Canada 101

[Drake 53]

I don't care just because the majority of the residents of GB are too thick skulled and half-witted to pay attention and stay on topic to something for more than five minutes. :p

[GreenEagle2005 0]

lol

[Princess 35]

Actually, I'm finding this interesting because I know that on my dad's side of the family I can claim Canadian ancestry

[Chickenman 9]

I find it somewhat interesting because I'm going to Canada later this year.

And I'm a history nerd.

Go me.

[GI_Admiral 2]

Im finding drakes...

...

2 posts that are actually about Canada...

semi interesting...yet not too informational

Try to explain in SW terms.

Think of Canada as Hoth.

Quebec = Echo Base

Americans = Imperials

Colonists and their greed = AT-ATs

French = Rebel Troopers

Death Star II = Washington

...and so on :p

[Drake 53]

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham: September 13, 1759

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, fought September 13, 1759, was a battle during the French and Indian War, the North American phase of the Seven Years' War. It was fought outside Quebec City in New France. One of the decisive battles of the war, combat lasted only 30 minutes. This battle ended a three month long siege of Quebec City.

Prelude: Seige of Quebec

The battle was actually the culmination of a siege that began on June 26 when the British landed on ?le d'Orl?ans in the St. Lawrence River. The British fleet under Admiral Charles Saunders had sailed from Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, which they had captured in 1758. The fleet consisted of 49 ships with 1944 guns and 13500 crew, as well as 140 smaller craft to land General James Wolfe's force of 8640 British troops (7030 British regulars, 1280 Americans, and 330 artillery). An attempt to land 4000 men on the north side of the river at the Montmorency falls east of Beauport on July 31 failed; General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Gozon, Marquis of Montcalm inflicted 400 casualties while his forces suffered only 60.

Throughout July and August Saunders' fleet sailed up and down the St. Lawrence, surveying the river for possible landing spots. The French, whose naval forces consisted of only 1460 men, sent fire ships against the British, but otherwise offered little resistance. James Cook, later a captain and explorer of the Pacific, was one of the cartographers surveying the river. The fleet also burned farms, forts, and supply depots, although the British did not take control of the entire river and left the French supply routes open. There were very little supplies to be had, however, as the British navy was successfully blockading the ports in France and controlled the entrance to the Saint Lawrence. On September 10 Wolfe chose Anse-aux-Foulons as a landing spot. Anse-aux-Foulons was at the bottom of the 53-metre high cliff on which Quebec sits, and was protected by cannons above. However, it was not the landing site Montcalm expected, and was much less well-defended than the other possible sites. Wolfe had French-speaking soldiers reply to the sentries on the shore, making the French believe the landing craft were actually a convoy of supply boats from upstream.

Plains of Abraham

Montcalm had 13390 troops and militia available in Quebec City and Beauport a few kilometres away, as well as 200 cavalry, 200 artillery, 300 natives, and 140 Acadian volunteers. This was about one quarter of the entire population of New France, but a significant portion of these forces was made up of inexperienced militia, unlike the British, most of whose forces had fought in the American colonies earlier in the Seven Years' War. About 100 Canadian militia defended the top of the cliff above Anse au Folon, but 385 British troops were able to scale the cliff and capture the cannons and the militia's camp. By the 13th over 5000 British had made it up the wet, muddy cliff and through a hail of French fire, to the plains.

On the morning of the 13th Wolfe assembled 5140 of his men on the Plains of Abraham outside Quebec City. Montcalm could have refused to meet them on the field (as his advisors suggested), and his decision to leave the fortified town and engage the British on the battlefield is often viewed as a mistake; his fear was that of British entrenchment. He also did not bring out the entire force, but only about 6500 men, slightly more than the British strength, leaving the other half of his army on the Beauport shoreline in case the attack on the Plains of Abraham turned out to be a diversion.

In order to cover the entire width of the plateau east of the town, Wolfe had set his ranks two-men deep. Unknown to Montcalm, the 1500 elite troops under his faithful subordinate Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, who had been successfully guarding the northern shoreline up-river from Qu?bec all summer long, had frantically rallied and were soon to arrive just east of the battlefield on the British rear. Uncharacteristically however, the usually careful and methodical Montcalm did not wait. In Montcalm's initial charge, Wolfe was shot in the side while acknowledging the troops. It was a fatal wound but he continued to speak to his soldiers. Later, during the battle, he died happy, knowing that the British had won. The French were quickly turning back with horrible casualties as the disciplined British fired at close range, having waited until only about 40 meters separated the lines to fire and having loaded two balls in each musket. Compounding the British blow was the chaos that ensued in the French ranks as ducking militiamen left regular troops perceiving losses far greater than was actually the case. Subsequent charges were disorganized and easily picked off by the British; the contingent of Highlanders, leading a bayonet and sword charge, proved especially ruthless on the routed French. Montcalm ordered a retreat back into the city, during which he too was fatally wounded. He entered the gates of Quebec with blood streaming from his body. "It is nothing," he insisted. He died that evening.

Aftermath

Both sides suffered almost the same number of casualties: 658 British and 644 French. After defeating Montcalm outside the city, the British turned to face Bougainville's forces, now vastly outnumbered, and forced him to make an orderly retreat to Charlesbourg. There Bougainville met up with Vaudreuil who had hastily deserted the Beauport shoreline on news of Montcalm's defeat. The British, now under the orders of General Murray, began to besiege Quebec itself, in conjunction with Saunders' fleet below in the river. In an ultimate tragic outcome, the garrison in Quebec, under the orders of De Ramezay, surrendered on September 18 (See the Articles of Capitulation) just as Bougainville was about to attempt a charge through British lines to resupply the besieged city. On September 24 Bougainville withdrew to a position on the Jacques-Cartier River east of the city.

Having cleared the last remaining French obstacle to the British navy on the St. Lawrence River, the battle of Qu?bec essentially opened up all of New France to British control. In 1760 the British completed the conquest by capturing Montreal, but not before the Battle of Sainte-Foy had given the French one final taste of victory. The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1763 to end the war and the government of France chose to keep Guadaloupe, a rich Caribbean island, instead of Canada, a less profitable and underpopulated colony.

[Drake 53]

Most of my entries won't be quite that long. I just did that because it's a battle that I'm particularly interested because General James Wolfe is one of my ancestors. :D

[Drake 53]

New Canadian $20 bill unleashed!

I got a few of these from the bank machine yesterday. They are so cool! It's so colourful and packed with security features. It's also textured in places. *huggles his money* Hehe.

[Tsl 7]

Pretty ^^

Now your $20's look less like American money, hehe

[Andy 60]

I'm impressed by your new money. lol

But one cool thing still different about British notes... Each of our kind of notes are a slightly different size. Only like a fraction of an inch or something, but like ?5 is one size, then ?10 is slightly bigger, ?20 slightly bigger than that, and ?50 slightly bigger again.

Makes sorting through a huge wad of mixed notes easyness - don't even have to look at the colour/writing!

[Drake 53]

That's pretty nifty!

[Alexander 0]

Queeny got a botox injection!

[GI_Admiral 2]

Haha interesting thing about WOlfes attack route...

He saw a young girl with a goat at the top of the cliff...later when he looked she was at the bottom. Sending scouts he found that route that led to fort quebec...so you better being searching Canada for that goats family drake! ((Maybe its JM!!! ))

[CorSec 5]

I find it somewhat interesting because I'm going to Canada later this year.

Where?

As for teh 20...spiffy. Haven't got my hands on one of them yet.

Edited October 14, 2004 by CorSec

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Haha interesting thing about WOlfes attack route...

He saw a young girl with a goat at the top of the cliff...later when he looked she was at the bottom. Sending scouts he found that route that led to fort quebec...so you better being searching Canada for that goats family drake! ((Maybe its JM!!! ))

yes, Canada is first on my list of countries to conquer in my plans for world domination :p

[GI_Admiral 2]

Getting the poor girl to leash you and walk you around the cliff...how could you!! :p

[Chickenman 9]

I find it somewhat interesting because I'm going to Canada later this year.

Where?

No idea. I need to bring in the permission slip tommorrow and my parents still havn't decided. And my dad's in Maryland right now. Which leaves me with my mom, who thinks Canadian terrorists are planning to kill American tourists. And that you have no hospitals.

Mom: What about your allergies?

Me: I'll have my medication.

Mom: What if it's too serious for the medication?

Me: They have hospitals in Canada, mom.

Mom: No they don't! They don't even have people in Canada.

(Not an exact quote, but this version's more fun)

[CorSec 5]

It's for school then? Or something?

[Radioactive Isotope 29]

Getting the poor girl to leash you and walk you around the cliff...how could you!!

i told her she could be in charge of National Security :p

[GI_Admiral 2]

Hahaha nice

Chicken: Canadian terrorists...ph33r their b4dg3rs of d00m!!!!

[Drake 53]

We have b34v3r5 j00 f00!

[GI_Admiral 2]

sh17...1m 7h1n|<1n9 0f w15<0n51n!!!

[Drake 53]

As a comparison to the American Electoral College style of election, I will write up a little overview of the Canadian (and British...I think) system.

Parliament in a Nutshell

The Parliament of Canada has two chambers. The House of Commons and the Senate. The HoC has 308 elected members and the Senate has 105 appointed members.

House of Commons

The House of Commons is made up of 308 members who represent a riding or constituency. Ridings are divided up based on population. In an election, the citizens vote on the representatives of the parties who are running in their riding. When a political party wins a riding, the representative wins that seat in the House of Commons. The party that gets to form the government is the party who wins the most seats.

Each party has a leader (elected before-hand within the party). The leader of the party that wins the election becomes the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, unlike the American President, is not his/her own branch of government. They are a member of the HoC and are elected through their riding. The Prime Minister, as with the other HoC members, are elected to a 5 year term. They may be elected again afterwards as many times as the voters wish or until they retire. This means that the Prime Minister is not restriced to a certain number of terms in office, as is the case with the US President. For example, Wilfred Laurier was Prime Minister from July 1896 to October 1911...just over 15 years. William Lyon Mackenzie King had three separate runs as PM for a total of 20 years. The Prime Minister can also call an election whenever they want, within their 5 year term. They can also be forced to call one if the opposition parties call a vote of No Confidence ("...in Chancellor Valorum's leadership!" ) in response to a Throne Speech (where the gov't lays out its plans for the term) or budgetary/financial legislation. Because of that, there have been PMs who have been in office for short periods of time. Such as Joe Clark who was in for almost 9 months or Kim Cambell who was in for 4 months.

Current Party Breakdown in the House of Commons:

Liberal Party of Canada: 135 seats

Conservative Party of Canada: 99

New Democratic Party: 19

Bloc Qu?b?cois: 54

Non-partisan: 1

Senate

The Senate, or House of Lords in England, is made up of 105 members appointed by the Governor General (who I will explain later) upon the advise of the Prime Minister. Senators have the same power as the members of the HoC with the exception that they cannot initiate any financial legislation.

Governor General

The Governor General of Canada acts as the representative of our Head of State, Queen Elizabeth II. The GG is appointed upon the advice of the Prime Minister. The GGs roles are broken down into four main roles:

* Representing the Crown in Canada

* Promoting Canadian Sovereignty

* Celebrating Excellence

* Encouraging National Identity, National Unity and Moral Leadership

Notable Names

Governor General: Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson

Prime Minister and Leader of the Liberal Party: Paul Martin

Leader of the Conservative Party: Stephen Harper

Leader of the New Democratic Party: Jack Layton

Leader of the Bloq Qu?b?cois: Gilles Duceppe

Edited October 28, 2004 by Drake

[Andy 60]

Now you are confusing me. In the UK, the House of Lords and the House of Commons are two entirley different parts of Parliament.

UK House of Commons = same as yours, pretty much.

UK House of Lords = Similar to your Senate.

And obviously instead of a Governor General, we actually have Her Majesty, The Queen. lol

However.... Intresting stuff.

[Drake 53]

Sorry about the mix up. I get them all confused sometimes. :p