Oh Canada!

The British North America Act of 1867 was proclaimed on July 1, now celebrated as Canada Day. It stated that the new Dominion of Canada would include the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia at it's outset (and that others could join later...One of us! One of us!). It established the provincial (each province would have its own seat of government, lawmaking body, and lieutenant governor) and the federal (stationed in Ottawa, composed of an elected House of Commons, an appointed Senate, and a governor-general) governing bodies. This act remained in force until the Constitution Act of 1982). Canada's first federal election was held in September of 1867 with 73% voter turn out (of course eligible voters comprised only 11% of the population, being white property owning men). Sir John A. McDonald's conservatives won 101 of the 181 seats. Also on July 1st: Oh Canada was proclaimed our national anthem in 1980, 100 years after the tune was first written by Canada's national musician Calixa Lavallée (although the lyrics went through several drafts during that century).

Some Canadian History links to help with learn-ding:
- The Canadian Encyclopedia from Histor!ca
- Canada Info Link
- Map from Canadian Geographic's Historical maps section.
- Play the Canadian History Game and nerd it up hard core! Woohoo! (unfortunately you must have Civ3 or Conquests 1.22)