CANADA

MAP OF CANADA

Population of Canada 2003 – 31,629,700 (000’s)

HISTORY OF CANADA 10,000 to 15,000 BC – There were people in the Blue Fish Caves in the Yukon 1001 – Lief Ericsson explores the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland. Ericsson may have also explored the coast of NS and New England 1492 – Columbus sails to America Henry the VII of England sends John Cabot to the new world where he explores the coast of Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland or Labrador France sends explorers to Atlantic Canada under the command of Jacques Cartier – Jean-Baptiste-Louis Duc d’Anville led the disastrous and incompleted invasion of Acadia. (Our school is named after him.) 1867 – Confederation of Britain’s North American colonies become the Dominion of Canada (July 1 st ). Sir John A. MacDonald becomes Canada’s first Prime Minister. Ottawa officially becomes the capital of the country.

HISTORY OF CANADA - continued The first Europeans to make a strong presence were the French The very name Canada (Kanata) was borrowed from the Iroquois and the inhabitants of the French colony known as Canadiens. In the years that followed, more settlers arrived from Britain increasing the number of english speaking people.

THE CANADIAN FLAG The search for a new flag started in1925. In October 1964 they came up with 3 different designs: a flag with 3 maple leafs on it, a red ensign with the fleur-de-lis and the Union Jack. a red flag with a maple leaf on a white square The red flag with a maple leaf was the chosen flag and we fly it proudly today.

NATIONAL ANTHEM “O Canada” was made the official national anthem on July 1 st, 1980 The music was written by Calixa Lavalee The french lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe Basile Routhier The english lyrics (not a translation of the french lyrics) was written by Robert Stanley Weir “God Save the Queen” remains the royal anthem of Canada

THE ROYAL CANADIAN MINT Canada’s first settlers used a variety of French, American, Spanish & British currency For a young Canada to support growth and development it was determined that Canada needed to establish its own currency In 1880 land was purchased on Sussex Drive in Ottawa for the Royal Canadian Mint January 2, 1908 marked the historic date of the official opening of the Ottawa site of Britain's Royal Mint with the striking of the fifty cent piece The mint even produced gun parts for Britain during World War I.

The FIFTY Cent Coin It was the first coin produced by the Royal Canadian Mint to celebrate its official opening. It was released on January 2 nd, Canada’s 50 cent coin bears the Coat of Arms of Canada and honors four nations: –England- Scotland –France- Ireland The inscriptions on the coin represent “from sea to sea” and “they desire a better country”

The PENNY The One cent coin was first made in 1908 Today’s penny is made of copper plated steel The penny features two maple leaves on a sprig The maple tree is a rich source of maple syrup and is a major contributor to the development of the forestry industry

The QUARTER The twenty-five cent coin features the head of a caribou representing Canadian wildlife The caribou design was first used in 1937 In 1999 and 2000 the caribou design was temporarily replaced by the winning designs of the Millennium coin program

The LOONIE The one dollar coin shows a graceful loon swimming in the water. Its haunting call can be heard throughout the Canadian wetlands The one dollar coin was first introduced in 1987 to replace the one dollar bank notes (paper money) Canadians nicknamed the coin “the loonie”

The TOONIE The design selected for the toonie shows an adult polar bear standing on an ice flow The two dollar coin was first introduced on February 19, 1996 It is expected that each coin will last about 20 times longer than paper money

The Beaver – one of Canada’s National Emblems -The beavers major foods are leaves,buds,twigs and the bark off of trees. -Beavers are great swimmers. -They can stay underwater for 15 minutes. -Beavers have their baby’s between January-February.They have 2-4 babies at a time. J:

Freedom in Canada Canada is a free country. It is great having freedom. Many people around the world do not have freedom like we do. A lot of people come to Canada because we have a free country. Since so many people come from around the world there are a lot of religions and different cultures. We are lucky that those people came because now we get to learn about their culture and share our freedom with them.

The absence of Pollution In Canada we don’t have as much pollution as other countries but we still have pollution. The government has policies to control the amount of pollution produced so that is why we don’t have very much pollution. Some scientists found out that over 300,000 birds die in a year from oil spills in the water. The government has been trying to get rid of pollution for our safety. So that is why we should try to get others not to pollute things and we should try to keep things nice and tidy too.

ROCKY MOUNTAINS The Rocky Mountains were sculpted by glaciers and running water in Western Canada Many peaks exceed 3000 metres This region is famous for its wildlife. When you drive through the Rocky Mountains you might see a bighorn sheep, mountain goat, black bear or coyote.

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY The first railway was developed in 1836, the Chaplain and St. Lawrence Railroad The CNR was formed in 1919 as a grouping of a number of individual railways that served the country CNR is a leader in the North American rail industry and moves everything from people, gas & fuel, chemicals, grain, fertilizers, coal, metals, minerals, forest products and cars

ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE The RCMP provide a national police service It is unique in the world since it serves national, federal, provincial and city needs (except for Ontario and Quebec). The RCMP have very distinctive uniforms due to their hats and pants

v PROUD TO BE