Information AboutManitoba |
Manitoba is one of Canada 's Provinces . It is the fifth Canadian province (created by the government in 1870 ). Its population as of January 1 , 2006 (Statistics Canada) was 1,178,348 (''Manitobans''). It is the easternmost of the three Prairie Provinces . Its capital and largest city (containing over one half the provincial population) is Winnipeg . Other important cities and towns include Brandon , Thompson , Dauphin , Swan River , Churchill , The Pas , Selkirk , Portage La Prairie , Flin Flon , Steinbach , Morden , and Winkler . Geography Manitoba is located in the longitudinal centre of Canada, although it is considered part of Western Canada . It borders Saskatchewan to the west, Ontario to the east, Nunavut and the Hudson Bay to the north, and the American states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south. The province has a coast with , Assiniboine River , Nelson River , Winnipeg River , Hayes River and Churchill River . It is generally ''flat and low-lying'' though there are some hilly areas in the province. Baldy Mountain is the highest point at 832 m (2,727 feet) and the Hudson Bay coast is the lowest at sea level. Other upland areas include Riding Mountain , the Pembina Hills , and the Canadian Shield regions to the east, which include Whiteshell Provincial Park , Atikaki Provincial Park , and Nopiming Provincial Park . The climate in Manitoba is typical of its mid continent location and northerly latitude. In general, temperatures and precipitation decrease from south to north. Summers are generally warm to hot and winters very cold. Both spring and autumn are contracted seasons. As Manitoba is far removed from the moderating influences of both mountain ranges and large bodies of water (all of Manitoba's lakes freeze during the winter months), and because of its generally flat landscape, it is exposed to numerous weather systems throughout the year including prolonged cold spells in the winter months when arctic high pressure air masses settle over the province. This has resulted in the capital of the province being nicknamed "Winterpeg". In the summer months the climate is often influenced by low pressure air masses originating in the Gulf Of Mexico resulting in hot and humid conditions and frequent thunderstorms. Only the southern parts of the province support extensive ous Forest s, Muskeg , and up to Tundra in the far north. Forests make up about 263,000 square kilometres of the province's 548,000 square kilometre land base. The forests generally consist of Pine , Spruce , and Birch . This area is renowned by naturalists and sportsmen for its pristine wilderness. on the Yellowhead Highway .]] History The geographical area now named Manitoba was originally inhabited as the last ice age glaciers retreated in the south. Eventually there were cultural groups of Ojibwa , Cree , Dene , Sioux , and Assiniboine peoples, along with other tribes that entered the area to trade. The Whiteshell Provincial Park region along the Winnipeg River has many Petroforms and may have been a trading centre, or even a place of learning and sharing of knowledge. Henry Hudson was one of the first to sail into what is now known as Hudson's Bay in 1611. Later, the area was a part of Rupert's Land and the Nonsuch was the ship that sailed into Hudson Bay in 1668-1669 in the first trading voyage for what was to become the Hudson's Bay Company two years later. Other traders and explorers from the British Isles eventually came to the Hudson's Bay shores and along many Manitoba Rivers . The first European to reach present-day Manitoba was Sir Thomas Button , who travelled upstream along the Nelson River and Lake Winnipeg in 1612 and may have reached somewhere along the edge of the prairies. Pierre Gaultier De Varennes , Sieur de la Vérendrye, visited the Red River Valley in the 1730s as part of opening the area for French exploration and exploitation. Many other French and Metis explorers came from the east and the south by going down the Winnipeg River and down the Red River. An important French-Canadian population (''Franco-Manitobains'') still lives in Manitoba, especially in the Saint-Boniface district of Winnipeg. Fur trading forts were built by both the NorthWest Company and the Hudson's Bay Company along the more southern rivers and lakes, and there was often fierce competition with each other. There are a few possible sources of the name "Manitoba". One is the Assiniboine words "Mini" and "tobow" meaning "Lake of the Prairie". The other more likely source is the Cree word "maniotwapow" meaning "the strait of the spirit or manitobau". This latter name is derived from the sound produced by pebbles on a beach on Manitoba Island in Lake Manitoba. This noise is linked to the superstition among the Assiniboine of the "manitou" (or Spirit) beating a drum to create the noise. {Link without Title} Another story refers to "Manitou" and "abah" or the Spirit which sits or is located somewhere in southern Manitoba. The territory was won by the Kingdom Of Great Britain in 1763 as part of the French And Indian War , and this was a part of Rupert's Land , the immense trading monopoly territory of the Hudson's Bay Company that also included the entire watershed that flows into Hudson's Bay. Most rivers and water in Manitoba eventually flows north, not south or east. The founding of the first agricultural community and settlements in 1811 by Lord Selkirk , north of the area which is now downtown Winnipeg, resulted in conflict between the British colonists and the Métis who lived and traded near there. Twenty colonists, including the governor, were killed by the Métis in the Battle Of Seven Oaks in 1816 . When Rupert's Land was ceded to Canada in 1869 and incorporated into the Northwest Territories , a lack of attention to Métis concerns led their leader Louis Riel to establish a provisional government, The Red River Rebellion . Negotiations between this government and the Canadian government resulted in the creation of the province of Manitoba and its entry into Confederation in 1870 . Originally the province was only 1/18 of its current size and square in shape - it was known as the "postage stamp province." It grew progressively, absorbing land from the Northwest Territories until it attained its current size by reaching 60°N in 1912 . The Manitoba Schools Question showed the deep divergence of cultural values in the territory. The French thought they had been guaranteed a state supported separate school system but instead a grass roots political movement among Protestants in 1888-90 demanded the end of French schools. In 1890 the Manitoba legislature passed a law abolishing French as an official language of the province, and removing funding for Catholic schools. The French Catholic minority asked the federal Government for support; however the Orange Order and other anti-Catholic forces mobilized nationwide. The Conservatives proposed remedial legislation to over-ride Manitoba's legislation but they in turn were blocked by Liberals, led by Wilfrid Laurier who opposed the remedial legislation on the basis of provincial rights. Once elected Prime Minister in 1896 Laurier proposed a compromise stating that Catholics in Manitoba could have a Catholic education if there were enough students to warrant it, on a school-by-school basis. Tensions over language remained high in Manitoba (and nationwide) for decades to come. By 1916, in wartime, national unity was at stake. Out of a population of 500,000, there were 30,000 French speakers and 100,000 speakers of German, Ukrainian , Polish and other immigrant tongues. Anglophones insisted on an English-only policy, including a repeal of the compromise that had been worked out on the School Question. The plan was to strengthen the education ministry, upgrade the quality of education, and impose a much stronger attendance law. As the education minister explained: p 352
In the 1917 election in the midst of the Conscription Crisis , the Liberals were split in half and the new Union party carried all but one seat. As the war ended severe discontent among farmers (over wheat prices) and union members (over wage rates) resulted in an upseurge of radicalism. With Bolshevism coming to power in Russia, conservatives were anxious and radicals were energized. The most dramatic episode was the Winnipeg General Strike Of 1919 which shut down most activity for six weeks, starting May 15 until the strike collapsed on June 25, 1919 as the workers were gradually returning to their jobs and the Central Strike Committee decided to end the strike. As historian William Morton has explained: 365-6
In the aftermath eight leaders went on trial, and most were convicted on charges of seditious conspiracy, illegal combinations, and seditious libel; four were aliens who were deported under the Immigration Act. Labor was weakened and divided as a result. Famers meanwhile were patiently organizing the United Farmers of Manitoba, with plans to contest the 1920 provincial elections. The result was no party had a majority. The Farmers, running against politics as usual, won in 1922, with 30 seats, against 7 Liberals were returned, 6 Conservatives, 6 Labour, and 8 Independents. Government of Manitoba Founding of the Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly Of Manitoba was established on July 14, 1870. At that time Manitoba attained full fledged provincial rights and responsibilities of self-government. Manitoba was unusual in its leap to provincial status. Eastern Canada , Saskatchewan and Alberta all had intervening periods of apprenticeship as territories before becoming provinces. Only British Columbia had circumstances similar to Manitoba in joining Confederation . Prior to 1870, the power over Manitoba was almost exclusively within the domain of the Hudson Bay Company . In the Red River Settlement , The Company invested little in the function of government save for rudimentary justice and a few public works. Education was the responsibility of the church. The decision to make Manitoba a full-fledged province in 1870 came as the result of three things.
Initially, the subject of provincial status did not come up during the negotiations between Canada, the United Kingdom and the Hudson's Bay Company. It was assumed that territorial status was granted in the Act for the Temporary Government of Ruperts' Land in 1869. Louis Riel first introduced the subject of provincial status to the Committee of Forty appointed by the citizens of Red River in 1870. Riel's proposal to Donald Smith , emissary for the government of Canada, was rejected by the government of John A. Macdonald . The list of demands from Riel did goad the government of Canada to act on a proposal of its own on regarding Red River's status. John A. Macdonald introduced the Manitoba Act in the Canadian House Of Commons and pretended that the question of province or territory was of no significance. The bill was given royal assent and Manitoba joined Canada as a province. It was a significant leap of faith imposing responsible government on Manitoba in 1870 without any adjustment period. It went against all conventional wisdom of the time. However, Macdonald's misunderstanding of territorial versus provinical status, the rise of the Metis people and the burgeoning growth of the United States all compelled him to act in a nation building initiative. In the years that followed, much like the years that preceded, Manitoba went through many upheavals. However, parliamentary government and provincehood that was created in 1870 prevailed. Official Language English and French are official languages of the legislature and courts of Manitoba, according to the Manitoba Act, 1870 (which forms part of the Canadian constitution). Section 23 of the Manitoba Act states: :Either the English or the French language may be used by any person in the debates of the Houses of the Legislature and both those languages shall be used in the respective Records and Journals of those Houses; and either of those languages may be used by any person, or in any Pleading or Process, in or issuing from any Court of Canada established under the Constitution Act, 1867, or in or from all or any of the Courts of the Province. The Acts of the Legislature shall be Printed and published in both those languages. However, with the rise to power of the English-only movement in Manitoba from 1890 onwards, this provision was disregarded in practice and by Manitoban legislation. Among other things, the Manitoban Legislature ceased to publish legislation in French, but did so in English only. However, in 1985 the Supreme Court Of Canada ruled in the Reference Re Manitoba Language Rights that s. 23 still applied, and that legislation published only in English was invalid (although, so that Manitoban did not descend into a state of lawlessness, unilingual legislation was declared valid for a temporary period, to give the government of Manitoba time to issue translations.) Although French is required to be an official language for the purposes of the legislature, legislation, and the courts, the Manitoba Act (as interpreted by the Supreme Court of Canada) does not require it to be an official language for the purpose of the executive branch of government (except when the executive branch is performing legislative or judicial functions.) In 1 S.C.R. 221-222 [http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/pub/1992/vol1/html/1992scr1_0212.html , the Supreme Court rejected the contentions of the Société Franco-manitobaine that s. 23 extends to executive functions of the executive branch. Demographics Ethnic origin Note: the percentages do not necessarily add up to 100% as multiple responses are allowed.
Ethnic origins with less than 3% of the responses are not listed. Source Manitoba is home to the largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland. There are about 26,000 people with Icelandic ancestry living in Manitoba.[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/ETO/Table1.cfm?Lang=E&T=501&GV=1&GID=46 About 35% of the Icelandic-Canadian population lives in Manitoba.[http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/highlight/ETO/Table1.cfm?Lang=E&T=501&GV=1&GID=0] Religious groups
Religions that make up less than 1% are not listed. Source taken from The Forks .]] Economy Pre-Confederation Manitoba's early economy was one that depended on mobility and living off the land. A number of native tribes that included the Cree , Ojibwa , Dene , Sioux and Assinibone followed herds of Bison and congregated to trade among themselves at key meeting places throughout the province. The first Fur-traders entering the province in the 17th Century changed the dynamics of the economy of Manitoba forever. For the first time, permanent settlements were created and communties evolved over time. Most of the trade centred around the fur-trade. The first major diversification of the economy came when Lord Selkirk brought the first agricultural settlers to an area just north of present day Winnipeg in 1811. The lack of reliable transportation and an ongoing dispute between the Hudson Bay Company , the North West Company and the Métis impeded growth. The eventual triumph of the Hudson Bay Company over its competitors ensured the primacy of the fur trade over widespread agricultural colonization. Any trade not sanctioned by the HBC was frowned upon. It took many years for the Red River Colony to develop under HBC rule. The Company invested little in infrastructure for the community. It was only when independent traders such as James Sinclair and Andrew McDermot (Dermott) started competing in trade that improvements to the community started to happen. By 1849, the HBC faced even greater threats to its monopoly. A Métis fur trader named Pierre Guillaume Sayer was charged with illegal trade by the Hudson Bay Company. Sayer had been trading with Norman Kittson who resided just beyond the HBC's reach in Pembina, North Dakota . The court found Sayer guilty but the judge levied no fine or punishment. In 1853, A second agricultural community started in Portage La Prairie . The courts could no longer be used by the HBC to enforce its monopoly. The result was a weakening of HBC rule over the region and laid the foundations of provincehood for Manitoba. Famous Manitobans See also: List Of Manitobans
Map References
ISBN 0-7735-2790-7.
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