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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, it 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 between the two
empires and the natives. The government of Canada was created with the
proclamation of the Constitution Act in 1867, but the present national borders
were established only in 1999 because since its first foundation the
dominion had expanded multiple times.
\subsection{The Flag of Canada}
\begin{figure}[h]
\centering
\begin{subfigure}[h]{6cm}
\includegraphics[width=6cm]{res/images/flag_of_canada.pdf}
\caption{Current flag of Canada}
\end{subfigure}
\hspace{1cm}
\begin{subfigure}[h]{6cm}
\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. Previously
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 on 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'. 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[width=.4\textwidth]{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 where
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: a 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
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 not to interfere with other clans and communal hunts
took place every summer.
\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, so many goods were traded with
the First Nations in exchange of 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. \\
\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 on exporting 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 in 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 States contributed a lot to the development of a modernised 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. Post
war they enjoyed prosperity and material progress, the world trading restrictive
policies were gone and they found oil in Alberta in 1947, which started Canada's
modern energy industry. In the following years the life quality of Canadians was
raising, they drew closer to the USA and other trading partners enjoying the
benefits of trading with one of strongest economies among industrialized nations
post war. Today those benefits gave to the Canadians one of the highest
standards of living. When Canada's prosperity grew the ability to support the
citizen grew as well. Such as employment insurance, old age security and
pension plans, or even public fundings for education. The Canadian society
today is known to be open and flexible to other cultures, that's why the
Canadian population is composed of many ethnic groups.
\subsection{Languages, economy and social system}
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), since 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 the Swiss
one \cite{swisseconomy} with a market price of 1'996'804 millions of Canadian
dollars \cite{statscan:ecoimpexps} which roughly equals to 1.54 millions of
million of Swiss francs. Canada is more open than his neighbour USA, it has
policies of protection and prevention, like health insurances and pension plans
for who gets older and can't work these are mandatory, much like they are in
Switzerland. A very hot topic right now is immigration and people fleeing from
war. In Canada they aim to help the war refugees to start a new life. Canada was
the first country in the world to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy.
With no pressure to assimilate and give up their culture, immigrants freely
choose their new citizenship because they want to be Canadians. As Canadians,
they share the basic values of democracy with all other Canadians who came
before them. Although Canada has two official languages (English and French),
more than 200 languages were reported in the 2011 as a home language or mother
tongue. 17.5 percent reported speaking at least two languages at home.
% as seen in these graphs the ethnic diversity is
% very high.
\subsection{Geography}
Canada is the world's second largest country. It's so big that lots of different
landscapes can be found. Canada is scattered of many rivers and lakes, it has
over 2 million of them, and is home of 1/7 of the world's drinkable water.
Canada has a land mass of 9'970'610 square kilometers and encompasses six time
zones. Northern Canada's Arctic islands come within 800 kilometers of the North
Pole. In northernmost Canada only 12\% of the land is suitable for agriculture
because of the harsh cold environment. Most of the population lives south a few
hundred kilometers from the border, where the climate is milder. The capital
city of Canada is Ottawa, which has a population 1,236,000 people living in the
metropolitan area.
\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 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.
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