North America has been inhabited for over 25,000 years by Amerindian and Inuit peoples who migrated from Asia, crossing the Bering Strait. By 1600 the indigenous population of present-day Canada may have been around 250,000. These native inhabitants, living in bands and larger tribes where climatic conditions were not too hostile, developed sophisticated cultures. Populations thrived in the east and on the prairies, with the Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking peoples constituting the largest linguistic groups. A rich culture also developed in the west and along the Pacific coast.
The first Europeans to arrive, in about 1000 AD, were Vikings under Leif Ericson, who founded short-lived settlements in Newfoundland and Labrador. The next wave of Europeans arrived in search of an imagined north-west passage to Asia, which they found blocked by the Canadian landmass. The abundance of fish off Newfoundland attracted French, Spanish, Portuguese and English fishermen from the 16th century onwards. Settlements developed as bases for the fish and fur trades. English settlements developed in Newfoundland and the Atlantic seaboard. The English Hudson's Bay Company, founded in 1670, claimed trading rights over Rupert's Land, the area whose rivers drained into Hudson Bay. Samuel de Champlain founded the colony of New France or Québec in 1608. In 1663 Québec became a French royal province, with a governor entrusted with the general policy of the colony, the direction of its military affairs and its relations with the Indian tribes. The Roman Catholic church, as a result of its Jesuit missions, became a powerful force. The population of the British settlements was largely Protestant, laying the basis for the religious and cultural diversity of Canada today.
Fish and fur trade rivalry between France and England was reinforced by wars in Europe. In 1713, France surrendered all claims to Rupert's Land, Nova Scotia and French settlements in Newfoundland. In 1763, France lost the rest of Canada apart from two small islands, St Pierre and Miquelon. From 1763 until the 1775 American War of Independence, the whole of North America to the east of the Mississippi was held by Britain, the various colonies having a population of nearly 2 million. In 1774 the Québec Act, passed by the British Parliament, secured for the French colonists the right to retain their language, religion and civil law. As a result of the American Revolution, about 35,000 Loyalists moved north to remain under British rule.
In 1791 the country was divided between the English-speaking and French-speaking regions: Upper Canada (now Ontario) and Lower Canada (now Québec). The US relinquished claims to Vancouver Island in 1846. British North American colonies were swelled by immigration from Europe from the 1830s to the 1850s.
The British North America Act of 1867 brought together four British colonies: Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in one federal Dominion under the name of Canada. Rupert's Land and the Northwestern Territory joined the federation as the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1870. The colony of British Columbia joined in 1871 and Prince Edward Island in 1873. The Treaty of Washington in 1871 ended American hopes of Canada becoming part of the US.
In the 20th century the confederation continued to grow: Alberta and Saskatchewan were created as new provinces in 1905, Norway abandoned claims to the Sverdrup islands in 1931 and Newfoundland joined in 1949. In the late 19th century the population of the country was still small: 3.7 million (1871 census), three-quarters of whom were rural. An important factor in unifying the country was the building of the transcontinental railway, completed, after various setbacks, in the 1880s.
After the First World War, Canada sought an end to colonial status. The Balfour formula of 1926, endorsed by the Statute of Westminster in 1931, recognised Canada as a sovereign country having complete independence within the Commonwealth.
From 1968 to 1984, Canadian politics was dominated by Pierre Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party and four times prime minister. During his administrations, social welfare was increased, immigration liberalised and multiculturalism promoted. After his retirement in 1984, his party was eventually ousted by the Progressive Conservative Party (PCP) under Brian Mulroney, who promoted more stringent social policies, some privatisation and free trade.
Québec: The Parti Québécois (PQ) was founded in 1968, with a separatist programme. It came to power in Québec in 1976 and a referendum on Québec sovereignty was held in 1980 in which 60% of Québec voters rejected secession. However, Québec did not approve the new Federal Constitution of 1982, and the issue remained unresolved.
A way forward was apparently found by the Meech Lake accord in 1987. Its main points were the recognition of Québec as a 'distinct society' and new provincial powers. However, Manitoba and Newfoundland failed to ratify the accord before the 1990 deadline and New Brunswick then halted its own ratification process. Many Québécois were antagonised by what they interpreted as a rejection of their interests, culture and language. Extensive public consultations on constitutional reform followed, culminating in the Charlottetown accord of 28 August 1992. Among other things, this accord recognised Québec as a distinct society and also recognised aboriginal rights to self-government within Canada. However, the Charlottetown Accord proposals were rejected in a national referendum in October 1992.
Despite the clear practical difficulties of secession, the PQ, winning the provincial elections of 1994, held a referendum on the separatist option on 30 October 1995. The result was a narrow defeat for the secessionists: a majority of less than 1% voted to remain within the federation of Canada.
In August 1998 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that under both federal and international law Québec only had the right to secede with the agreement of both federal and seven of the ten provincial legislatures. However, it did stipulate that should a clear majority of the people of Québec vote to secede, then the federal and provincial governments should enter into negotiations with it in good faith.
In Québec's provincial elections in November 1998, the vote was evenly divided between the PQ and the Liberals, although the PQ was returned with 75 of the 125 seats - but only 43% of the votes cast. With voters divided, it seemed unlikely that the PQ would risk another referendum in the near future.
During 2000, the federal parliament passed legislation giving it the right to approve questions to be posed in future referendums on secession by individual provinces.
