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\chapter{Introduction}
\section{History and culture of Canada}
% [nao]
\subsection{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}
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.
\begin{figure}
\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}
\end{figure}
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}
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 as
Indians. Within what is today the Canadian border there were 6 major tribes and
each one of them lived in a particular area of the continent.
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 lived
wi
% iroquian south fertile, for agricolture
% woodland east boreal forest
% plains ??? grassland, prairies
% plateau south/north semi-desert, mountains, forest(north)
% pacific coast west abundant salmon and shellfish, gigantic red cedar for building huge houses
% Mackenzie and Yukon River Basins ??? harsh environmnent, dark forests,
barren lands, swampy
\iffalse
\subsection{Modern Canada}
Today Canada is a powerful country with its own currency, 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
(Switzerlands)\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. In Canada there are many cultures that are
currently living one beside each other, the nations historic multicultural
background shaped the society in
a way that is very
Its major economic trade partners
are USA, UK and Germany.
\fi
\section{Natural resources}
% [nao]
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}
% [nao]
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}
% [nao]
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}
% [nao]
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 $CO_2$ 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.
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