Name of Canada

A peace monument on Belle Isle between the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America (1941)

The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada, with the name originating from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata (or canada) for "settlement", "village", or "land". The name Canada is pronounced /ˈkænədə/ in English, [kanada] in standard French of France, [kanadɑ] in standard Quebec French.[1] In Inuktitut, one of the official languages of the territory of Nunavut, the First Nations word (pronounced [kanata]) is used, with the Inuktitut syllabics ᑲᓇᑕ.

The French colony of Canada, New France, was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later the area became two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new Dominion, which was commonly referred to as the Dominion of Canada until after World War II.

Etymology

A map of North America ca. 1566, one of the first to include the name "Canada" (top right).

The name Canada originated from the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word Kanata meaning "village" or "settlement".[2] Related translations include "land" or "town", with subsequent terminologies meaning "cluster of dwellings" or "collection of huts".[2][3] The Laurentian language, which was spoken by the inhabitants of Stadacona and the neighbouring region near present-day Quebec City in the 16th century, was closely related to other dialects of the Iroquoian languages, such as the Oneida and Mohawk language. For example, the word kaná:ta' means "town" in Mohawk.[4]

While the Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian origin for the name Canada is now widely accepted, other explanations have been put forth. One theory suggested that the name originated when Spanish or Portuguese explorers, having explored the northern part of the continent and unable to find gold and silver, wrote acá nada, or cá nada, ("nothing here") on that part of their maps.[5]

New France

European explorer Jacques Cartier transcribed the word as "Canada" and was the first to use the word to refer not only to the village of Stadacona but also to the neighbouring region and to the Saint Lawrence River, which he called rivière de Canada.[6] By the mid 1500s, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada. Canada became the name of a colony in New France that stretched along the St. Lawrence River.[7][8] The terms "Canada" and "New France" were often used interchangeably during the colonial period.[7]

British North America

An 1851 Province of Canada postage stamp, the 3 pence beaver ("Threepenny Beaver")

After the British conquest of New France (including ceding of the French colony, Canada) in 1763, the colony was renamed the Province of Quebec. Following the American revolution and the influx of United Empire Loyalists into Quebec, the colony was split on 26 December 1791 into Upper and Lower Canada, sometime being collectively known as "The Canadas", the first time that the name "Canada" was used officially.[9]

Upper and Lower Canada were merged into one colony, the Province of Canada, in 1841, based on the recommendations of the Durham Report.[2] The former colonies were then known as Canada East and Canada West, and a single legislature was established with equal representation from each. Underpopulated Canada West opposed demands by Canada East for representation by population, but the roles reversed as Canada West's population surpassed the east's. The single colony remained governed in this way until 1 July 1867, often with coalition governments. A new capital city was being built at Ottawa, chosen in 1857 by Queen Victoria, and became a national capital.

Selection of the name Canada

Map of Canada on July 1, 1867, showing the nation's provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the colour white

At the conferences held in London to determine the form of confederation that would unite the Province of Canada (now Ontario and Quebec), the Province of New Brunswick and the Province of Nova Scotia, a delegate from either Nova Scotia or New Brunswick proposed the name Canada in February 1867, and it was unanimously accepted by the other delegates. There appears to have been little discussion,[10] though other names were suggested.

Other proposed names

While the provinces' delegates spent little time, if any, in settling on 'Canada' as the name for the new country, others proposed a variety of other names:[11][12]

Walter Bagehot of The Economist newspaper in London argued that the new nation should be called 'Northland' or 'Anglia' instead of Canada.[13] On these names, the statesman Thomas D'Arcy McGee commented, "Now I would ask any honourable member of the House how he would feel if he woke up some fine morning and found himself, instead of a Canadian, a Tuponian or a Hochelegander?".[14]

Adoption of Dominion

Front page of a copy of the Constitution Act of 1867
See also: Dominion

During the Charlottetown Conference of 1864, John A. Macdonald, who later became the first Prime Minister of Canada, talked of "founding a great British monarchy", in connection with the British Empire. He advocated, in the fourth Canadian draft of the British North America Act, the name "Kingdom of Canada,"[15] in the text is said:

The word 'Parliament' shall mean the Legislature or Parliament of the Kingdom of Canada.
The word 'Kingdom' shall mean and comprehend the United Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
The words 'Privy Council' shall mean such persons as may from time to time be appointed, by the Governor General, and sworn to aid and advise in the Government of the Kingdom.[16]

Canada's founders, led by Sir John A. Macdonald wished their new nation to be called the Kingdom of Canada, to "fix the monarchical basis of the constitution."[17] The governor general at the time, the Viscount Monck, supported the move to designate Canada a kingdom;[18] however, officials at the Colonial Office in London opposed this potentially "premature" and "pretentious" reference for a new country. They were also wary of antagonizing the United States, which had emerged from its Civil War as a formidable military power with unsettled grievances because British interests had sold ships to the Confederacy despite a blockade, and thus opposed the use of terms such as kingdom or empire to describe the new country.[19]

New Brunswick premier Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley suggested the term 'Dominion',[20] inspired by Psalm 72:8 (from the King James Bible): "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth."[21] This is also echoed in Canada's motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (Latin for "from sea to sea").[22]

The term had been used for centuries to refer to the lands held by a monarch,[23] and had previously been adopted as titles for the Dominion of New England and the Dominion and Colony of Virginia. It continued to apply as a generic term for the major colonial possessions of the British Empire until well into the 20th century,[24] although Tilley and the other Fathers of Confederation broadened the meaning of the word 'dominion' to a "virtual synonym for sovereign state".[25] Its adoption as a title for Canada in 1867 served the purpose of upholding the monarchist principle in Canada; in a letter to Queen Victoria, Lord Carnarvon stated: "The North American delegates are anxious that the United Provinces should be designated as the 'Dominion of Canada.' It is a new title, but intended on their part as a tribute to the Monarchical principle which they earnestly desire to uphold.".[26]

Macdonald, however, bemoaned its adoption. In a letter to Lord Knutsford on the topic of the loss of the use of the word kingdom, Macdonald said:[27][28]

A great opportunity was lost in 1867 when the Dominion was formed out of the several provinces.
The declaration of all the B.N.A. provinces that they desired as one dominion to remain a portion of the Empire, showed what wise government and generous treatment would do, and should have been marked as an epoch in the history of England. This would probably have been the case had Lord Carnarvon, who, as colonial minister, had sat at the cradle of the new Dominion, remained in office. His ill-omened resignation was followed by the appointment of the late Duke of Buckingham, who had as his adviser the then Governor General, Lord Monck - both good men, certainly, but quite unable, from the constitution of their minds, to rise to the occasion. Had a different course been pursued, for instance, had united Canada been declared to be an auxiliary kingdom, as it was in the Canadian draft of the bill, I feel sure almost that the Australian colonies would, ere this, have been applying to be placed in the same rank as The Kingdom of Canada.

He added as a postscript that it was adopted on the suggestion of British colonial ministers to avoid offending republican sensibilities in the United States:

P.S. On reading the above over I see that it will convey the impression that the change of title from Kingdom to Dominion was caused by the Duke of Buckingham. This is not so. It was made at the instance of Lord Derby, then foreign minister, who feared the first name would wound the sensibilities of the Yankees. I mentioned this incident in our history to Lord Beaconsfield at Hughenden in 1879, who said, 'I was not aware of the circumstance, but it is so like Derby, a very good fellow, but who lives in a region of perpetual funk.'[29]

Use of the term dominion was formalized in 1867 through Canadian Confederation. In the Constitution of Canada, namely the Constitution Act, 1867 (British North America Acts), the preamble of the Act indicates:[30]

Whereas the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have expressed their Desire to be federally united into One Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with a Constitution similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom...."

and section 3 indicates that the provinces:

... shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly.

In J.S. Ewart's two volume work, The Kingdom Papers,[31][32] it is noted that the following names were considered for the union of British North America: "The United Colony of Canada", "the United Provinces of Canada", and "the Federated Provinces of Canada".[33] Ewart was also an ardent advocate for the formation of "the Republic of Canada", a position which was rarely expressed in those times.[34]

Canadian post card from 1905.

French terms for Dominion

The French translation of the 1867 British North America Act translated "One Dominion under the Name of Canada" as "une seule et même Puissance sous le nom de Canada" using Puissance (power) as a translation for dominion. Later the English loan-word dominion was also used in French.[35]

The Fathers of Confederation met at the Quebec Conference of 1864 to discuss the terms of this new union. One issue on the agenda was to determine the Union's "feudal rank" (see Resolution 71 of the Quebec Conference, 1864). The candidates for the classification of this new union were: "the Kingdom of Canada" (le Royaume du Canada), "the Realm of Canada" (le Realme du Canada), "the Union of Canada" (l'Union du Canada), and "the Dominion of Canada" (le Dominion du Canada).

Use of Canada and Dominion of Canada

Crowds on Parliament Hill celebrate Dominion Day 1927, the 60th jubilee of confederation

There are numerous references in United Kingdom Acts of Parliament to "the Dominion of Canada" and the British North America Act, 1867 referred to the formation of "one Dominion"; but the name given by section 3 of the Act was not "the Dominion of Canada" but simply "Canada".[36] Nonetheless, the term "Dominion of Canada" appears in the Constitution Act, 1871 — usage of which was "sanctioned"[37] — and both appear in other texts of the period, as well as on numerous Canadian banknotes before 1935.

Until the 1950s, the term Dominion of Canada was commonly used to identify the country. As Canada acquired political authority and autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government began using simply Canada on state documents.

The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, which refers only to Canada. Later that year, the national holiday was renamed from Dominion Day to Canada Day. Section 4 of the 1867 BNA Act also declares that:

Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act.

and this has been interpreted to mean that the name of the country is simply Canada. No constitutional statute amends this name, and the subsequent Canada Act 1982 does not use the term dominion. However, the Canadian constitution includes the preceding BNA Acts, where the term is used; also, the Canada Act 1982 does not state that Canada is not a dominion. Official sources of the United Nations system,[38][39] international organizations (such as the Organization of American States[40]), the European Union,[41] the United States,[42] and other polities with which Canada has official relations as a state consistently use Canada as the only official name, state that Canada has no long-form name, or that the formal name is simply Canada. While no legal document ever says that the name of the country is anything other than Canada,[43] Dominion and Dominion of Canada remain official titles of the country.[44][45][46]

In recent years, the terms Dominion of Canada and Dominion are occasionally used to distinguish modern (post-1867) Canada from either the earlier Province of Canada or from the even earlier The Canadas. The terms are also used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces, though in this usage "federal" has replaced "dominion". The federal government continues to produce publications and educational materials that specify the currency of these official titles, although these publications are not themselves legal or official documents.[47][48][49] For instance, in 2008 the Canadian government registered the Maple Leaf Tartan with the Scottish Tartans Authority under the name Dominion of Canada.[50]

See also

References

  1. ↑ In standard Quebec French, it is generally seen as a mistake to pronounce [kanada]. [kanadɔ] and [kanadɒ] are considered nonstandard in Quebec French.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Alan Rayburn (2001). Naming Canada: Stories about Canadian Place Names. University of Toronto Press. p. 14-17. ISBN 978-0-8020-8293-0.
  3. ↑ Hawkins, Alfred; John Charlton Fisher (1834). "7". Hawkins's Picture of Quebec: With Historical Recollections. Printed for the proprietor by Neilson and Cowan. p. 111. in the note of Charlevoix, Nouvelle France, volume the first, page nine, of the quarto edition, and repeated in "Beautés de l'Histoire du Canada" affords the real solution of the difficulty: "Quelqu'uns derivent ce nom du mot Iroquois Kannata qui se prononce Cannada, et signifie un amas de cabanes;"–"Some derive this name from the Iroquois word Kannata, pronounced Cannada, signifying a collection of huts."
  4. ↑ Mithun, Marianne (1999). The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 312. ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
  5. ↑ John George Hodgins (1858). The Geography and History of British America, and of the Other Colonies of the Empire: To which are Added a Sketch of the Various Indian Tribes of Canada, and Brief Biographical Notices of Eminent Persons Connected with the History of Canada. Maclear & Company. p. 51.
  6. ↑ Roger E. Riendeau (2007). A Brief History of Canada. Infobase Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-4381-0822-3.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Germaine Warkentin; Carolyn Podruchny (2001). Decentring the Renaissance: Canada and Europe in Multidisciplinary Perspective, 1500-1700. University of Toronto Press. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-8020-8149-0.
  8. ↑ MCC. "Le territoire", in La Nouvelle-France. Ressources françaises, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (France), 1998, retrieved 2 August 2008
  9. ↑ "Canadian Heritage - Origin of the Name - Canada". Pch.gc.ca. 2011-04-27. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  10. ↑ Creighton, Donald. 1956. The Road to Confederation. Houghton Mifflin: Boston; p. 421.
  11. ↑ "How Canada Got Its Name — Origin of the Name Canada". Canadaonline.about.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  12. ↑ Rayburn, Alan (2001). Naming Canada: stories about ... ISBN 978-0-8020-8293-0.
  13. ↑ Moore, Christopher. 1997. 1867: How the Fathers Made a Deal. McClelland and Stewart: Toronto; p. 214.
  14. ↑ John Robert Colombo (June 1, 2001). 1000 Questions About Canada: Places, People, Things, and Ideas : A Question-And-Answer Book on Canadian Facts and Culture. Dundurn Press Ltd. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-88882-232-1.
  15. ↑ Farthing, John; Freedom Wears a Crown; Toronto, 1957
  16. ↑ Pope, Joseph; Confederation; pg. 177
  17. ↑ George M. Wrong; H. H. Langton (2009). The Chronicles of Canada: Volume VIII - The Growth of Nationality. Fireship Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1-934757-51-2. Retrieved 2013.
  18. ↑ Hubbard, R.H.; Rideau Hall; McGill-Queen's University Press; Montreal and London; 1977; p. 9
  19. ↑ R. Douglas Francis; Richard Jones, Donald B. Smith, R. D. Francis; Richard Jones; Donald B. Smith (2009). Journeys: A History of Canada. Cengage Learning. p. 246. ISBN 978-0-17-644244-6.
  20. ↑ Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Main Entry: do·min·ion; Function: noun; Etymology: Middle English dominioun, from Middle French dominion, modification of Latin dominium, from dominus; 4 often capitalized : a self-governing nation of the Commonwealth of Nations other than the United Kingdom that acknowledges the British monarch as chief of state
  21. ↑ "Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley" Library and Archives Canada.
  22. ↑ Reingard M. Nischik (2008). History of Literature in Canada: English-Canadian and French-Canadian. Camden House. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-57113-359-5.
  23. ↑ Treaty of Utrecht 1713 "Moreover, the most Christian King promises, as well in his own name, as in that of his heirs and successors, that they will at not time whatever disturb or give any molestation to the Queen of Great Britain, her heirs and successors, descended from the aforesaid Protestant line, who possess the crown of Great Britain, and the dominions belonging therunto."
  24. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 "... on the 23rd of April 1895 Tongaland was declared by proclamation to be added to the dominions of Queen Victoria ... "
  25. ↑ Delisle, Jean. "Through the Lens of History: Translating dominion as puissance". Government of Canada. Retrieved 2013-06-24.
  26. ↑ "The Prince of Wales Royal Visit 2001, Quiz (Kids)". Canadian Heritage. 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  27. ↑ Arthur Bousfield; Garry Toffoli (1991). Royal Observations: Canadians & Royalty. Dundurn Press Ltd. p. 152. ISBN 978-1-55002-076-2.
  28. ↑ Joseph Pope (1894). Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald, G. C. B., first Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada. E. Arnold. p. 321.
  29. ↑ "Senator Cools congratulates Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on her Forty-Seventh Anniversary of Accession to Throne, Feb 11, 1999". Senatorcools.sencanada.ca. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  30. ↑ Dennis Ambrose O'Sullivan (1887). Government in Canada: The principles and institutions of our federal and provincial constitutions. The B. N. A. act, 1867, compared with the United States Constitution, with a sketch of the constitutional history of Canada. Carswell & co. p. 309.
  31. ↑ Ewart, J. S. 1912–7. The Kingdom Papers, Volume I. McClelland, Goodchild, and Stewart Publishers: Toronto; p. 331.
  32. ↑ ibid; p. 393.
  33. ↑ ibid; pp. 372–393; as per "Rank and Name", pp. 374–381.
  34. ↑ ibid; Imperial Projects and the Republic of Canada, pp. 262–393.
  35. ↑ Le Petit Robert 1: dictionnaire de la langue française, 1990.
  36. ↑ Commonwealth and Colonial Law by Kenneth Roberts-Wray, London, Stevens, 1966. P. 17 (direct quote, word for word)
  37. ↑ Martin, Robert. 1993. Eugene Forsey Memorial Lecture: A Lament for British North America. The Machray Review. Prayer Book Society of Canada.—A summative piece about nomenclature and pertinent history with abundant references.
  38. ↑ "The UN Terminology website "which holds records for each country containing the short and formal names in the six UN official languages, is the successor to UN Terminology". United Nations Multilingual Terminology Database (UNTERM.UN.ORG), Canada page.
  39. ↑ "UNITED NATIONS GROUP OF EXPERTS ON GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES, Working Paper No. 16" (PDF). p. Bulletin No. 347/Rev. 1.
  40. ↑ "Organization of American States Office of Legal Cooperation, Member Country Information Page for Canada". Oas.org. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  41. ↑ "European Union Gateway Interinstutional Style Guide, List of Countries, territories and currencies - "Note 1, 'Full name' corresponds in most cases to the official name recognized by the United Nations."". Publications.europa.eu. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  42. ↑ "United States Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Independent States of the World—Canada: "no long-form name"". State.gov. 1979-01-01. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  43. ↑ "Government of Canada Translation Bureau, "List of Country Names"—Introduction notes that "The official name of a state (e.g. Islamic Republic of Iran), found under the common name (Iran), is taken from the United Nations Terminology Bulletin No. 347."". Btb.gc.ca. 2009-03-18. Retrieved 2010-06-11.
  44. ↑ Forsey, Eugene A., in Marsh, James H., ed. 1988. "Dominion" The Canadian Encyclopedia. Hurtig Publishers: Toronto.
  45. ↑ Rayburn, pp. 19, 21.
  46. ↑ Canadian Heritage: National Flag of Canada Day - How Did You Do?, Canada's Digital Collections: Confederation 1867, Canadian Heritage: The Prince of Wales Royal Visit 2001, Quiz.
  47. ↑ Canadian Heritage: National Flag of Canada Day - How Did You Do?, Canada's Digital Collections: Confederation 1867, Canadian Heritage: The Prince of Wales Royal Visit 2001, Quiz
  48. ↑ Forsey, Eugene A. 2005. How Canadians Govern Themselves (PDF), 6th ed. Canada: Ottawa; pp. 8-9. The preface to the publication specifies that the opinions reflected are those of the author, and "do not necessarily reflect those of parliament."
  49. ↑ "Territorial evolution". Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2007-10-09. In 1867, the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are united in a federal state, the Dominion of Canada.
  50. ↑ BRIAN LILLEY, Parliamentary Bureau (2011-03-09). "It's official, Maple Leaf Tartan is Canada's tartan | Canada | News". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 2011-10-26.

Further reading

  • Choudry, Sujit. 2001(?). "Constitution Acts" (based on looseleaf by Hogg, Peter W.). Constitutional Keywords. University of Alberta, Centre for Constitutional Studies: Edmonton.
  • Gerald Hallowell (2004). The Oxford Companion to Canadian History. Oxford University Press Canada. ISBN 978-0-19-541559-9.

External links