Chapter Twenty-Eight - Canada

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Canada

CHILL, FRENCH, BRITISH, Cold — and Still Technically a Monarchy

At a glance, Canada looks like a peaceful giant.
Clean lines. Lots of trees. Moose and maple syrup energy.
But those borders?
They’re the residue of rivalry — mostly between Britain and France.

In the 1600s, France established colonies along the St. Lawrence River — calling it New France.
They claimed a huge chunk of North America — from Quebec down to Louisiana.

But the British wanted it too.
So they fought a war.

The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763) — called the French and Indian War in North America — ended with France ceding nearly all of its territory.
Britain took control of Canada.

But French Canada didn’t just vanish.
It stayed — in language, law, and culture.

To this day, Quebec is French-speaking, legally distinct, and periodically tries to leave.
There were referendums in 1980 and 1995.
Both failed. Barely.

Canada’s borders have been shaped by negotiation, not conquest — but the conflicts were always there.
Just… quieter.

The U.S. border was agreed on in pieces —
war in 1812, then diplomacy and mapping errors.
Some lines were so arbitrary they created spots like Point Roberts, Washington —
a U.S. town only accessible through Canada.

To the north, the Canadian border with the Arctic is melting — literally — and raising new questions about sovereignty, sea lanes, and oil.

To the west, British Columbia is newer than you think.
And to the east, Newfoundland only joined the country in 1949.

Then there’s the real issue:
Indigenous nations.

Canada’s modern borders run directly over
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit homelands — none of whom were consulted in the country’s creation.

Treaties were signed, broken, and ignored.
Residential schools crushed generations.
And the land acknowledgments read before hockey games don’t fix it.

Canada looks clean on a map.
But inside those lines, there’s unfinished business.