Totem poles (Haida: gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia. (Full article...)

Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by secondary education and post-secondary. Education in both English and French is available in most places across Canada. Canada has a large number of universities, almost all of which are publicly funded. Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada. The largest university is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students. Four universities are regularly ranked among the top 100 world-wide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University, and McMaster University, with a total of 18 universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide. (Full article...)

September 9, 2024 –

Finnish-Canadian sportswear mogul Peter Nygård is sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexual assault. (CBC News)

September 4, 2024 –

In Canada, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh announces that he has terminated the confidence and supply agreement his party made with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government in 2022. (CBC News)

August 27, 2024 – Canada–Mexico relations, Mexico–United States relations

Mexico suspends all interactions with the Canadian and American embassies in Mexico City due to claimed interference with its independence and internal affairs after both ambassadors criticized reform plans for members of the judiciary, up to and including Supreme Court justices, to be elected by popular vote. (Reuters)

August 26, 2024 – Canada–China relations

Canada announces a 100% tariff on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum. (AP)

August 22, 2024 – 2024 Canada railway shutdown

Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City lock out roughly 10,000 unionized railroad workers in Canada, leading to a railway stoppage that impacts many North American supply chains and may cost the economy of Canada C$341 million per day. (Reuters)

In response to the railway stoppage, Canadian labour minister Steven MacKinnon refers the two disputes to binding arbitration. (CBC News)

• ... that Ausma Malik is the first hijab-wearing Muslim woman to be elected to public office in Canada?
• ... that a member of the House of Lords was the principal of a Canadian junior school?
• ... that Oakwood Cemetery contains the graves of Confederate soldiers and officers, English, Canadian, and French World War II pilots, and Hank Williams?
• ... that a radio station in Alberta fell afoul of Canadian content guidelines because new songs by Anne Murray were not Canadian enough?
• ... that more than one million applications for the Canadian Dental Care Plan were approved in its first three months?
• ... that jazz singer Judi Singh's mother and father were, respectively, among the earliest Black and Sikh settlers of Alberta, Canada?
• ... that Gurdev Singh Gill was the first Canadian physician of Indian descent?

The Tip O'Neill Award is given annually to a Canadian baseball player who is "judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to the highest ideals of the game of baseball." The award was created by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and first presented in 1984. It is named after James "Tip" O'Neill, one of the earliest Canadian stars in Major League Baseball (MLB). (Full article...)