Canada is a North American nation located in the northern portion of the continent. With a population of over 37 million people, it is the 38th most populous country in the world. Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and its military consists of three branches: the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and Canadian Coast Guard. The Canadian Armed Forces are responsible for defending the country’s borders and sovereignty, as well as providing security to its citizens. In terms of defense spending, Canada spends approximately $20 billion annually on its military, making it one of the highest defense spending nations per capita in the world. The country also participates in several international peacekeeping missions such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan. Canada is also a member of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and has close ties with other NATO members such as France and Germany through joint military exercises and training opportunities. See naturegnosis to learn more about the country of Canada.
Defense
The defense is based on NATO membership and a developed defense cooperation with the United States. It encompasses about 62,000 men of volunteer troops and is mainly focused on the sea and air space between the Atlantic and Pacific. Previous links to Northern Norway and Europe have been discontinued. The discussion in Canada is about balancing and modernizing defense equipment and operations. Canada is active in operations outside the country. The defense is organized in an army of 33,000 men, 48,500 men fully staffed, with three brigades. The Navy comprises 12,000 men, 16,000 men fully manned, with two submarines, 16 fighters/ frigates and 14 patrol boats. The Air Force comprises 14,500 men, 19,000 men fully manned, with about 140 fighter aircraft and 29 submarine helicopters and an advanced ground and airborne radar chain in collaboration with the United States. The equipment is NATO-standard.
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Defense costs have decreased from 2.2 to 1.0% of GDP in 1985-2005, which is lower than the average in European NATO countries. Canada participates in several UN peacekeeping operations, a reduced brigade in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR II, 800 men), a brigade in Afghanistan (NATO-ISAF, 1,576 men), in Cyprus, Congo (Kinshasa), Egypt, Haiti, the Middle East (UNTSO and UNDOF), Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Italy and the United Kingdom have flight training units in Canada. To see related acronyms about this country, please check ABBREVIATIONFINDER where you can see that CDA stands for Canada.
Dependence on the United States
Canada’s most important trading partner is the United States, but while Canada’s exports to the United States make up 20% of Canada’s GDP, US exports to Canada represent just 3% of the superpower’s GDP. No other major Western economy has the same degree of trade imbalance. It can only be compared to the poor world’s dependence on the industrialized countries of the north.
With the free trade agreement between the two countries coming into force in 1989, Canada’s integration into the US economy has increased dramatically. Through trade, credit and investment in Canada, the United States has secured ever greater control over its natural resources and industries. The US economic crisis immediately causes a similar crisis in Canada. Canada’s monetary policy is fundamentally shaped in neighboring countries. The relationship between the two countries has been characterized as a colony dependency, despite the fact that Canada is the 8th largest industry in the world and that the standard of living of the population ranks 10th among the world’s countries – according to. Statistics of the OECD.
The Canadian Armed Forces aim to defend national interests both inside and outside the country, the defense of North America in cooperation with the United States, the security commitments that are a consequence of NATO membership, and finally Canada’s participation in UN peacekeeping forces. In addition, Canada’s armed forces in Europe, which is under NATO’s command of permanently deployed forces in Central Europe. They consist of 4 mechanized brigades and an aviation squadron trained to operate with great efficiency, but since the mid-90’s Canada has been drawing these forces out of Europe. Canadian forces participated in the 1994 invasion of Haiti by the United States.
Relations between Canada and the United States tightened in 1985, when a US Coast Guard ship sailed through the Northwest Passage without prior Canadian permission. The United States recognizes Canada’s supremacy over the Arctic Islands, but not over the waters, and a maritime dispute exists near the French Isles of St. Pierre-et-Miguel. Canada has also not gone far in its efforts to get the United States to limit air pollution from its industries. Pollution entering Canada causing acid rain. The Canadian government, in turn, has committed to halving the air pollution that creates acid rain. The program has already been launched and aims to reduce industrial emissions by 20% by 2005.
The James Bay dam project
In 1991, Quebec’s Prime Minister Robert Bourassa initiated the second phase of an energy project in James Bay. The project includes the construction of a hydroelectric plant and the diversion of 9 rivers, which over a 350,000 km2 large area in the northwestern corner of the province flow into James and Hudson Bay. The first phase of the project, through a series of construction projects, was intended to create the basis for the generation of 10,282 megawatts of electricity. James Bay is set to produce a total of 27,000 megawatts. It exceeds the electricity generation at the mighty Itaipú power plant in Brazil and the power plant at the Three Generations in China that is under construction.
The area covered by the project is used for hunting and fishing by about 11,000 Cree Indians and 7,000 Inuit people who have lived in the area for over 5,000 years. In the same place is the world’s largest concentration of Beluga whales, deer flocks and seals. A large part of the tree ducks also use the extensive wetlands to rest during their move.
The consequence of the diversion of 4 rivers and the construction of dams and hydropower plants was that 13,000 km2 was flooded. As a result of opening a sluice gate in one of the dams in 1984, 10,000 deer died.
The second phase of the project completes the dam construction around the rivers that flow into the 2 bays, and means that another 10,000 km2 will be flooded. The project makes it possible to sell electricity to the United States, build aluminum plants in Quebec and secure Canadians electricity supply – one of the highest in the world. The project’s implications for the ecosystem are unclear.
In 1973, residents in the area affected by the project received two-thirds of their food from hunting and fishing. Twenty years later, that share had dropped to a quarter. In 1975, the locals signed an agreement to preserve a small portion of their land and to provide some form of compensation for the loss of the rest of the territory. Yet, the opportunities for indigenous culture survival are limited when confronted with Quebec’s nationalist ecological massacre.