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CANADA - MY SECOND HOMELAND

SIMO JELAČA Ph.D.

Geographical terms

Canada is the second largest country in the world geographically, with an area of 9,984,670 km2, while Russia is with an area of 17,098,142 km2, and China with an area of 9,596,961 km2.

Water covers 8.92% of Canada's territory, while land covers 91.08%. Canada shares a land border only with the United States, with a length of 8,892 km, while Canada's coastline is 243,042 km. For comparison, Russia's coastline is 37,652 km long, and China's is 14,500 km long. The highest mountain peak in Canada is Mount Logan (5,959 m). The longest river is the MacKenzie (4,241 km). The largest lake is Great Bear Lake (31,153 km2), and the deepest is Great Slave Lake (614 m).

Canada is surrounded by three oceans, the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans. The terrain of Canada is predominantly mountainous in the west, hilly in the southeast and east, and flat around the Great Lakes and Prairies. The Prairies include parts of the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Arctic part of Canada is composed of permafrost soil, which makes construction difficult and agriculture practically impossible. The mountainous parts of the Cordillera mainly extend through British Columbia. Canada officially has over two million lakes, and including even aii very small ones, there is information that there are about three million in total, which is more than in the rest of the world combined. Of these two million lakes, 563 are larger than 100 km2.

In the north of Canada, there is mostly tundra. The Marine-ecosystems are the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic. The largest in terms of area is the Arctic, about 1,500,000 km2. Canada is home to about 200 species of animals, mammals, over 460 species of birds, over 40 species of reptiles and over 1,200 species of fish. Canada also has over 17,000 registered species of plants. (trees, flowers, teas, agricultural crops and other types of flora). Approximately half of Canada's territory is covered by forests. Canada is a naturally beautiful country, abundant in water, flowers, forests and all the gifts of nature, which Canadians want and know how to preserve.

About Canadians

Canada now has 41.5 million inhabitants, Russia 146.2 million, and China 1.409 billion. The influx of immigrants to Canada is among the largest in the world, due to the famous Canadian hospitality, which is equal to all benevolent nations of the world. The increase is now as much as 21%, which is truly superb. Canada is a peace-loving country, different in many ways. Over 100 nations live in Canada, which mostly maintain their own language and culture, which makes Canada one of the culturally richest countries in the world. Almost all nations have their own restaurants, with their own specialties, and many citizens are happy to go to them to try them. By the way, Canadians eat a lot of pizza, and many are fans of Italian and Chinese food. Wherever wars occur, Canada is among the first countries to send its aid and protect the given population.

Canada has ten provinces and three territories. They are: Alberta (AB), British Columbia (BC), Manitoba (MB), New Brunswick (NB), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), Nova Scotia (NS), Nunavut (NU), Ontario (ON), Prince Edward Island (PE), Quebec (QC), Saskatchewan (SK), Northwest Territories (NT), and Yukon Territory (YT).

Government

The political system in Canada operates within a parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, with a King/Queen, the monarch, as the ceremonial head of state. In practice, the executive branch, the Cabinet, is given the right to govern and act as the executive branch, headed by the Prime Minister and accountable to the democratically elected House of Commons.

There are five official political parties in Canada;

Liberal Party, leader of the party and Prime Minister, is now Mark Carney.

Conservative Party, leader of Pierre Poilievre, official opposition.

Bloc Quebecois, leader d' Yves-François Blanchet.

New Democratic Party leader Yagment Singh.

Green Party, leaders of Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault.

The structure of the Canadian government was originally established by the British Parliament, under the British-American Act of 1867 (now; Constitution Act 1867). The current Governor-General of the Canadian monarchy is Mary Simon, and the King is Charles III. The capital of Canada, with the seat of the federal government, is Ottawa (population 1.1 million).

The Canadian police force primarily serves to protect citizens. There are very frequent riots on the streets, mostly at night, street murders, and also during the day, traffic accidents and the like, where the police intervene, often sacrificing their lives. There are cases when the judiciary makes verdicts, they do not have enough evidence and make wrong verdicts, so some unjustly convicted citizens spend years in prison, and later, during retrials, they are released and compensated with large sums of money. In America, the free sale of weapons is legally permitted, so street criminals buy them and bring them into Canada, generating large incomes for themselves, causing crime.

Economy of Canada

One of the strongest industrial branches in Canada is the Electrical Industry, where the hydroelectric system primarily comes into consideration, which supplies 59.3% of consumers, industrial and households. As a significant producer of electricity, Canada has plenty of it for export. Other stronger industrial branches are oil and natural gas, as well as coal and uranium, as energy sources. Renewable energy sources (solar energy and wind energy) are increasingly being used. Canada has plenty of oil and natural gas, also for export. The computer technology branches are very strong, most concentrated in Vancouver and Ottawa. Montreal is also a significant industrial center, with good research centers in the fields of engineering. About 20,000 employees work in research centers in Canada, which generate about 35 billion dollars in annual income. The pharmaceutical industry in Canada is quite well developed and generates significant revenues. The pharmaceutical industry has strong scientific research. There are many employees in the auto industry, as well, which is mutually dependent on the American auto industry. On the one hand, the auto industries of Canada and America both import and export cars and car parts to each other.

Canada's agriculture is at a fairly high level of development. Many vegetables and fruits are grown in Canada, and in addition, livestock farming is at a high level of development. The use of hormones and chemicals is prohibited in both agricultural production and livestock farming, so meat products are of the highest quality. Canada produces healthy food, and is known worldwide as a producer of the highest quality wheat, which Canada exports to many countries as a component for improving the quality of local wheat. The following wheat varieties are known in Canada: Hard Red Spring (CHRS) and Western Durum (CWCD). Spring wheat varieties are used for bread production, and durum, hard wheat, for macaroni production. In addition to high-quality wheat, which is mainly grown in the Prairies, Canada produces rye, barley, oats, canola, sunflower and some others. Canada has a very large lobster catch, which it exports to 80 countries, from which it generates an income of about 14.8 billion dollars. Also, Canada is famous in the world for the production of maple syrup, about 70% of the total world production. However, despite its own production, Canada imports mainly southern fruits, coffee and foods that cannot be grown in Canada due to local climatic conditions. It is a significant fact that Canada forces the production of healthy food.

In Canada, as in other capitalist countries, strikes are allowed. That is why all unions organize strikes almost every year, or at least every third year, demanding increases in wages and insurance benefits, but in doing so they usually harm other services with which they have business contacts. Strikes are even held in schools, which harms children.

For us, immigrants from Europe, and perhaps others too, television programs are strange. In addition to the usual news and cultural programs, they have too many commercials, which are most often, perhaps 90%, unpleasant to watch and do not show consumers useful information, but only make them remember invented tricks. It is similar to local newspapers, which I have stopped receiving because they do not bring anything that could interest me.

Party representatives are now competing to see who will propose more and better houses for construction. Faced with global warming, forest fires now occur in Canada every summer, affecting all forested areas. There are hundreds of them, and the extinguishing devices are not effective enough, so the country suffers enormous damage. Every year, the government promises various benefits to the “Indigenous” peoples, but fewer of them are implemented than promised. A significantly larger number of Canadians insist on human rights, and few fulfill their obligations. Canada has an army, which occasionally steps in to help when accidents, snowdrifts and similar situations occur. The army is also there to help citizens in critical situations. It would be best if no country in the world did not have one, and if there were no wars. Weather forecasts in Canada are very good, and they work according to the forecasts. Canada's freight railways and railroads are already quite old and worn out, and very often freight trains carrying chemicals and fuels derail. Power lines often suffer damage in winter due to ice. When it snows in Canada, city services work exceptionally well. During the first night, the main roads are cleared, and immediately after that, all other streets. School buses are quite regular and safe for transporting children to school. And when freezing rain is announced in advance and ice is expected, school buses usually do not run, and parents are informed that they can transport their children to schools, themselves, if they wish.

Grocery stores are usually well stocked, only in some regions they are quite far away for pensioners, who need to walk, so cars must be used exclusively. And we all know that occasionally we need small things that we would prefer to go for on foot.

Tourism in Canada

Tourism in Canada is one of the important economic sectors, both domestic and foreign, which maintains employment and a steady income for survival. The most famous tourist centers are located in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Niagara Falls, Whistler, Okanagan, that is, in all major centers. Understandably, international traffic also operates in these centers. The leading airlines are Air Canada, WestJet and several other, relatively smaller ones. International bus traffic also functions quite well. Statistical data show that Canada achieved an exchange in the number of foreign tourists in 2023 of 27.2 million, who left behind an income of about 12.6 trillion dollars. Tourists annually bring Canada an income of 1% of the total GDP. That year, 25,693,000 Canadians traveled to America, 1,534,000 to Mexico, 723,000 to France, 708,000 to the Dominican Republic, 508,000 to England, etc. Foreign tourists spend most of their expenses on accommodation, while domestic tourists spend most of their expenses on food. Canada is a naturally beautiful country, with countless lakes, parks, mountains, and everything else for tourists to enjoy and learn about.

Health System

Canada has a universal public health system, known as “Healthcare”. All permanent residents have access to hospitals and medical facilities, where they do not have to pay directly for services. Universal coverage means that insured residents have coverage for insured medical services. Canada’s Health Care is covered under the Canada Health Act 1984. Citizens purchase health insurance, each according to their means, which includes medical examinations, medications, hospital treatments, and the like.

Pensioners who do not have health insurance have free medical examinations, all basic medications (some medications require additional payment), specialist examinations, hospital treatments, therapeutic services, and the like. Science emphasizes every day how harmful sugar in food is, and manufacturers continue to use it in excessive quantities, presumably because of the price.

Universities in Canada

Canada has over 100 universities, where both English and French are taught. Most French-language universities are located in Quebec, although some of these universities are bilingual. About 1.8 million students study at all Canadian universities annually. 95% of universities have student accommodation for permanent residence during the school year.

The largest and most recognized universities in Canada are as follows:

University Location Number of students

MetropolitanUniversity of Toronto 33,300

Carleton University of Ottawa 23,300

Concordia University of Montreal 28,340

University of Alberta Calgary 40,130

Univ. of Br.Columbia Vancouver 52,370

University of Manitoba Winnipeg 25,840

Toronto University of Toronto 89,400

Ottawa University of Ottawa 41,400

McGill University Montreal 32,200

This table lists only some of the well-known universities, and information for all Canadian universities can be found online. There are also several private universities in Canada, which offer engineering, law, and medicine. The University of Toronto is ranked among the best in the world, at number 17, followed by the University of British Columbia. The most popular disciplines of study at Canadian universities are Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Engineering, Computer Science, Information Technology, Medical Sciences and Devices, Finance, Business Administration, and Psychology. Vancouver is the strongest in biotechnology, followed by Ottawa. In Vancouver, about 70 biotechnologies are studied, which are carried out by 2,600 employees.

Sports

The following sports are very popular and represented in Canada: Baseball; American football; tennis; basketball, hockey and some others, on a smaller scale. In basketball, many Canadians play in American clubs. It is unpleasant to watch basketball matches between the Toronto Raptors, the only Canadian professional team, and any American club, while American referees, all without exception, cheer for the Americans and unfairly punish Canadians. Acquaintances told us that Canadians enjoy watching hockey, while the players fight. They are allowed to do so in domestic matches, but fighting is not allowed in international matches.

Note

The opinions expressed in the text are solely those of the author.

Ottawa, April 2025 S.J.

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