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Champlain establishes Quebec City
In 1608 Champlain led a group of 25 men to establish Quebec. He had a settlement on the shores of the St.Lawerence. The settlement is known today as Quebec City. This is an important event because it helped out with the fur trade with the First Nations much more easily. -
Acadians are exiled from their homes
In 1775, nearly 10,000 Acadians had their property confiscated from them. They were then exiled by Britain and were sent to the British colonies in America. Around 2000 Acadians found themselves in Massachusetts. This is important to acknowledge because the Acadian culture was never the same after the expulsion of the nation. The Acadian culture remains one of the important cultures in the Maritimes today. -
The Conquest (Battle on the Plains of Abraham)
On September 13th, 1759, the British Army and the Royal Navy fought against the French Army Outside Quebec City on land owned by a farmer Abraham Martin. Making the name of the battle called the Battle on Plains of Abraham. This is important because the outcome of the event influenced the creation of Canada. -
The Royal Proclamation determines that First Nations are sovereign
On October 7th, 1763 King George the 3rd issued the Royal Proclamation. The Royal Proclamation sets out that only the crown can buy land from First Nations. This was important as it looked like the first step towards aboriginal rights. The Proclamation also had rights for First Nations to have self-determination -
The Durham Report
On February 11th, 1839 the Durham Report was published. The purpose of the report was to see the situation going on in Canada and how to fix the problem. In Durham's report, he included that the French-speaking Canadians should be assimilated by Anglophone culture. The Francophones didnt like the comments Durham had put in the report. This was a important as it made the Queen unite Canadas 2 colonies together under same government and legeslative assembly. -
The BNA Act is passed, creating the nation-state of Canada
On July 1st, 1867 Canada became an official country. The BNA Act would unite the 3 territories as one called Canada. This is the most important date in Canadian history as it celebrates our country's birthday every year when Canadians show love and patriotism towards the country. -
The Indian Act is first created
The Indian Act was established on April 12th, 1876. The Act's purpose was to eliminate the First Nation's culture and to assimilate them into European culture. The government reserved the First Nations' land from them and their communal monies. The Act only included the First Nations culture, it excluded the metis culture because its half European descent -
Chinese Head Tax discriminates against Chinese immigration
In 1885 Canada started to put a head tax on Chinese immigrants seeking entry into Canada. They charged $50 per person on the head tax. Later on, the price changed to $100 per person in 1900. Then later changed up to $500 per person in 1903. The purpose of the head tax was to discourage Chinese immigrants from entering Canada after the Canadian Pacific Railway was built. -
Louis Riel is executed for treason
On November 16th, 1885 Metis leader Louis Riel was hung for treason. This was because he was leading the Northwest rebellion in batoche. The Rebellion was fighting for metis rights. Louis Riel would also face lots of racism making him put his life into the rebellion for his culture. He would also negotiate with the Canadian government for the creation of Manitoba -
Manitoba Schools Question becomes an issue in the federal election
In 1896, the Manitoba schools had raised questions about religious school funding in the province. This made a key issue in the federal election as the question was targeting the government on whether they should continue religious funding or focus more on public education. This was important in the federal election because the questions touches on religious freedoms, eqaulity in education. -
Henri Bourassa protests the idea of conscription
In 1915 WWl was the main focus of the world. With Canada being involved in the war, the country would conscript Canadians to enlist in the war to help out the British. Henri Bourassa led the opposition to conscription as he argued that Canada's interests weren't at stake. He spoke for many young men who didn't have voices whether they wanted to enlist or not. Bourassa's ideas show that his interests are for Canada's independence and not for the British empire. -
Conscription crisis during World War One
In 1917 the Canadian federal government conscripted young men for overseas military service. The voluntary recruitment was failing to meet consistent troop numbers for the war. Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden strongly believed in military values and felt strongly about Canadian contribution to the war. Most Canadians opposed the conscription and felt that they didn't have to show loyalty to Britain and France -
Canada adopts the Maple Leaf flag
On January 28th, 1965 the maple leaf flag passed proclamation by Queen Elizabeth II. The maple leaf flag was first raised on February 15th, 1965. This is important to Canada as it symbolizes sovereignty and independence from Britain's monarchy -
The White Paper on Aboriginal Rights
In 1969 Pierre Trudeau issued the white paper. The papers purpose was to abolish past legal documents involving the First Nations culture. This would include the Indian Act and past Treaties. Meaning that the government would put an end to Indigenous status and special rights. The paper had controversy and ended up with the outcome of the paper being rejected in 1970. -
Bill 101 is passed into law in Quebec
Bill 101 was a bill that was passed to make the French language the official language of Quebec. The Bill ensures that all children must be educated in French until the end of their secondary studies. The Bill plays an important role in shaping the linguistic Quebec reinforcing French as the language in the province -
NEP implemented
During the 1970s the oil crisis was happening Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau came up with a program with the goal of Canada being able to supply its own oil and gas needs by 1990. The program was implemented on October 8th, 1980, in 1991 The NEP was no longer due to the program being a failure because global economic conditions had changed the NEP to no longer considered necessary or useful -
Quebec refuses to sign the constitution
Quebec refused to sign the constitution in 1982 because of a clause in the Charter of Rights that guarantees minority rights. meaning that Quebec Bill 101 would end and have to protect English Language rights in Quebec. Out of Quebec, the French Language would be protected. -
The Canada Act is signed into law by PM Trudeau and the Queen, thus establishing full sovereignty for Canada
On April 17th, 1982 Canada's constitution was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth ll. Making Canada wholly independent as a country and no longer under British rule. This was a major event in the Canadian history as it implemented the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -
Canada adopts official multiculturalism
On October 8th, 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau announced multiculturism within a bilingual framework as an official government policy. 1988 Parliament passed the Canadian Multiculturism Act, making it an official policy. This is important because it enables new cultures to come to Canada and be welcomed, benefiting our future as a country, with new knowledge and ideas being shared among Canada's new society. -
The Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis was an important event involving the Mohawk Nation and the Canadian army. The crisis was sparked by a golf course expansion that had been planned to be built on undisputed land that had included the Mohawk's burial ground. The Mohawks protested the golf course from being built but things started to escalate as the crisis was a 78-day standoff. Quebec's RCMP had to involve Canadian troops to stop the crisis. The crisis would be put to an end with the expansion being canceled. -
Supreme Court determines that turbans can be worn with the RCMP uniform – reasonable accommodation
In 1991, Baltej Singh Dhillon became the first turbaned Sikh RCMP Officer. This was a controversial case during the time as it was important to immigrants and Canadians for Baltej to wear his turban as it violated his basic rights as a Canadian citizen. In Canada Charter of Rights and Freedoms, states freedom of religion and freedom from discrimination based on race and religion. The rule then changed based on the violation of rights and now is known as reasonable accommodation -
The second referendum is held to decide if Quebec should separate from Canada
The second referendum was an important event in Canada's history. It asked Quebec voters whether they wanted to proclaim Quebec sovereignty as an independent country by separating from Canada. The results were neck and neck with the outcome being that Quebec stays as a Canadian province. -
Nunavut is created, giving a degree of self-determination to the Inuit
On April 1st, 1999 the creation of Nunavut became official as it was now a territory. This was done by splitting up the Northwest Territories into two territories. -
Canada Apologizes for Residential Schools
On June 11th, 2008 the office of the Prime Minister of Canada issued an apology statement to former students who had to go to residential schools. Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued an apology statement at the House of Commons with Indigenous leaders as witnesses for the speech. This was an important event as it showed that the government apologized as fault for its mistakes in the past. It showed that the government was taking steps further to recognize indigenous rights.