BOTSWANA REPRESENTATION IN OTHER COMMONWEALTH High CoMMISSIONERS Britain: J. S. Gandee, CMG, OBE; Canada: BOTSWANA REPRESENTATIVES IN NON- Ethiopia: P. P. Makepe (resident in Lusaka); NON-COMMONWEALTH REPRESENTATION Austria (Ambassador) (resident in South in Che CANADA ANADA occupies the northern half of the North American Continent with the exception of Alaska, which is part of the United States, Greenland which belongs to Denmark, and the small islands of St Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland which belong to France. In latitude the country stretches from Middle Island in Lake Erie, at 41° 41' N., to Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island, at 83° 07' N. It thus includes the islands north of the mainland known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and those in the extreme north, lying north of the McClure Strait-Viscount Melville Sound-Barrow Strait-Lancaster Sound water passage, known as the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Other islands of importance are Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte Islands off the West Coast; the island of Newfoundland forming part of the Province of Newfoundland; the Province of Prince Edward Island; Cape Breton Island forming part of the Province of Nova Scotia; Grand Manan and Campobello Islands forming part of the Province of New Brunswick; Anticosti Island and the Magdalen group included in the Province of Quebec. Canada For further information about Canada see Canada Year Book. is the largest country in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest country in the world, comprising an area computed at 3,851,809 square miles of land and fresh water, over forty times the area of Britain. The predominant geographical feature is the Great Cordilleran Mountain System which contains many peaks over 10,000 feet in height. The highest peak in Canada is Mount Logan, in the St Elias Mountains of Yukon Territory, which rises 19,850 feet above sea level. The highest elevations in the country are to be found in Yukon (19 other peaks over 10,000 feet), Alberta (32 peaks over 10,000 feet in the Rockies) and British Columbia (32 peaks over 10,000 feet). Another geographical feature of note is the area known as the great Canadian Shield. This is a vast area of ancient rocks occupying the greater part of the territory north of the River St Lawrence. It consists of plateau-like highlands, made up of a great mass of ancient, very hard rocks, which present a rough, broken surface strewn with lakes and varying in height from 1,000 to 3,000 feet above sea level with a few higher peaks. It contains rich mineral deposits, and its vast forest and water power resources contribute much to the wealth of the country. Canada's inland waters are very extensive, constituting about 7.6 per cent of the total area of the country. The Great Lakes are the outstanding lakes of the country, their total Canadian area being almost 36,000 square miles. Other large lakes ranging in area from 9,500 to 12,300 square miles are Lake Winnipeg, Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake. In addition there are innumerable lakes scattered over that major portion of Canada lying within the Canadian Shield; in an area of 6,094 square miles south and east of Lake Winnipeg there are 3,000 lakes. Eastern Canada is dominated by the Great Lakes-St Lawrence system which drains an area of about 678,000 square miles and forms an unequalled navigable inland waterway through a region rich in natural and industrial resources. From the head of Lake Superior to the entrance to the Gulf of St Lawrence the distance is 2,280 miles. In the mid-west two main branches of the Saskatchewan River, tributary to the Nelson flowing into Hudson Bay, drain one of Canada's great agricultural regions and are now the bases of important irrigation projects. North-westward, one of the world's longest rivers, the Mackenzie, flows 2,635 miles to the Arctic Ocean and drains an area in the three westernmost provinces of approximately 700,000 square miles. There are great differences in the weather throughout Canada at any given time, as there are many climates. Because Canada is situated in the northern half of the hemisphere, most of the country loses more heat annually than it receives from the sun. The general atmospheric circulation compensates for this and at the same time produces a general movement of air from west to east. Migrant low pressure areas move across the country in this 'westerly zone', producing storms and bad weather. In intervals between storms there prevails the fair weather associated with high pressure areas. The physical geography of North America also contributes greatly to the climate. On the west coast, the western Cordillera limits mild air from the Pacific to a narrow band along the coast, while the prairies to the east of the mountains are dry and have extreme temperatures. The prairies are part of a wide north-south corridor open to rapid air flow from either north or south which often brings sudden and drastic weather changes. On the other hand, the large water surfaces of eastern Canada produce a considerable modification to the climate. In south-western Ontario winters are milder with more snow, and in summer the cooling effect of the lakes is well illustrated by the number of resorts along their shores. On the east coast the Atlantic Ocean has considerable effect on the immediate coastal area where temperatures are modified and conditions made more humid when the winds blow inland from the ocean. The following figures give some indication of the varying temperatures (Fahrenheit): Newfoundland (Gander) January 20-8, July 62.3; Nova Scotia (Halifax) January 26-0, July 65-3; Quebec (Montreal) January 16-3, July 70-8; Prairie Provinces (Regina) January 1-6, July 66-7; British Columbia (Vancouver) January 37-2, July 63-8; (Smith River) January-11-4, July 57-3; Yukon (Whitehorse) January—0·6, July 57·5. The Canadian federal state was established by the British North America Act, 1867, and now consists of ten Provinces and two Territories. The Provinces, with the date on which they joined the Confederation, are: Ontario (1867), Quebec (1867), Nova Scotia (1867), New Brunswick (1867), Manitoba (1870), British Columbia (1871), Prince Edward Island (1873), Saskatchewan (1905), Alberta (1905) and Newfoundland (1949). The Territories are the Northwest Territories (1870) and the Yukon Territory (1898). The Northwest Territories were divided in 1920 into the Districts of Mackenzie, Keewatin and Franklin. As recorded at the Census of 1966, the population of Canada was 20,014,880, of whom 74 per cent were classed as urban dwellers; 56 per cent lived in or on the fringes of urban centres having a population of 30,000 or more and less than 10 per cent lived on farms. Of the total population, 32.9 per cent were under 15 years of age and 59.4 per cent were in the working age group 15 to 64 years; 7.7 per cent were 65 years of age or over. The 5-year average birth and death rates are 24-2 and 7.7 per 1,000 respectively. The two basic ethnic groups in the Canadian population are the British Isles group and the French. In 1961 43.8 per cent of the population belonged to the former group and 30-4 per cent to the latter. The next largest ethnic group was German with 5-8 per cent of the total population, followed by Ukrainian with 2.6 per cent, Italian with 2.5 per cent and the Netherlands with 2-4 per cent. Asians made up only 0.7 per cent of the population. (On 1st June 1968 the population was estimated to be 20,744,000.) At the time of the 1961 Census the native peoples of Canada, the Indians and Eskimos, together made up only 1.2 per cent of the total population. The Indian population numbered 191,709 (the estimated 1968 figure was 218,000) including all persons with a paternal ancestor of Indian race who have chosen to remain under Indian legislation. About 74 per cent of the Indians live on reserves having a total area of 6,000,735 acres. The remainder reside away from reserves, including those in the Yukon and Northwest Territories for whom reserves have not been set aside. In the northern and other outlying areas, hunting, fishing and trapping remain an important means of livelihood for them but in the more settled areas many Indians have fitted into the economy of the communities in which they live in a wide range of occupations. Subject to special provisions in the Indian Act, all laws of general application are applicable to Indians, and they may vote in federal elections on the same basis as other citizens and in provincial elections where the electoral laws of the provinces permit. Indian affairs are administered by the Federal Government and are conducted in a manner that will enable the Indians to participate fully in the social and economic life of the country. A wide range of programmes has been brought into effect in the fields of education, economic development, social welfare and community development; nearly 65,000 Indians are enrolled in schools throughout the country. The affairs of approximately 15,000 Canadian Eskimos living in the Northwest Territories, northern Quebec and Labrador are also administered by the Federal Government. While many of them still hold to the traditional way of life, an ever-increasing number are making the change from a nomadic existence to regular wage employment. Continued development in the north, coupled with a decrease in some types of game, is resulting in more and more Eskimos settling in modern communities with schools, health and transportation facilities and wage employment opportunities. The Canadian Government is helping this transition by providing such forms of assistance as education and welfare services, vocational training and economic development programmes. About 3,000 Eskimo children now regularly attend schools. Under the provisions of the British North America Act, 1867, either the English or the French language may be used in debates in the Parliament of Canada and in the Legislature of Quebec and either of these languages may be used by any person or in any Pleading or Process in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under the Act and in or from all or any of the Courts of Quebec. Results of the 1961 census showed that 12,284,762 persons spoke English only, 3,489,866 spoke French only, 2,231,172 spoke both English and French and 232,447 spoke neither English nor French. The main religious denominations as recorded in the 1961 census were: Roman Catholic 8,342,826; United Church of Canada 3,664,008; Anglican Church of Canada 2,409,068; Presbyterian 818,558; Baptist 593,553 and Lutheran 401,836, Information on religious affiliations was not recorded in the 1966 census. Primary education is free and universal. Total tonnages handled in 1966 in the principal ports, including those on the St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes, were, in millions of tons; Montreal (21-9); Vancouver (20-5); Port Arthur-Fort William (17·0); Sept Îles (18.7); Hamilton (10-3); Halifax (9.4); Port Cartier (9.5); Baie Comeau (8-4); Toronto (5-8); Sault Ste Marie (5-4); Quebec (6-3); Saint John (5.8). The principal Shipping Line is Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. The principal international airports, with distances in miles from town centres are Edmonton (18); Gander; Montreal (Dorval) (14); Ottawa (Uplands) (11); Toronto (Malton) (18); Winnipeg (4); Vancouver (9); Halifax (26). There are two major Canadian air lines Air Canada and Canadian Pacific Airlines Limited. There are also four domestic air carriers licensed to operate scheduled commercial air services in Canada, namely, Eastern Provincial Airways (1963) Limited, Gander, Newfoundland; Quebecair, Inc., Rimouski, Quebec; TransAir Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Pacific Western Airlines Limited, Vancouver, British Columbia. The 1966 road mileage figure was 444,742 (321,189 surfaced and 123,553 earth) and there were 43,689 miles of railway track.* The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation provides coast to coast radio and television services with 35 radio stations and 75 television stations in operation in 1968. There were also 333 privately owned radio stations and 229 television stations. Principal domestic exports for the calendar year 1966 (in thousands of dollars) were: wheat 1,061,024; motor vehicles and parts 993,596; newsprint 968,224; wood pulp 520,068; lumber 478,054; nickel ores and alloys 399,158; copper * There are two trans-continental railway systems in Canada, Canadian National Railways (government-owned) and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. ores and alloys 396,965; aluminium including alloys 387,024; iron ore and concentrates 369,009; crude petroleum 321,681. The National Day of Canada is 1st July, Canada Day. HISTORY Discovery and Exploration. The original inhabitants of North America migrated from Asia across the Bering Strait over twenty-five thousand years ago, gradually dispersing themselves throughout the continent. The first Europeans known to have landed on Canadian shores were the Vikings under Leif Ericson who founded short-lived settlements, probably in Newfoundland or Labrador, about A.D. 1000. Thereafter contact was lost between Europe and the New World. The re-discovery of North America by Columbus encouraged other mariners to sail westward, among them John Cabot who, in the service of King Henry VII, made a landfall in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1497. Cabot's reports of the abundance of fish off Newfoundland attracted French, Spanish, Portuguese and English fishermen, who have continued to frequent these fishing grounds ever since. As early as 1534 Jacques Cartier, in the service of France, visited the Gulf of St Lawrence and in 1535 sailed up the St Lawrence River, where he visited Indian villages on the sites of present-day Quebec and Montreal. The name 'Canada' may be derived from the Indian word kanata, meaning a town, applied to one of these villages. Seeking a north-west passage to the Orient, Frobisher in 1576 and Davis in 1585 penetrated into the Frobisher and Davis Strait, and in 1602 Hudson Strait was discovered, and Hudson himself explored Hudson Bay in 1610. But the explorations of Baffin and others eventually persuaded the explorers that there was no suitable north-west passage. It was not until the nineteenth century that the explorations of Parry, Ross and Franklin enabled the passage to be passed by Roald Amundsen in 1906. The Pacific coast of Canada was explored by the Russians from Siberia, and by the Spaniards from Mexico, in the eighteenth century. It was left to Captain Cook to make a more thorough survey in 1778-79 and to Captain George Vancouver to complete his work in 1792-94. The exploration of the interior of northern North America was impelled by the requirements of the fur trade. Samuel de Champlain of France reached the shores of Lake Huron in 1615 and laid the basis for the exploration of the Great Lakes. Other French traders turned south to the Mississippi or traversed the wilderness north of the Great Lakes to reach the western prairies. The Hudson's Bay Company also sent explorers into the Saskatchewan country. Alexander Mackenzie, a Montreal fur trader, was the first man to travel overland across northern North America. He reached the Pacific Coast in 1793. Settlement. The main English settlements in North America were those along the Atlantic seaboard which later became the United States. Settlements in the northern part of the continent emerged through the need for bases for the fisheries and the fur trade. The English settlements were centred in Newfoundland, but the Hudson's Bay Company, founded by Royal Charter in 1670, claimed trading rights over Rupert's Land, defined as the area whose rivers drained into Hudson Bay. The father of the French empire in North America, Samuel de Champlain, founded Quebec at the narrows of the St Lawrence in 1608. A riverine colony, New France or Quebec became the base for a chain of |