Western Canada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the region in Canada. For the school in Calgary, see Western Canada High School.
Western Canada, also known as the Western America or simply the West, is a region of Canada normally including all parts of Canada west of the province of Ontario. From west to east, this comprises four provinces:
- British Columbia (20 July 1871)
- Alberta (1 September 1905)
- Saskatchewan (1 September 1905)
- Manitoba (15 July 1870)
The latter three are collectively the Prairie provinces, or simply the Prairies, though the term is increasingly used for Manitoba and Saskatchewan only.
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[edit] Definitions
The source of this division of regions is the division of seats in the Canadian Senate, as set out in the Canadian Constitution.
Although many Canadians include the province of British Columbia (BC) in the generic region of "Western Canada", many British Columbians tend to distinguish themselves from the other three Western provinces and see their province as constituting a geographic region of its own, known as the "West Coast" or the "Pacific". However, these feelings are generally concentrated in Vancouver, Victoria, and the coastal regions of the province.
The coastal areas of British Columbia have many distinctions from the three Prairie provinces, particularly geographical, climatic, and cultural. BC is considered to be part of the Canadian geographical region known as the Western Cordillera, while the three provinces to its east are situated on the Prairies. The presence of the Rocky Mountains has historically tended to isolate BC and has resulted in a somewhat different culture and attitude in that province. Coastal British Columbia is sometimes separated and termed "Pacific Canada" due to its distinct climate and to the strong difference in culture, which is more in line with the coastal regions of the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California (see Pacific Northwest) rather than the Prairies. This coastal culture especially differs from that of Alberta in that it has a more liberal political alignment that features strong support for environmentalism. The Northeast and interior of BC, in general, tend to be culturally and politically similar to the rest of Western Canada, but these areas are dwarfed demographically by the coastal areas with their larger urban centres.
Another issue with regards to defining Western Canada is that many in the most Western provinces (British Columbia and Alberta) do not consider Manitoba part of the region[citation needed] because Manitoba is, geographically speaking, located in the centre of Canada. Manitobans, however, consider themselves to be Western Canadians, and the province's economy and history mirror its western neighbours far more than Ontario and Quebec, which are regarded by Westerners as being part of Eastern Canada.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, however, are usually called the Interior plains, which gradually rise towards the Interior Plains. This usually gives British Columbia the name of the Western Cordillera while the rest sit between the Canadian shield, the Arctic Lowlands, and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands. Another reason of the separation is because the interior plains were formed on the basis of sedimentary bedrock formed under shallow seas which used to cover most of North America, while the Rocky Mountains were shaped by Sedimentary bedrock under shallow seas, combined with both plate tectonics and glaciation millions of years ago.
[edit] Demographics
The combined population of Western Canada as of 2005 is nearly 10 million, including approximately 4.3 million in British Columbia, 3.3 million in Alberta, just under 1.0 million in Saskatchewan and 1.2 million in Manitoba. This represents about 30 per cent of the entire Canadian population (source: Statistics Canada, April 1, 2005 estimates).
[edit] Major population centres
Census Metropolitan Areas, 2005 population estimates[1]
- Vancouver: 2,208,300
- Calgary: 1,038,700
- Edmonton: 1,016,000
- Winnipeg: 706,900
- Surrey: 400,000
- Victoria: 334,700
- Saskatoon: 235,800
- Regina: 199,000
- Kelowna: 165,221
- Abbotsford: 162,800
[edit] Geography
Western British Columbia adjoins the Pacific Ocean but both Alberta and Saskatchewan are landlocked. Manitoba is almost landlocked but for a small coastal area of Hudson Bay on the north east border, where the port of Churchill is located.
The coast of British Columbia enjoys a moderate oceanic climate due to the influence of the Pacific Ocean, with temperatures similar to those of the British Isles. Winters are typically wet and summers relatively dry. These areas enjoy the mildest winter weather in all of Canada, as temperatures rarely fall much below the freezing mark. The Interior of the province is drier and has colder winters and substantially hotter summers.
Alberta borders the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the southern portion benefits from frequent moderate climatic conditions known as "chinooks" where warm winds raise the winter temperature sufficiently to allow a full range of winter sports and the occasional game of golf. Alberta's weather is exceptionally changeable, and short-sleeve weather can occur in January and February, or conversely it can (albeit rarely) snow in July and August.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba experience extremes in weather; although, Manitoba suffers the brunt of both extremes more so than Saskatchewan. Winters in both provinces can be classified as harsh with Arctic winds and −40 °C temperatures possible. Winter maximums in both provinces average between −10 °C and −15 °C. The extreme nature of the Manitoba climate has resulted in the capital city Winnipeg being nicknamed "Winterpeg". In contrast summers can be hot with temperatures sometimes exceeding 35 °C.
[edit] Politics
In Canadian politics, the term "the West" is often used as shorthand for the supposedly Conservative leanings of Western Canadians, as contrasted with the supposed liberalism of Central Canada. Exceptions exist, however, in British Columbia, the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and (at least at the provincial level) Edmonton, Alberta (nicknamed "Red-monton" for its liberal leanings). The social democratic New Democratic Party had its origins on the Canadian Prairies and enjoys considerable support in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, as well as British Columbia, although in recent years this party has made somewhat of a shift to the right, particularly in the case of Saskatchewan.
As of April 2007, the British Columbia Liberal Party (much to the right of the federal Liberal Party, more akin to the Conservatives) formed the provincial government in British Columbia, the Conservatives in Alberta, and the New Democratic Party in both Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
The Western provinces are represented in the Parliament of Canada by 92 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons (B.C. 36, Alberta 28, Saskatchewan and Manitoba 14 each) and 24 senators (6 from each province). Of the 92 MPs in the Commons, 66 are Conservatives, 13 are Liberals, and 13 are New Democrats. David Emerson, the current Minister of International Trade in the federal cabinet, was elected as a Liberal but crossed over to the Conservative Party shortly after the election.
The West has been the most vocal in calls for reform of the Senate, in which Ontario, Quebec, and particularly Atlantic Canada are seen as being over-represented. The population of Ontario alone (12.5 million) exceeds that of all the Western provinces combined, and the population of Quebec (7.6 million) now has significantly less population than the combined population of the west. However, the total population of Atlantic Canada is 2.3 million, and this region is represented by 30 senators. Instead, some Westerners have advocated the so-called Triple-E Senate, which stands for "equal, elected, effective." They feel that if all 10 provinces were allotted an equal number of senators, those senators were elected instead of appointed, and the Senate was a body that had actual political power (an arrangement identical to the structure of the Australian Senate and the United States Senate), then their region would have more of its concerns addressed at the federal level. The combination of all of these issues has led to the phenomenon of Western alienation, as well as calls for Western Canada independence.
Climatic and economic conditions have contributed to a net out-migration from Manitoba and Saskatchewan to Alberta and British Columbia, which have stronger economies. In fact, the current population of Saskatchewan is only slightly larger than it was in 1931 and is slowly declining. British Columbia is often referred to as "Beautiful British Columbia", and "Lotus Land"; Alberta as "Wild Rose Country" or "The Land of Opportunity"; Saskatchewan as "The Land of Living Skies"; and Manitoba as "Friendly Manitoba" or "Land of 100,000 Lakes".
[edit] See also
- Eastern Canada
- Northern Canada
- Central Canada
- Atlantic Canada
- List of regions of Canada
- Secessionist movements of Canada - Includes several movements in Western Canada
- History of the west coast of North America
