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Cold War Begins
The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War II between powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) and powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union). The USSR consolidated its control over the states of the Eastern Bloc, while the United States began a strategy globally to challenge Soviet power, extending military and financial aid to the countries of Western Europe and creating the NATO alliance. -
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Canada 1945-2000
Events that took place in the timespan of 1945-2000 that have great importance to Canada. -
Canada joins NATO
NATO consisted of the Untied States, Britian, and Western European countries until Canada joined them in 1949. This created Candans first peacetime military alliance that put them in to a defensive nations. NATO stood up to the Societ Union during the Cold War. -
Newfoundland Joins Confederation
Newfoundland wanted to stay as an independant nations but due to the fall of the responsible government in 1934 they made a relationship with Canada and became a province. -
Korean War Begins
The war begun due to North Korea invading South Korea. Canadian military personnel served in the Korean War, during the combat phase along with other countries involved with the United Nations. -
Immigration Act
The Immigration Act of 1952 gave a huge amount of power to the Minister of Immigration. It was decided that the immigrants would be chosen based off of ethic origin but by the 1950's the demand from immigration was so high that the basis of origin did not effect anything. -
Korean War Ends
The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed. The agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. Canadian military personnel participated as peacekeepers at this stage. -
AVRO Arrow
Due to Canadians being concerned with a possible attack from the Soviets RCAF wanted a new aircraft for defence. The day AVRO Arrow was released the Soviet Union launched Sputnik. Once the Soviet Union did this the Canadian government got concerned with costs of the production and all blueprints or anything to do with the six previously made arrows were to be destroyed. -
Vietnam War Begins
Vietnam divided in to North which supported communism and South which was anti-communism. This almost immediatly created a war and from the start South Vietnam had American support. The Americans were so involved as they were trying to contain communism while the Chinese were sending in large amounts of supplies to North Vietnam to avoid a larger conflict. Canadians did not support the Americans in the war and asked them to rethink their position. -
Warsaw Pact
The Soviet Union formed this alliance with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as a security alliance that included the United States, Canada and Western European nations in 1949. The Warsaw Pact added to existing agreements. -
Suez Crisis
When Egypt seized the Suez Canal from Britain and France it caused an up rising as the canal is a main trade route. Therefore Britain and France teamed up with Israel to attack Egypt. Canada's Minister of External Affairs went to the UN and created a UNEF. This would keep the two apart until the UN peacekeeping forces could be relieved avoiding warfare. -
Prime Minister John Diefenbaker
Diefenbaker was Prime Minister from 1957-1963 and during his team defeated the liberal party along with the progressive conservatives. His nickname was "The Chief" as he was a very powerful speaker who took his peoples concerns in to consideration. Diefenbaker brought the Can Bill of Right in 1960. -
Canada joins NORAD
NORAD was between the United States and Canada where they would work together and have radar stations to detect Soviet planes and missiles. In Canada's North there were three radar lines set up for extra protection and earlier warning. In total Canada contributed 300 million dollars although NORAD was mainly funded by the United States. -
Quiet Revolution
Jean Lesage the leader of the liberal party in Quebec wanted to make new relations with english Canadians and began to go through a period called "La Revolution Tranquille" which was modernization. During this revolution Quebec gained nationalism and began to call themselves Quebecois. -
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis created great tensions between Canada and the United States. As the Prime Minister took a step back from accepting weapons from the Americans and they were not aware of the blockade that was taking place. By the time the Canadians were put on alert it was almost too late, this caused anger and resentment towards the Americans. -
Prime Minister Lester Pearson
Pearson was Prime Minister from 1963-1968 and was also the minister of External Affairs during the Suez Crisis in 1956 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957. Pearson made a big effort to improve the relationship between the French-Canadians and to take in their concerns of some of the benefits they had not received. Lester introduced the Canada Pension Plan and Medicare for all Canadians. As a new flag was developed under his leadership, all ties from Britain were cut in 1956. -
National Medicare Act
The National Medicare Act was made to ensure that every legal Canadian would receive medical care and hospital treatment that is paid for through taxes or an optional health care premium. The Medicare Act was developed in two stages, the first being: Hospital Insurance + Diagnostic Act of 1957 which established a universal plan covering critical hospital care and diagnostic services. Stage two was that the Medicare Act extended health insurance to cover doctor services. -
Prime Minister Trudeau
Trudeau was Prime Minister from 1968-1979 as he was the leader of the liberal party due the fact he was French-Canadain many thought he would be focusing of the concerns coming from Quebec. Trudeau was known for his personality and charisma. -
White Paper
The White Paper was introduced by Prime Minister Trudeau and Indian Affairs minister Jean Chretien to deal with the issues involving Aboriginal people living in Canada. They proposed the removal of reserves and the end to special status for Treaty Indians. This had a nerve negative feedback which led to the National Indian Brotherhood being created to represent their status. Due to the negative feedback that caused Trudeau's government to withdraw from the White Paper in 1971. -
October Crisis
A group named Front de Liberation du Quebec composed of french Canadians spoke of Marxist objectives and Quebec's separation from Canada. To achieve their goals they tended to use violent actions if needed. On October 17 1970 Pierre Laporte's body was found in the trunk of a car, the government agreed to send five of the terrorists to Cuba in exchange for cross release. Over the years these people came back to Canada only serving small sentences and in total 23 people were sent to prison. -
Vietnam War Ends
As the Americans were having troubles winning ground in Vietnam and the number of American soldiers deployed was growing greater they changed their approach. They dialled back on the amount of soldiers sent out and turned the war in to an air war trying to bomb out North Vietnam. Once all the Americans had left Vietnam it quickly became under control of the communists due to a cease-fire. Although Canadians were not involved in this war they did welcome American draft dodgers and saw on the T.V. -
Immigration Act
In the Immigration Act of 1978 it passed a new act which would reduce barriers to immigration and gave provinces new roles in the immigration policy. It was important that Quebec was able to ensure that the immigrants would be able to learn and accept the francophone culture. No longer was immigrants accepted off of the base of origin however everyone was welcomed! In this act there were three different categories or immigrants: family, independents and refugees. -
USSR Invades Afghanistan
As large parts of Afghanistan were in open rebellion and by December the government had lost control of territory outside of the cities. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution protesting the Soviet intervention, Afghan began to receive massive amounts of aid, military training in neighboring Pakistan and China. In the early 1980 the Soviet Union had 200 tanks supporting their war effort and in 1988 the Soviets finally with drawled from Afghanistan. -
Prime Minister Trudeau
Prime Minister Trudeau was the leader of the liberal party, but was over thrown by the conservative leader Joe Clark in the federal election in 1979 due to the implementation of the National Energy Program. Clark's budget won in the House of Commons through a vote of non-confidence. Trudeau was then re-elected and started working on Canada, all provinces except for Quebec signed on the new agreements in 1982. Prime Minister Trudeau retired in 1984. -
Constitution Act
While Canada's under the BNA Act Trudeau wanted Canada to have its own constitution. All together Trudeau and ten other premiers began to write it up until the final night when everyone but Rene Levesque was called to work on it. Due to this Levesque felt betrayed and refused to sign the constitution. The new constitution allowed Canada to make changes without needin the approval of the British Parliament and also included the Chartier of Rights and Freedoms. -
Jean Sauve
Jean Sauve was the first women to speak in the House of Commons in 1978 and later on became the first female Govern General in 1984. During this time other females were appointed to Supreme Court of Canada. -
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney was the Prime Minister of Canada from 1984-1993, he brought the Free Trade Agreement with the United Staes. He also oversaw passage of unpopular goods and services. Mulroney played a large role in persuading the Quebec government to sign the constitution. -
Canadian Multicultural Act
The Canadian Multicultural Act was designed to recognize all Canadians as equal participants of the Canadian society. The Canadian charter of right (1982) declared equality for all and to let let all individuals from minority groups to break through barriers such as prejudice and discrimination due to the fact that minorities made up 11% of the population. -
Meech Lake Accord
All of the ten premiers met to change the constitution so that Quebec would be included. There were five total changes and they were: Quebec would be considered a "distinct society", Three of the nine Supreme Court judges were to come from Quebec, any amendments to the new constitution would require agreement from all ten provinces, provinces could choose to opt out of federal funding and Quebec would be able to control its own immigration. -
Cold War Ends
Canadian political and military leaders, prepared for possible war against the Soviets in Europe. The Canadian NATO commitment on the continent included an army brigade group in West Germany and air force fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear weapons. For both Canada’s government and its people, the fear of nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union remained throughout the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In 1990 the Soviet Union fell. -
Gulf War
Canada joined an international military coalition to confront Iraq following its invasion of Kuwait. Canada contributed warships and fighter aircraft to the successful campaign to liberate Kuwait by watching over the Persian Gulf. It was the first time Canada sent women to war in combat roles. -
Oka Standoff
When Quebec officials stated to extend a golf course on to land the Mohawks claimed had always been theirs, the Mohawks set up blockages. These blockages were on main roads and then when the police tried to take down the blockages the army was called in for backup. The government reached an agreement and the federal government bought the land and then transfer to Kanesatake First Nations. -
Charlottetown Accord
Due to the failure at Meech Lake Quebec was still not included. The Charlottetown Accord made provisions for aboriginal self-government, Senate reform, universal health care, workers rights, and environmental protection. The negotiations was called the Canada Round and the Accord included a Canada Clause in addition to the "distinct society" clause for Quebec. -
Rwanda
Canada and other UN countries moved to try to end the bloodshed and restore order with peacekeeping missions. The largest being the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) in which Canada was a leading role. At different times during the mission, two Canadians would serve as the Commander of the UN mission. While the warfare began to develop further Canadian and other UN forces did remain to help the country with some humanitarian efforts. -
NAFTA Agreement
Mexico joined Canada and the United States in the NAFTA to create free trade between all three countries. This helped improved Canada's economy by increasing trade. Although this caused a loss of jobs due to relocations as many Canadian companies moved either to Mexico or United States or was bought. -
Peace Keeping in Bosnia
When Bosnia felt the need to be independent it created a civil war therefor the UN got involved. The United Nations created the UNPROFOR peacekeeping mission starting in Savejevo to line up along the ceasefire lines. Creation forces began to attack Canada due to this which created a full scale attack on Canada. This was the worst battle for Canadians since the Korean War. -
Kyoto Accord
Canada was active in the negotiations that led to the Kyoto Protocol in 1996 and the Liberal government that signed the accord. Canada's Kyoto target was a 6% total reduction by 2012 compared to 1990 levels of 461 Megatonnes. However, in spite of some efforts, federal indecision led to increases in greenhouse gas emissions. -
Nisga Treaty
The Nisga'a people were given a large power of self government dealing with issues relating to culture, language and family life. A total of 1,922 square km of land including all resources and 190 million dollars was given to the people of Nisga. -
Nunavut Territory
In 1999 Nunavut was made to be a new territory where aboriginal people were given the right to self government over natural resources, education and justice systems. In Nunavut the political system does not have parties but rather individuals run for themselves to be elected.
