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Wednesday, May 15, 2024

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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 "called upon" 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.

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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Official Expo 67 Logo

The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most successful World's Fairs of the 20th century with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating. It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,500 visitors on its third day. (Full article...)

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Orr in 2010

Robert Gordon Orr OC (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest of all time. Orr used his ice skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the position of defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 12 seasons, the first 10 with the Boston Bruins, followed by two with the Chicago Black Hawks. Orr remains the only defenceman to have won the league scoring title with two Art Ross Trophies. He holds the record for most points and assists in a single season by a defenceman. Orr won a record eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL's best defenceman and three consecutive Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player (MVP). Orr was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979 at age 31, the youngest to be inducted at that time. In 2017, Orr was named by the National Hockey League as one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history. (Full article...)

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Sunset on North Tea Lake in Algonquin Provincial Park

Credit: Raul Heinrich

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The coat of arms of Canada (French: Armoiries du Canada), also known as the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada (French: armoiries royales du Canada) or, formally, as the Arms of His Majesty The King in Right of Canada (French: Armoiries de Sa Majesté Le Roi du Canada), is the arms of dominion of the Canadian monarch and, thus, also the official coat of arms of Canada. In use since 1921, it is closely modelled after the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom, with French and distinctive Canadian elements replacing or added to those derived from the British version. (Full article...)

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Canada, the world's second-largest country in total area, is dedicated to having an efficient, high-capacity multimodal transportation spanning often vast distances between natural resource extraction sites, agricultural and urban areas. Canada's transportation system includes more than 1,400,000 kilometres (870,000 mi) of roads, 10 major international airports, 300 smaller airports, 72,093 km (44,797 mi) of functioning railway track, and more than 300 commercial ports and harbours that provide access to the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic oceans as well as the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway. In 2005, the transportation sector made up 4.2% of Canada's GDP, compared to 3.7% for Canada's mining and oil and gas extraction industries. (Full article...)

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Moraine Lake in the Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada.
Credit: Gorgo

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Current events

May 15, 2024 – 2024 Canada wildfires: Authorities evacuate over 6,000 people as wildfires approach Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. (Reuters) (NPR)
May 12, 2024 –: Wildfires in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, force thousands to evacuate. (CNN)
May 3, 2024 – Canada–India diplomatic row: Three Indian men are arrested in Canada and charged with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year. The Canadian government is investigating whether the men had ties to the Indian government. (Reuters) (Toronto Star)
April 12, 2024 – War in Sudan: Canada pledges $132.2 million dollars to Sudan to help people affected by the country's ongoing humanitarian crisis. (Global News)
April 1, 2024 – Israel–Hamas war: Seven volunteers from the World Central Kitchen, including six British, Polish, Australian and Palestinian nationals and a dual American-Canadian citizen, are killed in an Israeli airstrike south of Deir el-Balah. (Al Jazeera)
March 31, 2024 – Haitian crisis: Canada deploys 70 members of its armed forces to Jamaica to train peacekeepers for a future intervention in Haiti. (CBC News)

Past Canadian events

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... that Robert Home was sent by the British Army to Canada in 1864 to report on the defence of the frontier against the eventuality of an American invasion?
... that Irene Parlby was one of The Famous Five, a group of women in Canada who fought for the right of women to be considered "persons"?
... that Moses Judah Hays leased a block of buildings to the Canadian Parliament after its seat was burned down in 1849?
... that Damon Severson scored a goal with 0.4 seconds left in regulation time to help lead Canada men's national ice hockey team to a silver medal?
... that Canadian pentathlon champion J. Howard Crocker introduced volleyball to China?
... that Canadian football player Nicholas Dheilly tied his team's single-game sack record in his debut?
... that in 2020 when Persian-Canadian countertenor Cameron Shahbazi performed in Written on Skin in Cologne, his "Luciferian charm" and "iridescent voice" were noted?

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Canada is a federation that comprises ten provinces and three territories. Its government is structured as a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as its sovereign and a Prime Minister as its head of government. Each of the country's provinces and territories also has a head of government, called premier in English. Collectively, the federal Prime Minister and provincial and territorial premiers are referred to as first ministers. In French, the term premier ministre is used in both the federal and provincial/territorial contexts. (Full article...)