The Country of Canada
Learn all about Canada!
All About Canada
Environmental Issues of Canada
The Canadian Shield is a large area of thin, rocky soil surrounding the Hudson Bay. This area is very important to Canada's economy, for 1.5 million people make their living from mining in the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield contains most of Canada's valuable minerals, including diamonds. In this area, mining is the biggest industry. The Canadian Shield contains large deposits of gold, silver, zinc, copper, and uranium. However, when mining companies blast and dig the land with their heavy machinery, it leaves the land damaged and the environment ruined. Plus, this machinery can pollute the air which causes air pollution.
One of Canada's main resources is timber. Much of its land is covered in forests. As a matter of fact, one of Canada's main exports is paper. However, the many of the citizens of Canada are concerned that logging is destroying the forests. Most timber companies cut all the trees in a certain area, leaving big gaps in the forest (like a bald spot). This is known as clear-cutting. By doing this, the timber companies reduce water quality, causes erosion, and destroys the habitats of animals. The heavy machinery also compacts the soil which makes it difficult for anything to grow. This ultimately destroys the environment.
Quebec's Independence
Quebec's secession is rooted in the fact that the French settled Quebec during the exploration period, but the English took over the rest of Canada. Quebec felt oppressed because the rest of Canada was English. At this time, an influx of English people were moving to Quebec. By doing this, they imposed their religion and culture on the French. This is one of the reasons of Quebec's attempt of secession. The results of Quebec's secession are undetermined.
There is a Unity Bill in Canada that states that a bare majority of 50% plus one vote would be sufficient to prompt negotiations on Canada's secession. In recent years, there has been a poll about Quebec's secession and the results were that 49.42% want to secede and 50.58 do not want to secede. As you can see, the results were very close. During the poll, the results were precariously balanced on a fence. The rest of Canada did not want Quebec to secede, so they have sort of bent over backwards to make laws to prevent Quebec's secession.