The Stamps of Canada | Page 3

the Red River and the
Winnipeg.
West of the Great Lakes the scenery is less varied. From the lakes to
the Rockies stretches a vast level plain of a prairie character, slowly
rising from 800 feet at the east end to 3,000 feet at the foothills of the
Rockies.
The eastern and western portions of the Dominion are heavily wooded,
and comparatively little inroad has been made on the forest wealth of
the country. It is estimated that there are 1,200,000 square miles of
woodland and forest, chiefly spruce and pine, including about a
hundred varieties; consequently the industries connected with the forest
are of great importance, especially since the development of the pulp
industry. The central prairie plain is almost devoid of forest.
Agriculture is the dominant industry in Canada, not only in the great
fertile plains of the centre, but also on the lands which have been
cleared of forest and settled in other parts of the Dominion.

The Canadian climate is cold in winter and warm in summer, but
healthy all the year round. With all its extremes of cold it permits of the
cultivation in the open air of grapes, peaches, tobacco, tomatoes, and
corn. The snow is an essential condition of the prosperity of the timber
industry, the means of transport in winter, the protector of the soil from
frost, and the source of endless enjoyment in outdoor sports.
The French Canadians are almost exclusively the descendants of the
French in Canada in 1763, there being practically no immigration from
France. The French language is by statute, not by treaty, an official
language in the Dominion Parliament and in Quebec, but not now in
any other province, though documents, etc., may for convenience be
published in it. English is understood almost everywhere except in the
rural parts of Quebec, where the habitants speak a patois which has
preserved many of the characteristics of 17th century French.
The Indian people, numbering a little over 108,000 in 1902, are
scattered throughout the Dominion. They are usually located on
reserves, where efforts, not very successful, are made to interest them
in agriculture and industry. Many of them still follow their ancestral
occupations of hunting and fishing, and they are much sought after as
guides in the sporting centres. The Dominion government exercises a
good deal of parental care over them and for them; but the race is
stationary, if not declining.
The constitution of Canada is of a federal character, midway between
the British and United States constitutions. The federated provinces
retain their local legislatures. The Federal Parliament closely follows
the British model, and the cabinet is responsible to the House of
Commons. The members of the Senate are appointed by the
governor-general in council, and retain their seats for life, and each
group of provinces is entitled to so many senators. The numbers of the
commons vary according to the population. The local legislatures
generally consist of one house, though Quebec and Nova Scotia still
retain their upper houses. The Federal Parliament is quinquennial, the
local legislatures quadrennial. The lieutenant-governors of the
provinces are appointed by the governor-general in council. The

governor-general (appointed by the King, though paid by Canada) has a
right to disallow or reserve bills for imperial consent; but the veto is
seldom exercised, though the imperial authorities practically disallowed
temporarily the preferential clauses of 1897. The Constitution of
Canada can be altered only by Imperial Parliament, but for all practical
purposes Canada has complete self-government.
In 1534, Jacques Cartier landed on the Gaspé coast of Quebec, of
which he took possession in the name of Francis I, King of France. But
nothing was done towards permanent occupation and settlement until
1608, when Samuel de Champlain, who had visited the country in 1603
and 1604, founded the city of Quebec. Meantime French settlements
were made in what is now the maritime provinces, but known to the
French as Acadia. France claimed, as a result of this settlement,
exclusive control of the whole immense region from Acadia west to
Lake Superior, and down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. But the
control of this region was not uncontested. England claimed it by right
of prior discovery, based mainly on the discovery of Newfoundland in
1497 by John Cabot.
In the north the charter granted in 1670 by Charles II to Prince Rupert
to found the Hudson's Bay Company, with exclusive rights of trading in
the Hudson Bay basin, was maintained till 1869, when, on a payment
of $1,500,000, their territory was transferred to the newly created
Dominion of Canada. A long struggle was carried on between England
and France for the dominion of the North American continent, which
ended in the cession of Acadia by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and the
cession of Canada