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authorNao Pross <naopross@thearcway.org>2016-12-20 11:03:25 +0100
committerNao Pross <naopross@thearcway.org>2016-12-20 11:03:25 +0100
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+\chapter{Introduction}
+
+\section{History and culture of Canada}
+
+% [nao]
+\subsection{Foundation} \label{foundation}
+Canada is one of the largest countries on the planet, in fact, it is the fourth
+largest country by land area with approximately 9 million square kilometers
+\cite{statscan:statarea}. Located in the northern hemisphere of the American
+continent, was first discovered by Europeans in 1497 with the expedition of
+John Cabot. The name ``Canada'' seems to have appeared first in the 16th century
+when Jacques Cartier, during his 3 voyages to the new world, heard a groups of
+natives speaking the Iroquoian language referring to a village as
+``Kanata''\cite{history}. During the following centuries both French and British
+colonies were established which led to numerous conflicts the two between
+empires and the natives. The government of Canada was created with the
+proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1867, but the present the nationals
+were established only in 1999 because after since its first foundation the
+dominion had expanded multiple times.
+
+\subsection{The Flag of Canada}
+\begin{figure}[h]
+ \centering
+ \begin{subfigure}[h]{.3\textwidth}
+ \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/flag_of_canada.pdf}
+ \caption{Current flag of Canada}
+ \end{subfigure}
+ \qquad\qquad
+ \begin{subfigure}[h]{.3\textwidth}
+ \includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/canadian_red_ensign.pdf}
+ \caption{Canadian Red Ensign}
+ \end{subfigure}
+ \caption{Canadian Flags}
+\end{figure}
+The current flag of Canada was created in 1964, when the government had an
+all-party parliamentary committee that prepare multiple designs. Before then
+Canada didn't have its own official flag but instead used either the English
+Union Jack or the Canadian Red Ensign, a red flag with a smaller Union Jack on
+the top left and an ensign on the right side.
+The simplest design was chosen by the parliament and the current flag was
+adopted the 15 December 1964, just in time for the centennial celebration of
+the confederation 3 years later.
+
+\subsection{Canadian Natives} \nocite{firstnations}
+Before the arrival of the Europeans the northern American continent was
+populated by various groups of indigenous peoples which today are referred as
+First Nations (Premières Nations in French) or sometime incorrectly a
+`Indians'.Within what today are Canadian borders there were 6 major tribes and
+each one of them lived in a particular area of the continent.
+\begin{wrapfigure}{r}{.4\textwidth}
+ \centering
+ \includegraphics[height=6cm]{res/photos/first_nations.jpg}
+ \caption{A group of First Nations People from the area known as Qu'Appelle
+ Lakes}
+\end{wrapfigure}
+
+Each tribe had developed a particular culture based on the environment in which
+they lived, for example on the west coast the Pacific Coast First Nation gave
+thank to the sea because they lived mostly off fishing whereas the Iroquian
+First Nation on the south organized many ceremonies during spring as they
+gathered most of their food from agriculture. But there were some things that
+all populations had in common, with the most important being their deep cult of
+respect for resources offered by nature; everything from hunting to farming had
+a ritual to honor the harmony between them, the world and the Creator. Another
+cultural aspect that common among all First Nations was a complex social
+organization system built around hunting developed over thousands of years.
+Every tribe lived and hunted in a well defined territory in order to not
+interfere with other clans and communal hunts took place on every summer. These
+routines were especially practiced by northern populations that lived in
+semi-desert cold environments, a few examples are the Mackenzie and Yukon River
+Basins First Nations that lived where today is Alaska.
+
+\subsection{Colonization}
+The colonization of the `new world' began shortly after its discovery,
+Europeans started to build settlements in the new continent to explore the new
+land and get its resources. The beginning of the economic growth of Canada
+started with the birth of the `New France'. In the early 17th century King Henry
+IV of France ordered to a group of colonists to build the first French
+settlement on the continent, so the village of `Port Royal' was created.
+Shortly after in 1608 a new settlement called Quebec Fortress was also built.
+With these new colonies the French dominion had planned to colonize the
+continent, but the harsh environment prevented any expansion.
+\begin{wrapfigure}{l}{.5\textwidth}
+ \centering
+ \fbox{\includegraphics[width=8.5cm]{res/images/canada_settlements.png}}
+ \caption{Map of European settlements in 1702. Territories under the French
+ dominion are in blue while territories under the British Empire are in red.}
+\end{wrapfigure} \nocite{canadasettlements}
+
+As a result, they
+started to trade with locals, many goods were traded with First Nations in
+exchange for fur and food to protect the settlers from the cold winters.
+Later on the trade grew on a bigger scale and many resources were exported to
+France, which helped the development of the existing and new settlements.
+At the same time British colonies were also built. Because of the strong power
+of the British Colonial Empire British settlements grew faster than the other
+French colonies which caused a shift in power. As the 18th century began
+Great Britain was the leading power in the trading market. As a consequence of
+this in many treaties that came next France lost most of its territories while
+the British expanded theirs. \\
+
+In the 1800s timber became the most important product for exportation. Timber
+exportation had already started in the preceding years but it was only in
+smaller quantities. But with the war of Napoleon (1799 - 1815) timber became
+essential for the french army to build ships and to expand the railways across
+France. The blooming of this industry endured until the conclusion of the
+Canadian Commonwealth\footnote{The Commonwealth of Nations is made up of 53
+countries, including Canada, that were for the most part once part of the
+British Empire. They worked together on international policies to cooperate in
+furthering economic development.} in 1987. At the time logging depended on
+waterways for transportation, for that reason the main timber base were in Saint
+Lawrence and Ottawa.
+
+\subsection{Industrialization}
+In 1867 with the establishment of the North American Act the first Canadian
+confederation was born. The newly founded Canadian Confederation moved the
+original economy to a radically different institutional environment. Previously
+under the control of the United Kingdom the development of the economy was
+focused to export cities near the Atlantic Ocean such as Nova Scotia and New
+Brunswick. But after the federal formation the center of the development was
+moved into Quebec and Ontario in the mainland. In the following 50 years the
+Canadian economy shifted more toward agriculture and livestock production and
+the industry evolved to a strong economy thanks to the introduction of a new
+railway system. In the 20th century Canada enjoyed a great era of prosperity and
+industrial development during the post-war period. The economical alliance with
+the United Stated contributed the most to the development of a modernized
+Canada.
+
+\subsection{Modern Canada}
+Today Canada has become a powerful country with a stable social and economic
+system and it is a great contributor to various international projects.
+The Canadian society today is known to be open and flexible to other cultures,
+because of this the Canadian population is composed of many ethnic groups.
+In Canada the official languages are English and French since the original
+colonial powers that brought them there were France and the United Kingdom.
+As official currency Canada uses the Canadian Dollar (CAD), As 2016 one Canadian
+Dollar equals
+\href{http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=1&From=CAD&To=CHF}{
+0.76 Swiss Francs}. Canada's GDP (as Q2 2015) is more than twice ours
+(Switzerland's)\cite{swisseconomy} with a market price at 1'996'804 millions of
+Canadian dollars \cite{statscan:ecoimpexps} which roughly equals to 1.54
+millions of millions of Swiss francs.
+
+\section{Natural resources}
+Canada's huge land area makes it one of richest countries from a natural
+resources standpoint. Indeed Canada has the third largest reserve of crude oil
+in the world and it is the second production of Uranium
+\cite{nrcan:energyfactsbook}. But Canada is also a leader in renewable energy
+production with a 18.9\% of total energy supply coming just from renewables
+\cite{nrcan:renewables}. Even if most of the energy produced can be considered
+eco-friendly Canada still relies heavily on non-renewable energy source as we
+will see in the next paragraphs.
+
+\subsection{Crude Oil}
+Oil has become has been increasingly become a valuable resource, since the
+discovery of oil sands extraction technology. The desire for oil
+independence from the USA and many other NATO states has given a lot of funds
+for the development of this technology.
+But for the environment this is not a good, according to a study conducted in
+2014 \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}, GHGs (Greenhouse Gases) emissions caused by
+oil extraction industries have increased by 63.5 millions of tonnes in the last
+20 years.
+
+\subsection{Natural Gas}
+Natural gas is the biggest energy source in Canada, mostly produced in Alta is
+also a major cause of Nitrogen and VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) pollution.
+Even though its extractions and refinement technologies are getting better, the
+level of pollution has not gone down since 2010. In 2014 56.6 mega tonnes of GHGs
+were released on the atmosphere. Combined with the oil extraction this economic
+sector accounts for 26\% of total nation emissions \cite{statscan:ghgemissions}.
+
+\subsection{Coal}
+Despite it makes up half of the world's energy source (mostly in China) and
+there's an abundance of it, coal represents a minor element in the national
+energy production, and almost half of the final product gets exported to Japan,
+China and South Korea. Currently scientists are discouraging its usage because
+of its high level of pollution and CO\textsubscript{2} emissions. Nonetheless
+the research in the field of coal refinement, to produce what is called ``Clean
+Coal'', is still being supported by the government in order to use the enormous
+quantity lying beneath the Canadian surface.