CANADA DATA COLLECTION
Natural Resources: iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, rare earth elements, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower
Land Use:
Agricultural land: 6.8%
Arable land 4.7%; Permanent crops 0.5%; Permanent pasture 1.6%
Forest: 34.1%
Other: 59.1%
Natural Hazards: continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains.
Environmental Issues: metal smelting, coal-burning utilities, and vehicle emissions impacting on agricultural and forest productivity; air pollution and resulting acid rain severely affecting lakes and damaging forests; ocean waters becoming contaminated due to agricultural, industrial, mining, and forestry activities
Population: 35,362,905
country comparison to the world: 39
Age Structure:
0-14 years: 15.44% (male 2,799,758/female 2,661,645)
15-24 years: 12.12% (male 2,204,127/female 2,080,587)
25-54 years: 40.32% (male 7,231,200/female 7,028,692)
55-64 years: 13.94% (male 2,443,452/female 2,484,788)
65 years and over: 18.18% (male 2,863,114/female 3,565,542)
Population Growth Rate: 0.74%
Urbanization:
Urban Population: 81.8% of total population
Rate of Urbanization: 1.22% annual rate of change
Exports: $402.4 billion on motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment; chemicals, plastics, fertilizers; wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, aluminum.
country comparison to the world: 12
External Debt: $1.608 trillion
country comparison to the world: 14
Telephones (fixed lines):
Total Subscriptions: 15.902 million
Subscriptions per 100 Inhabitants: 45
country comparison to the world: 17
Telephones (cellular):
Subscriptions per 100 Inhabitants: 84
country comparison to the world: 44
Internet Users:
Total: 31.053 million
Percent of Population: 88.5%
country comparison to the world: 21
ARTICLE SUMMARY
Netherlands: The people of Netherlands admire Canada for its natural landscape, attractions, and clean air, also referring it as “the European version of America”. Canadians have a very attractive personality and spirit that the Dutch people love, unlike those of Americans. As of 2015, Canada and the United States had very opposite leaders, Stephen Harper and Barack Obama. The Dutch referred to Stephen Harper (Canada) as an “American president” and Barack Obama (United States) as a “Canadian president”, which is why they believe Canada is slowly becoming a country focussed on money and resources, and less prioritized on the people itself.
Slovakia: Canada is hardly ever mentioned in Slovakia, not even in the news. Therefore Slovaks do not know anything about Canada or its relations with Slovakia. However, unlike America, which is involved in every political skirmish and is heard about in every part of the world, Canada is completely the opposite and does not involve itself with fights and wars that do not concern them. This is a quality that Slovaks recognize and appreciate about Canada, referring to Canada as “a better United States”.
United States (Earl Frye): Americans applaud Canada, but know very little about Canada’s rich history and culture, something that America lacks. Not many Americans visit Canada as much as Canadians visit America, so as a result, America does not have a big idea on how Canada runs its country compared to how Americans run their country.
Israel: Israelis see Canada as a “country to the North of the USA”, but Canada has developed its own rich culture, history, and identity that has caused an increase of interest among Israelis in learning about Canada. They feel however, that Canada is at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the Western world, in that they need to spend money and be creative in advertising themselves as to what they really are, which is “a wonderful free and democratic country with a strong economy and wonderful people.”
China (Lihua Yang): The Chinese believed that Canada was a country that could not influence politics in such a way other majour countries (USA, China, Russia) could. However, it is now known that Canada has its goals whether its economically, culturally, or militarily. Canada has agreed with China’s economic policies, despite refutes in the past, but the Chinese hope Canada can engage and take further action in defending human rights the same way China does.
United States (Andrew Holman): America has been seen as an “experiment” country in the past, due to the Great Revolution, but Andrew Holman believes that Canada has experimented with its country more than believed, due to the two Quebec Referendums that almost separated Quebec from the rest of Canada. There have been many rights revolutions in Canada including aboriginal rights and land protection, and this has changed Americans’ image of Canada in the recent years.
India: Canada and India may be very similar in terms of how both governments run their country, but economic relations between them have not been as good. There have been political refutes in the past, but relations between India and Canada are slowly improving due to the large amount of Indian population in Canada. Due to the large immigration of Indians into Canada, problems may arise with the growing Indian population, so Indians hope they can be accommodated accordingly with the emphasis of economic, social, and political well-being of its people.
Germany: Canada is seen as an important member in the production of energy and resources, something other countries can make use of, but the government’s strategies in dealing with other nations has been downgraded to a national issue, rather than international. The Canadian government has abolished its “Understanding Canada” program around the world in 2012, and this was seen as a way of Canada telling other nations that it does not need to be studied or understood by other countries. Canada is a very multicultural country with immigrants from a variety of countries, and this is an important topic which is understood and noted by many Germans.
United Kingdom: Canadian literature is not very recognized in the United Kingdom, but many famous Canadian poets are being honoured on Canada Day. This is done to build closer literary relationships between parts of England and Canada’s industrial capital, Toronto. As mentioned before, Canada is often unrecognized by British people, but hearing Canadians speak leads British people to a different point of view on the essentials of life.
Poland: Polish people view Canada as a young, modern, rich country with an interesting past. They also feel Canada is a country that has fought its demons and moved past its “national ghosts that have been haunting it”, which is the reason why it is a strong and stable country. Canada is also applauded for its multiculturalism, something that makes Canada very well-known not only in Poland, but in other countries as well.
Venezuela: Canada has played a big positive role in the violence and human rights issues in Venezuela, and Venezuelans are “grateful for the attention” they receive from the Canadian government regarding these issues. Canada has a good number of Venezuelan immigrants and unsurprisingly, it is known for its multiculturalism.
China (Wang Bing): Canada has a very good reputation among Chinese people, as many of the world’s problems are addressed and solved by the Canadian government. Canada’s past as a “wheat exporter” has changed into a much different country that succeeds in multiple aspects of the world’s concerns. Canada has a large Chinese population, so the Chinese appreciate Canada’s welcoming personality, as Canada does not only house Chinese people, but other nations’ peoples, too. Being multicultural and accepting is a great way to solve conflicts that may arise between different cultural groups.
Northern Ireland: Northern Ireland has had conflicts and economic problems, so they looked at how Canada runs their country from their immigration laws and equality, and have learned a lot to help their own country (Northern Ireland). However, despite Canada setting a good example on how to run a country, people overseas have not been able to see what important lessons Canada has to offer. People are trying to communicate with each other about Canada, but they have not been able to understand how Canada connects with the rest of the world.
Mexico: The Mexican population is growing in Canada, so more people in Mexico are taking interest with the way Canada runs its country. Canada and Mexico have had strong relationships in the past, but due to reduction in the number of Canadian studies in Mexican schools, less people have been taking interest in learning about Canada. To fix this problem, people that have great knowledge about Canada are needed to solve the world’s changes and problems, including the global academic community.
ANALYSIS
Canada's Biggest Strengths
Canada's first biggest strength is with its natural resources and raw materials. Canada has exceptionally large amounts of agricultural products such as wheat and meat products, mineral products such as oil, natural gas, and metal, and wood products such as paper. It is a large and diverse country with a variety of geographic landforms, so it is unsurprising that different types of resources are found all over the country. Due to the amount of resources and modern technology Canada possesses, it also has a great export at $402.4 billion, which ranks 12th in the world. Some of its exports include motor parts, plastics, telecommunication equipment, chemicals, and electricity.
Canada's second biggest strength (which could be tied for first) is with how culturally diverse it is. Immigrants from all over the world come to Canada due to its great quality of life, living and work opportunities, and how friendly and accommodating Canadians are to new people. Many countries and their representatives have talked positively of Canada's multiculturalism and the way Canada handles the world's problems. One country in particular, Poland, talked very highly of Canada's government, history, landscape and beauty, and the fact that Canada is "a country of immigrants cherishing its multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious heritage."
Canada's Biggest Weaknesses
Canada may not seem to have many weaknesses, but one of the few downsides to Canada is that it is not as "powerful" or dominant as other "superpower" countries. As Israel's representative, Danny Ben-Natan said, Canada "cannot afford to be penny wise and short-sighted in its struggle to be recognized for what it is." This means Canada needs to spend a good amount of money and be creative in order to advertise itself to the rest of the world how amazing the country is. Toronto is Canada's industrial capital and is the most well known city in Canada. Even though Toronto might be a very well known city, other parts of Canada are very much unheard of on the news or from Toronto locals. This can be an issue because Canada is such a diverse country that even Canadians forget that there is more to Canada than just the big cities like Toronto, which influences the rest of the world in a way that they can only remember Toronto as the only city in Canada. In this case, not every part of Canada is known around the world as much as Toronto is. This is also part of the reason why Quebec wanted to be a separate country from Canada, as no one recognized its unique culture and heritage. Canada is also very much compared to the United States as the inferior version of the US. Canada is a fully independent country which has an economic partnership with the United States, so it seems as though Canada is dependent on the US for economic and military stability.
Canada's Most Pressing Issue
In the past, leadership at the national level was a big issue especially with a less powerful military, and the way the parliament was too afraid to take action on certain issues, unable to do what was right, and instead did what was practical and improper. Now, a topic that has not been discussed lately but is still a big concern is Canada's relationship with the first nations. Canada continues to ignore their heritage, culture, dignity, and land that they have owned long before colonization. As Andrew Holman talks about the different "experiments" the United States has conducted on its own country with the revolutionary war, he also mentions that "Canada has also undergone its own rights revolution" with the first nations. It is not as talked about as the economy, but it is still a big issue as many natives are losing their homes and land to large industrial companies, also showing how money-minded Canada has become and how disinterested Canada has been to the well being of its citizens. In summary, the issues Canada faces is more national based and its issues are confined within the country, than it is international, as Canada does not get involved with any wars or skirmishes with other nations.
Should Canadians Be Proud of Their Country and Is Canada Better Off Compared To Other Countries?
Canadians should definitely be proud of their country because not only is it a welcoming and accommodating place for visitors and immigrants, Canada keeps hush on problems that do not concern them at all. Many other countries are proud of Canada's peacekeeping efforts, health care, multiculturalism, natural beauty, and education system, so why not Canadians feel proud of Canada's own achievements, too? As Lucia Otrisalova mentions, "Canada is still viewed as a better United States, as a country which enjoys a level of prosperity similar to its neighbour to the south, but doesn't interfere in matters that don't concern it." Michelle Gadpaille sums it up perfectly, as she mentions asking her university students in Slovenia what they think when they think of Canada. They all replied "you", in reference to Michelle Gadpaille (who teaches Canadian literature). This shows the enormous respect other nations have for Canada and its people, and how they recognize the "down to earth Canadian spirit" that not only does its best to help itself, but also help others in their issues, making them feel "so grateful for the attention" they receive when in need of aid. If all these nations are praising Canada's efforts, it seems right that Canadians begin to appreciate how stable, strong, and independent of a country Canada has become over the past years, that is also willing to share its knowledge and lessons with other developing countries. This sums up why Canada is an excellent country to reside in or visit, and why it is definitely "better off" compared to other countries, especially its US counterparts. Both the US and Canada are well developed countries with plenty of resources and money, but in the end, it all comes down to which country has a more friendly and welcoming personality, and which country is more eager to help others in need and not interfere with problems in a harmful way (wars, refutes). These are all qualities Canada possesses, which is the reason why not only Canadians are proud of this country, but many other nations are, too.
