Discover Canada Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key people, events, laws, and systems of government defined in the 'Discover Canada' study guide.

Constitutional Monarchy

A system of government in which the Head of State is a hereditary Sovereign (Queen or King) who reigns in accordance with the Constitution and the rule of law.

Habeas corpus

The right to challenge unlawful detention by the state, a principle inherited from English common law.

Magna Carta

Also known as the Great Charter of Freedoms, signed in England in $1215$, it is the origin of an $800\text{-year old}$ tradition of ordered liberty.

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

A document amended to the Constitution in $1982$ that summarizes fundamental freedoms, mobility rights, and official language rights.

Responsible Government

A system where ministers of the Crown must have the support of a majority of the elected representatives to govern; if they lose a confidence vote, they must resign.

Aboriginal Peoples

The three distinct groups of indigenous people in Canada: Indian (First Nations), Inuit, and Métis.

Inuit

A term meaning "the people" in the Inuktitut language, referring to people who live in small, scattered communities across the Arctic.

Métis

A distinct people of mixed Aboriginal and European ancestry, most of whom live in the Prairie provinces and many of whom speak the Michif dialect.

Acadians

Descendants of French colonists who began settling in the Maritime provinces in $1604$ and survived the "Great Upheaval" during the war between Britain and France.

Quebec Act of 1774

A constitutional law that allowed religious freedom for Catholics, permitted them to hold public office, and restored French civil law while maintaining British criminal law.

Confederation

The creation of the Dominion of Canada on July $1$, $1867$, by the joining of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Sir John A. Macdonald

A Father of Confederation who became Canada’s first Prime Minister in $1867$ and is featured on the $10\text{ bill}$.

Vimy Ridge

A key battlefield in France captured by the Canadian Corps in April $1917$, which secured the Canadians’ reputation as the "shock troops of the British Empire."

Women's Suffrage Movement

The effort by women to achieve the right to vote, led by activists like Dr. Emily Stowe and resulting in federal voting rights for most women by $1918$.

D-Day

The Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe on June $6$, $1944$, in which $15,000$ Canadian troops stormed and captured Juno Beach.

Official Languages Act

A law passed in $1969$ that guarantees French and English services in the federal government and establishes equality between the two languages.

The Cabinet

A group consisting of the Prime Minister and ministers of the Crown who make important decisions about how the country is governed and propose most new laws.

Electoral district

Geographical areas, also known as ridings or constituencies, that each elect one member of Parliament ($\text{MP}$) to the House of Commons.

A mari usque ad mare

Canada's national motto, which means "from sea to sea" in Latin.

The Victoria Cross (V.C.)

The highest honour available to Canadians, awarded for conspicuous bravery, valour, or extreme devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

Elections Canada

A neutral agency of Parliament that produces voters' lists from the National Register of Electors.

Canadian Rangers

A part of the Canadian Forces Reserves who travel isolated regions by snowmobile or all-terrain vehicles to keep the flag flying in Canada's Arctic.

NAFTA

The North American Free Trade Agreement enacted in $1994$ between Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The Group of Seven

A group of artists founded in $1920$ who developed a style of painting to capture rugged wilderness landscapes.

Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best

The researchers from Toronto who discovered insulin, a hormone used to treat diabetes, which has saved millions of lives.

Grey Cup

A trophy donated by Governor General Lord Grey in $1909$ for the championship of the Canadian Football League ($\text{CFL}$).