Biophysical and Historical Overview of Canada

Biophysical and Historical Overview of Canada

Canada has diverse regions that are easily identifiable. The biophysical features of these regions give Canada its characteristics. These characteristics influence the activities in the regions, which has led to the partitioning of the country. Since the time of early explorations, it became evident to people that Canada was a massive chunk of land, which could only be described by the uniqueness of the regions within it (Nelles, 2011). It could be one of the reasons why the country became bilingual with some of the areas speaking mainly French and others English. The bilingual status of the country fosters some cultural aspects of the given regions (Bone, 2014). For instance, Quebec province has French as the official language, and the main reason was to ensure that they held the region’s culture, which is embedded in French culture. The country can be classified into six geographic regions comprised of the Territorial North, British Columbia, Western Canada, Quebec, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada.

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These areas have distinct physical features, resources, and historical development, which influence human activities. The distinctiveness of the regions creates regional identity. In addition, the country has various physiographic regions, which also influence the regional uniqueness and activities. They include the Arctic lands/Arctic Archipelago, Canadian Shield, Interior Plains, Cordillera, the Great Lakes-St Lawrence Lowlands, and Hudson Bay Lowlands.

Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield covers the largest region in the country making an iconic landscape. It developed about 4.5 billion years ago, and it is composed of a volcanic activity forming igneous rock. It has forests, for example, the Boreal Forest, minerals, water power, and podzolic soil. Some of the areas are developed, while the other part has development potential.

Great Lakes-St Lawrence

It is among the country’s smallest regions focusing on its size, but it has political and economic influence. It offers Canada an extensive season for agriculture and its soil, luvisolic soil, which is the best. In summer it is normally warm and moist, whereas winters are less cold and short.

Interior Plains

They are series of alluvial plains. The region is mainly flat with various glacial lakes including Lake Agassiz. The area has also glacial outwash troughs forming deep river valleys and basins with chernozemic soils (Government of Canada, 2014). Its summers do not last long and are warm, while winters are cold and lengthy.

Hudson Bay Lowlands

It is the country’s largest wet area. It is also flat and poorly drained. It has little settlement apart from the region around the Port of Churchill, which is engaged in the shipping of wheat.

Arctic Appalachian

They form an extension of the Appalachian Mountains. The region is cool and humid, and it experiences short cool winters and cool humid summers.

Cordillera

It is the country’s youngest region and is formed by different chains of mountains with plateaus and valleys. Its formation resulted from plate tectonic activities. It can be classified into coastal mountains, which are volcanic, interior plateaus, and the Rocky Mountains. It has two climates, pacific and cordillera.

Arctic Lands

It comprises different physical topographies. There is the littoral plain in the west and the Innuitian Mountains on the east. The northern region usually has ice covering all the time.

These regions dictate the activities carried out by the inhabitants. As a result of the conditions in some of the areas, they are sparsely inhabited.

The Aboriginal people are the individuals believed to have inhabited the area since the early days or before the incoming of colonialists. The Aboriginal people in Canada form part of the founding people in the country. Before the entry of colonialists, these people had their legal and governance structures. They had the option of adapting to the foreign systems or getting assimilated into them or they could ignore the colonizers and keep their systems, which led to the conflict. The Aboriginal people and the newcomers signed agreements regarding their coexistence. It started with the people from France who were first to arrive in the country, and it went on after the coming of the British after they fought the French in the 1860s. Over time, their rights were ignored with the enactment of legal bodies. Their rights were ignored by the existing laws, for example, the Indian Act. The precedence continued until they were acknowledged in the Constitution Act. However, numerous flaws are still present in the legal system of Canada. It is necessary to have precedents formed through the judgments of the Supreme Court. They should offer guidance on issues relating to treaties and the inherent rights of the Aboriginal people.

Additionally, there are differences among the Aboriginal people. They are classified into three divisions. There are the First Nations, Metis, and the Inuit. As a result of the differences, each of the divisions receives different and separate treatment from the Canadian government. It is essential that the diversities among the groups are recognized so as to give them the needed treatment. There is a difference in the living status of the Aboriginal in comparison to the non-Aboriginal people. For instance, in 2009, the employment rate of the Aboriginal people was fifty-seven percent, which was lower than the sixty-two percent rate held by the non-Aboriginal people. In addition, the study indicated that forty-five percent of the Aboriginal youth had less likelihood of getting employed compared to the fifty-five percent of the employment likelihood for the non-Aboriginal youth (Pedersen, Maud & Koch, 2014). In addition, the income levels of these people are usually lower than the Canadian average, and most of them have to get government assistance to survive. The main reason for the disparity in the income levels of the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people mainly emanates from their levels of education. For instance, in 2011, almost twenty-nine percent of the Aboriginal people between the age of twenty-five and sixty-five did not have a high school diploma. At the same time, only twelve percent of the non-Aboriginal population in the same age brackets lacked high school diplomas (Pedersen, Maud & Koch, 2014).

Numerous aspects characterize the conflicts. For instance, there is the warrior cohort, which is mainly composed of the First nations. It is necessary to understand that the young warrior cohort will be in existence for a long time. In 2017, around forty-two percent of the First Nations’ population on the Prairies will be below 30 years. It is more than twenty percent of the non-Aboriginal population (Bland, 2013). For the uprising to reduce, the Canadian government must focus on enhancing equity. The country requires employment and education policies aimed at transforming the Aboriginal population’s young people. It is the only way that they will become productive and self-reliant. Therefore, the solution to the long-term conflict rests in the youth. Once the Aboriginal youth are given the capacity to participate in income-generating activities, they will be less marginalized and their impact will be felt during policymaking. If the country does not put that into consideration, there will be uprisings that will destroy resources and the economy.

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