Canada
Canada is a North American country comprising ten provinces and three territories. Positioned in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the world’s second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States of America is the world’s longest land border.
Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Indigenous peoples. During the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and settled the region’s Atlantic coast.
France relinquished virtually all its colonies in North America to the United Kingdom in 1763 following the French and Indian War, which was basically the North American Seven Years’ War.
While walking the Sundance trail near Banff I met my first wolves face-to-face. There was a pack of about seven and having bred and trained a few German shepherd dogs I noticed their tails were relaxed and their attention was not on me. So, I kept very still and avoided direct eye contact. That day they passed me by on a ridge about ten metres away.
A couple of days later, while on the same trail, they were on the track about 50 metres in front of me. Now the prudent thing to do would be to turn back, but I am not like that. So, I waited and watched as they moved closer. Again, the wolves seemed relaxed and showed no signs of aggression, anyway, it was too late to retreat, and running was not an option, doing this might turn on their hunting instincts. Slowly they came closer until they were about six feet in front of me
I am not sure why, but I started to talk quietly to them and slowly they came up to me and carried on walking past, a couple brushing against my legs. I knew it was the same pack, one of the females had a slight limp. During my stay in Banff, I met the wolves once more, and again they walked close enough that I brushed my hand over the back of one. Hell of a feeling I can tell you. Anyway, that brought on my love of these animals.
Several years later I when staying in Canmore a town in Alberta’s Rocky Mountains I heard a local farm had looked after two young wolves and let them roam the farmland. They also had a rare white bison, so I contacted them to arrange a visit. Fantastic place and the owners looked after me and showed me around. Unfortunately, the two wolves were not around and two weeks later I had a disturbing email stating that the wolves had been shot and killed by another farmer.
In 1867, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces due to the union of three British North American colonies through a coalition. This initiated an accretion of provinces and territories and the process of increasing autonomy culminated in the Canada Act of 1982.
Canada is a federal state governed as a parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarchy - with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state (the Canadian anthem is the Royal anthem ‘God Save the Queen.’
The country is officially multicultural and bilingual, with a population of around 38 million as of 2020.
Canada’s forward-thinking economy is one of the largest in the world, relying mainly upon its copious natural resources and well-developed trade systems.
Canada ranks amongst the highest in international measurements of education, quality of life, government transparency, civil liberties, and economic freedom.