HAPPY CANADA DAY!

The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples (indigenous peoples in North America).  They comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis which have helped to shape Canada’s cultural identity.  The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning “village” or “settlement”.

I was born in Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal but immigrated to Canada in 1973 just before turning 4 years old.  I really don’t have any memories of the country I was born.  I really consider myself to be Canadian and made it official on my 20th birthday in 1989. 

Frequently referred to as Canada’s birthday, Canada Day is the national day of Canada celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North American Act, 1867 (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united three colonies into a single country called Canada within the British Empire.

In celebration of Canada Day and my 25th anniversary of becoming Canadian, I thought I would share some interesting facts about Canada, here they are:

WILDLIFE

• 850 meters, the length of the world’s longest beaver dam found in Northern Alberta.
• 2.4 million Caribou live in Canada.
• 15,500 of the world’s polar bears live in Canada.
• 130 km north of Winnipeg, Manitoba – is the Narcisse Snake Dens Conservation area, where each spring, tens of thousands of red-sided Gartner snakes come out of their dens for weeks from mid-April to early May.

PEOPLE

• More than 42% of Canadians identify as Roman Catholic.
• 1/5 Canadians were born outside of Canada.
• Canada is the best G20 country in which to be a woman.

GOVERNMENT

• The Prime Minister has no term limit, meaning that as long as a leader keeps winning, they can keep ruling.
• John A. Macdonald (Conservative) was the first Prime Minister of Canada for two terms, 1867-1873 and 1878-1891.  He was born in Scotland.
• William Lyon Mackenzie King (Liberal) was Prime Minister for 21 years.
• Currently, there are five parties that have elected representation in the federal government: the Liberal Party of Canada , the Conservative Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada, the Green Party of Canada and the Bloc Québécois. 

ENVIRONMENT/GEOGRAPHY

• Canada consists of 10 provinces (Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia) and 3 territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut).
• Canada has the largest coastline in the world.
• It is the second largest country in the world (Russia is the largest).
• By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth.
• Canada has around 31,700 large lakes.
• 20% of the world’s fresh water is in Canada.
• 31% of Canada is taken up by forests.

FOOD/DRINK

• 77% of the world’s maple syrup is made in Quebec.
• Macaroni and cheese is the most purchased packaged grocery item in Canada.
• Canada produces 1.5% of the world’s food but only consumes 0.6%
• Canada has more doughnut shops per capita than anywhere else in the world.

INVENTIONS

• Montreal pharmacist, Marcellus Gilmore Edson created peanut butter, patented in 1884.
• Montreal’s Canadian Lady Corset company first licensed the trademark ‘Wonder-bra’ in 1939, and then renamed the company Wonderbra in 1961.
• Scott Abbott, a Montreal sports editor, and Chris Haney, a photo editor, when they couldn’t find all their Scrabble tiles, invented Trivial Pursuit in 1979.
• Other notable inventions: the odometer (1854), the egg carton (1911), IMAX (1967), McIntosh apples (1811), the walkie-talkie (1937), insulin (1922), the paint roller (1940), the wheelchair-accessible bus (1947), the electric wheelchair (1952).

ENTERTAINMENT

• Porky’s (1982) is the most successful Canadian film ever made.  It was the 5th highest-grossing film of 1982.
• Shania Twain’s album, Come On Over, is the best-selling album by a female artist of all-time.  RIAA certifies worldwide sales of the album exceed 40 million units.
• Alanis Morissette’s, Jagged Little Pill, is the second best-selling album by a female artist of all-time.  RIAA certifies worldwide sales of the album exceed 33 million units.
• Other notable Canadian celebrities:  Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Dan Aykroyd, Bryan Adams, Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, James Cameron, Drake, Jann Arden, Rush and Nickelback – just to name a few.

I am a proud Canadian and am love the country that I live in.  I may sometimes be critical of our government but only because I want to ensure that our policy makers protect the Canadian people and the wonderful environment that Canada provides us.

Here’s to you Canada!

 Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

 

 

EMERGENCY – THE PLANET NEEDS OUR HELP NOW!!!

SAY “NO” TO THIS………………

 

 

AND “YES” TO THIS…………..

 

 

Demand better of our GOVERNMENTS and CORPORATIONS!!!  If we act now – we can all make a BIG difference!!!

Together, we can make the world a more positive one!

AN EMAIL FROM GREENPEACE!

I thought I would share an email I received from GREENPEACE.  I like to follow them because their belief’s about our environment and its’ importance to our sustainability are similar to mine.  I appreciate the success stories that they share and am saddened when I hear about the atrocities that we humans are inflicting on our environment and wildlife.  Please support them in any way you can – here is the email:

Hi there,

The Arctic holds a special significance for Greenpeace. The campaign that gave birth to our movement over 40 years ago stopped nuclear testing in Alaska.

Many people thought a nuclear test in Alaska wouldn’t affect them. But if you live on Earth, it affected you.

The radiation from those tests swirled around the world and entered your eyes and my eyes and everyone’s eyes.

Forensic pathologists can tell a victim’s age by looking for radioactive carbon in the eyes. If you were born in the 60s or early 70s like me, you’ll have more radioactive carbon. The level gradually decreases for people born after nuclear testing ceased.

The founders of Greenpeace won their campaign and helped stop nuclear testing. But now things are happening in the Alaskan Arctic that could change a lot more than just the carbon in our eyes.

Some people see the Arctic as the canary in the coal mine, the warning to stop burning fossil fuels and find clean alternatives. Shell doesn’t see it that way. The oil company sees open ocean where once there was 3m thick sheet ice and thinks, “We could drill there now.”

So Shell is off to the Alaskan Arctic in search of the last drop of oil. In the process, it will spread carbon across our skies warming the planet, as well as oil across the world’s most fragile ecosystem, hastening its collapse.

And when the oil has been burnt and the ice has all melted, the ocean currents will change. All the sun’s heat that was once reflected by the shield of sea ice will be absorbed by the open, black waters. Just as the radiation from nuclear tests spread around the world, and the carbon emissions from Shell’s oil spread around the world, so that heat will spread around the world.

If you live on Earth, it will affect you.

Unless we stop them.

The founders of Greenpeace were eleven hippies in a boat but they built a movement that ended commercial whaling, stopped toxic dumping and protected Antarctica.

You are part of that movement. Together, we are three million people. We have 40 years’ experience of winning campaigns, protecting ecosystems and stopping companies like Shell.

Later this week, we’re going back to save the place where we were born, and to save the world. A movement like Greenpeace can do that, and there’s only one movement like us.

Come with us.

Graham Thompson
Greenpeace UK

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/arctic