Manitoba, province in south central Canada and the easternmost of Canada's three Prairie provinces. Manitoba has been known as the Keystone Province ever since Canada's Governor-General Lord Dufferin described the province in 1877 as "the keystone of that mighty arch of sister provinces which spans the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Manitoba lies in the geographic center of Canada. Until the late l9th century, fur trading was the province's major economic activity. As large numbers of settlers came, agriculture became dominant. Manitoba was also a transportation and processing center for the agrarian west. In the 1940s and 1950s, industry gradually became the largest source of income.
Much of the countryside in southern Manitoba is farmland and gives the impression of a vast plain with a perfectly level horizon as far as the eye can see. In the center of the province the flat farmland gives way to vast areas of forest interspersed with hundreds of lakes. In the extreme north the land is much the same as it was thousands of years ago and presents a bleak array of stunted trees, exposed rock, and swamps.
Physical Geography
Manitoba has an area of 649,950 sq km (250,947 sq mi), including 101,590 sq km (39,224 sq mi) of inland waters. Manitoba measures 1225 km (761 mi) from north to south. Along the southern border the distance from east to west is 447 km (278 mi), although at its widest point Manitoba measures 793 km (493 mi).
Natural Regions
About 35 percent of Manitoba consists of plains, called the Interior Plains. Two major subdivisions of them are recognized. Much the larger of the two is the First Prairie Level, or the Manitoba Lowland. Its elevation ranges from 185 to 275 m (600 to 900 ft). The Manitoba Lowland encompasses the Red River Valley and the area of three large lakes—Winnipeg, Winnipegosis, and Manitoba. During glacial times the Manitoba Lowland was for a very long period occupied by a vast lake, called Lake Agassiz. Surface features and soils of the lowland reflect the various levels attained by that ancient lake. Some areas, for example, have gravelly beach deposits or sandy delta materials or even old dune belts. Others have fine soils formed in the deeper lake basins.
The second subdivision of the Interior Plains forms the southwestern corner of Manitoba. Commonly called the Second Prairie Level, this plain rises somewhat above the level of the Manitoba Lowland and has an average elevation of about 610 m (2000 ft) above sea level. The eroded east-facing edge of this higher plains area is called the Manitoba Escarpment. The escarpment, which is a steep cliff, is capped by material left by the glaciers and is breached at several points by broad river lowlands. It occurs as a series of hilly uplands identified from south to north as the Pembina Mountains, Riding Mountain, Duck Mountain, and the Porcupine Hills. The Duck Mountain area includes Baldy Mountain, the highest point in the province at 832 m (2729 ft).
Nearly all of the remaining portion of Manitoba is part of the great Canadian Shield. The shield is a complex area geologically. It can be briefly described, however, as a plateau of crystalline rocks representing the eroded roots of ancient mountains. The present surface of relatively low elevations is dotted with small, rounded hills and is poorly drained, largely because of past glaciation. The area is covered with lakes connected by short, turbulent rivers.
At the edge of the shield in northeastern Manitoba is a narrow zone that is part of the region called the Hudson Bay Lowlands. It is a low plain of sedimentary rock, yet its surface features differ little from those of the shield.
Rivers and Lakes
About 16 percent of the surface area of Manitoba is covered by lakes and large rivers. The largest and most important of the lakes is Lake Winnipeg, nearly 425 km (264 mi) in length. Next in size are lakes Winnipegosis and Manitoba. Several rivers are noteworthy. The Saskatchewan River flows from the west and enters Lake Winnipeg via Cedar Lake. A much shorter river, the Winnipeg, links the Lake of the Woods in southwestern Ontario with Lake Winnipeg. The Red River enters Manitoba from the south and is joined by the muddy Assiniboine at the city of Winnipeg. Below the city the Red River has been canalized to provide a navigation route to Lake Winnipeg. All these major rivers and many lesser ones converge on Lake Winnipeg, which in turn is drained through the Nelson River to Hudson Bay. South of the Nelson River is the Hayes River and its tributary system, and to the north is the Churchill River system, which also flows to Hudson Bay.
Climate
The climate of Manitoba reflects both its northerly position and its interior location. Typically continental, the climate offers strong seasonal variations in temperatures. Winters are cold throughout the province. Even Winnipeg, in the south, has a January average temperature of -19° C (-2° F) and a record low of -48° C (-54° F). Churchill, on Hudson Bay, has a January average of -28° C (-18° F). Summers, on the other hand, are rather warm. Winnipeg's July average is 20° C (68° F), but a high of 42° C (108° F) has been recorded. Summers become mild to cool in northern parts of the province. Churchill's July average is 12° C (54° F), yet a high of 36° C (96° F) has been experienced there. Southern Manitoba has a fairly long frost-free season, consisting of between 120 and 140 days in the Red River Valley. This decreases to the northeast.
Precipitation is relatively light, and it decreases both to the west and to the north. The Red River Valley averages about 560 mm (about 22 inches) annually, while about 460 mm (about 18 inches) is received at the western boundary and about 380 mm (about 15 inches) in the far north. Snowfall is not usually heavy, but it tends to accumulate during the long severe winters and gives the impression of great abundance. Most of the moisture occurs as rain during the summer.
Soils
The best soils for farming are in southern Manitoba. Fertile black soils occur in the Red River Valley and in the prairies of the southwest. Less fertile brown and gray soils are found in the parklands, between the prairie and the mixed-wood forest. Gray soils that require much fertilizer occur north of Winnipeg, around the major lakes. The Canadian Shield region has infertile gray soils derived from hard granites and other rocks.
Plant Life
About 50 percent of Manitoba is forested. The main forest area is divided into the boreal forest and the mixed-wood forest. The boreal, or northern, forest contains coniferous (cone-bearing) trees, especially white and black spruce, balsam fir, and jack pine. South of the boreal forest is the mixed-wood forest, which contains conifers as well as such deciduous trees as white birch, aspen, poplar, and Manitoba maple. Prairie land is found in the southwest, where the natural vegetation is grass. Between the prairie and the mixed-wood forest are the parklands, where small prairie tracts are mingled with wooded areas containing aspen, birch, and poplar. In the far northeast is tundra; there the ground cover consists of moss and lichen. Between the tundra and the boreal forest lies a belt of sparse and stunted coniferous trees that also contains large open areas of muskeg, or boglike spongy ground.
Animal Life
The plains and forests of Manitoba contain a variety of animals, including caribou, moose, deer, and elk. Coyotes and badgers are common in the open country, and the beaver, black bear, fisher, lynx, and marten inhabit the forests. Far to the north are still found the polar bear, wolverine, white fox, and blue fox. Other species of fox are found throughout the province, as are mink, otter, weasel, and muskrat. Ducks and geese breed around Manitoba's lakes, which contain whitefish, lake and speckled trout, pike, pickerel, tullibee, muskellunge, and bass.
Conservation
Manitoba is pursuing the ideas of sustainable development and product stewardship as approaches to address environmental problems. Sustainable development promotes economic development that meets the needs of current generations without diminishing the prospects of future generations. Product stewardship means that those who contribute material to the solid waste stream should also contribute to the costs of proper waste management. The provincial Department of Environment is responsible for provincial antipollution programs. Its waste disposal policies are aimed at reducing and recycling solid waste (trash) and managing hazardous waste both at the source and by means of a central treatment and disposal facility.
Manitoba adopted its first legislation to protect the environment in 1968. The comprehensive Environment Act that went into effect in 1988 requires that any environmental problems in the province that might be caused by any economic development project be identified and dealt with during the project's initial planning stages. The Waste Reduction and Prevention Act has additional powers for product stewardship. The Ozone Depleting Substances Act established a program for the stewardship of products that damage the ozone layer. The Dangerous Goods Handling and Transportation Act controls the transportation and disposal of hazardous waste and dangerous goods.
Economic Activities
Manitoba's economy has traditionally been based on agriculture, supplemented by other primary economic activities, including forestry, fur trapping, mining, and fishing. Although manufacturing surpassed agriculture as a source of income in the 1950s, Manitoba's economy still depends heavily on the products of the land.
Agriculture
In the early days, farmers settled in the Red River Valley, and settlement spread from that center outward. Because poor, sandy soils were encountered in the forests to the east and north, the main thrust of settlement was westward and to the south. The black and brown soils of the prairies and the parklands proved the most productive.
In 1991 there were 25,700 farms in Manitoba. Farmland occupied more than 14 percent of Manitoba's land. Over 53 percent of the farmland was used for crops. The average farm size was 300 hectares (740 acres).
The black soil of southwestern Manitoba is part of an area of extremely fertile soil that extends over the Prairie Provinces. This soil has enabled the three provinces to become Canada's leading wheat growers. In the black-soil region of Manitoba there is a high concentration of farms devoted solely to wheat. Other grains are also grown, and on some farms the growing of cereal crops is combined with the raising of livestock.
The gray soil that occurs north of Winnipeg in the area surrounding the major lakes becomes quite fertile when fertilizers are added to counteract its heavy lime content. Oats and barley are grown in this region, and beef cattle, hogs, and poultry are raised. Other crops include flax grown for seed, rapeseed, potatoes, and sugar beets.
Around Winnipeg, farmers specialize in dairy products and vegetables in response to the needs of the Winnipeg market. The leading crop of the province is wheat. Barley, hay, and rapeseed are the next largest produced crops in the province.
Among the more unusual agricultural activities in Manitoba are the gathering of wild rice and medicinal herbs by indigenous peoples (Indians). The wild rice grows in marshes in the southeastern part of the province, particularly in Whiteshell Provincial Park.
Soil erosion in Manitoba is reduced by a number of conservation techniques. These include the planting of windbreaks or shelterbelts and the controlled planting of grains, which leave sparse plant residues after being harvested. Overplanting of grain crops is offset by seeding permanent forage crops, particularly in steeply sloping areas, and by planting special crops, such as potatoes, vegetables, and beets.
Fisheries
Commercial fishing began on Lake Winnipeg in 1882. It has spread to the other large southern lakes and to more than 100 smaller lakes in northern Manitoba. About 15 varieties of fish are marketed, mostly in the United States. Walleye pickerel, mullet, whitefish, northern pike, sauger, and carp are the main species caught. Because of its size, Lake Winnipeg remains the leading area for commercial fishing. The majority of commercial freshwater fish caught in Manitoba and the other Prairie Provinces, as well as in northwestern Ontario and the Northwest Territories, are marketed and processed by the Freshwater Fish Marketing Corporation, a crown corporation with headquarters and processing facilities in Winnipeg.
Furs
Since the middle of the l9th century the fur trade has been of limited significance, partly because of a loss of interest by the public in beaver hats and partly because of the depletion of fur-bearing animals. Government measures to protect the animals have included prohibiting trapping in certain seasons and setting aside lands where fur-bearing animals can favorably breed and raise their young. Beaver, marten, muskrat, mink, and fisher are the most valuable wildlife fur sources. Ranch-raised mink and fox account for approximately one-fourth of the value of Manitoba's production of pelts.
Forestry
Although about half of Manitoba's land area is forested, only about 25 percent of the forestland is productive, or suitable for regular harvest. Nearly all of this productive forestland is located in the area adjacent to the large lakes and to the lower Saskatchewan River. Most of it is owned by the provincial government. Because of the small size of the trees on the productive forestland and the predominance of spruce and pine trees, three-fifths of the timber cut in the Manitoba forests is converted to wood pulp. An integrated forestry complex, including a lumber mill and a pulpwood processing plant, is located near The Pas. It is owned and operated by Repap Manitoba. A second mill at Pine Falls produces newsprint.
Mining
Deposits of metallic ores have been discovered in a number of places within the Canadian Shield, the mineral-rich plateau of northern and central Manitoba. The first large discovery was the rich ore of the Flin Flon area, in 1915. The ore yielded gold, silver, copper, and zinc, and mining and smelting operations were begun after a railroad line was built into the Flin Flon area after 1928. In 1953 nickel operations began at Lynn Lake, north of Flin Flon, and subsequently at Thompson, northeast of Flin Flon. Nickel is Manitoba's most valuable mineral product, accounting for almost 30 percent of the value of its mineral production in 1990. In the area near Thompson there is a fully integrated nickel-producing facility, where mining, concentration, smelting, and refining are carried out. Manitoba contains the only commercial tantalum mine in North America. It is located in the southeast at Bernic Lake, near the Oiseau River.
Construction materials, including gypsum, cement, sand, gravel, and building stone, are obtained in Manitoba. The most important nonmetal, however, is petroleum. The oil reserves are concentrated in the southwestern portion of the province, and their development began in 1951. The principal oil center for the area is Virden.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is important in Manitoba. The chief products made there in 1993 were nonpoultry meat products; transportation equipment; commercial printed materials; newspapers, magazines, and periodicals; plastic products; farm implements; trucks, buses, and trailers; and dairy products.
Winnipeg's early start as the urban center of the province gave the city and its surrounding area a commanding lead as a manufacturing center. The ample supply of inexpensive electricity and the city's location where the transcontinental railroads cross the Red River Valley helped Winnipeg become an important center for manufacturing. The city has the greatest concentration of industry in the province. Other important industrial centers include Brandon, the home of Manitoba's chemical industry; Thompson, a center for nickel refining; and Flin Flon, a metal processing center.
Electricity
Almost all of Manitoba's electricity comes from hydroelectric plants, which are owned and operated either by a provincial corporation, Manitoba Hydro, or by a municipal utility, Winnipeg Hydro. Until the 1960s the Winnipeg River supplied most of the electricity. Thereafter, the electrical needs of the new mining communities in the north led to the Nelson River power project. A huge 1.2 million kilowatt power plant at Kettle Rapids, on the Nelson River, was completed in 1975. Two transmission interconnections with the United States, completed in 1970 and 1976, permit the export of surplus power. A third one was completed in 1980. Because of abundant supplies, electric power in the province is inexpensive.
Transportation
Manitoba is traversed by trunk lines of both the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Canadian National Railways. Both lines have extensive rail yards and repair facilities at Winnipeg. Winnipeg is also connected by rail with the U.S. cities of Chicago, Illinois, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. In 1990 the province had about 2870 km (about 1800 mi) of operated railroad track.
A railroad from The Pas to Churchill, originally called the Hudson Bay Railroad, was completed in 1929. It became part of the Canadian National system in 1958. Spurs reach Flin Flon, Snow Lake, Lynn Lake, and Thompson. The railroad transports fuels for aircraft and ships to the Hudson Bay area and provides access to and from the mineral-rich areas of the Canadian Shield. It also carries prairie grains to Churchill for export to European markets.
Crossing southern Manitoba in an east-west direction are several major highways, including the Trans-Canada Highway, which was opened in 1962. The Yellowhead Route diverges from the Trans-Canada Highway at Portage la Prairie and crosses the prairies to the north of the Trans-Canada. Most of Manitoba's major highways converge on Winnipeg, which is an important trucking center. Highways were built in northern Manitoba in the 1970s. One highway runs north from Dauphin to The Pas and Flin Flon. A second route runs from Winnipeg to Grand Rapids and on to Thompson. An unpaved road links Thompson with Lynn Lake. Manitoba has about 18,045 km (about 11,215 mi) of highways, roads, and streets under provincial jurisdiction. In addition, there are many roadways under municipal jurisdiction.
In northern Manitoba, air transportation makes up for the lack of extensive railroads and highways. Charter services fly from Winnipeg International Airport to northern Manitoba, and regional airlines serve northwestern Ontario and points in the other Prairie Provinces and in the Northwest Territories. Other airlines operate a regular service from Winnipeg to major centers throughout Canada and selected American and European cities.
Manitoba shares in a vital pipeline system that services all three Prairie Provinces. The system carries crude oil to refineries that are located as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Toronto.
Trade
Winnipeg is one of Canada's leading grain markets. It is also a center for the trade in cattle and a major distribution center for farm and factory products of the Prairie Provinces.
Much of the grain from the Prairie Provinces moves east through Winnipeg by rail to the Great Lakes port of Thunder Bay, Ontario. From there it goes through the lakes and by canal or rail to New York or out through the Saint Lawrence Seaway to Europe. A great deal of grain also moves west across the prairies to the port of Vancouver.
The railroad line to Churchill makes possible the shipping of grain through Hudson Bay, a shorter route than the traditional ones through the Great Lakes. Churchill can be used for only about 14 weeks of the year, however, because of the risk of ice damage to ships in cold weather. Because of the uncertain shipping season and the consequent high insurance rates, the port of Churchill receives few inbound cargoes.
The People of Manitoba
Population Patterns
Manitoba had a population of 1,091,942 in 1991. The average population density in 1991 was 2 people per sq km (5 per sq mi). The inhabitants are concentrated in the southern part of the province, a land area that amounts to less than one-third of the total area. Only about 30 percent of the people live in rural areas. More than half the population lives in the city of Winnipeg. An increasing number of people are moving from rural areas into towns and cities.
In 1870, when Manitoba became a province, a partial census was taken. Indigenous peoples of unmixed ancestry were excluded, so the enumerated population mainly comprised settlers of Scottish origin and French-speaking métis, people of mixed North American Indian and European ancestry. The 12,000 inhabitants who were counted together with about 13,000 indigenous peoples gave Manitoba a population of about 25,000. During the next three decades, this population was increased by Icelandic settlers, by Mennonite colonists from Russia, by Ukrainian settlers, and by migration from Ontario. The census of 1901 showed a population of about 255,000. In the 20th century immigration was encouraged from Europe and the United States, and this helped quadruple the population between 1901 and 1976.
Manitoba's population reflects the pattern of immigration. More than 15 percent are descendants of British settlers and migrants. Roughly 9 percent are of German origin, about 7 percent of Ukrainian origin, and about 5 percent have predominantly French antecedents. There are substantial numbers of Dutch and Scandinavians, and more than 18,850 descendants of the métis. Sioux, Cree, Salteau, Chipewyan, Ojibway, and other North American Indians of unmixed ancestry number about 55,000. Most live on reservations.
Principal Cities
In the 1991 census, Winnipeg's population was 616,790. Winnipeg is the oldest city in the Prairie Provinces. In addition to being the capital of Manitoba, Winnipeg is also a leading transportation and trading center for the grain originating in all three Prairie Provinces. It is the site of one of the world's leading commodity exchanges, the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Winnipeg was greatly enlarged in 1972 when 11 suburbs, among them Saint Boniface, Saint James-Assiniboia, Transcona, East Kildonan, and West Kildonan were merged with the city.
Saint Boniface, on the east bank of the Red River, has a strongly French character. Saint Boniface was one of the leading areas of French settlement in Canada outside Québec. In 1818 the first Roman Catholic mission in western Canada was constructed there.
Brandon, with a population of 38,567 in 1991, lies to the west of Winnipeg on the Assiniboine River. Both of Canada's major railroads enter the city, and it is at the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and the route north to Flin Flon. Brandon is an important processing center, with meat-packing facilities, a fertilizer complex, and a pharmaceutical plant.
Thompson, founded around a nickel mine in 1956, is a mining, communications, transportation, and retailing center for northern Manitoba. A short rail spur connects it to the Hudson Bay Railroad. Its population in 1991 was 14,977.
Portage La Prairie had a population of 13,186 in 1991. It is located in the heart of some of the richest agricultural land of Manitoba, called the Portage Plains, and is noted for its grain elevators, agricultural machinery manufacturing, and brickyards.
Religion
The major religious groups in Manitoba in 1991 were the Roman Catholic church, with about 294,000 members; the United Church of Canada, with about 200,000 members; and the Anglican Church, with about 94,000 members. There are also substantial numbers of Mennonites (including Hutterites), Lutherans, Ukrainian Catholics, Pentecostals, Presbyterians, and Eastern Orthodox.
Education and Cultural Life
Education
Since 1890 Manitoba has provided free public schools. The public school system is nondenominational and is supported by local taxation and government grants. The province also funds private and private church-affiliated schools that meet certain standards. Religious education is optional. School attendance is compulsory for all children from the ages of 7 to 16. These and similar policy decisions are made by the Department of Education. To administer local matters, such as the hiring of teachers and property maintenance, each of the 56 regions of the province elects its own school board.
Higher Education
The University of Manitoba, located in the Fort Garry section of Winnipeg, had about 23,000 students in the early 1990s. The university and all the colleges on the Fort Garry campus use English as the language of instruction. These colleges are the constituent University College, which is nondenominational and coeducational. The University College has four affiliated colleges: Saint Andrew's, which trains the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and is also the center for Ukrainian-Canadian studies; Saint John's which is Anglican; Saint Paul's which is under the direction of Roman Catholic Jesuits; and Saint Boniface, which is also Roman Catholic, is located in the Saint Boniface section of Winnipeg, and uses French as the language of instruction.
Other degree-granting institutions in Manitoba are the nondenominational Brandon University, in Brandon, and the University of Winnipeg, controlled by the University's Board of Regents.
Libraries
In the early 1990s Manitoba had 39 public libraries, including 24 regional and 15 municipal systems. The Winnipeg Public Library has 21 branches. The University of Manitoba Library system is one of the major institutional libraries in the province.
Museums
The Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature and the Saint Boniface Historical Museum are in Winnipeg. At Austin are the Manitoba Agricultural Museum and a restored pioneer village.
Communications
Manitoba has 6 daily newspapers, the best-known being the Winnipeg Free Press. The province also has a variety of foreign-language periodicals.
In the early 1990s the province had 28 radio and 10 television stations. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation transmits radio and television programs to the communities of northern Manitoba.
Arts
Manitoba's cultural life has been stimulated by federal government aid through the Canada Council. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, which receives this support, is Canada's oldest professional ballet company. Also supported by grants is the Manitoba Centennial Centre complex in Winnipeg. The complex includes a planetarium, a concert hall, the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. The Winnipeg Art Gallery has notable exhibits, particularly featuring Canadian artists and containing the world's largest collection of Inuit art.
Recreation and Places to Visit
National Parks
One of Manitoba's chief tourist attractions is Riding Mountain National Park, developed on one of the forested segments of the Manitoba Escarpment. Within the park are camping facilities and lakes for swimming. The government has set aside two sites as national historic parks. Lower Fort Garry, on the Red River near Winnipeg, is a stone fort constructed by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 1830s. Fort Prince of Wales Park near Churchill contains the ruins of another Hudson's Bay Company fort that was built in the 18th century and is now partly restored. In the south of the province, at the geographic center of the continent, is the International Peace Garden. A joint United States-Canadian enterprise, it extends from the international border into Manitoba and North Dakota.
Provincial Parks
Manitoba maintains 148 provincial parks. The largest are Atikaki Whiteshell, Grass River, Nopiming, Duck Mountain, Clearwater, Spruce Woods, Hecla Island, and Paint Lake. Whiteshell, the most popular park, contains the resort town of Falcon Lake, which has recreational facilities.
Annual Events
Manitoba is home to dozens of art and cultural festivals year-round. The Trappers' Festival is a gala affair at The Pas in February. The Manitoba Winter Fair enlivens Brandon in March. July events include a Trout Festival in Flin Flon, the Winnepeg International Folk Festival at Birds Hill Park, and Canada's National Ukrainian Festival at Dauphin. Later in summer is the Folklorama festival in Winnipeg, the world's largest festival celebrating different ethnic cultures.
Sports and Recreation
Hunting and fishing, though carefully controlled by the government, are popular on Manitoba's numerous lakes and streams, which attract many visitors to the province. Other popular summer activities include camping and boating. The province also has several ski areas. The most popular team sport, here as elsewhere in Canada, is ice hockey.
In July 1994 it was announced that Winnipeg would be the site of the Can-American Games in 1999. The Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League announced that they would move to Phoenix, Arizona, at the end of the 1995-1996 season; however, the Minnesota Moose of the International Hockey League made arrangements to move to Winnipeg to replace the Jets. The Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League also play in Winnipeg.
Government and Politics
Manitoba is represented in the Canadian Parliament by 14 elected representatives in the House of Commons and by six senators who are appointed by the federal government.
Executive
The nominal head of government is a lieutenant governor, representing the Crown and appointed by the federal government. However, real political power rests with a premier, who is the leader of the party that can command a majority in the legislature, and a cabinet chosen by the premier. The premier and cabinet remain in office as long as they retain the confidence of a majority in the legislature.
Legislative
The legislative assembly consists of 57 members. Each is elected from a single-member district for a five-year term. However, the government may call an election before the term has expired.
Judicial
Manitoba has two higher courts, whose members are appointed by the federal government. These are the court of appeal, which hears appeals, and the court of queen's bench, which tries major civil and criminal cases. Provincial courts, whose members are appointed by the Manitoba government, hear less serious cases.
Local Government
All of Manitoba's incorporated communities elect their own administrators every three years. Unincorporated communities in the unorganized territory are supervised by appointees of the Department of Northern Affairs.
Politics
The political groups of significance in Manitoba are the Progressive Conservative Party; the New Democratic Party, of moderate socialist orientation; and the Liberal Party.
History
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Chipewyan people roamed the tundra and the northern woodlands of Manitoba, and the Cree people hunted and trapped in the great central forests, swamps, and plains. The Assiniboine lived farther south, along the river that bears their name.
In 1612, two years after Europeans explored the Hudson Bay, Captain Thomas Button, an Englishman, landed near the mouth of the Nelson River, thus becoming the first European to set foot in the region. During the next 20 years other explorers made voyages along the shoreline, but each sought the Northwest Passage, a route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and none ventured inland.
Exploration
In the late 17th century, exploration of the region, which was named Rupert's Land and included the land surrounding Hudson Bay, was begun by the Hudson's Bay Company. Financed by the English on the advice of two French explorers, the company first established a post on the Nelson River in 1670 and then built another on the Churchill River in 1688. For three years, Henry Kelsey, an agent of the company, explored the interior, going north into the tundra and south and west as far as the Saskatchewan River. However, the company's profitable monopoly on the fur trade with the indigenous peoples soon made extensive journeys inland unnecessary.
In the 1730s Pierre Gaultier, sieur de La Vérendrye, a French explorer, commanded an expedition that built a series of outposts and forts from Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods westward to the upper Missouri River. The expedition explored the Red River Valley, building a fort near Lake Winnipeg. Fort La Reine on the Assiniboine River (at the site of the present city of Portage La Prairie) became the headquarters for the expedition. Other French explorers established trading centers that were accessible to the Indians.
The Hudson's Bay Company responded by moving inland to build new trading posts. However, its monopoly had been successfully challenged. Even when the French and Indian War resulted in the British conquest of France's land in North America in 1763, unlicensed French fur traders remained, to be joined by Scots and Americans. Within 30 years the Montréal-based North West Company became the principal competitor of the Hudson's Bay Company in the fur trade.
Settlement
In 1812 the Earl of Selkirk, a major stockholder in the Hudson's Bay Company, brought a group of Scottish emigrants into the fertile Red River Valley to settle near Lake Winnipeg. The North West Company considered this territory its own and feared that settlement, particularly settlement sponsored by its archrival, would endanger its fur trade. The governor of the settlement, then called Assiniboia, claimed all hunting and trapping rights in the area and demanded the evacuation of North West Company trading posts. A struggle that included violent clashes and seizures of men and goods began between the two companies. The struggle, however, was indecisive. It ended in 1821, when the companies merged.
Annexation to Canada
Canadian annexation of the northwestern territory was strenuously and violently opposed by the métis, descendants of North American Indians and Europeans. They claimed that Assiniboia was their own new nation. In 1869, when Canada prepared to take it over, the métis, under the leadership of Louis Riel, rebelled, sparking the first of the Northwest Rebellions. The métis forced the Canadian government to agree to issue the Manitoba Act of 1870, which created the province of Manitoba. Manitoba was a small province of 36,000 sq km (14,000 sq mi) that included the Red River settlement of some 12,000 Scots and métis. As a province, Manitoba obtained more privileges and greater autonomy than if it had been annexed as a territory.
During the first decade as a province, Manitoba increased its population rapidly. The fertile prairies produced a premium grade of spring wheat. Homesteaders from Ontario and immigrants from Iceland, Russia, Germany, and eastern Europe were attracted to the Canadian west. By 1881 the population of Manitoba had increased fivefold.
The French inhabitants, who had been equal in numbers to the British settlers when the province was formed, became a small minority. In 1890 when the provincial legislature replaced the dual system of Roman Catholic and Protestant schools with a single system of tax-supported nondenominational education, the French inhabitants felt that their cultural identity was endangered. At the same time the use of French as a language of instruction was prohibited. These acts aroused bitter controversy, known as the Manitoba school question. The federal government debated the issue and supported the 1890 statutes, abolishing the dual educational system.
Agrarian Prosperity
At the turn of the century, world demand for wheat grew and Manitoba prospered. New immigration followed and extensive railroad expansion began in earnest. Winnipeg developed from a warehouse center into one of the world's great wheat markets. In 1912 the borders of the province were extended northward, tripling its area and gaining it a coastline on Hudson Bay and a rich mining region.
World War I (1914-1918) brought further prosperity to Manitoba. The province produced grain, livestock, and manufactured goods at a rate never before achieved. However, war also brought inflation, and peace brought popular unrest. In 1919 a general strike took place in Winnipeg. In 1920 farming interests joined together as the United Farmers of Manitoba (UFM) to gain political power, and in 1922 they formed a government. They retained power for more than three decades. Manitoba remained mainly agrarian for the first half of the 20th century. During and after World War II, Manitoba remained prosperous and avoided wartime inflation and postwar depression.
Postwar Manitoba
In 1958 Dufferin Roblin, an advocate of active government stimulation of private enterprise, led the Progressive Conservatives to an electoral victory. During the next 11 years, the government spent vast sums on highways, hydroelectric power, and flood control and promoted the development of diverse industries. During this period manufacturing replaced agriculture as the main source of income in Manitoba.
In 1969 Edward Schreyer became premier, at the head of Manitoba's first New Democratic Party government. During eight years in office the Schreyer government enacted a variety of liberal social and economic reforms and promoted social welfare programs.
The 1977 elections produced a Progressive Conservative government, with Sterling Lyon as premier. Lyon courted business by cutting taxes and removing government controls, but the economy slumped in spite of the tax cuts and a large budget deficit developed, provoking layoffs that frightened many voters.
In 1981 voters returned the New Democrats to power, this time with Howard Pawley as premier. The Pawley administration's main challenge was to deal with the language problem in Manitoba. A 1979 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada had invalidated the 1890 Manitoba statute making English the sole official language. The government feared an adverse decision in a second lawsuit that was challenging all provincial laws passed since 1890 on the ground that they were printed only in English. The New Democrats proposed introducing legislation to make Manitoba officially bilingual, but this proposal ran into so much opposition from provincial legislators, local officials, and the English-speaking public that in 1984 it had to be abandoned.
In elections in 1988 the Progressive Conservatives, led by Gary Filmon, returned to power, though as a minority government with just 25 of 57 seats. In elections in 1990 Filmon's party achieved a majority of 30 seats. The New Democrats' total rose to 20 from 12 and the Liberals' total plummeted to 7 from 20.
In 1993 Yvon Dumont, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, was appointed lieutenant governor of Manitoba by Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. In 1994 the Supreme Court of Canada instructed the provincial government of Manitoba to grant French-speaking citizens exclusive control over French-language education. The court ruled that Manitoba's School Act of 1871 violated minority language rights guaranteed by Canada's 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In provincial elections held in April 1995 the Progressive Conservatives maintained their majority, and Gary Filmon was reelected to a third term as Manitoba's premier.