the House of Commons. It remains a registered political party, but is currently the second smallest party (in front of the one-seat Green Party) in the House of Commons of Canada. It has strong informal ties to the Parti Québécois (PQ, whose members are known as "Péquistes"), the provincial party that advocates for the secession of Quebec from Canada and its independence, but the two are not linked organizationally.
Governor-general
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II. As the sovereign is shared equally with 15 other independent countries in a form of personal union, as well as with the ten other jurisdictions of Canada, and resides predominantly in her oldest realm, the United Kingdom, she, on the advice of her Canadian prime minister only, appoints the governor general to carry out most of her constitutional and ceremonial duties for an unfixed period of timeknown as serving at Her Majesty's pleasurethough five years is the normal convention. Beginning in 1959, it is also traditional to rotate between anglophone and francophone incumbents. Once in office, the governor general maintains direct contact with the Queen, wherever she may be at the time.
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David Lloyd Johnston is Governor General of Canada today.
Queen of England
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states (known as the Commonwealth realms) and their territories and dependencies, as well as head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is Supreme Governor of the Church of England and, in some of her realms, carries the title of Defender of the Faith as part of her full title.
On her accession on 6 February 1952, Queen Elizabeth became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon. From 1956 to 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. At present, in addition to the first four aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Her reign of 60 years is currently the second longest for a British monarch; only Queen Victoria has reigned longer at 63 years.
NAFTA (1994)
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is an agreement signed by the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the Canada United States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
NAFTA has two supplements: the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).
Community College
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.
In Canada, the term community college is not widely used. There are 150 institutions that could be roughly equivalent of the US community college in certain contexts. They are usually referred to simply as "colleges" since in common usage a degree granting institution is, almost, exclusively a university. In the province of Quebec, even when speaking in English, colleges are called Cégeps for Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, meaning "College of General and Vocational Education". (The word College can also refer to a private High School in Quebec).
Colleges are educational institutions providing higher education and tertiary education, granting certificates, and diplomas. Associate's degrees and bachelor's degrees are granted by universities, but, in some courses of study, there may be an agreement between colleges and universities to collaborate on the education requirements toward a degree. Only in Western Canada is the term Associates degree used as in the United States. In other parts of Canada a degree is usually attained as a 4 year study program, and to a much lesser degree now (except in Quebec, where it is the norm), in 3 years.
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Each Province has its own Educational system reflecting the decentralization of the Canadian provinces and therefore of the Education system. However most of the colleges began in the mid-1960s as a response education and training for the then emerging baby boom generation, and to provide training to the post second World War II European immigrants and newer immigrants from around the world, that were starting to enter the country.
Career College
American Career College is a privately held vocational college that specializes in health care training programs. It was founded by David Pyle in 1979. American Career College offers both Diploma and Associate Degree programs through three campuses in the Los Angeles metro area.
American Career College was founded by David Pyle in 1979 under the name of American College of Optics. Originally the school focused only on optical dispensing. In May 1997, Mr. Pyle purchased West Coast University, which was founded in 1909, out of bankruptcy and planned to develop a program for the training of registered nurses.
The school remained a little known entity running classes from its locations in downtown Los Angeles at 4021 Rosewood Avenue and [Anaheim] at 1200 North Magnolia Avenue until the approval of the vocational nursing program in 1994.
In the fall of 2008, American Career College opened a new campus in Ontario at 3130 East Sedona Court which held classes for both American Career College as well as West Coast University. Approximately 500 ACC students were relocated from the temporary campus located in Norco.
Student Loan
A student loan is designed to help students pay for university tuition, books, and living expenses. It may differ from other types of loans in that the interest rate may be substantially lower and the repayment schedule may be deferred while the student is still in education. It also differs in many countries in the strict laws regulating renegotiating and bankruptcy.
Immigration Act (1978)
The Immigration Act. 1976, in Canada was insured in 1978 by the Parliament of Canada. It focused on who should be allowed into Canada, not on who should be kept out. The act came into force in 1978, along with new immigration regulations. This act gave more power to the provinces to set their own immigration laws and defined "prohibited classes" in much broader terms. Individuals who could become a burden on social welfare or health services would now be refused entry, rather than specific categories of people, i.e. those who identified themselves as homosexual, the disabled, and so on. Further, it created four new classes of immigrants who could come to Canada: refugees, families, assisted relatives, and independent immigrants.
43. Head Tax
The Chinese head tax was a fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. The head tax was first levied after the Canadian parliament passed the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 and was meant to discourage Chinese people from entering Canada after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The tax was abolished by the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which stopped all Chinese immigration except for business people, clergy, educators, students, and other categories.
Canada Day
Canada Day is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire. Originally called Dominion Day the name was changed in 1982, the year the Canada Act was passed. Canada Day observances take place throughout Canada as well as by Canadians internationally.
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794. While the city of Vancouver is located on the North American mainland, Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is located on the island. Along with the minor islands to its immediate south, it is the only part of British Columbia that is south of the 49th Parallel.
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The island was originally named Quadra's and Vancouver's Island in commemoration of the friendly negotiations held by Spanish Commander of the Nootka Sound settlement Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, and British Naval Captain George Vancouver on Nootka Sound in 1792, to find a solution to the Nootka Crisis.
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia or the Georgia Strait is a strait between Vancouver Island (as well as its nearby Gulf Islands) and the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is approximately 240 kilometres (150 mi) long and varies in width from 18.5 to 55 kilometres (11.5 to 34 mi). Archipelagos and narrow channels mark each end of the Strait of Georgia, the Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands in the south, and the Discovery Islands in the north. The main channels to the south are Haro Strait and Rosario Strait, which connect the Strait of Georgia to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. In the north, Discovery Passage is the main channel connecting the Strait of Georgia to Johnstone Strait.
The term "Gulf of Georgia" includes waters other than the Georgia Strait proper, such as the inter-insular straits and channels of the Gulf Islands, and may refer to communities on the shore of southern Vancouver Island. As defined by George Vancouver in 1792, the Gulf of Georgia included all the inland waters beyond the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, including Puget Sound, Bellingham Bay, the waters around the San Juan Islands, as well as the Strait of Georgia.
Sasquatch
Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is the name given to an ape-like creature that some people believe inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid. The term sasquatch is an anglicized derivative of the Halkomelem word sásqets.
Most scientists discount the existence of Bigfoot and consider it to be a combination of folklore, misidentification, and hoax, rather than a living animal, because of the lack of physical evidence and the large numbers of creatures that would be necessary to maintain a breeding population. A few scientists, such as Jane Goodall Grover Krantz, and Jeffrey Meldrum, have expressed interest and some measure of belief in the creature.
Haida
The Haida are an indigenous nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their main territory is the archipelago of Haida Gwaii in northern British Columbia, but many live across the water in Southeast Alaska.
The term "Haida Nation" refers both to the people as a whole and also to their government on Canadian territory, the Council of the Haida Nation; the government for those in the United States is the Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The Haida language has erroneously been classified as one of the Na-Dene group, but today is considered to be an isolate.
Haida society continues to be very engaged in the production of a robust and highly stylized art form, a leading component of Northwest Coast art. While frequently expressed in large wooden carvings (totem poles), Chilkat weaving, or ornate jewelry, it is also moving quickly into works of popular expression such as Haida manga.
Doukhobors
Doukhobors are a sect of Russian dissenters, many of whom now live in western Canada. Since they arose as a peasant group in southern Russia with orally transmitted teachings and traditions, their origin is obscure. Their doctrines appear to have been at least partially derived from those of a 17th-century renegade preacher, Danilo Filipov, who dissented radically from the ORTHODOX CHURCH.
The Doukhobors rejected church liturgy, believing that God dwells in each human being and not in a church; they rejected secular governments; and practiced PACIFISM. They replaced the Bible with orally transmitted psalms and hymns, which they called the Living Book; these are sung to this day at the molenie (religious gatherings). Group decisions are made collectively at sobranie (community meetings). Doukhobors do not use any religious symbols at these meetings except for the display of bread, salt and water which represent the elements that sustain life. Some Doukhobors revere their chosen leaders, whom they regard as especially inspired by God, but Doukhobors generally believe that all people are equal because all have God within them. Many of them still live by the slogan coined by one of their leaders, "toil and peaceful life." Most Doukhobors no longer live communally, but many are still vegetarians and all practice pacificism.
Today, many members of the various Doukhobor groupings still struggle to forestall the effects of encroaching assimilation and declining membership. Descendants of the original Doukhobor settlers number approximately 25 000 across Canada, but about one third of that number remains active in the culture, maintaining their spiritual practices, Russian language and pacifism to varying degrees. Most of these Doukhobors live in the Kootenay region of British Columbia, with smaller groups residing in other areas of British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Since 2008, the largest group, known as the Community Doukhobors, or Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ (USCC), led by John J. Verigin Jr., has maintained a strong presence in the interior of British Columbia, while Sons of Freedom Doukhobors live in or near Krestova, BC. Other members of Doukhobor groups or independent Doukhobors live throughout western Canada.
Victoria
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 80,017 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 344,615, the 15th most populous Canadian metro region. Sometimes Victoria is described as "a bit of Old England" because of its beautiful gardens.
Victoria is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from BC's largest city of Vancouver on the mainland. The city is about 100 kilometres (62 miles) from Seattle by airplane, ferry, or the Victoria Clipper passenger-only ferry which operates daily, year round between Seattle and Victoria and 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Port Angeles, Washington by ferry across the Juan de Fuca Strait.
Named after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and of the Dominion of Canada, Victoria is one of the oldest cities in the Pacific Northwest, with British settlement beginning in 1841.
Known as the "City of Gardens", Victoria is an attractive city and a popular tourism destination with a thriving technology sector that has risen to be its largest revenue-generating private industry. The city has a large non-local student population, who come to attend the University of Victoria, Camosun College, Royal Roads University, the Sooke Schools International Program and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Victoria is also popular with retirees, who come to enjoy the temperate and usually snow-free climate of the area as well as the usually relaxed pace of the city.
