Portal:Canada

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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Introduction  

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 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. (Full article...)

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A collage of 12 photographs representing each member of the first Montreal Canadiens team surround the phrase "Club de Hockey le Canadien 1909–10"
The 1909–10 Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club, formally Le Club de Hockey Canadien, was founded on December 4, 1909. The Canadiens are the oldest professional hockey franchise in the world. Created as a founding member of the National Hockey Association (NHA) with the aim of appealing to Montreal's francophone population, the Canadiens played their first game on January 5, 1910, and captured their first Stanley Cup in 1916. The team left the NHA and helped found the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1917. They returned to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1919, but their series against the Seattle Metropolitans was cancelled without a winner due to the Spanish flu pandemic that killed defenceman Joe Hall. The Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times: once while part of the National Hockey Association (NHA), and 23 times as members of the NHL. With 24 NHL titles overall, they are the most successful team in league history. (Full article...)


See also: historic events and sites

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Joseph Georges Gonzague Vézina (/ˈvɛzɪnə/; French: [ʒɔʁʒ vezina]; January 21, 1887 – March 27, 1926) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played seven seasons in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and nine in the National Hockey League (NHL), all with the Montreal Canadiens. After being signed by the Canadiens in 1910, Vézina played in 327 consecutive regular season games and a further 39 playoff games, before leaving early during a game in 1925 due to illness. Vézina was diagnosed with tuberculosis, and died on March 27, 1926. (Full article...)


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Woody Point, Western Newfoundland, Canada. Panorama of the Gros Morne National Park with the Tablelands, overlooking Bonne Bay
Woody Point, Western Newfoundland, Canada. Panorama of the Gros Morne National Park with the Tablelands, overlooking Bonne Bay

Woody Point, Western Newfoundland. Panorama of the Gros Morne National Park with the Tablelands, overlooking Bonne Bay

Credit: Tango7174

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Men's field lacrosse game between North Carolina and Duke

Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively modified by European colonists, reducing the violence, to create its current collegiate and professional form. (Full article...)

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The History of women in Canada is the study of the historical experiences of women living in Canada and the laws and legislation affecting Canadian women. In colonial period of Canadian history, Indigenous women's roles were often challenged by Christian missionaries, and their marriages to European fur traders often brought their communities into greater contact with the outside world. Throughout the colonial period, European women were encouraged to immigrate to Canadian colonies and expand the white population. After Confederation in 1867, women's experiences were shaped by federal laws and by legislation passed in Canada's provincial legislatures. (Full article...)

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Current events  

March 9, 2024 – Israel–Hamas war
Canada and Sweden resume funding for UNRWA, which had been suspended following the UNRWA October 7 controversy. (BBC News)
March 6, 2024 – Killing of the Wickramasinghe family
A Sri Lankan family, of four children and their mother, are killed with the father injured in a mass stabbing at a residence in the suburb of Barrhaven, in Ottawa, Canada. A young man is arrested. (CBOT-DT)
February 28, 2024 –
The Canadian government releases its report into the high-profile firings of two scientists from the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 2021, stating that the pair worked closely and covertly with the Chinese government. (National Post)
February 14, 2024 – Russia–United States relations, Russia and weapons of mass destruction
The U.S. holds emergency talks with allies, including Canada and the United Kingdom, on the Russian nuclear threat. (CBC)
January 30, 2024 – Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal
One former and four current National Hockey League players who took part in the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships are charged with sexual assault in London, Ontario, Canada in connection with the 2018 investigation. (CBC)
January 27, 2024 – Israel–Hamas war
The United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Italy, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany suspend humanitarian aid to UNRWA over allegations that some UNRWA staff members were involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel. (BBC News) (CBS News)


Did you know - show another

  • ... that because of the increasing prevalence of sesame allergy, the U.S. will join the EU and Canada in 2023 in instituting mandatory food labeling?
  • ... that the relative rarity of the radiodont Titanokorys (video featured) in Marble Canyon suggests that the deposits in which it was found may represent the outermost edge of its distribution in life?
  • ... that Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer who died in 1903, should not be confused with Carrie Jenkins Harris, the North American writer and editor who died in 1903?
  • ... that the only populated place on Kaipokok Bay in Labrador, Canada, is Postville?
  • ... that Canada's Bill C-10 has faced criticism for potentially classifying social media services as broadcasters?
  • ... 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 Sussex Drive forms part of a ceremonial route used by foreign dignitaries and royal visitors to Canada?


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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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