Things You Probably Don't Know About Canada

avatar

bow-river-6888321_1280.jpg

Today is Canada Day, formerly called Dominion Day. It marks the day in 1867 when the Dominion of Canada officially came into being. Today the country consists of ten provinces and 3 territories. On that day Canada was made up of the provinces of: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario.

The rest came into the dominion over time:

  • Manitoba & the Northwest Territories - 1870
  • British Columbia - 1871
  • Prince Edward Island - 1873
  • Yukon Territory - 1898
  • Alberta & Saskatchewan - 1905
  • Newfoundland - 1949
  • Nunavut Territory - 1999

Canada is a Constitutional democracy in the Westminster tradition. Queen Elizabeth II is our Head of State thus she is Queen of Canada. All of our provincial governments use the Westminster style of legislature. The territories share governance between the federal government and their respective territorial governments.

Consensus Government

Nunavut is the homeland for the Inuit people and is governed by Inuit.

Both Nunavut and Northwest Territories operate within the principles of Canadian parliamentary democracy and consensus government. It blends the principles of parliamtary democracy with aboriginal values of cooperation, effective use of resources and common accountability.

Yukon Governance Model

The Yukon has 11 self-governing First Nations, each with their own form of governance. They have their own laws, constitutions and land management. There are 8 Indigenous languages spoken.

A Land of Diversity in Peoples and Terrain

In a land stretching from sea to sea across northern half of North America the terrain includes the full range of terrains from waterlands to frozen tundra.

Beautiful swaths of grasslands, farmers fields, forests, lakes, prairies, mountails, foothills. Some of the scenery is breath taking. Some areas are heavily populated and some are barely populated.

There is just as much diversity of peoples across the country as their is landscapes. People from across the world have come to Canada to make it their home. Some by chosing to immigrate and some fleeing hardships in their homelands.

We are not a country without issues. Canada Day is a day to appreciate what is good about this nation.

Some Facts You May Be Interested In

  • We’ve been a nation since 1867 but we didn’t have a flag to call our own until February 15, 1965. Now the red maple leaf is easily recognizable around the world.
  • The ‘eh’ you hear Canadians use is an actual word listed in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary.
  • Canada is the home address of Santa Claus. Send correspondance to him care of the North Pole, H0H 0H0 and you’ll receive a reply.
  • Quebec produces more than 77% of the worlds maple syrup
  • Superman was conceived by a Canadian, the Daily Planet was based on the Toronto Star and Metropolis was modelled after Toronto
  • It’s against the law in Canada to create a comic depicting a criminal act. I guess that is why Superman was needed to stop the acts.
  • 20% of the world’s fresh waer is in Canada and has more lakes than any other country.
  • in Pincher Creek, Alberta in 1962 the temperature went from -19C to 22C (-2F to 72F) in 1 hour
  • hockey may be our first love but lacrosse is our oldest sport. Hockey and lacrosse are both national sports.
  • Canada was invaded by the Americans in 1776 and 1812. We’re still here even after British troops burned the White House in August 1814. It was payback for the American attack on York (Toronto) in June 1813. These days, the Americans just keep stopping the Toronto Maple Leafs from winning the Stanley Cup.
  • Canadians consume more mac & cheese than another other country in the world. We also eat more donuts than any other country.
  • the area around Churchill Manitoba (the polar bear capital of the world) has less gravity then the rest of the planet.
  • We buy our milk in bags (well at least in this part of the country). We buy a bag of milk with 3 smaller bags inside that fits into a jug to pour from the bag.
  • on the east coast you can visit a town called Dildo and on the west coast you can visit Stoner.
  • it’s illegal to kill a Sasquatch in Canada, if one is ever actually found that is.
  • prostitution is legal in Canada, buying a prostitutes services is illegal. You’d think that would be bad for business wouldn’t you.
  • most Canadians live within 200km of the US border
  • our colourful banknotes have braille on them for the visually impaired.
  • Canada has a 99% literacy rate which we’re learning doesn’t mean we have 99% who understand how things work.
  • the first of 30 national parks was Banff National Park, established in 1885, three years after Yellowstone National Park was established in the US.
  • You might be surprised at how many names of musicians, actors, actresses and comedians you are familiar with are Canadians. It’s a long list.
  • Wasaga Beach on Lake Huron is the longest freshwater beach in the world.
  • The Trans Canada Highway #1 is the 4th longest in the world at 7821km (4860 miles).
  • Canadians are the greatest people in the world. I might be a bit biased on that statement.

Canadian Inventions.

Canadians can be inventive types. I guess a few months a year of cold weather gets people looking for things to do.

Here are some Canadian inventions:

  • Paint Rollers — was invented in 1940 but the inventor died before patenting it, leaving it up to an American to do so.
  • plastic garbage bags.
  • Alfred J Goss is credited with inventing the walkie-talkie, CB radio, pagers and cordless phones
  • peanut butter in 1884 by Marcellus Edson. American George Washington Carver who came up with over 300 ways of using peanuts is often credited with inventing peanut butter but this was one use he didn’t come up with.
  • road lines painted on highways
  • IMAX movie system
  • pacemakers
  • fibreglass goalie masks
  • pablum
  • insulin for diabetics
  • java programming language
  • electric wheelchairs
  • trivial pursuit game
  • odometers
  • rotary snow plows
  • snowmobiles
  • snowblowers
  • egg cartons
  • Instant replays — during a broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada
  • green currency ink
  • baggage tags
  • standard time
  • wheelchair accessible bus
  • 5 pin bowling
  • kerosene
  • prosthetic hands
  • electric organ
  • film colorization
  • gramophone
  • newsprint
  • television system
  • electric lightbulb (Invented by Henry Woodward in 1874 who sold the patent to Thomas Edison)
  • instant mashed potatoes
  • lawn sprinkler
  • zipper

Okay let’s just zip this up here. There’s more, but you get the idea. Some Canadians can be pretty clever.

So, what am I going to do with the rest of Canada Day? Probably some reading. Tomorrow is another day. Our American neighbours will be strutting their pride on Monday. Every country needs at least one day a year to forget what bugs us and celebrate what gives us strength and pride.

NOTE: header images from Pixabay.com

Shadowspub is a writer from Ontario, Canada. She writes on a variety of subjects as she pursues her passion for learning. She also writes on other platforms and enjoys creating books you use like journals, notebooks, coloring books etc.

Prompt A Day Tagline.png

Would you like to receive writing prompts every day? You can subscribe to Prompt A Day to get started.

400-Red-Line.png

Share your posts by joining us on the DreemPort Discord

PYPT Banner.jpg



0
0
0.000
12 comments
avatar

It is pretty creepy the way everyone is ignoring what is happening to me and still going to Hivefest. Lay the dirty snatches out why dont ya. Fake it all you want creeps, its so obvious the blind eye you are turning. @fyrstikken told me what V2K and RNM was before they turned it on for me. Around that time he introduced me to @roelandp . I still have the emails between myself and @roelandp . This chain is centralized by design and @fyrstikken helped set it all up to fuck everyone, one by one, slowly into my situation. This is no joke you dumb mother fuckers, they shock you to your thoughts..... Hello????? It is in store for everyone you fools and your helping. Voices pulsed in your head and shocks to your thoughts??? Ignore me and help fuck innocent people for life? @roelandp and other top witnesses I know are involved with @fyrstikken.. Wait until people find out you conspired to enslave them with this shit. I am not crazy and you know it. they are doing this shit to me and told me what it mother fucking was BEFORE THEY TURNED IT ON! Your acting like naive children or maybe you are just part of the problem? You look like sociopaths. Everyone should unplug from HIVE until they are caught, .your. celebrating and ignoring my obvious, you look like fools. You know who is doing it....they are trying to kill me with it. The Havana Syndrome is real too you slave trading V2K, RNM enabling fuckers. Arrogantly play ignorant you Creeps, your setting the table for trafficking and total enslavement. I did not know I was circumvented until a year after I was..People here will be nice until it?s too late. There is no way to stop it once they have you. Grow the fuck up, this is not aliens, gods, celebrities or a medicate-able mental concern. It is 100% electronic and beast as fuck. You do not want this shit. https://ecency.com/fyrstikken/@fairandbalanced/i-am-the-only-motherfucker-on-the-internet-pointing-to-a-direct-source-for-voice-to-skull-electronic-terrorism ..... https://ecency.com/gangstalking/@acousticpulses/electronic-terrorism-and-gaslighting--if-you-downvote-this-post-you-are-part-of-the-problem

0
0
0.000
avatar

Happy canadas day to you,celebration marks point of remembrance in history,i may not have known what happen then,but anything that happen that celebrating is great,canadas i haven't been there before i have watch on movie the place is lovely and beautiful,it is really worth celebrating,happy canadas day once more.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Adding in: some of the highest tides in the world, thanks to craggy coastlines and, uh, geo-oceanic-lunar forces! You can do tidal bore rafting in parts of Nova Scotia which is like white water rafting cept it’s powered by the tide coming in so fast and aggressively :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

I read something about if you move fast enough you can walk on the ocean floor when the tide goes out. I really only touched the surface on facts didn't I?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hahah there are a lot of facts to cover!

Touching the ocean floor is doable for sure, but that adventure has cost some people dearly... lotsa horror stories of folks getting stuck in muck, then tide starts to come in... 😨

0
0
0.000
avatar

I wondered when I saw that reference how many were successful at walking on the ocean floor. Sounds like something you'd want to be pretty agile doing

0
0
0.000
avatar

I love this expository article about Canada. Thanks for sharing about Canada. I love reading about different places. Happy Canada day!

0
0
0.000
avatar

in Pincher Creek, Alberta in 1962 the temperature went from -19C to 22C

Holy cow, that's instant rhinitis for me!

prostitution is legal in Canada, buying a prostitutes services is illegal

oh those beautiful contradicting laws

I already knew from the internet that Canadians are super nice. Loved the curious facts. And it's funny that a lot of 'snow equipment' comes from Canada.. wonder why haha

0
0
0.000
avatar

probably has a lot to do with figuring out ways to get things done. Well that and some serious snow to deal with at times.

0
0
0.000