1. BR: 4/12/17
How are Canada & the U.S. Similar / Different? Compare & Contrast: VID,

2. World Geography Ch. 4.1 Part II: History of Canada, Government w/ U.S.
Canada has a similar but unique history as well.

3. History of Canada
Just like in the U.S., Native Americans have been in Canada for many thousands of years. Vikings settled some parts of Canada in AD, but didn’t stay too long.
By the 1500 and 1600s, Europeans had returned. The French came looking for the gold the Spaniards had found, but found riches instead in beaver pelts. These sold for very high prices in making hats in Europe.
They settled the area around the Great Lakes region, founding the important cities of Quebec and Montreal, and called the area New France. However, after years of warfare across the globe, France lost control of New France to Great Britain.

4. Independence for Canada
Canada, like the U.S., was made up of several British Colonies. The first four were: Quebec (the French Part), Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
These made up what was the Dominion of Canada, which earned partial independence from Great Britain in Canadians controlled local affairs, but foreign relations were still run by the British. Other British- controlled areas would later be added to Canada.
Over the next century till today, other territories were added. There are 10 provinces today, and 3 territories (the three northernmost areas: Yukon, Northwest Territory, and Nunavet)

7. British & French
When Canada was founded, the French Majority were promised protections for their language and culture (hence the fact that today, French is still one of the official languages of Canada).
However, the British Minority (which grew into a majority, of 2/3 today, versus ¼ that are French speakers) were more powerful and wealthy, and this has led to constant conflict between the two groups.
Even today, Quebec (the territory with the highest French Population) has threatened to leave and become its own independent nation. Whether that will happen remains to be seen. VID

8. Government in U.S., Canada:
Both the U.S. and our northern neighbor have representational democracies. The U.S. has a founding document, called the Constitution, that has created a system of federalism.
This means that power is shared between the central / federal government and the governments of the states. People are citizens of the country and their states, and vote for political leaders in both.
The first 10 amendments are known as the Bill of Rights, and protect basic liberties, such as freedom of speech, religion, due process (the right to be fairly treated in the justice system), etc.
As time has passed, some groups that were marginalized or mistreated, have gained rights. For example, the 14th amendment (1870) gave black males the right to vote, and the 19th amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote.

9. Canadian Democracy
The Canadian government is like the U.S. government in many ways. It is technically considered a parliamentary democracy, because like Britain, it has a parliament (basically like our Congress) in which voters elect representatives.
The Prime Minister is the official head of the government, like our President (though the King / Queen of Britain is “officially” the person in charge of Canada, they hold only ceremonial power).
Like the U.S., Canada has a federal system, sharing the power between provinces & territories and the federal government. Canada also has a charter of rights that is similar to our bill of rights.

10. Bill of Rights vs Charter of Rights
Now, take a look at these two different documents:
The American Bill of Rights, versus the Canadian Charter of Rights
Review them both, and then answer the questions in your notes.
We’ll be discussing these at the end of class.