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Canadian treasures CANADA: NATURAL SOURCE OF PRIDE SINCE 1867 Beauty and bones in the Canadian badlands DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK (ALBERTA) UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE
Quiz TEST YOUR CANADIAN KNOWLEDGE
QUESTION 1: Which Canadian singer and songwriter holds a Guinness World Record for being the youngest male artist to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart? QUESTION 2: Cut in half by a border, which Canadian Prairie city has the unique peculiarity of being located in two provinces at once? QUESTION 3: Today, it delights moviegoers in more than 1,100 locations worldwide. Which big-screen innovation traces its roots to an art installation built by three Canadian film- makers for Montreal’s Expo 67? QUESTION 4: This legendary baseball player was an American, but he hit his first professional home run at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens, in 1914. Who was he?
of Cretaceous amphibians, fish and reptiles have also been discov- ered en masse, thus painting the world’s most complete picture of the era known as the Age of Dinosaurs. No other place on earth better represents this chapter of pre-history than the badlands and prairies of Dinosaur Provincial Park, where more than 150 com- plete dinosaur skeletons have been discovered so far. In total, 500+ specimens have been removed from the site over the years and put on display in museums worldwide. In addition to its paleontological prominence, Dinosaur Provincial Park encompasses a unique and complex ecosystem in the pres- ent day. Prairie grasslands and riverside cottonwoods surround its famed badlands, an arid and striking area shaped by millions of years of sedimentation and glaciation. This combination of current natural significance and priceless scientific value earned the park a spot on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list in 1979. If you’re planning on visiting Alberta, Dinosaur Provincial Park de- serves a top spot on your to-do list. Make your way 48 kilometres northeast of the city of Brooks to start your day at the park’s visitor centre, where you’ll find a small museum that’s nearly overflowing with fascinating finds. Guided tours into the badlands are avail- able and several trails allow you to explore at your own pace. And because it’s hard to squeeze 75 million years into a single day, 125 campsites are at your disposal should you wish to sleep where the giants of the past once did.
Warm rivers filled with fish, turtles and crocodiles flow into a large, shallow inland sea. A subtropical climate provides countless species with the perfect conditions in which to thrive. Birds, rep- tiles, amphibians and mam-
mals share the low-laying coastal plainwith some fifty-plus species of dinosaur. Welcome to eastern Alberta circa 75million years ago.
In June 1955 at the height of Alberta’s 50th jubilee celebrations, the provincial government established Dinosaur Provincial Park to protect the incredibly rich fossil beds found throughout the site for future research. Paleontologists were drawn to the area long be- fore the park’s creation, however, with dinosaur bones discovered at the site as early as the 1880s. The first large-scale excavation projects began a few decades later at the dawn of the twentieth century, and digs continue into the present day. Dinosaur fossils aren’t that rare, right? So why is this particular lo- cation so special? The answer lies not only in the incredible variety of fossils found in the park, but also in their exceptionally well- preserved state. Researchers have unearthed bones from every single dinosaur known to have existed during the late Cretaceous period inside the 75-square-kilometre park. The fossilized remains
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY SPORTS AND LEISURE
ART, LITERATURE AND ENTERTAINMENT
Where are we from? THE 52 LARGEST GROUPS IN CANADA’S MULTICULTURAL MOSAIC
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
infO Canada THE STORIES BEHIND OUR SYMBOLS
Canada’s Swiss community
Today’s Switzerland is a great place to live, but the European country’s history isn’t all peace and Emmenthal. Indeed, until the mid-1850s, war and political instability reigned over the Swiss, who were sought-after by military generals due to the skills and discipline they acquired through years of combat. This explains why the earliest documented Swiss people in Canada were mercenaries serving the French crown. A small Swiss unit settled in Acadia in 1604; others came to New France with Samuel de Champlain. Among the latter group was Jacques Bizard, one of the most notable Swiss immigrants in 17th-century New France whose name was given to an island near Montreal (Île-Bizard).
NEW BRUNSWICK
Prince Edward Island’s flag
Prince Edward Island adopted its provincial flag in 1964. The design based on PEI’s coat of arms features three oak saplings representing the Island’s three counties and one large oak sym- bolizing Britain. The heraldic lion at the top is associated with the province’s namesake, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent.
Nearly 150,000 Canadians claim some degree of Swiss heritage. Evidence shows that their ancestors may have arrived in Canada as early as the 16th century. In the past themain reason to emigrate was the search for adventure and better living conditions; more recent Swiss immigrants cite the need to escape the confines of a small country as a motivation for coming to Canada. Because of Quebec’s French-speaking majority, many renowned Swiss-Canadian musicians, writers and academics are active in La Belle Province. On the artistic scene, Swiss-born conductor Charles Dutoit helped raise the Montreal Symphony Orchestra to the ranks of international renown. Dr. Erwin Diener, a notable English-speaking Swiss-Canadian, played a large role in establishing Canada’s first department of immunology at the University of Alberta in 1973. And on the culinary scene, you can thank the Swiss for bringing us cheesy delights like fondue and raclette, among other tasty treats.
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Le mercredi 2 novembre 2016
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