Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; French, l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is Canada's smallest province in terms of both size and population.
The province, in the Canadian Maritimes comprises the island of the same name located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence northeast of New Brunswick from which it is separated by the Northumberland Strait. The strait was recently spanned by Confederation Bridge.
The population is 138 500 (Prince Edward Islanders). The capital and largest city is Charlottetown. See also a list of communities in Prince Edward Island. Summerside is the second largest city and is located in Prince County, in the western part of the province. Stratford the 3rd largest community is across the hillsborough or west river from Charlottetown. Cornwall, the 4th largest community is across the east river from Charlottetown. This puts more then a thrid of the province's population in the area.
PEI is known for its potatoes, and is also known as the setting for Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series.
History
The island has been known in Mi'kmaq as Abegweit, and as part of New France was called Île Saint-Jean. Having taken it over in 1759, the British changed its name to Prince Edward Island in 1798 to disambiguate from other St. Johns in the Atlantic area, such as Saint John, New Brunswick and St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It was named for the brother of King George III, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, who was then commanding troops in Halifax.
In 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the conference that led to the Articles of Confederation and the creation of Canada in 1867. Nevertheless, it only joined Canada as a province in 1873.
PEI likes to play itself as the creator of Canadian Confederation and many buildings around the Island, like the Confederation Center of the Arts use the term "confederation" in some way. PEI also un-officially calls itself the birthplace of confederation, though this is only partly true.
When approached to join Canada in 1867, PEI refused, making a demand that the railway debt they had build up would need to be covered by the federal government. The federal government, at the time refused. PEI joined eventually in 1873, because the government agreed to take on the debt.
In 1915 PEI's representation in the house of commons was about to fall from 4 to 3. PEI argued that since they had 4 Senators that they could have no less then 4 MP's. They took the government to court, and won the case, forcing the Federal government to redesign the entire Senate, and create a law that says no province can have fewer MP's then Senators.
Politics
In the most recent provincial election, Progressive Conservative Premier Pat Binns was returned to power. The province's other major party is the PEI Liberal Party
Little known PEI facts:
- Until 1924, automobiles drove on the left side of the road
- The entire fur-farming industry started with fox fur on a PEI ranch
See also
Referenced By
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