Canada is the world's second-largest country (9 970 610 km2), surpassed only by the Russian Federation. Regardless, people from other parts of the world including Canada's neighbours the United States, feign very little knowledge of this great country. There is a web page of jokes on the Net that lists what Canadians find most annoying about "ignorant and arrogant" Americans. On that list are snipes like these: "Canadians come from Canadia….Let's nuke Windsor, Ontario to teach those Canucks a lesson…..How do you plug a computer into an igloo?….. ..Is Toronto in Canada?"
Canada may be the country that invented hockey, basketball, the telephone and cable television, but there are people out there in the world who ask: "You're going to Canada? What's up there?" Canada is not on the moon. It's part of the G-7 and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), it introduced peace-making, has a lower debt-per-capita that the United States, its economy lives up to most of its potential of all G7 nations and it's among the only countries in the world that can put up with Americans.
Furthermore, It made those dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, holds more than two million patents and invented insulin. What's better it pays hospital bills and school tuition and unemployed Canadians receive higher welfare cheques that unemployed Americans.
Canadian cities, namely Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto lead the world in quality of life. The UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) confirms that. But there are some other facts that make Canada a country out on its own: Canada never owned slaves. It has the lowest crime rate among major industrialized countries. It provides the United States the essential uranium for the nuclear bombs it prides itself on.
Canada was created in 1867 when Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick united. This act is celebrated every year on July 1 as Canada's national day. The name Canada may have come from the word "Kanata" which in the language of the Huron-Iroquois Indians means a settlement. This is a country of immigrants, because all Canadians - except the First Peoples - share common immigrant origins. Before the English and the French came to Canada there were groups of First Peoples (distinct nations of Indians lived in every region).
Canada comprises ten provinces and two territories. The provinces are (from east to west) British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland/Labrador. The territories are the Yukon and the Northwest Territories (NWT). This year the eastern part of the NWT will become a separate territory called Nunavut. It covers over 7,000 kilometres from east to west. Ottawa is the capital and Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver are its biggest cities. The population is about 31 million. According to the 1991 census, more than four-fifths of all Canadians are Christian, with Catholics accounting for about 47 per cent of the population and Protestants about 36 per cent. But people of all beliefs are absolutely free to practice their faith - the other religions practiced in Canada are Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism.
The US markets are Canada's biggest buyers accounting for 80 per cent of Canada's exports. That being the case, any forecast on Canada's economy must take into account economic conditions in the US. In a report, the Bank of Montreal says it expects real GDP in the US to grow to about four per cent and going by the currently strong economic growth reflected in high consumer spending, housing starts and manufacturing shipments, the feeling is that the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by a percentage point next year, thus slowing down the economy somewhat.
The Canadian dollar was down this year because of a flight of capital to Europe and Japan, but economic analysts say they expect commodity prices to rise, thus strengthening the Canadian dollar. Crude oil and natural gas prices have risen sharply lately and are likely to consolidate those gains. Finally, the are several factors that point to the fact that economic conditions in Asia are improving. Korea has seen a strong recovery in industrial production and there are sign of economic stabilization in Japan. That's going to have a domino effect on Canada's trade. It is, indeed, based on these extrapolations that economists believe Canada's economy should grow on an average at three per cent annually all the way up to 2003.
The sectors that will drive the economy are communications and electronic products, business services, aircraft production and motor vehicle parts, according to the Bank of Montreal's outlook. Its report suggests that there is likely going to be slower growth in mining, agriculture, forest products, refined petroleum and food processing.
Seen from an overall perspective, Newfoundland's economy is projected to grow fastest of all provinces, at about 5.5 per cent, the optimism fuelled by oil and gas exploration at Hibernia. In Ontario and Quebec, the provinces with diversified economies, there will also be strong growth. The principal natural resources are natural gas, oil, gold, coal, copper, iron ore, nickel, potash, uranium and zinc, along with wood and water. The principal industries include automobile manufacturing, pulp and paper, iron and steel work, machinery, manufacturing, mining, extraction of fossil fuels, forestry and agriculture. Canada's leading exports are automobile vehicles and parts, machinery and equipment, high-technology products, oil, natural gas, metals, and forest and farm products.
