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upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed trade networks.
Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a
significant impact on its economy and culture.
History. Confederation and expansion. Following several

constitutional conferences, the 1867 Constitution Act officially proclaimed
Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces –
Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick [z]. Canada assumed

control of Rupert's [u:] Land and the North-Western Territory to form the
Northwest Territories. In July 1870 the province of Manitoba was created.
British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866)
joined the Confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in

1873.
Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative government
established a National Policy of tariffs to protect the nascent [’næsənt] (що

зароджується) Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the
government sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways
(including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies [’preər z] to

settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West
Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, during the
Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government

created the Yukon Territory. Under the Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid
Laurier /’l rie /, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and
Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.
The great depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an

economic downturn (економічний спад), leading to hardship across the
country. In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth
Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare

state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada
declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal
Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The
first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939. Canadian

troops played important roles in many key battles of the war. Canada
provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied,
and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation

from Nazi [‘n :ts ] Germany. The Canadian economy boomed during the
war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain,
China, and the Soviet Union. Canada finished the war with a large army and

strong economy.

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