Portal:Canada

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The Canada Portal

Canada is a country occupying the northern portion of North America, and is the world's 2nd largest country in total area.

Inhabited for at least three millennia by aboriginals, Canada was founded as a union of British colonies, some of which had earlier been French colonies. A federal dominion of ten provinces with three territories, Canada peacefully obtained its sovereignty in a process beginning in 1867 from its last colonial possessor, the United Kingdom.

Today, Canada is governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy. Canada's head of state is its monarch, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The most recent federal general election was held on 23 January 2006.

Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation. Both English and French are official languages of the country. In the early 1970s, Canada began to adopt policies based on the concepts of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Many Canadians now view this as one of the country's key attributes.

A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.

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The Canadian federal election of 1993 (officially, the 35th general election) was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time. It was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's history, with more than half of the electorate switching parties from the 1988 election.

The election was called by the new Progressive Conservative Party leader, Prime Minister Kim Campbell, near the end of her party's five-year mandate. Conservative support had recovered in the lead-up to the election, and was near that of the rival Liberals when the writs were issued. However, this momentum did not last, and the Conservatives suffered the most lopsided defeat for a governing party at the federal level, losing half their vote from 1988 and all but two of their 151 seats. Though they recovered slightly in subsequent elections, the Progressive Conservatives would never be a major force in Canadian politics again. In 2003, the Progressive Conservative Party disappeared entirely when it merged with the larger Canadian Alliance party to create the new Conservative Party of Canada.

Two new parties emerged in this election, largely from the supporters of the Progressive Conservatives. The sovereigntist Bloc Québécois won almost half the votes in Quebec and became the Official Opposition, while the Western-based Reform Party won nearly as many seats. The Bloc Québécois had been founded only three years before and was competing in its first election, while the Reform was considered a fringe movement in the 1988 election.

The Liberals, led by Jean Chrétien, won a strong majority in the House and formed the next government of Canada. The traditional third party, the New Democratic Party, collapsed to nine seats only one election after having its best performance ever.

Voter turn-out: 70.9 (adjusted from initial tallies of 69.6% to account for deceased electors).

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The Percé Rock, Percé, Quebec at low tide.

Photo du rocher Percé, fr:Percé, Québec prise sur la grève à marée basse.

Author: Claude Boucher

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Céline Marie Claudette Dion Angélil, OC, OQ, (born March 30, 1968) is a Canadian pop singer and occasional songwriter.[1] Born to a large, impoverished family in Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion became a young star in Francophone Canada after her manager and future husband, René Angélil, mortgaged his home to finance her first record. She later gained recognition in parts of Europe and Asia after she won both the 1982 Yamaha World Popular Song Festival and the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1990, Dion made her English language debut with the Anglophone album Unison, published by Epic Records. During the 1990s, under the guidance of her husband, she achieved worldwide fame and success with several English and French records, and ended the decade as one of the most successful artists in pop music. After releasing over twenty-five albums during the 1980s and 1990s, Dion announced in 1999 that she was taking a break from entertainment in order to start a family and to focus on her husband/manager, who had been diagnosed with throat cancer. She returned to the music scene in 2002 with a more mature, exclusively adult contemporary, sound, but her album sales suffered a decline, and she signed a lucrative four-year contract to perform nightly in a five-star theatrical show at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

Dion's music has been influenced by various genres, which range from pop and rock to gospel and classical, and while her releases have often been given mixed critical reception, she is renowned for her technically skilled and powerful vocals.[2][3] In 2004, after accumulating record sales in excess of 175 million, she was presented with the Chopard Diamond Award from the World Music Awards show for becoming the Best-selling Female Pop Artist in the World.[4][5]

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References

^ Britannica.com. Céline Dion. Retrieved January 13, 2006.
^ Gardner, Elysa. Review: Falling Into You. Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, Calif.: November 16, 1997. pg. 68)
^ Cove Magazine. The 100 Outstanding Pop Vocalists. Retrieved on August 29, 2006.
^ Chart Attack.com "Céline Dion Named Queen of the World." Monday September 13, 2004. Retrieved November 21, 2006
^ "World Music Award Show." American Broadcasting Company. New York. September, 2004.

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