Canada Information
The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with 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 from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G8, G-20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN.
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| ...that John Rut sent the first known letter from North America and that it was from St. John's, Newfoundland on August 3, 1527? |
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The Prince of Wales Trophy, or simply the Wales Trophy, is a National Hockey League (NHL) trophy awarded to the Eastern Conference (formerly the Wales Conference) playoff champions. The trophy is awarded prior to the final series which are the championship games to decide the winner for the Stanley Cup against the Western Conference's champions. The Pittsburgh Penguins are the current holders of the trophy after winning the 2008 Eastern Conference playoffs by eliminating the Philadelphia Flyers in five games. The trophy was first established in the 1923-24 NHL season, for the champion of the NHL playoffs, but it has been the trophy for 8 different accomplishments, which also include being the NHL regular season champions, American Division regular season champions, regular season champions, East Division regular season champions, Wales Conference regular season champions, Wales Conference playoffs champions, and Eastern Conference playoffs champions.The Prince of Wales Trophy was donated by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor), in 1924. It was first presented to the playoff champion of the NHL (replacing the O'Brien Cup) who then went on to face the Western Hockey League (WHL) champion for the Stanley Cup.
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Wayne Douglas Gretzky, OC (born 26 January 1961 in Brantford, Ontario) is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player who is currently part-owner and head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes.Nicknamed "The Great One," Total Hockey: The Official Encyclopedia of the NHL calls Gretzky "the greatest player of all time." He is generally regarded as the best player of his era and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and coaches. He set 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, 6 All-Star records, won four Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and won 9 MVP awards and 10 scoring titles. He is the only player ever to total over 200 points in a season (a feat that he accomplished four times in his career). In addition, he tallied over 100 points a season for 15 NHL seasons, 13 of them consecutively. He is the only player to have his number, 99, officially retired by the National Hockey League.
Canada in pictures -
Quebec Bridge at night. / Le Pont de Québec la nuit. Credit: Martin St-Amant
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Symbols of Canada -
The current flag of Saskatchewan, which has the proportions 2:1, was adopted on 22 September 1969. The flag features the armorial bearings (coat of arms) in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the western red lily, in the fly. The upper green half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the gold lower half symbolizes the southern, prairie wheat-fields...
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No other country is in a better position than Canada to go ahead with the evolution of a national purpose devoted to all that is good and noble and exellent in the human spirit.
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In the news
- March 15: Dying Canadian infant moved to U.S. hospital for medical treatment
- March 13: Researchers identify genetic link to peanut allergies
- February 13: Canadian rapper Bad News Brown murdered in Montreal
- February 12: Canada's social insurance assets pass $140 billion in fourth quarter
- February 10: Air Canada back in the black in 2010
- February 10: City of Calgary, Canada removes fluoride from drinking water
- February 9: London and Toronto stock exchanges propose merger
- January 23: New South Wales set to adopt harsher anti-cannabis laws
- January 6: Ivory Coast expels British, Canadian ambassadors
- November 30: Tony Blair debates religion with Christopher Hitchens in Canada
- November 29: Canadian-born actor Leslie Nielsen dies aged 84
- November 28: Felix Loch wins season opening World Cup luge race in Austria
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