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The name ''Canada'' has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada and most likely originates from a First Nations word ''kanata'' for "settlement", "village", or "land". Today, ''Canada'' is pronounced in English and in French . The French colony of Canada , New France , was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes . Later, as British colonies, they were 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 . NAME ORIGIN ''ca.'' 1566, one of the first to include the name "Canada" (top right).]] The name ''Canada'' is believed to have originated around 1535 from a Wendat (Huron- Iroquoian ) word, ''kanata'', meaning "village", "settlement", or "collection of huts", referring to Stadacona, a settlement on the site of present-day Quebec City ; another contemporary translation was "land". By 1547, maps made by early European explorers show that the name ''rivière de Canada'' was given to the nearby St. Lawrence River ; the river was called ''Kaniatarowanenneh'' ("big waterway") in Mohawk, coincidentally and reinforcingly similar to ''kanata''. A plausible hypothesis is that the river was named for the village on its banks and the surrounding land for the river used to explore it. An apocryphal explanation of the name's origin is that Spanish Cartographers , not having explored the northern part of the continent, wrote ''acá nada'' ("nothing here") on that part of their maps. A similar tale credits Portuguese explorers who, upon seeing the eastern coastline, declared a similar sentiment (''cà nada''). AFTER THE CONQUEST OF NEW FRANCE After the British conquest of New France (including ceding of the French Colony, Canada ) in 1763, the colony was renamed Province Of Quebec . Following the American Revolution and the influx of Loyalists , 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 as the name of a colony. While Jacques Cartier used ''canadien'' to refer to the Iroquois residents of the colony, the term later came to be applied to French subjects born in Canada, and then to inhabitants of both colonies. Upper and Lower Canada were merged into the colony of Canada in 1841 , based on the recommendations of the Durham Report, and a single legislature established with equal representation from Canada East and Canada West. 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, but Ottawa became a national capital. SELECTION OF THE NAME ''CANADA'' 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, though other names were suggested (see below). ADOPTION OF ''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 . Officials at the Colonial Office in London, however, opposed this potentially "premature" and "pretentious" reference for a new country. They were also wary of antagonizing the United States which had emerged from the American Civil War as a formidable military power with unsettled grievances because of British support for the Confederate cause and thus opposed the use of terms such as ''kingdom'' or ''empire'' to describe the new country. As a result the term '' for "from sea to sea"). 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: :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'', 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". Ewart was also an ardent advocate for the formation of "the Republic of Canada", a position which was rarely expressed in those times. 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. Until 1982, French text had no constitutional equality with English text. 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'' Neither the term ''Dominion of Canada'' nor ''Dominion government'' appear in the 1867 Act; however, the former appears in the Constitution Act, 1871 — usage of which was "sanctioned" — and both appear in other texts of the period, as well as on numerous Canadian bills before 1967. Until the 1950s , the term ''Dominion of Canada'' was commonly used to identify the country. As Canada increasingly acquired political authority and autonomy from the United Kingdom , the federal government increasingly began using simply ''Canada'' on state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to ''Canada'' and, as such, is currently the only legal (as well as bilingual) name. This was also reflected later in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day . Section 4 of the 1867 BNA Act 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'' at all; nor does it state that Canada is not a dominion. While no legal document ever says that the name of the country is anything other than ''Canada'', ''Dominion'' and ''Dominion of Canada'' remain official titles of the country. In recent years the terms ''Dominion of Canada'' and ''Dominion'' are rarely used to distinguish the federal government from the provinces or, in historical works, to distinguish Canada (post 1867) from either the earlier Province Of Canada or from the even earlier The Canadas . Among those who lament disuse of the term was the late Eugene Forsey , in response to what he and other Monarchist s consider increasing Republicanism . However, the federal government continues to produce publications and educational materials that specify the currency of these official titles. 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:
Walter Bagehot of '' The Economist '' newspaper in London argued that the new nation should be called 'Northland' or 'Anglia' instead of Canada . 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 Hochelagander?" FOOTNOTES |
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