Lecture 8 - Western Canada Flashcards
What is Western Canada GDP and unemployment?
24.8 percent - very wealthy region because of oil and gas. 6.4 percent unemployment but the number is skewed because many workers work 6 months on 6 months off etc
How many people in Fort McMurray
78,000 people
What is significant about Fort McMurray?
largest resource extraction in the world
Why is Western Canada growing?
economically wealthy, oil
Describe Western Canada physical geography
interior plains, prairies very flat, also a apart of the Canadian shield, Norther Alberta has oil and tar sands
Describe Western Canada weather
low annual precipitation because not close to bodies of water, dry cold weather,
What is WC natural resource base
wheat, oil and gas
what is evapotranspiration
capture measures of water loss through evaporation or transpiration, it helps predict droughts
Where is WC agricultural zones
Palliser’s Triangle, many major cities in this fertile belt
WC Hudson Bay Company
1670’s used the land, Ruperts land for fur trade
When did they move west?
Move west for agriculture in 1870-1914, Red River colony mixing with First Nations Metis
Who is Louis Riel?
Metis, catholic, founder of Manitoba, seeked rights for Metis, resisted twice against Canada, wanted rights for land, religion, education. 1885 rebelled, captured, treason, hanged
What did Clifford Sifton do?
European colonization
What did Macdonald do
promised railroad built 1867, completed 1885
How many farms in 1921
250,000
How is agricultural economy changing
change from hands to machine (intensive to extensive agriculture), loss of the grain elevator, global demand for food increases, machines take over jobs, mass industrial agricultural advancements to meet globalization, capitalization takes over, economies of scale, efficient production
what happen in phase one for Agricultural Transition
- Trade liberalization - no restrictions within boarders for trade
- Disappearance of crow benefit (1995) - shipping rates below shipping costs to combat large distance, stopped in 1995
- Trade barriers - US put tariffs on Canadian products
What happen in phase two for agricultural transition
- higher prices for grain, canola, and meat
- demand for biofuel crops (alternative option)
Alberta oil
all oil needs to be refined, unconventional oil = tar sands, environmental unfriendly, 1:1 ration needed of water to separate bitumin, high energy to extract
what are tailing ponds and what are they creating
contaminated water from separating bitumin, run down stream affecting small First Nation community water supply causing them to have high rate of cancer
Fort McMurray
- heart of Canada’s oil production
- 78,000 population, 4300 non-permeant
- Albertans make up half, followed by 17 percent Newfoundland
- most expensive housing in Alberta
- oil sand companies include Syncrude, Suncor Energy, CNRL, Shell, Nexen
- Fort McMurray fire biggest natural disaster in Canada
