The
first inhabitants of the region were diverse Siberian
tribes, arrived through the Strait of Bering and the inuit
(Eskimos), natives of Asia. The first European contacts
were through the arrival of the Vikings explorers but
they did not remain for a long time, due specially to
the aggressive natives that resided in the area.
The natural wealth of the region attracted the attention
of the European, specially the British and French, who
began to explore the country. Between these, were John
Cabot (1450-1498, British explorations head), Henry Hudson
(English, 1550-1611), the French Jacques Cartier (1491-1557)
-who named the country as Canada- and his compatriot Samuel
Champlain (1567-1635), known as the Father of the New
France, by its works in the foundation of the colonies
that grew along the Saint Lawrence river, from Quebec
to Montreal.
The French influence and colonization also arrived at
the Maritime districts and extended with the commerce
of skins through the Great Lakes to the basins of the
Mississippi and Saint Lawrence rivers. The rivalry between
French and British was increased after the foundation
of the Hudson Bay British Company in 1670. The differences
were solved by civil wars between the 17th and 18th centuries,
culminating with the capture of Quebec and Montreal by
the British in 1759. In 1763, the Treaty of Paris established
the boundaries of the British and French territories in
Canada. During and after the War of American Independence
(1775-1783), when the colonies of North America rebelled
against the British government, thousands of British flee
to Canada, mainly to Nova Scotland and Quebec. Canada
passed through six years of war, during which the Americans
uselessly tried to invade their territories.
In 1791 the separated colonies of the High Canada (Ontario)
and Low Canada (Quebec) created the Constitutional Act.
In 1837, the two pronounced their displeasure towards
the British economic policy, untie a revolt with the intention
to obtain a self-government that leaded to political reforms
and the unification of Canada. In the decade of 1840 begun
great commercial interchange between Canada and the U.S.A.
With the intention to appease the British intervention,
both countries began the construction of railway lines
to shorten distances. The Canadians, which felt very close
to the American revolution, began to look the way to proclaim
a federal union, until July 1 of 1867, when it becomes
an independent country.
From this moment Canada began to expand in British territory,
as a form to recover land, it was a time of prosperity
that was favoured with the construction of a railway line
(Transcontinental Railroad Canadian Pacific, in 1885)
and the "gold fever" at the end of the century
in Klondike. The main amount of immigrants came from Germany,
Scandinavia, the Ukraine, China and Japan. After the support
offered to the Allied forces in World War I, Canada gains
the status of British Dominion with great autonomy, granted
by the Statute of Westminster of 1931. Only in 1982, Isabel
II proclaimed the new Constitutional Act by which transfers
the legal and statutory authority from the United Kingdom
to Canada, granting its independence.
Between 1968 and 1984, the political life was dominated
by the charismatic figure of Pierre Trudeau, the Liberal
Party leader and four times Prime minister. After he retired
of politics in 1984, its party lost almost all its influence.
Also in 1984, the Brian Mulroney Conservative Progressive
Party wins the elections, becoming then prime minister.
His government were established on the formation of a
solid economy, through Free Trade Agreement with different
countries. During 1991, he is called to the maintenance
of the national unit, displaying a project to maintain
within the Canadian Confederation the province of Quebec,
that asked for its separation. In addition, he reached
an agreement with the indigenous, mainly the Eskimos,
to establish their territories and the inherent right
to their own government.
In 1993, Kim Campbell took the place from Mulroney at
the top of the Conservative Party shortly before the general
elections. The conservatives suffered one serious defeat,
reaching only two parliamentary positions in the 1993
election. The new prime minister and leader of the Liberal
Party, Jean Chrétien, introduced a package of measures
and economic reforms destined to impel the economy and
to start up the NAFTA agreements with Mexico and the United
States sooner as possible. In 1994, the North American
Free Trade Agreement established between Mexico, the United
States and Canada takes effect.
The problem of Quebec becomes more and more difficult
to solve. The election, in 1994, of the separatist Jacques
Parizeau as Governor of Quebec causes that twelve months
later a new referendum were carried out on the independence
of Quebec. The result was favorable to the Federation
but with a narrow margin, demonstrating that the province
is still very divided.
In March of 1999, the Ottawa government guaranteed the
autonomy to the new Nunavut territory to the Northeast
of Canada, where almost 95% of its population (25 000
people approximately) are inuits. The main problem of
this territory is economic: the traditional sources of
work, as the exchange of skins and whales, have declined
during the last years. In addition, the mining and oil
industries have affected the traditional forms of subsistence
of this town. The administration of Iqaluit, the capital
of Nunavut, known as Frobisher Bay, hopes the ecoturism
to reduce the present dependency towards the subventions
of the federal government.
|
|
|
