Western Canada

This article is about the region in Canada. For the school in Calgary, see Western Canada High School.

Western Canada, defined politically

Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.

Provinces

From west to east, the four provinces that comprise the region are British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The latter three are collectively the Prairie Provinces, or simply the Prairies. British Columbia is also known as the Pacific Province, and in a more geographical sense is also referred to as the Pacific Slope and sometimes interchangeably with "the West Coast". Alberta and British Columbia are sometimes called "mountain provinces".

In some contexts, the term Western Canada may also include the territories of Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut, although these are now more commonly grouped as the distinct region of Northern Canada.

Western Canada covers 2,908,433 square kilometres (1,122,952 sq mi), or approximately 29% of Canada's land area. It is more than four times as large as Texas and more than twice as large as the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal combined.

The source of this division of regions is the division of seats in the Canadian Senate, as set out in the Canadian Constitution.

Demographics

The total population of Western Canada as of the 2011 Census is nearly 10.3 million, including approximately 4.4 million in British Columbia, 3.6 million in Alberta, 1.0 million in Saskatchewan, and 1.2 million in Manitoba. This represents 30.7% of Canada's population.

Metropolitan areas

As of the 2011 Census, Statistics Canada recognizes nine census metropolitan areas within Western Canada, including four in British Columbia, two in each of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and one in Manitoba. The following is a list of these areas and their populations as of 2011.

Name	Population (2011)
Vancouver	&100000000023133280000002,313,328
Calgary	&100000000012148390000001,214,839
Edmonton	&100000000011598690000001,159,869
Winnipeg	&10000000000730018000000730,018
Victoria	&10000000000344615000000344,615
Saskatoon	&10000000000260600000000260,600
Regina	&10000000000210556000000210,556
Kelowna	&10000000000179839000000179,839
Abbotsford–Mission	&10000000000170191000000170,191

Geography

Western British Columbia adjoins the Pacific Ocean, but both Alberta and Saskatchewan are landlocked. Manitoba has a coastline on Hudson Bay in the north east of the province, where the port of Churchill is located.

The coast of British Columbia enjoys a moderate oceanic climate because of the influence of the Pacific Ocean, with temperatures similar to those of the British Isles (though Vancouver receives more precipitation than London and most of the Coast is much wetter).^{[citation needed]} Winters are typically wet and summers relatively dry. These areas enjoy the mildest winter weather in all of Canada, as temperatures rarely fall much below the freezing mark. The Interior of the province is drier and has colder winters and substantially hotter summers.

Alberta borders the Canadian Rocky Mountains and experiences more extremes in weather. Winters are generally quite cold, though the southern portion experiences a phenomenon known as the "chinook wind," wherein warm winds raise the winter temperatures temporarily. In contrast, summers can fluctuate from cool to hot. Alberta's weather is exceptionally changeable, and short-sleeve weather can occur in January and February, or conversely it can (albeit rarely) snow in July and August.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba have a continental climate and experience extremes in weather. Winters in both provinces can be classified as harsh with Arctic winds and −40 °C temperatures possible. Winter temperatures in both provinces average between −10 °C and −15 °C. In contrast summers can be hot with temperatures exceeding 35 °C at least once per year in most locations. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Canada was 45 °C, observed in 1943 at the weather stations of Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan and neighbouring Cedoux.

Western alienation

Main article: Western alienation

In Canadian politics, the term "the West" is used misleadingly in Canadian media styleguides as shorthand for the Conservative leanings of Western Canadians, as contrasted with the greater likelihood for candidates from either the Liberal Party of Canada or the New Democratic Party (NDP) to be elected in Central Canada. Exceptions exist, particularly in British Columbia, as well as in the prairie city of Winnipeg, and where the Liberal Party currently hold seats, as well as in other major urban centres such as Edmonton where Liberal and NDP candidates have been elected in recent history. The social democratic NDP had its origins on the Canadian Prairies and in the mining and pulp mill towns and railway camps of British Columbia, and has a history of support in Manitoba, and British Columbia.

Regarding provincial politics, as of March 2008, the British Columbia Liberal Party formed the provincial government in British Columbia, though despite the name is not formally allied with the federal Liberal Party and is widely seen as conservative in nature and is composed of elements from the federal Conservative Party's right wing, including many ex-Reform Party supporters. The Progressive Conservatives held a large majority in the Alberta legislature, the Saskatchewan Party, a conservative party, holds power in Saskatchewan and the NDP forms the government in Manitoba.

The western provinces are represented in the Parliament of Canada by 92 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons (British Columbia 36, Alberta 28, Saskatchewan and Manitoba 14 each) and 24 senators (6 from each province). Currently, of the 92 western MPs in the Commons, 71 are Conservatives, 14 are New Democrats, and 7 are Liberals.

The West has been the most vocal in calls for reform of the Senate, in which Ontario, Quebec, and particularly Atlantic Canada are seen by some westerners as being over-represented. The population of Ontario alone (13.1 million) exceeds that of all the Western provinces combined. The total population of Atlantic Canada, however, is 2.3 million, and this region is represented by 30 senators. Thus, Ontario is under-represented, Quebec has representation proportional to its population and the Atlantic provinces are over-represented. Westerners have advocated the so-called Triple-E Senate, which stands for "equal, elected, effective." They feel if all 10 provinces were allotted an equal number of senators, if those senators were elected instead of appointed, and if the Senate were a body that had more direct political power (for example via an arrangement more similar to the structure of the Australian Senate or the United States Senate rather than the UK model), then their region would have more of its concerns addressed at the federal level. Other westerners find this approach simplistic and either advocate keeping the status quo or may support other models for senate reform. The combination of all of these issues has led to the concept known as Western alienation, as well as calls for Western Canada independence by various fringe groups.

Since at least the 1930s, economic conditions have contributed to a net emigration from Manitoba and Saskatchewan to Alberta and British Columbia, which have generally provided greater employment opportunities and higher living standards. The population of Saskatchewan is only slightly larger than it was in 1931. This trend of net emigration in both provinces is reversing because of a lower cost of living than Alberta and B.C.

Economy

Energy and agriculture are Western Canada’s dominant industries – and this region, with only 10 million inhabitants, is one of the world’s largest net exporters of both energy and agricultural commodities. Approximate breakdown:

Energy:

• Oil (13% of world reserves; 4% of world production)
• Uranium (8% of world reserves; 20% of world production)

Agriculture:

• Potash (60% of world reserves; 30% of world production)
• Wheat, coarse grains, oilseeds (21% of the world export market for wheat; 10% for oilseeds)
• Farmland (80% of Canadian total)

See also

• List of regions of Canada
• Secessionist movements of Canada - Includes several movements in Western Canada
• History of the west coast of North America
• American Old West
• Western United States
• Cascadia
• Canadian Prairies
• Western Canada Youth Parliament

Further reading

• Felske, Lorry W; Beverly Jean Rasporich (2004), Challenging frontiers: the Canadian west, University of Calgary Press, ISBN 1-55238-140-4, http://books.google.ca/books?id=tcAikMMDA8sC&lpg=PA251&dq=Immigration%20to%20Canada&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 
• Gardner, Matthew (2008), Western Canada, Footprint, ISBN 488403035, http://books.google.ca/books?id=nf8yEVkPon4C&lpg=PA375&dq=Canada&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true 

External links

• Peel's Prairie Provinces: Sources for Canada and Western Canadian History