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The 1215 agreement between King John of England and his barons provided the foundation for English common law, which spread throughout the English-speaking world. Magna Carta is the first example of a king of England consenting to written limits on his power drafted by his subjects. The Magna Carta (or Great Charter) informs the legal system in English Canada, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

A member of Parliament (MP) is a person who is elected to represent a single federal electoral district (or “riding”) in the House of Commons. As elected representatives, MPs have three main duties: legislating in Parliament, representing their riding and political party, and serving their constituents. MPs occupy different roles and levels of influence. They hold office until Parliament is dissolved — typically four-year terms — and can be re-elected any number of times. Any Canadian citizen who is at least 18 years old on election day can run for office. Most MPs are elected as a member of a political party. Some campaign and sit as independents. There are currently 338 seats for MPs in the House of Commons.

The North American racer (Coluber constrictor) is a non-venomous snake that is native to North America. It has an extensive geographic range that extends from southern Canada south throughout most of the United States, parts of Mexico and into Guatemala and Belize. Eleven subspecies are recognized across this species’ range, three of which are found in Canada: the blue racer (Coluber constrictor foxii; ON), the Eastern yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor flaviventris; SK, AB) and the Western yellow-bellied racer (Coluber constrictor Mormon; BC). (See also Snake Species in Canada.)

Vaccination is the introduction of a vaccine into the body to produce immunity to a disease. Vaccine hesitancy is the refusal or delayed acceptance of vaccination due to fears or anxiety about vaccines. It includes a range of concerns such as uncertainty about the contents of vaccines, their safety and the belief that vaccines are responsible for causing other medical conditions (e.g., autism). Other factors include opposition to state control and infringement on individual liberty, suspicions about the pharmaceutical industry and a declining faith in science and medicine. In Canada, as in other wealthy countries, vaccine hesitancy has increased in recent years, including resistance to vaccination among some Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the full-length entry about Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada. For a plain-language summary, please see Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada (Plain-Language Summary).

A snake is a long, slender reptile of the suborder Serpentes, within the order Squamata (which also includes lizards). There are 25 species of snake currently found in Canada. In addition, one species, the timber rattlesnake, and one subspecies, the Pacific gophersnake, are extirpated. This means that, while they continue to live in other parts of their range, they are no longer found in Canada. Snake species in Canada belong to one of three taxonomic families: Boidae, Viperidae or Colubridae. Most species live in the southern part of the country; however, the common gartersnake can be found as far north as the 60th parallel, near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories.

The Métis National Council represents more than 350,000 members of the Métis Nation, defined as Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and parts of Ontario, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. It emerged during the intense constitutional debate over Aboriginal rights in the early 1980s. The Métis National Council continues to champion a culturally and politically distinct Métis Nation with roots in Western Canada, and with outstanding claims to self-government, land and other Aboriginal rights.

A vaccine is put into the body (usually through injection) to make people immune from a disease. Another word for immune is “protect.” Vaccine hesitancy occurs when people will not take a vaccine, or they wait to take a vaccine. Vaccines prevent millions of deaths each year. But many individuals still do not want to take vaccines. As a consequence, some diseases have reappeared. And it can stop herd immunity. Herd immunity happens when most people are immune from a disease. Herd immunity stops the spread of disease. The World Health Organization says that vaccine hesitancy is a serious threat. In fact, it stated that it is one of the “Top Ten Threats to Global Health.”

This article is a plain-language summary of Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitancy in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Vaccination and Vaccine Hesitance in Canada.

The HMCS Haida is a “Tribal” Class destroyer that served in the Second World War and the Korean War. It is a National Historic Site operated by Parks Canada and is moored in Hamilton Harbour. The Haida is known as Canada’s “fightingest” warship.

The Numbered Treaties are a series of 11 treaties. A treaty is an agreement between two or more nations. The Numbered Treaties were signed by the Canadian government and Indigenous people. All 11 treaties were signed between 1871 and 1921. The Numbered Treaties cover parts of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario. They also cover portions of Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The treaties provided the Canadian government with land. The government wanted land for industrial development and white settlement. In exchange, the government promised Indigenous people special rights and benefits. These treaty terms are controversial and contested. The Numbered Treaties have ongoing legal, social, and economic impacts on Indigenous communities. (See also Treaties with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.)

(This is a plain-language summary of the Numbered Treaties. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Numbered Treaties.)

1492 Land Back Lane refers to the site of a protest in Caledonia, Ontario, in July 2020, where Haudenosaunee protestors – known as land defenders – occupied a housing development they argue stood on unceded Six Nations territory. 1492 Land Back Lane is part of a long-standing issue between the Haudenosaunee, settlers and the government over land rights in Caledonia, dating back to the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784.

Illness and disease affect everyone. Individuals alone cannot prevent illness and disease. To do so it is important to focus on communities, not just individuals. The purpose of public health is to protect communities against illness and disease. This, in turn, helps individuals.

This article is a plain-language summary of Public Health in Canada. If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry, Public Health in Canada.

Canada is home to some of the richest deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world (see also Dinosaurs and Canada). The vast majority of the dinosaurs discovered in Canada are from Alberta, where the rising Rocky Mountains at the end of the Cretaceous period and a network of ancient rivers provided the sediment necessary for burying and preserving their remains. The names of many of the 88 dinosaurs listed below pay homage to the province, including Albertosaurus sarcophagus, Edmontosaurus regalis and Ornithomimus edmontonicus. Others honour prominent people in Canadian paleontology, for example, Lambeosaurus for Lawrence Lambe, a paleontologist active at the turn of the 20th century, Epichirostenotes curriei for Philip Currie, a paleontologist and the founder of the Royal Tyrrell Museum and Borealopelta markmitchelli for Mark Mitchell, an RTM technician who spent 7,000 hours removing rock from the fossil.

Early Inuit groups from northern Alaska moved into the Eastern North American Arctic (i.e., Canada and Greenland) around 800 years ago (ca. 1200 CE). In roughly a century, some of these early Inuit groups rapidly migrated across what’s now the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Greenland. By roughly the 15th century CE, early Inuit groups lived throughout the Eastern Arctic. The early Inuit are distinct from the Dorset and Pre-Dorset. Although where they lived slightly changed throughout time, these early Inuit represent the direct ancestors of Inuit today.

Lambeosaurus is a genus of large, plant-eating, duckbilled dinosaur. There are three known species of Lambeosaurus, all found in southern Alberta: L. clavinitialis, L. lambei and L. magnicristatus. In 1913, fossil collector Charles H. Sternberg discovered the first Lambeosaurus fossils in the modern-day Dinosaur Provincial Park area. A year later, Canadian paleontologist Lawrence Lambe named the fossils Stephanosaurus marginatus. Fellow Canadian William Parks then renamed the species Lambeosaurus lambei in 1923 in honour of Lambe. (See also Dinosaurs Found in Canada.)

Québec solidaire is a progressive, left-wing provincial political party officially formed on 4 February 2006 in Montreal. Its key principles and values are the environment, social justice, feminism, alter-globalization, democracy, pluralism, sovereignty and solidarity. Québec solidaire has ten members in the National Assembly of Quebec, as a result of the 2018 elections, being the third-largest party. Since May 2017, its parliamentary spokespersons are Manon Massé and Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois.

Cross-country skiing is a derivative of skiing, whereby participants glide horizontally on a snow surface. In Canada, cross-country skiing has evolved from a means of winter transportation to a form of recreation enjoyed by nearly 4 million Canadians. For a few elite athletes, cross-country skiing provides an opportunity to compete at the Olympic level.

The monarch (Danaus plexippus) is a species of butterfly best known for its migratory habits. Sometimes called the wanderer butterfly, its annual migration is unlike that of any other insect found in North America. During Canadian summers, the monarch butterfly is normally found in every province except Newfoundland and Labrador, and is abundant wherever its host plant milkweed grows. Due to a decline in milkweed among other factors, the monarch butterfly is an endangered species. Still, its large size, orange-and-black colouration, and slow, sailing flight make it a familiar sight across most of Canada.

Veronica Foster Guerrette, Second World War icon, model, vocalist (born 2 January 1922 in Montreal, Quebec; died 4 May 2000 in Toronto, Ontario). Foster worked for the John Inglis Company assembling Bren light machine guns during the Second World War. She was featured on propaganda posters that encouraged women to serve Canada by working in munitions factories. Foster became a Canadian icon representing female workers in the manufacturing industry. After the war, she was lead singer with the dance band Mart Kenney and His Western Gentlemen.