New Brunswick, Canada Information

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New Brunswick

New Brunswick (French: Nouveau-Brunswick), is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces, and the only officially bilingual province (French and English) in the country. Its capital is Fredericton. The provincial Department of Finance estimates that the province's population in 2005 is 758,000 (New Brunswickers).

Geography

New Brunswick is bounded on the north by Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula and Chaleur Bay and on the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and Northumberland Strait. To the south, the narrow Isthmus of Chignecto connects it to peninsular Nova Scotia, most of which is separated from the mainland by the Bay of Fundy. On its west, the province borders the American state of Maine. The boundary with the U.S. was settled during the "Aroostook War" of 1838-39, largely through the efforts of businessman and political activist John Baker. New Brunswick is one of two provinces (the other being Alberta) to border a single U.S. state.

The total land and water area of the province is approximately 70,000 square kilometres. About 80% of the province is forested, with the other 20% consisting of agricultural land and urban areas. The major urban centres lie in the south of the province. The bulk of the arable land is found in the Upper St. John River Valley, with lesser amounts of farmland found in the southeast of the province.

Both Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are either wholely or nearly surrounded by water and the ocean therefore tends to define their climate, economy and culture. New Brunswick on the other hand, although having a significant seacoast, is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean proper and has a large interior which is sheltered from oceanic effects. New Brunswick tends to be defined by its rivers rather than its seacoast.

The major river systems in the province include the St. John River, Petitcodiac River, Miramichi River, St. Croix River and the Restigouche River. The St. John River is thought to be the second longest river on the North American eastern seaboard between the St. Lawrence River and the Mississippi River.

New Brunswick lies entirely within the Appalachian Mountain range, a chain of ancient, eroded mountains which have created river valleys and low, gently rolling hills throughout large parts of the province. The eastern and central part of the province consists of the New Brunswick Lowland, whereas the Caledonia Highlands and St. Croix Highlands extend along the Bay of Fundy coast, reaching elevations of 300 metres. The northwestern part of the province is comprised of the remote and more rugged Miramichi Highlands, Chaleur Uplands, and the Notre Dame Mountains with a maximum elevation at Mount Carleton of 820 metres.

10 largest municipalities by population

The major urban areas of the province are Metropolitan Saint John (Saint John, Quispamsis, Rothesay) and Metropolitan Moncton (Moncton, Riverview, Dieppe). Both of these census metropolitan areas have urban populations between 120,000 and 130,000. Greater Fredericton (the provincial capital) has a census agglomeration population of 85,000.

The population of New Brunswick is majority English-speaking but with a substantial (35%) French-speaking minority called Acadians (from "Acadia", the former name of this region during the French colonial period). Most Acadians migrated to the area from the Vienne region of France. New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada.

Cities

New Brunswick has eight officially incorporated cities, listed here in descending order by population:

* Saint John
* Moncton
* Fredericton
* Miramichi
* Edmundston
* Dieppe
* Bathurst
* Campbellton

Saint John is a port city, with heavy industry in the form of pulp and paper, oil refineries, and drydocks, all owned by the family of the late K.C. Irving. The Irving family also controls much of the province's economy and three of its four daily English language newspapers. Saint John is conventionally written out in full, to distinguish it from St. John's, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, with which it is commonly confused by those outside of the Atlantic Provinces.

Moncton is the second largest city in New Brunswick and its metropolitan area is the fastest growing urban population in the province. It is principally a transportation, distribution, commercial and retail centre. Moncton has a sizeable francophone Acadian minority (35%) and is considered by the Acadians to be their unofficial "capital". The majority of Moncton's recent growth is traced to economic policies which has led to depopulation in the northeastern area of the province.

The Restigouche River showing the J.C. Van Horne Bridge in Campbellton

Fredericton, in addition to being the capital of the province, is a genteel university town, and home to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Theatre New Brunswick, the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, and other amenities, including Christ Church Cathedral, whose foundation is the oldest in Canada or the United States. [Fredericton is nicknamed the "City of Stately Elms". It has boasted of the largest stand of elms outside of Central Park since Dutch Elm Disease devastated this species in the early twentieth century.

Politics

New Brunswick has a unicameral legislature consisting of 55 seats. The governing party normally is the party that wins the most seats in the provincial election. Elections are held at least every five years but may be called at any time by the Lieutenant Governor (the vice-regal representative) on consultation with the Premier of the day. The government may also fall at any time if it loses a vote of non-confidence. The Premier is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the legislature. The current governing party is the Progressive Conservatives and the current Premier is Bernard Lord.

There are two dominant political parties in New Brunswick, the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party. The New Democratic Party has held seats in the Legisaltive Assembly, but has never been overly popular with the electorate. From time to time, other parties such as the Confederation of Regions Party have held seats in the legislature, but only on the strength of a strong protest vote. As such, New Brunswick essentially operates as a two-party system.

The dynamics of New Brunswick politics are notably different from those of other provinces in Canada. The lack of a single dominant urban centre in the province means that government has to be responsive to issues affecting all areas of the province. In addition, the presence of a large francophone minority dictates that consensus politics is necessary, even when there is a majority government present. In this manner, the ebb and flow of New Brunswick provincial politics tends to parallel the situation on the federal stage more closely than in any other province.

Over the course of the last 50 years, there has been a distinct tendency for the province to elect youthful dynamic leaders and give them long tenures with strong majorities. All recent leaders have been bilingual. This combination of attributes tends to make New Brunswick Premiers influential players on the federal stage. The current Premier Bernard Lord (Progressive Conservative) is touted as a potential leader of the Conservative Party of Canada should Prime Minister Stephen Harper withdraw from politics. Former Liberal Premier Frank McKenna had been considered to be the front-runner to succeed Prime Minister Paul Martin but he chose in the end not to run.

Economy

New Brunswick has a modern service based economy dominated by the finance, insurance, health care and educational sectors and this is based out of all three of the principal urban centres. In addition to the above, heavy industry is found in Saint John, Fredericton is dominated by government services, universities and the military and Moncton is a retail, transportation and distribution centre with important rail and air transportation facilities. The rural primary economy is best known for forestry, mining, mixed farming and fishing. The most valuable crop is potatoes, while the most valuable fish catches are lobster and scallops. Tourism is becoming increasingly important, especially in the Passamaquoddy region (dominated by the resort town of St. Andrews), and in the southeast of the province, centred by Moncton and Shediac. The largest employers are the Irving group of companies, several large multinational forest companies, the Government of New Brunswick, and the McCain group of companies.

Education

New Brunswick has a complete network of English and French language public schools serving from kindergarten to high school. There are also several private secondary schools having either secular or religious affiliations. One example being the Rothesay Netherwood School near Saint John.

The New Brunswick Community College system has campuses in all regions of province. There is a comprehensive system of both French and English campuses offering basically parallel programs. Each campus however tends to have areas of concentration to allow for specialization. There are also specialized training colleges that are private and not part of the NBCC system. An example of this would be the Moncton Flight College.

There are four publicly funded secular universities in the province. These include:

• The University of New Brunswick was founded as King's College in Fredericton in 1785 with Anglican affiliation. Today it is a medium-sized public English comprehensive university with its principal campus in Fredericton and a satellite campus in Saint John and a student body of about 12,000. It is the oldest public post-secondary education institution in North America.
• St. Thomas University was founded in Chatham in 1910 with Catholic affiliation. Today it is a small public English undergraduate university located in Fredericton with a student body of about 3,000. The university's liberal arts program is complemented by professional programs in education and social work.
• Mount Allison University was founded in Sackville in 1839 with Methodist and subsequently United Church affiliation. Today it is a small public English undergraduate university with a student body of about 2,200 still located in Sackville. Faculties include Arts, Science, Commerce, Music and Fine Arts. The Maclean's magazine survey of Canadian universities has ranked Mount Allision as one of the best in the undergraduate university category since the survey was begun. Mount Allison produces a Rhodes Scholar about once every two years on the average, and was the first university in the British Empire to grant a Bachelor's degree to a woman.
• The Université de Moncton system was founded in 1963 and is comprised from founding Catholic colleges which were located in Memramcook, Bathurst and Edmundston. Today it is a medium-sized public French comprehensive university with its principal campus in Moncton and satellite campuses in Edmundston and Shippagan. The student body is about 5,500.

There are also two private universities with religious affiliations in the province. These are:

• Atlantic Baptist University, located in Moncton, is a small liberal arts university with a student body of over 700. The school was founded in 1949, became degree granting in 1970 and received its full university designation in 1996. Degrees are offered in Arts, Science, Education and Religious Studies. The school is operated by the Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches.
• St. Stephen's University, located in St. Stephen, is a very small non denominational religious based university. The school was founded in 1975 and received it's university designation in 1998. At present, the only degrees available are in Arts and Ministry.

People

First Nations in New Brunswick include the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet. The first European settlers, the Acadians, are today survivors of the Great Expulsion (1755) which drove several thousand French residents into exile in North America, the U.K. and France for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to George III of Great Britain during the French and Indian War. American Acadians, who wound up in Louisiana and other parts of the American South, are often referred to as Cajuns.

Many of the English-Canadian population of New Brunswick are descended from United Empire Loyalists who fled the American Revolution. This is commemorated in the province's motto, Spem reduxit ("hope was restored"). There is also a significant population of Irish ancestry, especially in Saint John and the Miramichi Valley. People of Scottish descent are scattered throughout the Province with higher concentrations in the Miramichi and in Campbellton. A small population of Danish origin may be found in New Denmark in the northwest of the province.

Tourism

The world famous Hopewell Rocks are among the most important tourist attractions in New Brunswick.

The province has a number of outstanding tourist attractions. These include Fundy National Park, Kouchibouguac National Park, Mactaquac Provincial Park, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, King's Landing Historical Settlement, Hartland's Longest Covered Bridge in the World, Village Historique Acadien, Les Jardins de la Republique, La Pays de la Sagouine, La Dune de Bouctouche, New Brunswick Museum, Fortress Saint John, Saint John Reversing Falls, Imperial Theatre, St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, Hopewell Rocks, Cape Enrage, Magnetic Hill Zoo, Crystal Palace, Cape Jourimain National Wildlife Preserve, Sackville Waterfowl Park, and the 35-mile Fundy Hiking Trail.

Media outlets

New Brunswick has four daily newspapers. Three of these dailies are anglophone: The Daily Gleaner based in Fredericton, the Times & Transcript based in Moncton and The Telegraph Journal, which publishes both Saint John and provinicial editions. The provincial French-language daily is L'Acadie Nouvelle, based in Caraquet. There are also a number of weekly newspapers which are local in scope and based in the provinces smaller towns and communities.

The three English-language dailies and the majority of the weeklies are owned and operated by Brunswick News, a subsidiary of J.D. Irving which also owns two radio stations. The other major media group in the province is Acadie Presse, which publishes L'Acadie Nouvelle and prints some of the smaller papers in the province, including the largest student paper - and Canada's oldest - the University of New Brunswick's The Brunswickan.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has various news bureaus throughout the province, but its main anglophone television and radio operations are centred in Fredericton. The CBC French service is based in Moncton. Global Television maintains its New Brunswick base in Saint John with news and sales bureaus in Fredericton and Moncton. CTV is based in Moncton but has news bureaus in Fredericton and Saint John.

There are many private radio stations in New Brunswick with each of the three major cities having a dozen or more stations. Most smaller cities and towns also have one or two stations.

Demographic

Ethnic Origin

The information at left is from the 2001 Canadian Census. The percentages add to more than 100% because of dual responses (e.g. "French-Canadian" generates an entry in both the category "French" and the category "Canadian".) Groups with greater than 5,000 responses are included.

• 53.4% Roman Catholic
• 35.7% Protestant
• 1.4% other Christian
• 0.8% other religions
• 8.7% no religion

The Catholic Church is the largest denomination because of the large French and Irish populations. The three largest Protestant denominations in New Brunswick are: United Church of Canada and the Baptist and Anglican churches.

Facts

• The provincial flower is the purple violet. The provincial bird is the black-capped chickadee, in common with the American state of Maine.
• Entered Confederation: July 1, 1867
• Employment rate: 52.4%
• Urban population: 48.8%
• GDP per capita: $20 833
• Area: 28,150 square miles
• Agriculture: Dairy farming, Potatoes, oats, hay, clover, berries, and fruit

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