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The Yellow Tape

The Yellow Tape

Yellow Tape is the Barenaked Ladies' third indie tape release, after Buck Naked in 1989 with just Ed and Steve, then Barenaked Lunch (also known as the Pink Tape) in 1990. The Yellow Tape did very well, becoming the first indie tape to achieve platinum status in Canada. Although officially self-titled, it is commonly referred to as The Yellow Tape, due to its yellow cover. It was re-released by Cheeree Records in CD and vinyl record formats as Be My Yoko Ono EP in the United Kingdom. The UK release dropped the track "Fight the Power".

Track listing

All songs written by Ed Robertson and Steven Page, except "Fight the Power" by Chuck D, Eric Sadler, Keith Shocklee and Hank Shocklee. # "Be My Yoko Ono" (2:59) # "Brian Wilson" (4:49) # "Blame It On Me" (3:49) # "If I Had $1,000,000" (3:49) # "Fight the Power" (1:33) Yellow Tape, The Yellow Tape, The

Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies (often abbreviated BNL) is a Canadian alternative rock band composed of Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, Steven Page, Tyler Stewart, and Jim Creeggan. They formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. BNL has a reputation as an excellent live band, and are particularly well-known for improvising amusing songs during their shows.

Indie origins

The band's first tape, Buck Naked, released in 1989, was recorded in basements and bedrooms, and featured only Steve and Ed. Barenaked Lunch (also known as the Pink Tape) was released in 1990, and featured two new band members, Andy and Jim Creeggan. Unfortunately, the tape was mastered incorrectly and plays too fast. As there were very few copies made of both, these tapes are now extremely rare. While Andy was on a trip to Ecuador, the band was lacking a percussionist. As such, Tyler Stewart took over the position, and retained it after Andy's return. The band first gained significant attention when they squeezed into a small "Speaker's Corner" video booth, operated by CityTV in Toronto, and performed "Be My Yoko Ono." After the song was aired on television it quickly became popular with viewers, and noticeably increased the Barenaked Ladies fan-base. The full band's first release of note was the 1991 independent Yellow Tape, the first indie release to achieve platinum status in Canada. Sales of the tape were jumpstarted when BNL were taken off the bill of a concert at Toronto City Hall because a staffer for then-mayor June Rowlands saw the band's name and felt it objectified women, which catapulted BNL into a media frenzy. Also in 1991, the band contributed a cover of Bruce Cockburn's "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" to the Cockburn tribute album Kick At the Darkness. That song became the band's first Top 40 hit in Canada.

1990s

Kick At the Darkness The band's first full album, Gordon, released in 1992, was a smash hit in Canada and included some of the band's most well-known songs, including "Be My Yoko Ono" (the single which helped fund the album), If I Had $1,000,000 (which spawned a Kraft Dinner-throwing tradition at live shows that the band has discouraged), and "Brian Wilson" (named after the Beach Boy who later covered the song on a live album) - all of which they performed at Camp Tamarack to a crowd of adoring 6 to 18 year-old youths during the Summer of 1990. BNL's second album, Maybe You Should Drive, released in 1994, fared considerably less well with the Canadian public. After the release, Andy Creeggan left the band because of his discomfort with the direction of the band and to begin college. The band released Born on a Pirate Ship in 1996 as a quartet. The album received two large boosts from the Jason Priestley-directed video for "The Old Apartment" and the inclusion of the song "Shoebox" on the Friends soundtrack. Kevin Hearn was hired as the keyboardist for the subsequent tour and then was asked to join the band. From two dates on the Born on a Pirate Ship tour during 1996, BNL recorded and released a live album called Rock Spectacle, which had a modest radio hit with "Brian Wilson." The band's greatest success to date and greatest recognition within the United States has come from their fourth album, Stunt, released in 1998, buoyed by the #1 single "One Week". Immediately after Stunt was released, however, Kevin Hearn was diagnosed with leukemia, eventually undergoing a bone marrow transplant and spending several months in the hospital recovering. The band toured, but with friends Chris Brown and Greg Kurstin on keyboards until Kevin recovered enough to rejoin them on the road. The singles "It's All Been Done" (used as the opening theme song on the short lived animated TV series Baby Blues) and "Call and Answer" also came from this highly successful album. The band has also collaborated with singer Tom Jones for a track on his 1999 album Reload.

2000s

Maroon, released in 2000, also did fairly well in stores, led by the single "Pinch Me". In 2001, they released a compilation album, entitled Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001, in reference to a line from their song Box Set. It contains 15 tracks from previous BNL albums (all of them have been a single, have had their own video, or both), two tracks from other albums that the band contributed to, and two new tracks, "It's Only Me (The Wizard of Magicland)" and "Thanks, That Was Fun". The latter was thought by some fans to be a break-up song, because of its title, the fact that it was the last song on the CD, and because its video featured clips from previous videos, but used the Syncro-Vox technique so that the people would lip-sync to the new song. Everything to Everyone was released October 21, 2003. The first single off the album was "Another Postcard," which received modest radio play. "Testing 1, 2, 3" was the second single off of the album and received a video, but no CD single, while "Celebrity" was released later with a CD single, but no video. "Maybe Katie" and an edited version of "For You" from a concert in Glasgow, Scotland were also released as singles to radio. Unfortunately, the album was their weakest-seller in years, with a short chart life, despite positive reviews. With the release of Everything to Everyone, BNL has fulfilled their contract with Reprise Records, which has allowed the band to try internet distribution and an independent album release. In early 2004, the band began offering full live shows for purchase as either download or CD off of an [http://www.barenakedladies.com eponymous website]. More recently, the latest studio album as well as a single from it have been added. The band's most recent album is Barenaked for the Holidays, which was released on October 5, 2004. It is their first independent record since the Yellow Tape and was distributed by Warner Music. BNL just recently completed a pilot for a variety show, tentatively titled Barenaked Ladies Variety Show, and have submitted it to the FOX network. Steven Page also wrote the music for the Stratford Festival's musical production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, and the band's recording of the music is available on CD from the festival. They are also working on an album at Steven Page's farm. On July 2 2005 BNL took part in the Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, about 100km north of Toronto.

Side projects

Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn and Steven Page all have side projects that are worked on during hiatus from BNL touring and studio time. Jim is part of the alternative/jazz trio The Brothers Creeggan, with brother and former BNL member Andy Creeggan and friend Ian McLauchlan. Kevin is the frontman of Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle, who play a mix of alternative rock and jazz with many other eclectic influences. Thin Buckle features players from several other Canadian alternative bands, such as Rheostatics. Lead singer/guitarist Steven Page also has a side project with collaborator Stephen Duffy called The Vanity Project. Their first album featuring the single "Thats All Thats All" in America and "Wilted Rose" in Canada was released in June 2005.

Biography

Barenaked Ladies have authorized a biography, Public Stunts Private Stories, written by friend of the band and fellow "Scarberian" Paul Myers, brother of actor Mike Myers. It is published in Canada by Madrigal Press. An updated 2003 version includes a different cover, information about Disc One and Everything to Everyone, and fixes several typos found in the original version.

Discography

Early albums


- Buck Naked (1989)
- Barenaked Lunch aka The Pink Tape (1990)
- The Yellow Tape (1991)

Primary album discography


- Gordon (1992) #1 CAN
- Maybe You Should Drive (1994) #175 US
- Born On A Pirate Ship (1996) #111 US
- Stunt (1998) # 9 CAN, #3 US
- Maroon (2000) #2 CAN, #5 US
- Everything to Everyone (2003) #6 CAN, #10 US
- Barenaked for the Holidays (2004) #64 US

Secondary album discography


- Shoe Box E.P. (1996)
- Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001 (2001) (with two new songs) #3 CAN, #38 US
- Everything Acoustic E.P. (2003) (internet only)
- As You Like It (2005)
- Barenaked For Hanukkah E.P. (2005) (internet only)
- Barenaked on a Stick (2005)

Live albums


- Rock Spectacle (1996) #86 US
- Play Everywhere for Everyone (2004)

Songs recorded for compilation albums


- Lovers In A Dangerous Time on Kick at the Darkness: Songs of Bruce Cockburn (1997) (later included on Disc One)
- Get In Line on King of the Hill soundtrack (1999) (later included on Disc One)
- Green Christmas on The Grinch soundtrack (2000) (later included on Barenaked for the Holidays)
- La la la la Lemon on For the Kids (2002)
- One Little Slip on Chicken Little soundtrack (2005)

Singles


- 1991
  - "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" from Bruce Cockburn tribute album Kick at the Darkness
- 1992
  - "Enid" from Gordon
  - "Brian Wilson" from Gordon
  - "What a Good Boy" from Gordon
- 1993
  - "Be My Yoko Ono" from Gordon
  - "If I Had $1,000,000" from Gordon
- 1994
  - "Fight the Power" from Coneheads Soundtrack
  - "Jane" from Maybe You Should Drive
- 1995
  - "Alternative Girlfriend" from Maybe You Should Drive
  - "A" from Maybe You Should Drive
- 1996
  - "Shoe Box" from Born On A Pirate Ship / Friends soundtrack
  - "Grim Grinning Ghosts" from Disney's Music From The Park
- 1997
  - "The Old Apartment" from Born On A Pirate Ship
  - "Brian Wilson" from Rock Spectacle
- 1998
  - "One Week" from Stunt
  - "It's All Been Done" from Stunt
- 1999
  - "Alcohol" from Stunt
  - "Call And Answer" from Stunt / Ed TV soundtrack
  - "Get In Line" from King of the Hill soundtrack
- 2000
  - "Pinch Me" from Maroon
- 2001
  - "Too Little Too Late" from Maroon
  - "Falling For The First Time" from Maroon
  - "Thanks That Was Fun" from Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits
- 2002
  - "It's Only Me" from Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits
- 2003
  - "Another Postcard" from Everything to Everyone
- 2004
  - "Maybe Katie" from Everything For Everyone - Canada single
  - "Testing 123" from Everything to Everyone
  - "Celebrity" from Everything to Everyone - UK single
  - "War On Drugs" from Everything to Everyone
  - "For You" from Everything to Everyone
  - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" from Barenaked For The Holidays
  - "Christmastime (Oh Yeah)" from Barenaked For The Holidays
  - "Green Christmas" from Barenaked For The Holidays

DVD / Video Releases


- The Stunt Tour / Barenaked In America
- Too Little Too Late DVD
- Barelaked Nadies
- The Barenaked Truth

External links


- [http://www.bnlmusic.com/ Official BNL site]
- [http://www.barenakedladies.com Official BNL Download site]
- [http://www.bnlblog.com/ BNL Band Blog]
- [http://www.barenaked.net/ Unofficial BNL site]
- [http://www.nakedhead.org/ Nakedhead - Fan Site/Zine]
- [http://www.dijonketchup.com/ Unofficial BNL News Blog]
- [http://www.nakedunderthecovers.com/ Naked Under The Covers (Fan Cover Songs)]
- [http://lilacgirl.com/ Lilac Girl - Barenaked Ladies fan site]
- [http://www.lyricsdir.com/barenaked-ladies-lyrics.html Barenaked Ladies Lyrics] Category:Canadian musical groups Category:Alternative musical groups Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:Canadian bloggers

1989

1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The world population growth in absolute numbers is believed to have been the highest ever around this time. [http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldpop.html]

Events

January


-
- January 8 - the Kegworth Air Disaster - A British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on approach to East Midlands Airport - 44 dead January 16-18 - Race riots in Overtown, Miami
- January 10 - Cuban troops begin withdrawing from Angola
- January 10 - Assistant Australian Federal Police commissioner Colin Winchester is shot dead in the driveway of his Canberra home
  - January 17 - A gunman kills 5 children, wounds 30 and then shoots himself in Stockton, California January 7 - Akihito becomes Emperor of Japan following the death of Hirohito. The Heisei period begins
- January 20 - George Herbert Walker Bush succeeds Ronald Wilson Reagan as President of the United States of America
- January 24 - Serial killer Ted Bundy is executed in Florida's electric chair
- January 30 - American Olympic medalist Bruce Kimball is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing two teenagers in a drunk driving accident

February


- February 1 - Joan Kirner becomes Victoria's 1st female Deputy Premier after resignation of Robert Fordham, over VEDC (Victorian Economic Development Co-operation) Crisis
- February 2 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The last Soviet Union armored column leaves Kabul ending nine years of military occupation
- February 3 - Military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay
- February 3 - After a stroke, P.W. Botha resigns party leadership and the presidency of South Africa
- February 10 - Ron Brown is elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee becoming the first African American to lead a major American political party
- February 11 - Barbara Clementine Harris is consecrated first female bishop in the Episcopal Church (United States of America)
- February 14 - Union Carbide agrees to pay USD $470 million to the Indian government for damages it caused in the 1984 Bhopal Disaster
- February 14 - Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini encourages Muslims to kill the author of The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
- February 14 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System is placed into orbit
- February 15 - Soviet war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops had left Afghanistan
- February 16 - Pan Am flight 103: Investigators announce that the cause of the crash was a bomb hidden inside a radio-cassette player
- February 24 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini places a three-million-US dollar bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie
- February 24 - A United Airlines Boeing 747 bound to New Zealand from Honolulu, Hawaii rips open during flight, sucking 9 passengers and crew out of the first class section. Luckily most passengers and crew were still belted to their seats at the time
- February 27 - Venezuela is rocked by the Caracazo.

March

Caracazo
- March 1 - The Berne Convention is ratified and enters into force with regard to the United States
- March 1 - A curfew is imposed in Kosovo where protests continue at the alleged intimidation of the Serb minority
- March 1 - Louis Wade Sullivan starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, serving under President George H. W. Bush
- March 1 - James D. Watkins starts his term of office as U.S. Secretary of Energy, serving under President George H. W. Bush
- March 1 - The Politieke Partij Radicalen, Pacifistisch Socialistische Partij, Communistische Partij Nederland and the Evangelische Volks Partij amalgamate to form Netherlands political party the GroenLinks (GL, GreenLeft)
- March 2 - 12 European Community nations agree to ban the production of all chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) by the end century
- March 4 - Time, Inc. and Warner Communications announce plans for a merger, forming Time Warner
- March 4 - The Purley rail crash - 5 dead, 94 injured
- March 4 - First ACT (Australian Capital Territory) elections held
- March 7 - Iran breaks off diplomatic relations with United Kingdom over Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses"
- March 9 - A strike forces financially-troubled Eastern Airlines into bankruptcy
- March 12 - Musician Billy was born
- March 14 - Gun control: President George H. W. Bush bans the importation of assault rifles into the United States
- March 14 - Christian General Michel Aoun declares a 'War of Liberation' to rid Lebanon of Syrian forces and their allies.
- March 15 - Surgeon Bimal Ghosh removes a huge gallbladder weighing 10.4 kg (23 lbs) at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- March 18 - In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found in the Great Pyramid of Giza
- March 20 - Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke weeps on national television as he admits marital infidelity.
- March 23 - Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann announce cold fusion at the University of Utah
- March 23 - A 300m (1,000 ft) diameter Near-Earth asteroid misses the Earth by 500,000 km (400,000 miles)
- March 24 - Exxon Valdez oil spill: In Alaska's Prince William Sound the Exxon Valdez spills 240,000 barrels (11 million gallons) of oil after running aground
- March 27 - The first free elections for the Soviet parliament go against the Communist Party.

April-May


- April 4 - Richard M. Daley elected mayor of Chicago, Illinois
- April 6 - National Safety Council of Australia chief executive John Friedrich is arrested after defrauding investors to the tune of $235 million
- April 7 - Soviet submarine Komsomolets sinks in the Barents Sea - 41 dead
- April 9 - Massacre of Georgian demonstrators by Red Army soldiers in Tbilisi's central square during a peaceful rally; 20 citizens are killed (most of them young women), many injured. The use of toxic gas by the Soviets was alleged. [http://www.phrusa.org/research/health_effects/humsov.html]
- April 15 - Hillsborough disaster, one of the biggest tragedies in European football, takes place
- April 19 - Gun turret explodes on the US battleship Iowa - 47 dead
- April 20 - NATO debates modernising short range missiles; although the US and UK are in favour, West German chancellor Helmut Kohl obtains a concession defering a decision.
- April 21 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Students in Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Nanjing started to strike.
- April 25 - End of term for Baginda Almutawakkil Alallah Sultan Iskandar Al-Haj ibni Almarhum Sultan Ismail as the 8th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
- April 26 - Sultan Azlan Muhibbudin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Yusuff Izzudin Shah Ghafarullahu-lahu, Sultan of Perak, becomes the 9th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia
- May 2 - Hungary dismantles 150 miles of barbed wire fencing, opening its border to Western Europe.
- May 9 - Andrew Peacock deposes John Howard as Federal Opposition Leader
- May 11 - ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Legislative Assembly meets for 1st time
- May 12 - a Southern Pacific Railroad freight train crashes on Duffy Street in San Bernadino, California
- May 14 - Mikhail Gorbachev visited China, he was the first Soviet leader to visit China since the 1960s.
- May 15 Australia's 1st Private tertiary institution Bond University Opens On the Gold Coast
- May 15 - Jackie Mann, a 74-year-old former Battle of Britain pilot, is abducted in Beirut
- May 19 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: Zhao Ziyang met the demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
- May 20 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The Chinese government declared martial law in Beijing.
- May 30 - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: The 10 m (33 ft) high "Goddess of Democracy" statue is unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators
- May 30 Ananda Marga Member Tim Anderson is arrested on charges related to the 1978 Hilton Bombing

June

May 30.
- June 1 - The SkyDome stadium is opened in Toronto
- June 3 - The Ayatollah Khomeini dies
- June 4 - The Tiananmen Square massacre takes place in Beijing and is covered live on television
- June 4 - Solidarity's victory in the first partly free parliamentary elections in post-war Poland spark off a succession of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe.
- June 4 - Train disaster: A natural gas explosion near Ufa, Russia kills 645 as two trains passing each other throw sparks near a leaky pipeline
- June 8 - Kurt Waldheim elected president of Austria
- June 13 - The wreck of the German battleship Bismarck, which was sunk in 1941, is located 600 miles west of Brest, France
- June 14 - Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor is arrested in Beverly Hills, California after slapping a motorcycle police officer. [http://www.mugshots.net/zsa_zsa_gabor/]
- June 21 - British police arrest 250 citizens for celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge
- June 22 - Ireland's first universities established since independence in 1922 are set up:Dublin City University and University of Limerick

July


- July 2 - Andreas Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece resigns. New government formed under Tzannis Tzannetakis
- July 5 - The television show Seinfeld premiers.
- July 6 - At 01:23:45 AM the time and date by British reckoning was 01:23:45 6/7/89. This was also true 12 hours later excepting 24-hour time.
- July 19 - A Douglas DC-10 carrying United Airlines flight 232 crashes in Sioux City, Iowa killing 112 but due to extraordinary efforts by the pilot and his crew, 184 on board survive
- July 19 - The BBC programme "Panorama" accuses Lady Porter Tory Leader of Westminster City Council of "gerrymandering"
- July 20 - Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi placed under house arrest
- July 26 - A federal grand jury indicts Cornell University student Robert Tappan Morris, Jr. for releasing a computer virus, making him the first person to be prosecuted under the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

August


- August 6 - The comic strip Bloom County ends.
- August 7 - US Congressman Mickey Leland (D-TX), and 15 others die in a plane crash in Ethiopia.
- August 8 - STS-28: The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off on a secret five-day military mission.
- August 9 The asteroid 4769 Castalia is the first asteroid directly imaged, by radar from Arecibo.
- August 13 - 13 people die in hot air balloon accident near Alice Springs NT.
- August 18 - Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
- August 19 - Polish president Wojciech Jaruzelski nominates Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to be Prime Minister, thus becoming the first non-communist in power in 42 years.
- August 20 - In Beverly Hills, California, Lyle and Erik Menendez shoot their wealthy parents to death in their family's den.
- August 20 - 51 people die when the Marchioness pleasure boat collides with a barge on the River Thames adjacent to Southwark Bridge.
- August 23 - Baltic Way, uninterrupted 600 kilometre human chain, in which two million indigenous people of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, then still occupied by the Soviet Union, joined hands to demand freedom and independence.
- August 23 - Hungary removes border restrictions with Austria.
- August 23 - All of Australia's 1,645 domestic airline pilots resign over an airline's move to sack and sue them over a dispute.
- August 24 - Indonesia's first privately-owned television station, Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia, (RCTI) begins broadcasting.
- August 25 - Voyager II passes the planet Neptune and its moon Triton.
- August 29 - Yusef Hawkins shot in Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York, sparking racial tensions between African Americans and Italian Americans.

September


- September 5 - President George Bush holds up a bag of cocaine purchased across the street at Lafayette Park in his first televised speech to the nation.
- September 10 - The Hungarian government opens the country's western borders to refugees from the German Democratic Republic.
- September 21 - Hurricane Hugo makes landfall in South Carolina, causing 7 billion dollars in damage.
- September 22 - Deal barracks bombing: IRA bomb explodes at the Royal Marine School of Music in Deal, United Kingdom - 11 dead, 22 injured

October


- October 5 - US TV Evangelist Jim Bakker is found guilty of embezzlement of $158 million
- October 9 - An official news agency in the Soviet Union reports the landing of a UFO in Voronezh.
- October 9 - In Leipzig, East Germany protesters demand the legalization of opposition groups and democratic reforms
- October 17 - The Loma Prieta earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the richter scale, strikes the San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose and Santa Cruz areas in the American state of California, killing 63.
- October 19 - The Guildford Four are freed after 14 years
- October 30 - The qualification for the 1990 Football World Cup ends.

November

1990 Football World Cup
- November 4 - Typhoon Gay devastates the Thai province of Chumphon.
- November 7 - Douglas Wilder wins the governor's seat in Virginia and becomes the first elected African American governor in the United States.
- November 7 - Cold War: The Communist government of East Germany resigns, although SED leader Egon Krenz remains head of state.
- November 7 - David Dinkins becomes the first African American mayor of New York City.
- November 7 - In California, convicted murderer Richard Ramirez (the "Night Stalker") is sentenced to death.
- November 9 - Cold War: East Germany opens checkpoints in the Berlin Wall, allowing its citizens to freely travel to West Germany for the first time in decades (the next day celebrating Germans began to tear the wall down).
- November 10 - After 45 years of Communist rule in Bulgaria, Bulgarian Communist Party leader Todor Zhivkov is replaced by Foreign Minister Petar Mladenov, who changes the party's name to the Bulgarian Socialist Party.
- November 10 - Gaby Kennard becomes the first Australian woman to fly non-stop around the world.
- November 12 - Brazil holds its first free presidential election since 1960
- November 16 - Six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her teenage daughter are shot in San Salvador, El Salvador
- November 16 - South African President FW de Klerk announces scrapping of Separate Amenities Act
- November 17 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution begins - In Czechoslovakia a peaceful student demonstration in Prague is severely beaten back by riot police. This sparks a revolution aimed at overthrowing the Communist government (it succeeded on December 29)
- November 20 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution - The number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
- Tuesday, November 21, 1989 - North Carolina celebrates its bicentennial statehood.
- November 22 - In west Beirut, a bomb explodes near the motorcade of Lebanese President Rene Moawad and kills him.
- November 26-27 night - Group of Bob Denard's mercenaries ousts Ahmed Abdullah Abderemane in the Comoros. Said Mohammed Djohor becomes interim president
- November 28 - Cold War: Velvet Revolution - With other Communist regimes falling all around it and with growing street protests, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia announces they will give up their monopoly on political power (elections held in December brought the first non-communist government to Czechoslovakia in more than 40 years)
- November 30 - Deutsche Bank board member Alfred Herrhausen is killed by a terrorist's bomb (the Red Army Faction claimed responsibility of the murder)
- November 30 - A storeowner in Palm Harbor, Florida named Richard Mallory takes a ride with Aileen Wuornos and is seen for the last time. Mallory became the first of seven people killed by the female serial killer over the next year.

December


- December 1 - Cold War: East Germany's parliament abolishes the constitutional provision granting the Communist-dominated SED its monopoly on power. Egon Krenz, the Politburo and the Central Committee resign two days later.
- December 3 - Cold War: In a meeting off the coast of Malta, US President George Herbert Walker Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev release statements indicating that the Cold War between their nations may be coming to an end.
- December 6 - The École Polytechnique Massacre (or Montreal Massacre): Marc Lépine, an anti-feminist gunman, murders fourteen young women at the École Polytechnique in Montreal.
- December 14 - Chile holds its first free election in 16 years.
- December 15 - Drug baron Jose Gonzalo Rodriquez Gacha is killed by Colombian police
- December 17 - Romania - Timişoara: The start of the uprising that toppled the communist regime in Romania.
- December 17 - Brazil holds its first free election in 29 years. Fernando Collor de Mello wins the election.
- December 20 - United States invades Panama (Operation Just Cause) to overthrow Manuel Noriega - he takes refuge in the Vatican mission until January 3 1990.
- December 22 - After a week of bloody demonstrations, Ion Iliescu takes over as president of Romania, ending Nicolae Ceauşescu's communist dictatorship.
- December 22 - Two tourist coaches collide on the Pacific highway north of Kempsey, Australia, 35 killed and 39 injured.
- December 25 - Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena are executed.
- December 25 - Bank of Japan governors announce a major interest rate hike, eventually leading to the peak and fall of the "bubble economy".
- December 28 - A magnitude 5.6 earthquake hits Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, killing 13 people.
- December 29 - Václav Havel elected the president of Czechoslovakia - a big victory of the Velvet Revolution.
- December 29 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees.

Unknown Dates


- Alan Bond's Bond Corporation goes into receivership with the largest debt in Australian history
- Homosexual Acts between consenting adults decriminalized in Western Australia
- Rice University celebrates the demisesquicentennial anniversary of its founding
- Kamchatka opened to Russian civilian visitors
- Retirement of the Alize propeller-driven anti-submarine planes from carrier service in the French Navy
- The first national park, in Schiermonnikoog, is established in The Netherlands
- Soviet submarine K-173, Chelyabinsk, commissioned
- The wreck of the Lady Elgin discovered off Highland Park, Illinois by Harry Zych
- Margaret Rey establishes the Curious George Foundation to help creative children and prevent cruelty to animals
- Veikko "Jammu" Siltavuori abducts and murders two 8 year old girls in Myllypuro suburb in Helsinki, Finland
- Richard C. Duncan introduces the Olduvai theory, about the collapse of the Industrial Civilization
- The Museum of Jurassic Technology, is founded in Culver City, California by David and Diana Wilson
- The unknown Swede Marcus Schenkenberg is discovered by a photographer when rollerskating on Venice Beach, California
- 1,000,000th Ford Taurus sold

Births


- Marina Golbahari, Afghani actress
- January 29 - Charlotte and Margaret Baughman, American twin actresses
- February 2 - Anna Sundstrand, Swedish singer
- February 5 - Jeremy Sumpter, American actor
- March 5 - Jake Lloyd, American actor
- March 25 - Alyson Michalka, American actress, singer, and songwriter
- April 23 - Nicole Vaidisova, Czech tennis player
- May 5 - Chris Brown, American R&B singer
- May 29 - Riley Keough, American model
- June 2 - Freddy Adu, Ghanaian-born footballer
- June 13 - Sayumi Michishige, Japanese singer
- July 5 - Ronald MacDonald, British musician and composer
- July 23 - Daniel Radcliffe, British actor
- August 9 - Stefano Okaka Chuka, Italian football player
- August 15 - Belinda Peregrin, Mexican entertainer
- August 19 - Percy Romeo Miller, American entertainer
- August 21 - Hayden Panettiere, American actress
- October 11 - Michelle Wie, American golf player
- November 11 - Reina Tanaka, Japanese singer
- December 18 - Ashley Benson, American actress
- December 27 - Kateryna Lahno, Ukrainian chess player
- December 30 - Ryan Sheckler, American skateboarder

Deaths

January to April


- January 3 - Robert Banks, American chemist (b. 1921)
- January 7 - Frank Adams, British mathematician (b. 1930)
- January 7 - Hirohito, Emperor of Japan (b. 1901)
- January 21 - Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
- January 23 - Salvador Dalí, Spanish artist (b. 1904)
- January 24 - Ted Bundy, American serial killer (executed) (b. 1946)
- February 1 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (b. 1919)
- February 3 - John Cassavetes, American actor and author (b. 1929)
- February 6 - Roy Eldridge, American musician (b. 1911)
- February 6 - Barbara W. Tuchman, American historian (b. 1912)
- February 9 - Osamu Tezuka, Japanese artist (b. 1928)
- February 11 - George O'Hanlon, American actor and director (b. 1912)
- February 24 - Sparky Adams, American baseball player (b. 1894)
- February 27 - Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer (b. 1897)
- February 27 - Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- March 6 - Harry Andrews, British actor (b. 1911)
- March 8 - Carl Stuart Hamblen, American musician (b. 1908)
- March 9 - Robert Mapplethorpe, American photographer (b. 1946)
- March 14 - Edward Abbey, American author and environmentalist (b. 1927)
- March 14 - Stephen D. Bechtel, Sr., American businessman (b. 1900)
- March 19 - Alan Civil, English French horn player (b. 1929)
- March 27 - Malcolm Cowley, American author (b. 1898)
- March 27 - Jack Starrett, American actor and director (b. 1936)
- April 1 - Ace Bailey, Canadian hockey player (b. 1903)
- April 12 - Gerald Flood, British actor (b. 1927)
- April 15 - Hu Yaobang, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (b. 1915)
- April 16 - Jocko Conlan, baseball player and umpire (b. 1899)
- April 21 - Princess Dukhye of Korea (b. 1912)
- April 22 - Emilio G. Segrè, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1905)
- April 26 - Lucille Ball, American entertainer (b. 1911)
- April 30 - Sergio Leone, Italian film director (b. 1929)
- April 30 - Yi, Bang-ja, Crown Princess of Korea (b. 1901)

May to August


- May 9 - Keith Whitley, American singer (b. 1955)
- May 14 - E.P. Taylor, Canadian business tycoon (b. 1901)
- May 19 - C.L.R. James, English writer and journalist (b. 1901)
- May 20 - John Hicks, English economist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
- May 20 - Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
- May 29 - John Cipollina, American musician (Quicksilver Messenger Service) (b. 1943)
- June 3 - Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian political figure (b. 1900)
- June 4 - Dik Browne, American cartoonist (b. 1917)
- June 7 - Don the Beachcomber, American restaurateur (b. 1907)
- June 9 - George Wells Beadle, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1903)
- June 15 - Victor French, American actor and director (b. 1934)
- June 20 - Hilmar Baunsgaard, Danish politician (b. 1920)
- June 27 - Alfred Ayer, British philosopher (b. 1910)
- June 28 - Joris Ivens, Dutch filmmaker (b. 1898)
- July 3 - Jim Backus, American actor (b. 1913)
- July 10 - Mel Blanc, American voice actor (b. 1908)
- July 11 - Laurence

Barenaked Lunch

Barenaked Lunch is the Barenaked Ladies second indie tape release, which came after Buck Naked in 1989 and before the Yellow Tape in 1991. It is a pun on the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs. The tape was recorded as a demo tape in 1990 and is also known as the Pink Tape. About 2,000 tapes were produced but were mastered incorrectly, with the songs playing too fast.

Track listing

#"Night Photographs" #"The Trouble with Tracy" #"Blame It On Me" #"Be My Yoko Ono" #"If I Had $1,000,000" Category:Barenaked Ladies albums Category:1990 albums

Canada

Canada is the second largest country in the world in terms of area, extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean with claims extending to the North Pole. The northern-most country on the mainland of North America, Canada has land borders only with the United States. Governed as a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy, Canada is a federation of ten provinces with three territories. Initially constituted in 1867, the country's constitution was patriated in 1982 from the United Kingdom. Canada's head of state is its monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, who is represented in Canada by the Governor General, presently Michaëlle Jean. The head of government is the Prime Minister, currently Paul Martin; his minority government recently lost a vote of non-confidence in the Canadian House of Commons and asked for the dissolution of the Parliament by the Governor General, who then issued a Royal proclamation authorising the issue of election writs, and stating a federal election will take place on 2006 January 23. Canada's official languages are English and French. As of 2005, its official population estimate is approximately 32.4 million [http://www.statcan.ca/english/edu/clock/population.htm].

Overview

The capital city is Ottawa, Ontario, the seat of Canada's Parliament. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Loyal Opposition, and the Speaker of the House of Commons have official residences in the National Capital Region.National Capital Region, Ontario.]] Originally a union of British colonies with significant French influence and entitled as a "dominion", Canada is a founding member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, and La Francophonie. Canada defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation:
- English is the official (and majority) language in most provinces of Canada.
- French is the official language of Quebec, an official language of New Brunswick, and is spoken in various areas throughout the country.
- Several Aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories; Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut and has official status there. Canada is a technologically advanced and industrialized nation. It is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity. Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Canada has ten provinces and three territories: Canada's major cities that are not capital cities include Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Calgary, Alberta.

Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

History

Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of what is now called Canada since the dawn of time. Archaeological records show that these lands have been inhabited for at least 10,000 years. Several Viking expeditions occurred circa AD 1000, with evidence of settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows. British claims to North America date from 1497, when John Cabot reached what he called Newfoundland, though it is unclear whether Cabot landed in current Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or Maine. French claims date from explorations by Jacques Cartier (from 1534) and Samuel de Champlain (from 1603). Neither Cabot's nor Cartier's explorations left any permanent settlers behind. On August 5, 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland as England's first overseas colony under Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1604, French settlers were the first Europeans to settle permanently in what is now Canada. After an unsuccessful winter in St. Croix Island (today in Maine), they settled Port-Royal in what is now the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, but moved to found Quebec City in 1608. The current Acadians are descendants of settlers who came later in the same century and re-founded Port-Royal. New France was generally the name given to the French colonies of Canada and Acadia (and later Louisiana).Louisiana, depicts British General Wolfe's final moments during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.]] British settlements were established along the Atlantic seaboard and around Hudson Bay. As these colonies expanded, a struggle for control of North America took place between 1689 and 1763 (see French and Indian Wars), exacerbated by wars in Europe between France and Great Britain. France progressively lost territory to Great Britain, surrendering peninsular Nova Scotia in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht and the remainder of New France including what was left of Acadia in the Treaty of Paris (1763). During and after the American Revolution approximately 70,000 [http://www.uelac.org/whatis.html] Loyalists fled the Thirteen Colonies. Of these, roughly 50,000 United Empire Loyalists [http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0850061.html] settled in the British North American colonies which then consisted of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, the Province of Quebec, and Prince Edward Island (created 1769). To accommodate the Loyalists, Britain created the colony of New Brunswick in 1784 from part of Nova Scotia, and divided Quebec into Lower Canada and Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act of 1791. The War of 1812 began when the U.S. attacked British forces in Canada in an attempt to end British influence in North America (and particularly, the British seizures of American merchant ships in the Atlantic). In April 1813, U.S. forces burned York (now Toronto). The British/Canadians retaliated with the burning of Washington (DC) in a surprise attack in August 1814, but were subsequently turned back at Plattsburgh, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814. It was only after the French and Napoleonic wars ended in Europe that large-scale immigration to Canada resumed. The Canadas were merged into a single colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840) in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Once the U.S. agreed to the 49th parallel north as its border with western British North America, the British government created the colonies of British Columbia in 1848 and Vancouver Island in 1849. By the late 1850s, politicians in the Province of Canada had launched a series of western exploratory expeditions with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land (administered by the Hudson's Bay Company) and the Arctic. In 1864 and 1866, British North American politicians, in what became known as the Great Coalition, held three conferences to create a federal union. Spearheaded by John A. Macdonald, on July 1, 1867, three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were granted a constitution, the British North America Act, by the United Kingdom, creating the Dominion of Canada. The term "Canadian Confederation" refers to this 1867 unification of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec (formerly Canada East or Lower Canada), and Ontario (formerly Canada West or Upper Canada). The remaining British colonies and territories soon joined Confederation. By 1880 Canada included all of its present area except for Newfoundland and Labrador, which joined in 1949. (It should be noted that, although part of Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan did not gain Provincial status until 1905.) Newfoundland and Labrador In 1919, Canada became a member of the League of Nations and, in the Imperial Conference of 1926, Canada assumed full control of its own through the Balfour Declaration. In 1927, Canada appointed its first ambassador to a foreign country, the United States. In 1931, the Statute of Westminster gave the Balfour Declaration constitutional force, confirming that no act of the UK's parliament would thereafter extend to Canada without its consent. Canadian citizenship was first distinguished from British in 1947; judicial appeals to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ended in 1949. The power to amend Canada's constitution remained with the British parliament, although subject to the Statute of Westminster, until it was finally "patriated" to Canadian control by the Canada Act 1982. The Quebec sovereignty movement has led to two referendums held in 1980 and 1995, with votes of 59.6% and 50.6% respectively against its proposals for sovereignty-association. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Geography

unconstitutionalCanada occupies the northern portion (precisely 41%) of North America. It is bordered to the south by the contiguous United States and to the northwest by Alaska. The length of these borders are 6,416 km (3,987 mi) and 2,477 km (1,539 mi), respectively. Off the southern coast of Newfoundland lies Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas community of France. The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west (hence the country's motto). To the north lies the Arctic Ocean; Greenland is to the northeast. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141° W longitude ([http://atlas.gc.ca/site/english/maps/historical/territorialevolution/1927/1]); this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5° N – just 834 kilometres (518 mi) from the North Pole. Also, the magnetic North Pole lies within Canadian boundaries (although is moving towards Siberia). Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia. Much of Canada lies in Arctic regions, however, and thus Canada has only the fourth-most arable land area behind Russia, China, and the U.S. The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.0/mi²) is among the lowest in the world: Canada has more land area than the U.S., but only one-ninth of its population. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Axis in the east. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—over 60% of the world's lakes are in Canada. The Canadian Shield encircles the immense Hudson Bay, extending from Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories at its westernmost point, to the Atlantic coast in Labrador in the east. Newfoundland, North America's easternmost island if Greenland is excluded, is at the mouth of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary. The Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the southern coasts of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Prince Edward Island is Canada's smallest province. Prince Edward Island; at 5 959 m (19,551 ft), Canada's highest point and second highest in North America.]]West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia. Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands. Some specific geographical features of note include the world's largest freshwater island, Manitoulin Island, which divides Georgian Bay and Lake Huron and the world's longest freshwater beach, Wasaga Beach, on the Georgian Bay shoreline. Thanks to past glacial activity in the Canadian Shield, Canada boasts a considerable reserve of fresh water and more lakes than any other nation, roughly two million in all, the overwhelming majority of which are relatively small.

Climate

Canada has a reputation for cold temperatures in the winter months. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie Provinces. Temperatures can reach lows of -50°C (-58°F) in the far North however, such low temperatures are not the norm; the record coldest temperature in North America was -63°C (-81°F), at Snag, Yukon, in 1947. Coastal British Columbia is an exception: it enjoys a temperate climate with much milder winters than the rest of the country however, rainy winters are common. Summers in Canada range from mild (low 20s Celsius [70°F]) on the east and west coasts, to hot (mid 20s to low 30s Celsius [75-90°F]) in Central Canada, the Prairies and the intermontane regions of British Columbia. The highest recorded temperature in Canada was 45°C (113°F) at both Midale and Yellow Grass in Saskatchewan on July 5, 1937. For a more complete description of weather norms around Canada, go to www.climate.weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/climate_normals/index_e.html

Politics

1937] Canada's head of state is the monarch, currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and commonly referred to as the Queen of Canada. However, the day-to-day duties of head of state are exercised by the Governor General, who is generally a retired politician, military leader, or other notable Canadian; the current Governor General is Michaëlle Jean. All government authority is derived from the monarch, and executive power is wielded by the Prime Minister of Canada and the cabinet. The Governor General is formally appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister and is a non-partisan figure who fulfils many ceremonial and symbolic roles including providing Royal Assent to bills, reading the Speech from the Throne, officially welcoming dignitaries of foreign countries, presenting honours such as the Order of Canada, signing state documents, formally opening and ending sessions of Parliament, and dissolving Parliament for an election. The Governor General is also the titular Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. The position of Governor General also beholds considerable reserve powers, but these have been rarely used. The last to do so was Jeanne Sauvé, who ignored the National Capital Commission and closed the grounds of Rideau Hall in the late 1980s; the most famous use of the Governor General's extraordinary powers was during the King-Byng Affair in 1926. Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of [http://lois.justice.gc.ca/en/const/index.html written text] and unwritten traditions and conventions (see Westminster system). The federal government and the governments of nine provinces agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it, at a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981. The Quebec government did not agree to the changes, and Quebec nationalists refer to that night as the Night of the Long Knives. The patriation of the Constitution included the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years. notwithstanding clause]]The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, in practice belongs to the leader of the political party who can command a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General; however, the Prime Minister effectively chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, has to appoint the Prime Minister's desired choices. The Cabinet is drawn, by convention, from members of the prime minister's party in both legislative houses, though mostly from the Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of individual political power, especially in terms of the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. The legislative branch of government has two houses: the elected House of Commons and the appointed Senate. Each member in the Commons is elected by simple plurality in one electoral district or "riding"; general elections are called by the Governor General when the prime minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the prime minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75. electoral district]]Canada has four main political parties today. The traditionally centrist / left-of-centre Liberal Party of Canada formed the government in Canada for most of the 20th century, and is the party of the current Prime Minister Paul Martin. The only other party to have formed a government is the now-defunct, right-of-centre Progressive Conservative (PC) Party and its predecessor, the Conservative Party, which was the dominant political party in the 19th century. The PC Party merged with the Canadian Alliance to form a new rightist Conservative Party of Canada in December 2003. The New Democratic Party (NDP) is the major party furthest to the political left. The Bloc Québécois promotes Quebec independence from Canada and currently holds a majority of Quebec's seats in the Commons. There are many smaller parties and, while none have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial. Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter; its nine members are directly appointed by Cabinet. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are selected and appointed by the federal government, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail). Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). The RCMP is one of few police forces in the world to perform three different levels of enforcement: municipal, provincial, and federal.

Foreign relations

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares a history and long relationship with the United Kingdom as its "mother country". United Kingdom.]] In the last century, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to reach out to the rest of the world and promoting itself as a "middle power" able to work with large and small nations alike. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis when Lester B. Pearson mollified the tension by introducing the idea of peacekeeping and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In 1957, Pearson was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. Canada has cumulatively contributed more troops to peacekeeping operations worldwide than all other nations combined and currently serves in over 40 different peacekeeping missions, most recently in Afghanistan. Canada has contributed in some way to all UN peacekeeping missions. Canada is a member of the United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, La Francophonie, the Organization of American States (OAS), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the World Trade Organization, the G8, and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

Military

Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationA founding member of the NATO alliance, Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve mil