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Bill Mullins-Johnson

Bill Mullins-Johnson

Bill Mullins-Johnson (Born 1970), of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, was charged, and in 1994 (possibly wrongly) convicted, of sexually assaulting and murdering his 4-year-old niece, Valin Johnson, on June 27, 1993. Mullins-Johnson had been babysitting his niece. When she was found dead in her bed, and the pathologists' report indicated that she had been sodomized and strangled or smothered after years of chronic sexual abuse, Mullins-Johnson immediately became the chief suspect. There was no forensic evidence linking Mullins-Johnson to an assault. In September 2005, pathologists (including Ontario's chief pathologist) reviewed the original evidence, including tissue samples, and determined that a crime likely did not take place -- the evidence was consistent with death from natural causes, and what the original pathologists took as evidence of sodomy, an enlarged anus, may actually have been caused by muscles relaxing after death. The work of one of the original pathologists, Dr. Charles Smith, is now under review for 40 child deaths from 1991 onward. On September 21 2005, after 12 years in prison, Mullins-Johnson was released on CAD 125,000 (USD 105,000) bail while Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler decided whether to order a new trial or to send the case to the Ontario Court of Appeals. Mullins had been serving time in the medium security Warkworth Institution, about two hours northeast of Toronto, at the time of his bail hearing. A businessman uncle, Gord Boissoneau, put up bail surety of CAD 75,000, while the other CAD 50,000 came from Mullins-Johnson's mother, Laureena Hill.

Legal history

The Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the conviction in 1996. The Supreme Court dismissed a further appeal in 1998 [http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/com/1998/texte/98-05-22.1a.txt] .

External links


- [http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/050920/n092085A.html Idea of freedom daunting to man who says he didn't commit 1993 murder: lawyer]
- [http://injusticebusters.com/05/Smith_Charles.shtml Injusticebusters compilation of news articles related to Smith]
- [http://www.ltvnews.com/viewarticle.php?id=3021 Mullins-Johnson: Was He Wrongly Convicted?]
- [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050922/MULLINS22/TPNational/Canada Man jailed for 12 years tastes freedom]
- [http://www.recorder.ca/cp/National/050921/n0921103A.html Twelve years in jail for murder that may not have happened 'hell,' man says] Mullins-Johnson, William Mullins-Johnson, Bill Mullins-Johnson, Bill

1970

1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. 1970 is the Unix epoch time.

Events

January-February


- January 1 - Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65 miles north of Phoenix, Arizona.
- January 1 - Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC.
- January 12 - Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war.
- January 15 - After a 32-month fight for independence from Nigeria, Biafran forces under General Effiong formally surrender to General Yakubu Gowon.
- January 15 - Muammar al-Qaddafi is proclaimed premier of Libya.
- January 16 - Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
- February 11 - Launch of Japan's first satellite Osumi with a Lamba-4 Rocket.
- February 17 - MacDonald family massacre at Fort Bragg, North Carolina - Jeffrey MacDonald kills his wife and children and tries to claim that "hippies" did it

March


- March 1 - Rhodesia severs its last tie with the British crown and declares itself a racially segregated republic.
- March 4 - Nigerian Francis Okechukwu Ohanyido, Poet/Philosopher born in Jos.
- March 5 - A nuclear non-proliferation treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
- March 11 - Henry "Dickie" Marrow is murdered in a violent hate crime in Oxford, N.C..
- March 16 - The Expo '70 world's fair opens in Suita, Osaka, Japan.
- March 16 - Publication of complete New English Bible.
- March 16 - Birth of Stephen Martin.
- March 17 - My Lai massacre: The United States Army charges 14 officers with suppressing information related to the incident.
- March 18 - Lon Nol ousts Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia.
- March 18 - Post Office strike in USA - 210,000 out of 750,000 US postal employees walk out. President Nixon assigns military units to New York City post offices. Strike lasts two weeks.
- March 21 The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto.
- March 25 - The Concorde makes its 1st supersonic flight (700 mph /1,127 km/h).
- March 31 - Explorer I spacefract re-enters atmosphere, after twelve years in orbit.

April


- April 1 - President Richard Nixon signs the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act into law banning cigarette television advertisements in the United States starting on January 1, 1971.
- April 1 - American Motors introduces the Gremlin.
- April 10 - Paul McCartney announces that the Beatles have disbanded.
- April 11 - US spaceflight Apollo 13 launches for the moon, carrying James Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. On April 13, an oxygen tank in the spacecraft explodes, forcing the crew to abort the mission. The crew returns to earth safely on April 17
- April 22 - First Earth Day celebrated.
- April 29 - U.S. invades Cambodia to hunt out Viet Cong. Massive protests against the war continue in the U.S.

May-June

Viet Cong
- May 4 - The Kent State shootings: Four students at Kent State University in Ohio are killed and 9 wounded by National Guardsmen at a demonstration protesting against the incursion into Cambodia.
- May 5 - Earthquake in Yungay, Peru below Hauscaran Mountain buries the city
- May 6 - Charles Haughey and Neil Blaney are dismissed as members of the Irish Government due to accusations of their involvement in a plot to import arms for use in Northern Ireland.
- May 9 - 100,000 people demonstrate in Washington DC against the Vietnam War.
- May 14 - Ulrike Meinhof helps Andreas Baader escape.
- May 17 - Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean.
- May 26 - The Soviet Tupolev Tu-144 becomes the first commercial transport to exceed Mach 2.
- May 27 - British expedition climbs south face of Annapurna I.
- May 31 - The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people are killed.
- June 2 - Norway announces that it has rich oil deposits off its North Sea coast.
- June 4 - Tonga gains independence from the United Kingdom.
- June 10 - President Nixon signed a measure lowering the voting age to 18.
- June 11 - The United States gets its first female Generals: Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington.
- June 18 - Edward Heath is elected Prime Minister of United Kingdom.
- June 21 - Brazil defeats Italy 4-1 to win the Football World Cup 1970
- June 24 - The United States Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
- June 28 - US ground troops withdraw from Cambodia.

July-August


- July 4 - Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona - at least 112 dead.
- July 11 - The first tunnel under the Pyrenees links the Basque towns of Aranoutes and Biesma.
- July 21 - Aswan High Dam in Egypt completed.
- July 30 - Damages awarded to Thalidomide victims,
- August 7 - Harold Haley, Marin County Superior Court Judge taken hostage and murdered in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.
- August 17-18 - US sinks 418 containers of nerve gas into the Gulf Stream near the Bahamas
- August 17 - Venera program: Venera 7 is launched. It will later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit data from another planet.
- August 26- The Women's Strike For Equality takes place down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
- August 26- August 30- The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 takes place on East Afton Farm off the coast of England. 600,000 people attend the largest rock festival of all time. Artists include Jimi Hendrix, The Who, The Doors, Chicago, Richie Havens, John Sebastian, Joan Baez, Ten Years After, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull.

September


- September 1 - Assassination attempt against king Hussein of Jordan
- September 3-6 - Israeli forces fight Palestinian guerillas in southern Lebanon.
- September 5 - Vietnam War: Operation Jefferson Glenn begins - The United States 101st Airborne Division and the South Vietnamese 1st Infantry Division initiate a new operation in Thua Thien Province (operation ends in October 1971).
- September 7 - An anti-war rally is held at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, attended by John Kerry, Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.
- September 7 - Fighting between Arabic guerillas and government forces in Amman, Jordan
- September 8-10 - Jordanian government and Palestinian guerillas make truces that keep breaking.
- September 9 – Guinea recognizes East Germany.
- September 10 – Cambodian government forces break the blockage around Kompong Tho after a 3-month siege.
- September 11 - The Ford Pinto is introduced.
- September 13 - First running of the New York City Marathon.
- September 15 - King Hussein of Jordan forms a military government with Muhammad Daoud as the prime minister.
- September 18 - Jimi Hendrix dies of barbiturate overdose in London
- September 20 - End of term for Ismail Nasiruddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Zainal Abidin III as the 4th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 20 - Syrian armored forces cross Jordanian border.
- September 20-21 - Luna 16 lands on the Moon and lifts off the day later with samples. Lands on Earth September 24.
- September 21 - Palestinian armored forces reinforce Palestinian guerillas in Irbidi, Jordan.
- September 21 - Tuanku Al-Mutassimu Billahi Muhibbudin Sultan Abdul Halim Al-Muadzam Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Sultan of Kedah becomes the 5th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
- September 26 - Laguna Fire starts in San Diego County burning 175,425 acres (710 km²).
- September 27 - Richard Nixon begins a tour in Europe and visits Italy, Yugoslavia, Spain, United Kingdom and Ireland.
- September 28 - Gamal Abdal Nasser dies - vice president Anwar Sadat is named temporary president of Egypt.
- September 29 - US Congress gives president Richard Nixon authority to sell arms to Israel.
- September 29 - In Berlin, Baader-Meinhof Gang members rob three banks, loot totaling over DM200.000.

October


- October 2 - Wichita State University loses most of its football team in a plane crash.
- October 3 - In Lebanon, government of the prime minister Rashid Karami resigns.
- October 4 - In Bolivia, army commander general Rogelio Miranda and group of officers rebel and demand resignation of the president Alfredo Ovando Candía – president fires him.
- October 4 - Janis Joplin dies of a heroin overdose inside her hotel room in Los Angeles, California
- October 5 - Nixon's European tour ends.
- October 5 - The Front de Libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnap James Cross in Montreal and demands release of all its imprisoned members. The next day the Canadian government announces it won't accept the demand - first stirrings of Quebec's October Crisis.
- October 6 - Bolivian president Alfredo Ovando Candía resigns – general Rogelio Miranda takes over but resigns soon after.
- October 6 - French president Georges Pompidou visits Soviet Union.
- October 7 - General Juan José Torres becomes the new president of Bolivia.
- October 7 - Anwar Sadat accepted as Egyptian president.
- October 8 - US foreign office announces that it renews its arms sales to Pakistan.
- October 8 - Soviet author Alexander Solzhenitsyn is awarded Nobel Prize for Literature.
- October 8 - Vietnam War: In Paris, a Communist delegation rejects US President Richard Nixon's October 7 peace proposal as "a maneuver to deceive world opinion."
- October 9 - The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia.
- October 9 - Divorce law in Italy.
- October 10 - Fiji becomes independent.
- October 10 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
- October 11 - 11 French soldiers are killed in a shootout with rebels in Chad.
- October 12 - Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon announces that the United States will withdraw 40,000 more troops before Christmas.
- October 13 - Canada and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations.
- October 13 - Saeb Salam's government forms in Lebanon.
- October 14 - Chinese nuclear test in Lop Nor.
- October 15 - In Egypt, referendum supports Anwar Sadat 90.04%.
- October 15 - 35 construction workers are killed when a section of the new West Gate Bridge in Melbourne collapses into the river below.
- October 16 - Canadian government declares state of emergency and outlaws Quebec Liberation Front.
- October 17 - Pierre Laporte is found killed in south of Montreal.
- October 17 - Cholera epidemic in Istanbul.
- October 17 - Anwar Sadat becomes officially president of Egypt.
- October 20 - Soviet Union launches Zond 8 lunar probe.
- October 20 - Algerian ex-minister Krim Belkacem is found strangled in his hotel room in Frankfurt.
- October 20 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat names Mahmoud Fawzi as his prime minister.
- October 21 - US Air Force plane makes an emergency landing near Leninakan, Soviet Union. Soviets release the American officers, including two generals, November 10.
- October 22 - Chilean army commander Rene Schneider is shot in Santiago – government declares state of emergency. Schneider dies October 25.
- October 24 - Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile.
- October 26 - US and Soviet space researchers meet in Moscow.
- October 26 - Garry Trudeau's comic strip Doonesbury, debuts in approximately two dozen newspapers in the United States.
- October 28 - In Jordan, government of Ahmed Toukan resigns – next prime minister is Wasfi Al-Tal.
- October 28 - Cholera outbreak in eastern Slovakia – Hungary closes its border with Czechoslovakia.
- October 28 - Gary Gabelich drives the rocket-powered Blue Flame to an official world land speed record of 622.287 mph (1,001.452863 km/h) on the dry lake bed of the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The record, the first above 1,000 km/h, stands for nearly 13 years.
- October 30 - In Vietnam, the worst monsoon to hit the area in six years causes large floods, kills 293, leaves 200,000 homeless and virtually halts the Vietnam War.

November


- November 1 - Fire destroys Le Cinq Sept dance hall in St. Laurent Du Pont, France – 144 dead.
- November 4 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - The United States turns control of the air base in the Mekong Delta to South Vietnam. Genie "the Wild Child" discovered in her house at the age of 13 after being in complete isolation for 10 years with no language skills.
- November 4 - Social authorities in California, USA, take custody of Genie, a girl who had been kept in solitary confinement since her birth
- November 5 - Vietnam War: United States Military Assistance Command in Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24 soldiers died that week, which was the fifth consecutive week the death toll was below 50; 431 were reported wounded that week, however).
- November 8 - Egypt, Sudan and Libya announce their intentions to form a federation.
- November 9 - Charles de Gaulle dies – he is buried November 13.
- November 9 - Soviet Union launches Luna 17.
- November 9 - Vietnam War: The Supreme Court of the United States votes 6 to 3 to not hear a case by the state of Massachusetts asking to allow the state the ability to enforce its law granting Massachusetts residents the right to refuse military service in an undeclared war.
- November 10 - Vietnam War: Vietnamization - For the first time in five years, an entire week ended with no reports of American combat fatalities in Southeast Asia.
- November 12 - Soviet author Andrei Amalrik sentenced for three years for anti-Soviet writings.
- November 12 - The Oregon Highway Division (now known as the Oregon Department of Transportation) is given the task of removing a rotting beached Grey whale, leading to the now infamous exploding whale incident.
- November 13 - Military coup in Syria – Hafez al-Assad takes the power.
- November 13 - 1970 Bhola cyclone: A 120-mph tropical cyclone hits the densely populated Ganges Delta region of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), killing an estimated 500,000 people (this is regarded as the 20th century's worst cyclone disaster).
- November 14 - fatal airplane accident in Wayne County, West Virginia, claims the lives of the entire Marshall University football team.
- November 17 - Vietnam War: Lieutenant William Calley goes on trial for the My Lai massacre.
- November 17 - Luna program: The Soviet Union lands Lunokhod 1 on Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains) on the Moon. This is the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another world and was released by the orbiting Luna 17 spacecraft.
- November 18 - US President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for US$155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government (US$85 million was for military assistance in order to help prevent the overthrow of the government of Premier Lon Nol by the Khmer Rouge and North Vietnam).
- November 18 - United Nations Security Council demands that no government should recognize Rhodesia.
- November 19 - EEC prime minister meeting in Munich.
- November 21 - Syrian Prime Minister Hafez al-Assad forms a new government but retains the post of defense minister.
- November 21 - in Ethiopia, Eritrea Liberation Front kills an Ethiopian general.
- November 21 - Vietnam War: Operation Ivory Coast - A joint Air Force and Army team raids the Son Tay prison camp in an attempt to free American POWs thought to be held there (there were zero Americans killed, but the prisoners had already moved to another camp; All US POWs were moved to a handful of central prison complexes as a result of this raid).
- November 22 - Guinean president Sekou Toure accuses Portugal of an attack when hundreds of mercenaries land near capital Conakry. Guinean army repels the landing attempts in November 23-24. November 25-29 UN delegation arrives to investigate the situation. In December 4 UN announces that Portuguese navy and army units are responsible.
- November 25 - In Japan, world-famous author and Tatenokai militia leader Yukio Mishima and his followers take over Inchigaya HQ of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and take general Kanetoshi Mashita hostage. When Mishima's speech fails to sway public opinion towards his right-wing political beliefs, he commits seppuku.
- November 26 - East Pakistan leader sheik Mujibur Rahman accuses central government of negligence in catastrophe relief.
- November 26 - Pope Paul VI begins an Asian tour.
- November 27 - Bolivian artist Benjamin Mendoza tries to assassinate Paul VI during pope's visit in Manila.

December


- December 1 - Italian House of Representatives accepts the divorce law.
- December 1 - Ethiopia recognizes People's Republic of China.
- December 1 - Basque ETA kidnaps West German Eugen Beihl in San Sebastian.
- December 1 - Luis Echeverría Álvarez becomes president of Mexico.
- December 2 - The United States Environmental Protection Agency begins operations.
- December 3 - October Crisis: In Montreal, Quebec, kidnapped British Trade Commissioner James Cross is released by the Front de Libération du Québec terrorist group after being held hostage for 60 days. Police negotiate his release and in return the Government of Canada grants five terrorists from the FLQ's Chenier Cell their request for safe passage to Cuba.
- December 3 - Burgos Trial - In Burgos, Spain, begins a trial against 16 Basques accused of terrorism.
- December 4 - Spanish government declares a three-month martial law in Basque county of Guipuzco due to strikes and demonstrations.
- December 5 - Asian and Australian tour of Paul VI ends.
- December 7 - Giovanni Enrico Bucher, Swiss ambassador to Brazil, is kidnapped in Rio de Janeiro; kidnappers demand release of 70 political prisoners.
- December 7 - UN general assembly supports the isolation of South Africa due to its apartheid policies.
- December 7 - During his visit to the Polish capital, German chancellor Willy Brandt goes down on his knees in front of a monument for the victims in the ghetto of Warsaw.
- December 12 - Landslide in western Colombia – over 200 dead.
- December 13 - Government of Poland announces increases in the prize of food. Riots and looting erupt until a bloody confrontation between the rioters against army and the police in December 15. Martial law December 17-22. December 23 the government will freeze the food prizes for two years.
- December 15 - The USSR's Venera 7 becomes the first spacecraft to land successfully on Venus and transmit data back to earth
- December 16 - Ethiopian government declares state of emergency in the county of Eritrea due to activities of Eritrea Liberation Front.
- December 20 - General secretary of the communist part of Poland, Wladyslaw Gomulka, resigns – Edward Gierek takes his place.
- December 20 - Egyptian delegation leaves for Moscow to ask for economic and military aid.
- December 21 - Elvis Presley pays an unscheduled call on Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, volunteering to help with law enforcement problems.
- December 22 - Libyan revolutionary council declares that it will nationalize all foreign banks in the country.
- December 22 - Franz Stangl, the ex-commander of Treblinka is sentenced to life imprisonment.
- December 23 - Bolivian government releases Regis Debray.
- December 25 - ETA releases Eugen Beihl.
- December 27 - Indian president declares new elections.
- December 28 - Burgos Trial – three Basques are sentenced to death (three twice), others sentenced for 12-62 years and one released. December 30 Franco commutes the death sentences to 30 years in prison.
- December 28 - Suspects of killing Pierre Laporte, Jacques & Paul Rose and Francis Sunard, are arrested near Montreal.
- December 30 - In Viscaya Basque county 15.000 goes to strike to protest Burgos trial death sentences.

Unknown date


- The first Regional Technical Colleges open in Ireland.
- Disappearance of Sada Abe, Japanese former prostitute and later actress.
- Discovery in England of the Sweet Track, the World's oldest engineered roadway.

Births

January-March


- January 6 - Gabrielle Reece, American volleyball player and model
- January 13 - Keith Coogan, American actor
- January 13 - Marco Pantani, Italian cyclist (d. 2004)
- January 15 - Shane McMahon, American Wrestler
- January 17 - Jeremy Roenick, American hockey player
- January 17 - Genndy Tartakovsky Russian animator
- January 22 - Alex Ross, American comic artist
- January 29 - Heather Graham, American actress
- January 29 - Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Indian shooter
- January 31 - Minnie Driver, English actress
- February 24 - Jeff Garcia, American football player
- March 8 - Jason Elam, American football player
- March 18 - Queen Latifah, American rapper, record producer, and actress
- March 22 - Leontien van Moorsel, Dutch cyclist
- March 24 - Lara Flynn Boyle, American actress
- March 24 - Sharon Corr, Irish musician (The Corrs)
- March 27 - Mariah Carey, American singer
- March 27 - Leila Pahlavi, Iranian princess (d. 2001)
- March 28 - Vince Vaughn, American actor, writer, and producer

April-May


- April 4 - Barry Pepper, Canadian actor
- April 12 - Nick Hexum, American singer and guitarist
- April 13 - Rick Schroeder, American actor
- April 18 - Greg Eklund, American drummer (Everclear)
- April 21 - Nicole Sullivan, American actress, comedienne, and writer
- April 22 - Regine Velasquez, Filipina singer, actress, model, record producer, and entrepreneur
- April 25 - Jason Lee, American skateboarder and actor
- April 27 - Kylie Travis, English-born actress and model
- April 29 - Andre Agassi, American tennis player
- April 29 - Uma Thurman, American actress
- May 12 - Mike Weir, Canadian golfer
- May 15 - Rod Smith, American football player
- May 16 - Gabriela Sabatini, Argentine tennis player
- May 18 - Tina Fey, American writer, comedienne, and actress
- May 22 - Naomi Campbell, English model and actress
- May 24 - Jeff Zgonina, American football player
- May 25 - Jamie Kennedy, American actor and comedian
- May 26 - Nobuhiro Watsuki, Japanese cartoonist
- May 27 - Joseph Fiennes, English actor

June-July


- June 6 - Anthony Norris, American professional wrestler
- June 8 - Kelli Williams, American actress
- June 13 - Mikael Ljungberg, Swedish wrestler (d. 2004)
- June 16 - Phil Mickelson, American golfer
- June 19 - Quincy Watts, American athlete
- June 20 - Russell Garcia, British field hockey player
- June 20 - Moulay Rachid, Prince of Morocco
- June 25 - Lucy Benjamin, British actress
- June 26 - Patrick Norton, American writer and television host
- June 26 - Chris O'Donnell, American actor
- June 27 - Jim Edmonds, baseball player
- June 27 - Vitamin C, American singer
- July 3 - Teemu Selanne, Finnish hockey player
- July 3 - Shawnee Smith, American actress
- July 3 - Yona Kosashvili, chess player
- July 5 - Mac Dre, American rapper (d. 2004)
- July 8 - Beck, American singer
- July 11 - Saj Karim, British politician
- July 23 - Charisma Carpenter, American actress
- July 23 - Thea Dorn, German writer

August-September


- August 2 - Tony Amonte, American hockey player
- August 6 - M. Night Shyamalan, Indian film director, writer, producer, and actor
- August 13 - Alan Shearer, English footballer
- August 17 - Jim Courier, American tennis player
- August 18 - Malcolm-Jamal Warner, American actor
- August 20 - John Carmack, American computer game programmer
- August 21 - Erik Dekker, Dutch professional cyclist
- August 23 - Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- August 25 - Claudia Schiffer, German model
- August 27 - Jim Thome, baseball player
- August 29 - Jacco Eltingh, Dutch tennis player
- August 31 - Deborah Gibson, American singer
- September 4 - Daisy Dee, Dutch singer and actress
- September 8 - Latrell Sprewell, American basketball player
- September 9 - Macy Gray, American singer
- September 10 - Phaswane Mpe, South African writer (d. 2004)
- September 14 - Craig Montoya, American musician (Everclear)
- September 18 - Darren Gough, English cricketer
- September 19 - Takanori Nishikawa, Japanese singer
- September 22 - Mike Matheny, baseball player
- September 23 - Ani DiFranco, American mus

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

right For the electoral district of Sault Ste. Marie, see Sault Ste. Marie (electoral district) Sault Ste. Marie ("Sault" pronounced "soo;" nicknamed "the Sault" or "the Soo"; 2001 population 74,566) is a city on the St. Mary's River in Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario. It is bordered to the east by the Rankin and Garden River First Nation reserves, and to the west by Prince Township. To the north, the city is bordered by an unincorporated portion of the Algoma District, with Heyden as the nearest community. To the south, across the river, is the United States and the city of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Sault Ste. Marie is the seat of Algoma District. The city's crest contains the words "Ojibwa Kitche Gumeeng Odena" (from Ojibwe gichi-gamiing oodena) which means "Ojibwe town beside large body of water" in the Ojibwe language. Sault Ste. Marie once was a haven for Italian immigrants. The west-end of the city has a large concentration of Italians for a small city. Many of the major streets, public facilities are named after Italians. The city also has a large First Nations population, with three reserves nearby. Similarly to many other Northern Ontario municipalities, Sault Ste. Marie's population has declined in recent years. Since the early 1990s, the city has dropped from 84,000 to 74,000 residents.

History

This area was originally called Baawitigong, meaning "place of the rapids," by the Ojibwa, who used the site as a regional meeting place during whitefish season in the St. Mary's Rapids. After the visit of Étienne Brûlé in 1623, the French called it "Sault de Gaston" in honour of the brother of King Louis XIII of France. In 1668, French Jesuit missionaries renamed it Sault Sainte Marie, which is French for "St. Mary's Rapids", and established a settlement that is now Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, on the river's south bank. Sault Ste. Marie was incorporated as a town in 1887 and a city in 1912.

Industry

The city has made a name for itself in steel-making, and Algoma Steel is still the largest employer with 2900 employees at the main plant and about 400 at the Tube Mill, which is separate from Algoma Steel. Forestry is also a major local industry, especially at St.Mary's Paper which employs about 400 people. Also related to wood products is Flakeboard, which employs over 100 people in the community along with an adjacent melamine factory which manufactures products with Flakeboard's materials. Such examples of this are furniture and cupboards where a finish is added to the product. The newest major industry involves business process outsourcing, with five call centers located within city limits employing about 2300 people. The largest employer of the five call centers is the Sutherland Group which employs 1100 people in the community. In the early 1960s and 1970s, Sault Ste. Marie was a booming town. However, as time passed and foreign imports became a vital reality of business success, the demand for their steel industry diminished. Two times within the past eight years Algoma Steel has declared bankruptcy and laid off large amounts of workers. Most recently, Algoma Steel was bailed out by the Ontario government which promised interest-free loans.

Transportation

Sault Ste. Marie is served by Highway 17, which is a segment of the Trans-Canada Highway in the region. The highway connects the city to Thunder Bay to the northwest and Sudbury to the east. The International Bridge also directs traffic from downtown to the I-75 freeway in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which runs through Saginaw, Flint and Detroit before the Michigan/Ohio border. The International Bridge also directs traffic from the American side of the border via Sault Ste. Marie's new transport route that runs from the bridge to Second Line. This new expressway through the city will make it much easier for transport trucks to gain access to main roads. By 2008, Second Line will connect directly to a new Highway 17 freeway alignment currently under construction east of the city. The city also plays an inherited role in marine transportation, with the locks in Michigan being an integral component of the St. Lawrence Seaway. However, the city also holds a small-scale lock which is used by small boats and other pleasure craft in the summer. Sault Ste. Marie is also served by a regional aeroport, commercial rail and a [http://www.saulttransitservices.com/ city bus service].

Tourism

Area tourist attractions include the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, boat tours of the Sault locks which connect Lake Superior with the lower Great Lakes, Casino Sault Ste. Marie, and the Algoma Central Railway's popular Agawa Canyon Tour Train. Nearby parks include Pancake Bay Provincial Park and Batchawana Bay Provincial Park.

Demographics

The population of the city has suffered a steep decline, around 1% annually over the last 5 years. Many have migrated to larger cities in southern Ontario in search of better work opportunities. The population under 14 still continues to be greater than those over 65 years of age. Those who are of European origin constitute 91.6% of the population, including those who are of Franco-Ontarian, English, Nordic, Italian and southern European descent. Aboriginals or Native Canadians constitute most of the remainder of the population at 7.8%, and those who are Chinese, Asian, Black, and Filipino make the remainder of the population. Christianity is overwhelmingly the religion of choice in the city at 85.9%, with Roman Catholicism as the strongest denomination. The largest non-Christian religion is Buddhism numbering only 125 members. Judaism, Islam, and Hindu members barely represent a fraction.

Education

The city is home to Sault College, a college of applied arts and technology, and to Algoma University College, a federated school of Laurentian University in Sudbury. Both institutions also offer joint programs with Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

Culture and Media

Sault Ste. Marie is the home of the 1993 Memorial Cup champion Sault Greyhounds. Famous NHLers who have played for the Greyhounds include Joe Thornton and Wayne Gretzky. Famous natives of Sault Ste. Marie include Canada's first woman astronaut Roberta Bondar, rock band Treble Charger, comedian Carla Collins and hockey greats Phil Esposito, Tony Esposito, Marty Turco and Ron Francis.

Radio stations

For stations licensed to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, see that city's article.
- 88.1 FM - CBON-18 (La Première Chaîne)
- 89.5 FM - CBSM (CBC Radio One)
- 97.3 FM - CHIM-6 (Christian)
- 100.5 FM - CHAS - (EZRock, adult contemporary)
- 104.3 FM - CJQM - (country music)
- 530 AM - CIRS (tourist information) Two former AM stations in the city, CKCY and CFYN, were shut down in 1992 as competition from the Michigan stations made it too unprofitable to continue broadcasting or to convert them to FM.

Television stations

For stations licensed to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, see that city's article.
- 2 - CHBX, CTV
- 5 - CBLT-5, CBC (formerly CJIC)
- 12 - CIII-12, Global
- 20 - CICO-20, TVOntario
- 26 - CBLFT-20, SRC
- 38 - CHCH-5, CH

Print and web media

Other media include the daily Sault Star. Online news sites such as SooToday.com and LTVnews.com have emerged in recent years, due in large part to news cutbacks at MCTV.

Bilingualism Controversy

On January 29, 1990, the city of Sault Ste. Marie became a flashpoint in the Meech Lake Accord debate when its mayor, Joe Fratesi, shepherded a resolution through city council declaring the city English-only. Although Sault Ste. Marie was not the first Ontario municipality to pass such a resolution, it was the largest and the most controversial. Responding to a French-language education controversy which began in 1987, the Sault Alliance for the Preservation of English Language Rights began circulating petitions to have this resolution passed by council. The group worked in concert with the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada, a lobby group which was concurrently campaigning against the provincial government's French Language Services Act. (See also Franco-ontarian.) Although that law dealt only with provincial government services, APEC's strategy was to convince municipalities that they would be required to provide services in French, regardless of cost or benefit, in an attempt to convince the municipalities to pass this type of resolution. As a result of the schooling controversy, Sault Ste. Marie was fertile ground for APEC's campaign, and the SAPELR petition quickly garnered 25,000 signatures. On January 27, 1990, the city's daily newspaper, the Sault Star, reported that council would debate the language resolution two days later. This triggered the attention of the national media, and with reporters from all across Canada in town to cover the debate, the resolution passed council 11-2. Many political figures, including Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien and Ontario premier David Peterson, expressed their opposition to the city's move. Both Peterson and his successor as premier, Bob Rae, refused to meet with Fratesi on several subsequent occasions, even to discuss unrelated matters. In particular, the resolution was seen as a slap in the face to Quebec, where it was widely viewed as racist. (One Environment Canada meteorologist sent out a weather report for Sault Ste. Marie in which the forecast called for "a chance of flurries and Nazis", although she was suspended.) Council was also widely criticized for seemingly turning its back on the city's own history; although in modern times francophones are only a small percentage of the city's population, the city's history is intimately connected to early French Canadian missionary and voyageur exploration of the Great Lakes area. Some commentators also jokingly suggested that the city would be forced to change its name. Even entertainers weighed in on the controversy; on their 1991 album Road Apples, The Tragically Hip criticized the resolution in the song "Born in the Water": : Smart as trees in Sault Ste. Marie : I can speak my mother tongue : Passing laws, just because : And singing songs of the English unsung : How could you do it? : How could you even try? : When you were born in the water : And you were raised up in the sky? Fratesi, who was viewed by Sault Ste. Marie voters throughout the controversy as standing up for the city's interests, was re-elected mayor in a landslide in 1991. He later became embroiled in a conflict of interest controversy in 1995 when he applied for the job of chief administrative officer of the city, while still sitting as mayor. On June 30, 1994, a court ruling struck down the English-only resolution as ultra vires the council's authority. On August 9, 1999, a resolution was brought forward under a new city council to strike down the resolution. The city's solicitor advised that the resolution was out of order given that a court had already struck down the resolution. Attempting to do what it could, the council then unanimously passed the following resolution: : Moved by Councillor Derik Brandt : Seconded by Councillor Sam Lepore : Whereas the "language resolution" was struck down by the courts because it was beyond the City’s authority; and : Whereas it is not legally possible to rescind a resolution that has already been struck down by the courts; : Be It Resolved that a notation be added to the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of City Council of January 29, 1990 to include the following beside item 5(e); N.B. "This resolution was struck down by the courts on June 30, 1994 and therefore has no effect." The effect of the resolution was to amend the minutes containing the English-only resolution to note that the resolution had been struck down. The controversy significantly tarnished the city's image across Canada, and as of 2005, some political figures in Sault Ste. Marie still attribute the city's economic situation in part to the public relations fallout from the resolution.

External links


- [http://www.city.sault-ste-marie.on.ca/ City of Sault Ste. Marie]
- [http://www.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/on-162_metric_e.html Environment Canada's Weather Report for Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario]
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Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "