Yearbook 2000
Canada. The first major political event of the year occurred in February when the federal budget was presented by Finance Minister Paul Martin. After persistent criticism of excessive taxes, severe tax cuts were now promised for a total of 58.3 billion Canadian dollars (US $ 1.00 = C $ 1.4520 on 25/2 2000) for five years. The income tax in the middle layers was reduced from 26 to 23%. The tax cuts could take place after eight years of uninterrupted economic growth.
Canada, which is the United States’ largest trading partner, has benefited economically from the sharp economic upswing in the neighboring country. In November 1999, unemployment in Canada had fallen to 6.9%, the lowest since 1961. Government debt of US $ 576 billion, equivalent to 61% of the country’s GDP in 1999-2000, is estimated to have fallen below 50% of GDP in 2004.
- ABBREVIATIONFINDER: Offers three letter and two letter abbreviations for the country of Canada. Also covers country profile such as geography, society and economy.
Four new members of the Senate, the federal administration’s Supreme Court, were appointed in June. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien then appointed radio journalist Betty Kennedy, businessman Raymond Setlakwe, former New Foundland mayor Raymond Squires and liberal politician Jane Cordy as senators. Through the four new appointments, Canada’s Senate has 59 Liberals, 39 Conservatives and 5 Independent Members.
Stockwell Day, 49, was elected new leader of the Canadian Alliance, the united opposition in the federal House of Commons at a special convention in Toronto on July 8. Day received 63.3% of the vote, thus beating Preston Manning, the former party leader of the Reform Party (Reform Party) by a good margin. During the year, one of the Canadian states also received the first head of government of Asian origin. Ujjal Dosanjh was elected prime minister of British Columbia on February 24 after being appointed party leader of the state’s New Democrat Party government after Glen Clark, who resigned from his post in August 1999.
The worst disaster of the year occurred July 14 at Pine Lake in Alberta.11 people were killed and more than 130 injured when a tornado overtook a holiday village without warning.
Land grief broke out when Pierre Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84, passed away on September 28 at the age of 80. The charismatic Trudeau was a skilled politician and spent much of his time in power fighting a successful fight against the separatists in Quebec. He managed to keep the federation together, while also improving relations with France and transferring legislative power from the British Parliament to a new Canadian constitution. Pierre Trudeau was followed to the grave by tens of thousands of mourners.
Refugees
In 1990, Parliament passed a new tight refugee law that came into force from January 1991. The new legislation states that refugees entering the country without a right of residence can be sent back to a country that is considered safe. The opposition and human rights groups accused the government of switching from one extreme to another. Authorities responded that the country’s borders were not completely closed. Canada still gave 13,000 refugees the right to enter through the embassies and 10,000 the right to enter through family reunification.
In mid-1991, the IWGIA (International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs) declared that the Canadian government did not respect the religious rights of the mohawk people and criticized various forms of abuse, such as the building of a golf course on people’s common ground.
At a conference organized in late 1991 by the “Indigenous Women’s Committee of Canada, 500,” delegates from 22 countries on the American continent criticized the oppression and discrimination they are facing. The participants decided to fight for the reintroduction of the leadership that women had in the indigenous cultures before the arrival of Europeans.
In October, the federal government in Ottawa decided to allocate 700 million Canadian dollars to the agricultural sector, but farmers estimated that this amount was insufficient to offset the losses the sector had suffered the year in advance. State aid to agriculture in the EU and the US made Canadians weaker, while the orientation in GATT was to increase free trade.
In December, the Canadian Economist revealed that in 1991, the country had for the first time in 15 years had a trade balance deficit. In September, the deficit was $ 275 million. The year 1991 was characterized by the economic recession, high taxes, corruption scandals, increased signals of separatism and declining popularity for the Mulroney government.
In the first months of 1992, Canada was characterized by intense controversy surrounding the growing demands for autonomy in Quebec. In September, the province rejected a government proposal to grant it “special status” as “inadequate.”
In the commercial field, on August 12, 1992, after 18 months of negotiations, Canada, the United States and Mexico signed an agreement on the establishment of a free trade area – the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement).
By February 1993, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s popularity had bottomed out, and he decided to step down from the Conservative Party – and thus the government. The same month, Secretary of Defense Kim Campbell was named the 19th Prime Minister of Canada’s History and was the first woman to hold the post. Her first act was to reduce the number of ministers by 10 to 25.
Population 2000
According to COUNTRYAAH, the population of Canada in 2000 was 30,588,272, ranking number 35 in the world. The population growth rate was 0.960% yearly, and the population density was 3.3638 people per km2.
