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Sunday, July 21, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. It is a sparsely inhabited country of 40 million people, the vast majority residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition. The country's head of government is the prime minister, who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general, representing the monarch of Canada, the ceremonial head of state. The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and gender equality. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history, economy, and culture.

A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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Canadian forces moving toward Falaise on 14 August 1944

Operation Tractable was the final attack conducted by Canadian and Polish troops, supported by a British tank brigade, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The operation was to capture the tactically important French town of Falaise and then the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois. This operation was undertaken by the First Canadian Army with the 1st Polish Armoured Division (Generał brygady Stanisław Maczek) and a British armoured brigade against Army Group B of the Westheer in what became the largest encirclement on the Western Front during the Second World War. Despite a slow start and limited gains north of Falaise, novel tactics by the 1st Polish Armoured Division during the drive for Chambois enabled the Falaise Gap to be partially closed by 19 August 1944, trapping about 150,000 German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket. (Full article...)

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Lewis in 1944

David Lewis CC QC (born David Losz; June 23 or October 1909 – May 23, 1981) was a Canadian labour lawyer and social democratic politician. He was national secretary of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) from 1936 to 1950 and one of the key architects of the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961. In 1962, he was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP), in the House of Commons of Canada, for the York South electoral district. While an MP, he was elected the NDP's national leader and served from 1971 until 1975. After his defeat in the 1974 federal election, he stepped down as leader and retired from politics. He spent his last years as a university professor at Carleton University, and as a travel correspondent for the Toronto Star. In retirement, he was named to the Order of Canada for his political service. After suffering from cancer for a long time, he died in Ottawa in 1981. (Full article...)

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Winnipeg photographed from top of Union Bank Building, 1907

Credit: W. A. Cooper

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Bottled maple syrup

Maple syrup is a syrup made from the sap of maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple trees are tapped by drilling holes into their trunks and collecting the sap, which is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. (Full article...)

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The prime minister of Canada (French: premier ministre du Canada) is the head of government of Canada. Not outlined in any constitutional document, the office exists only per long-established convention. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons; as such, the prime minister typically sits as a member of Parliament (MP) and leads the largest party or a coalition of parties. The prime minister is appointed by the monarch's representative, the governor general, and, as first minister, selects other ministers to form the Cabinet and chairs it. Constitutionally, executive authority is vested in the monarch (who is the head of state), but, in practice, the powers of the monarch and governor general are nearly always exercised on the advice of the Cabinet, which is collectively responsible to the House of Commons. Canadian prime ministers are appointed to the Privy Council and styled as the Right Honourable (French: Le très honorable), a privilege maintained for life. (Full article...)

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Dickson Falls, Fundy National Park, New Brunswick
Credit: Danielle Langlois.

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Current events

June 19, 2024 – Canada–Iran relations: Canada adds Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to its list of terrorist entities. (Bloomberg)
June 12, 2024 –: The Royal Canadian Geographical Society announces that a Canadian-led team has located the wreckage of Quest, the polar exploration ship of the Shackleton–Rowett Expedition off the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. (Reuters)
May 31, 2024 –: Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton dies in prison after being attacked by another inmate earlier this month. (AP)
May 21, 2024 –: Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is reported to be on life support after being physically attacked in a prison in Port-Cartier, Quebec. (Vancouver Sun)
May 18, 2024 –: Three people are killed and five others are injured in a boat collision on Bobs Lake in Ontario, Canada. (CBC News)
May 17, 2024 –: A child in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, dies of measles, the province's first such death since 1989. (CBC News)

Past Canadian events

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... that the shores of Kesagami Lake in Kesagami Provincial Park (northern Ontario, Canada) are surrounded by "exceptional" peat cliffs reaching 4 metres (13 ft) in height?
... that after Norman Dawe died, he was described as "a victim of [ice] hockey because he worked too hard for it"?
... that Canadian architect Barry Downs contributed to the redevelopment of the Expo 86 site in Vancouver, the largest private development in North America at the time?
... that Premier Maurice Duplessis, angry at the fact that the federal government of Canada was taking taxes at the expense of the provinces, once demanded that Ottawa "return our loot"?
... that Canadian poets Milton Acorn, Margaret Atwood, and Gwendolyn MacEwen performed at the Bohemian Embassy on the same bill as burlesque dancer Libby Jones?
... that there's a Little Canada on Minnesota State Highway 36?
... that despite not owning a road bike the year before, Nickolas Zukowsky placed third in the 2016 Canadian National Junior Road Race Championships?

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Like most major cities, Montreal needs easy highway access from its suburbs and surrounding areas. However, because Montreal was built on an island surrounded by three rivers, it can be entered by land only on a bridge or through a tunnel. Although the city was founded in 1642, it was not until 1847 that the first fixed link to the outside was established when a wooden bridge was built across Rivière des Prairies to Île Jésus, on the site of what is now Ahuntsic Bridge. Another bridge was built immediately afterward, a few kilometers west, which became Lachapelle Bridge, and another in 1849, Pont des Saints-Anges, to the east. The latter bridge collapsed in the 1880s and was never rebuilt. (Full article...)

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