Alberta
For other uses, see (disambiguation).Alberta is the largest producer of
conventional crude oil,
synthetic crude,
natural gas and gas products in the country. Two of the largest producers of
petrochemicals in
North America are located in central and north central Alberta. In both
Red Deer and
Edmonton, world class
polyethylene and
vinyl manufacturers produce products shipped all over the world, and Edmonton's
oil refineries provide the raw materials for a large
petrochemical industry to the east of Edmonton.
The
Athabasca Oil Sands (previously known as the Athabasca
Tar sands) have estimated
oil reserves in excess of that of the rest of the world, estimated to be 1.6 trillion barrels (254 km³). With the advancement of extraction methods, bitumen and economical synthetic crude are produced at costs nearing that of conventional crude. This technology originated and was developed in Alberta. Many companies employ both conventional
strip mining and non-conventional methods to extract the
bitumen from the Athabasca deposit. With current technology, only 315 billion barrels (50 km³) are recoverable.
Fort McMurray, one of Canada's youngest and liveliest cities, has grown up entirely because of the large
multinational corporations which have taken on the task of oil production.
Another factor determining the viability of oil extraction from the Tar Sands is the price of oil. In 2005, record oil prices have made it more than profitable to extract this oil, which in the past would give little profit or even a loss.
While
Edmonton is considered the pipeline junction, manufacturing, chemical processing, research and refining centre of the province,
Calgary is known for its senior and junior oil company head offices.
With concerted effort and support from the provincial government, several high-tech industries have found their birth in Alberta, notably the invention and perfection of
liquid crystal display systems. With a growing economy, Alberta has several financial institutions dealing with several civil and private funds.
Agriculture and forestry
|
Grain Elevator - Alberta. |
Agriculture has a significant position in the province's economy. Over five million
cattle are residents of the province at one time or another, and Alberta beef has a healthy worldwide market. Nearly one half of all Canadian beef is produced in Alberta. Alberta is one of the prime producers of plains
buffalo (bison) for the consumer market.
Sheep for
wool and
mutton are also
raised.
Wheat and
canola are primary farm crops, with Alberta leading the provinces in spring wheat production, with other
grains also prominent. Much of the farming is dryland farming, often with fallow seasons interspersed with cultivation. Continuous cropping (in which there is no fallow season) is gradually becoming a more common mode of production because of increased profits and a reduction of soil erosion. Across the province, the once common
grain elevator is slowly being lost as rail lines are decreased and farmers now truck the grain to central points.
Alberta is the leading
beekeeping province of Canada, with some beekeepers wintering
hives indoors in specially designed barns in southern Alberta, then migrating north during the summer into the
Peace River valley where the season is short but the working days are long for
honeybees to produce honey from
clover and
fireweed.
Hybrid canola also requires
bee pollination, and some beekeepers service this need.
The vast northern
forest reserves of
softwood allow Alberta to produce large quantities of
lumber,
oriented strand board (OSB) and
plywood, and several northern Alberta plants supply
North America and the
Pacific Rim nations with bleached
wood pulp and
newsprint.
The government of Alberta is organized as a
parliamentary democracy with a unicameral legislature and a bicameral government. Its
unicameral legislature — the
Legislative Assembly — consists of 83 members. The bicameral nature of Alberta's government is represented by locally elected municipal and school government which is not a third order of government but is separated from the (primary) provincial government.
As Canada's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state for the Government of Alberta. Her duties in Alberta are carried out by Lieutenant Governor, Norman Kwong. The government is headed by the
Premier,
Ralph Klein, who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Government of Alberta.
|
Alberta's Legislative Building in Edmonton. |
As is always the case in a parliamentary system of government, the Premier is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, and he draws all the members of his Cabinet from among the Members of the Legislative Assembly.
The City of
Edmonton is the seat of the provincial government — the capital of Alberta.
The province's revenue comes mainly from the taxation of oil, natural gas, beef, softwood lumber, and wheat, but also includes a tax on corporate and personal income, gaming revenue, and
grants from the
federal government primarily for
infrastructure projects. Albertans are the lowest-
taxed people in
Canada, and Alberta is the only province in Canada without a provincial
sales tax (though residents are still subject to the federal sales tax, the
GST). Alberta's municipalities and school jurisdictions have their own governments which (usually) work in co-operation with the provincial government.
Alberta's elections tend to yield results which are much more conservative than those of other Canadian provinces. Alberta has traditionally had three political parties, the
Progressive Conservatives ("Conservatives" or "Tories"), the
Liberals, and the social democratic
New Democrats. A fourth party, the strongly conservative
Social Credit Party, was a power in Alberta for many
decades, but fell from the political map after the Progressive Conservatives came to power in 1971. Since that time, no other political party has governed Alberta. In fact, only four parties have governed Alberta: the
Liberals, from 1905 to 1921; the
United Farmers of Alberta, from 1921 to 1935; the Social Credit Party, from 1935 to 1971, and the currently governing Progressive Conservative Party, from 1971 to the present.
As is the case with many western Canadian provinces, Alberta has had occasional bouts of separatist sentiment. Even during the
1980s, when these feelings were at their strongest, there has never been enough interest in secession to initiate any major movements or referenda. There are a number of groups wishing to promote the independence of Alberta in some form currently active in the province. See also:
Alberta separatism.
In the
2004 provincial election, held in November, the Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected as a majority government (62 Members), the Liberal Party of Alberta was elected as the Official Opposition (16 Members), the New Democratic Party elected four Members, and the
Alberta Alliance Party, running to the
right of the Conservatives, won one seat.
See also:
List of Alberta Premiers,
List of Alberta general electionsAs with any Canadian province, the Alberta Legislature has (almost) exclusive authority to make laws respecting education. Since 1905 the Legislature has used this capacity to continue the model of locally elected public and separate school boards which originated prior to 1905, as well as to create and/or regulate universities, colleges, technical institutions and other educational forms and institutions (public charter schools, private schools, home schooling).
K-12
The first schools in what is now Alberta were parochial, that is, they were organized, owned and operated by Church clergy, missionaries, or authorities, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. A nominal fee was often charged for the attendance of students at these schools, and the fee was more often waived, as an act of charity or as an act of proslytizing, or as an act of local solidarity.
The first "free" school (which would now be called a public school) in what is now Alberta, was established in the hamlet of Edmonton, in the Northwest Territories, in early 1881. The school was established before the Northwest Territories had a Territorial Assembly, and before there was any law for the Territory respecting schools, or local government, or local taxation. The people of the hamlet of Edmonton elected trustees to govern the establishment and operation of the school, and submitted to an informal local taxation entirely on the basis of local solidarity.
Between 1883 and 1905 a system of education developed in Alberta by which
public education was available in every community once the local population initiatied its introduction; and
separate school education could be provided subsequently, provided certain conditions were met. This system, by which public education was to be universally available and separate school education available under certain conditions, was the system which the federal government of Sir
Wilfrid Laurier enshrined in the constitituion of Alberta (the
Alberta Act) in 1905.
There are forty-two public school jurisdictions in Alberta, and seventeen operating separate school jurisdictions. Sixteen of the operating separate school jurisdictions have a Roman Catholic electorate, and one (St. Albert) has a Protestant electorate. In addition, one Protestant separate school district, Glen Avon, survives as a ward of the St. Paul Education Region. The City of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta/
Saskatchewan border, and both the public and separate school systems in that city are counted in the above numbers: both of them operate according to Saskatchewan law.
The most recent significant development in the governance of education in Alberta has been the emergence of francophone education authorities in response to the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). There are five francophone authorities in Alberta. In the south a public francophone authority and a separate francophone authority share co-terminous boundaries. In the north there are three authorities which provide both public and separate school education. The francophone authorities, together, cover the province, but they are not required to provide francophone education from place to place, except where numbers warrant, and it is the responsibility of the board of the authority to decide whether numbers warrant.
For many years the provincial government has funded the greater part of the cost of providing K - 12 education. Prior to 1994 public and separate school boards in Alberta had the legislative authority to levy a local tax on property, as supplementary support for local education. In 1994 the government of the province eliminated this right for public school boards, but not for separate school boards. Since 1994 there has continued to be a tax on property in support of K - 12 education; the difference is that the mill rate is now set by the provincial government, the money is collected by the local municipal authority and remitted to the provincial government. The relevant legislation requires that all the money raised by this property tax must go to the support of K - 12 education provided by school boards. The provincial government pools the property tax funds from across the province and distributes them, according to a formula, to public and separate school jurisdictions and francophone authorities.
In addition to the property tax collected, the provincial government allocates money, each year, from the General Revenue Fund, for the support of K - 12 public and separate school education. In the case of the money drawn from the General Revenue Fund, it is also used to provide full financial support for
charter schools, a type of public school that does not charge tuition (and receives the same funding per student that a public district school would receive).
Private schools and
homeschooling receive some funding, but parents will pay a substantial portion of the cost.
Public and separate school boards, charter schools, private schools, and home schoolers all follow the Program of Studies and the curriculum approved by the provincial department of education (Alberta Education). Public and separate schools, charter schools, and approved private schools all employ teachers who are certificated by Alberta Education, they administer Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Examinations set by Alberta Education, and they may grant high school graduation certificates endorsed by Albera Education.
Since 1994 all boards with a civil electorate (public, separate, francophone) are funded almost entirely by the provincial government. School boards may, and many do, allow the school administration to levy fees for books and special materials, special programs or services, etc. Such fees range from $20.00/student/year (more or less) to $750.00/student/year.
Current issues for K - 12 (civil electorate) education in Alberta include, but are not limited to:# the balance of power between school board trustees and the province# the level of funding, which school boards tend to feel is inadequate# disputes between the school boards and the province, over ownership and control of schools and local facilities;# issues over who locally elected school boards, and their employees, are accountable to
Charter schools, private schools, and home schooling each have their own issues.
Approximately 595,000 students are educated in Alberta.
Post-secondary
Alberta's oldest and largest university is Edmonton's
University of Alberta. The
University of Calgary, once affiliated with the University of Alberta, gained its autonomy in 1966, and is now the second largest university in Alberta. There is also
Athabasca University, which focuses on distance learning, and the
University of Lethbridge. There are 15 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes,
NAIT and
SAIT[Post Secondary Education]. There is also a large and active private sector of post-secondary institutions, including
DeVry University. Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions. There has been some controversy in recent years over the rising cost of post-secondary education for students (as opposed to taxpayers). In
2005, Premier Ralph Klein made a promise that he would freeze tuition and look into ways of reducing schooling costs
[University of Alberta - Ralph Klein promises tuition freeze]. So far, no plan has been released by the Alberta government.
Alberta has over 180,000 km of
highways and roads, of which nearly 50,000 km are paved. The main north-south
corridor is
Highway 2, which begins south of
Cardston at the
Carway border crossing.
Highway 4, which effectively extends
U.S. Interstate Highway 15 into Alberta and is the busiest U.S. gateway to the province, begins at the
Coutts border crossing and ends at
Lethbridge.
Highway 3 joins Lethbridge to
Fort Macleod and links
Highway 4 to
Highway 2. Highway 2 travels northward through
Fort Macleod,
Calgary,
Red Deer, and
Edmonton before dividing into two highways. The section of Highway 2 between Calgary and Edmonton has been named the
Queen Elizabeth II Highway to commemorate the visit of the monarch in
2005. Past Edmonton, one branch continues northwest as
Highway 43 into
Grande Prairie and the
Peace River Country; the other (
Highway 63) travels northeast to
Fort McMurray, the location of the
Athabasca Oil Sands. Highway 2 is supplimented by two more highways that run parallel to it:
Highway 22, west of highway 2, known as "the cowboy trail," and
Highway 21, east of highway 2.
Alberta has two main east-west corridors. The southern corridor, part of the
Trans-Canada Highway system, enters the province near
Medicine Hat, runs westward through Calgary, and leaves Alberta through
Banff National Park. The northern corridor, also part of the Trans-Canada network but known alternatively as the
Yellowhead Highway (
Highway 16), runs west from
Lloydminster in eastern Alberta, through Edmonton and
Jasper National Park into
British Columbia. On a sunny spring or fall day, one of the most scenic drives in the world is along the
Icefields Parkway, which runs some 300 km between Jasper and Banff, with mountain ranges and glaciers on either side of its entire length.
Urban stretches of Alberta's major highways and
freeways are often called
trails. For example, Highway 2 is Deerfoot Trail as it passes through Calgary, Calgary Trail as it leaves Edmonton southbound, and St. Albert Trail as it leaves Edmonton northbound toward the city of
St. Albert. Visitors from outside Alberta often find this disconcerting, accustomed as they are to the notion that a trail is an unpaved route primarily for
pedestrians.
Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge have substantial mass transit systems. Edmonton and Calgary also operate light rail vehicles.
Alberta is well-connected by air, with
international airports at both Edmonton and Calgary.
Calgary International Airport and
Edmonton International Airport are the fourth and fifth
busiest in Canada respectively. Calgary's
airport is a hub for
WestJet Airlines and a regional hub for
Air Canada. It is also a major hub for several cargo airlines. Calgary's airport primarily serves the Canadian prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) for connecting flights to British Columbia, eastern Canada, 15 major US centres, nine European airports, and four destinations in
Mexico and the
Caribbean [Calgary International Airport]. Edmonton's airport acts as a hub for the Canadian north and has direct scheduled connections to all major Canadian airports as well as 9 major US airports.
There are over 9000 km of operating mainline railway, and many tourists see Alberta aboard
Via Rail or
Rocky Mountain Railtours.
Main article: Culture of Alberta
Alberta is well known for its warm and outgoing friendliness and
frontier spirit.
Summer brings many festivals to the province. Edmonton's Fringe Festival is the world's second largest after
Edinburgh's. The folk music festivals in both Calgary and Edmonton are two of Canada's largest and both cities host a number of annual multicultural events. With a large number of summer and winter events, Edmonton prides itself as being the "Festival City". The city's "heritage days" festival sees the participation of over 70 national groups. Calgary is also home to
Carifest, the second largest
Caribbean festival in the nation (after
Caribana in
Toronto). These events highlight the province's cultural diversity and love of entertainment. Most of the major cities have several performing theatre companies who entertain in venues as diverse as Edmonton's Arts Barns and the
Francis Winspear Centre.
Alberta also has a large ethnic population. Both the
Chinese and
East Indian communities are significant. According to
Statistics Canada, Alberta is home to the second highest proportion (two percent) of
Francophones in western Canada (after
Manitoba). Many of
Alberta's French-speaking residents live in the central and northwestern regions of the province. As reported in the 2001 census, the Chinese represented nearly four percent of Alberta's population and East Indians represented better than two percent. Both Edmonton and Calgary have
Chinatowns and Calgary's is Canada's third largest.
Aboriginal Albertans make up approximately three percent of the population.
The major contributors to Alberta's ethnic diversity have been the European nations. Forty-four percent of Albertans are of
British and
Irish descent, and there are also large numbers of
Germans,
Ukrainians, and
Scandinavians.
Both cities are home to
Canadian Football League and
National Hockey League teams.
Soccer,
rugby union and
lacrosse are also played professionally in Alberta.
Language
See also Languages of CanadaAlberta is home to speakers of many languages, with many minorty languages growing do to in-migration. English remains the only official language used in all government services, however French is an official language of the legislature and the courts.
Main article: Tourism in Alberta
Alberta has been a tourist destination from the early days of the 20th Century, with attractions including outdoor locales for skiing, hiking and camping, shopping locales such as
West Edmonton Mall, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the
Commonwealth Games and
Olympic Games, as well as more eclectic attractions.
According to Alberta Economic Development, Edmonton and Calgary both host over four million visitors annually. Banff, Jasper and the Rocky Mountains are vistited by about three million people per year
[Alberta Economic Development: Tourism Statistics].
Alberta's
Rocky Mountains include well known tourist destinations
Banff National Park and
Jasper National Park. The two mountain parks are connected by the scenic
Icefields Parkway. Banff is located 128km west of Calgary on
Highway 1 and Jasper is located 366km west of Edmonton on
Yellowhead Highway.
About 1.2 million people pass through the gates of Calgary's world-famous
Stampede, a celebration of Canada's own
Wild West and the cattle ranching industry. About 800,000 people enjoy Edmonton's
Klondike Days (recently renamed Capital Ex). Edmonton was the gateway to the only all-Canadian route to the
Yukon gold fields, and the only route which did not require gold-seekers to travel the exhausting and dangerous
Chilkoot Pass.
Alberta is an important destination for tourists who love to
ski and
hike; Alberta boasts several world-class
ski resorts. Hunters and fishermen from around the world are able to take home impressive
trophies and
tall tales from their experiences in Alberta's wilderness.
Alberta has enjoyed a relatively high rate of growth in recent years, due in large part to its burgeoning economy. Between 2003 and 2004, the province saw high birthrates (on par with some larger provinces such as
British Columbia), relatively high immigration, and a high rate of interprovincial migration when compared to other provinces
[StatCan - Alberta population]. As of late 2005, the population of the province was 3,306,359 (
Albertans). 81% of this population lives in urban areas and 19% is rural. The
Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is the most urbanized area in the province and one of the densest in Canada. Many of Alberta's cities and towns have also experienced very high rates of growth in recent history.
Population of Alberta since 1901
|
Alberta's population has grown steadily for over a century. |
| Year | Population | Five Year
% change | Ten Year
% change | Percentage of
Canadian Pop. | Rank Among
Provinces | | 1901 | 73,022 | n/a | n/a | 1.4 | 9 |
| 1911 | 374,295 | n/a | 412.6 | 5.2 | 7 |
| 1921 | 588,454 | n/a | 57.2 | 6.7 | 5 |
| 1931 | 731,605 | n/a | 24.3 | 7.0 | 4 |
| 1941 | 796,169 | n/a | 8.8 | 6.9 | 5 |
| 1951 | 939,501 | n/a | 18.0 | 6.7 | 4 |
| 1956 | 1,123,116 | 19.5 | n/a | n/a | 4 |
| 1961 | 1,331,944 | 18.6 | 41.8 | 7.3 | 4 |
| 1966 | 1,463,203 | 9.9 | 30.3 | n/a | 4 |
| 1971 | 1,627,874 | 11.3 | 22.2 | 7.5 | 4 |
| 1976 | 1,838,035 | 12.9 | 25.6 | n/a | 4 |
| 1981 | 2,237,724 | 21.7 | 37.5 | 9.2 | 4 |
| 1986 | 2,365,825 | 5.7 | 28.7 | 9.3 | 4 |
| 1991 | 2,545,553 | 7.6 | 13.8 | 9.3 | 4 |
| 1996 | 2,696,826 | 5.9 | 14.0 | 9.3 | 4 |
| 2001 | 2,974,807 | 10.3 | 16.9 | 9.9 | 4 |
Source: Statistics Canada [Population of Alberta - Statistics Canada]Ethnic Origins
| Ethnic Origin | Population!Percent |
|---|
| Canadian | 813,485 | 27.66% |
| English | 753,190 | 25.61% |
| German | 576,350 | 19.60% |
| Scottish | 556,575 | 18.92% |
| Irish | 461,065 | 15.68% |
| French | 332,675 | 11.31% |
| Ukrainian | 285,725 | 9.71% |
| Dutch (Netherlands) | 149,225 | 5.07% |
| North American Indian | 144,040 | 4.90% |
| Polish | 137,625 | 4.68% |
| Norwegian | 120,045 | 4.08% |
| Chinese | 108,050 | 3.67% |
| Swedish | 78,565 | 2.67% |
| Italian | 67,655 | 2.30% |
| Métis | 63,620 | 2.16% |
| Russian | 62,750 | 2.13% |
| East Indian | 61,180 | 2.08% |
| Welsh | 59,470 | 2.02% |
| Danish | 50,465 | 1.72% |
| American (USA) | 49,875 | 1.70% |
| Hungarian (Magyar) | 41,535 | 1.41% |
| Filipino | 36,235 | 1.23% |
The information regarding ethnicities at the 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 30,000 responses are included.
Religion
| Religion | Population!Percent |
|---|
| Christian | 2,099,435 | 71.4% |
| :Protestant | 1,145,460 | 38.9% |
| ::United Church | 396,065 | 13.5% |
| ::Anglican | 172,430 | 5.9% |
| ::Lutheran | 142,530 | 4.8% |
| ::Baptist | 73,640 | 2.5% |
| ::Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) | 50,580 | 1.7% |
| ::Pentecostal | 42,615 | 1.4% |
| ::Presbyterian | 29,200 | 1.0% |
| ::Other Protestant | 238,400 | 8.1% |
| :Catholic | 786,360 | 26.7% |
| ::Roman Catholic | 756,005 | 25.7% |
| ::Ukrainian Catholic | 28,750 | 1.0% |
| ::Other Catholic | 1,605 | 0.1% |
| :Christian Orthodox | 44,475 | 1.5% |
| :Other Christian | 123,140 | 4.2% |
| Muslim | 49,040 | 1.7% |
| Buddhist | 33,410 | 1.1% |
| Other Religions | 64,425 | 2.2% |
| No Religion | 694,840 | 23.6% |
Most Albertans identify as
Christians. Nevertheless, many people in the province observe other faiths or do not profess to a religion at all. Alberta has a somewhat higher percentage of
evangelical Christians than do other provinces. Conversely, Alberta also has the second highest percentage of
Non-religious residents in Canada (after British Columbia). 44% of Albertans did not attend church last year.
The
Mormons of Alberta reside primarily in the extreme south of the province. There are
temples in both Cardston and Edmonton. Many Alberta Mormons descend from
Mormon pioneers who emigrated from
Utah around the turn of the 20th century. Alberta also has a large
Hutterite population, a communal
Anabaptist sect similar to the
Mennonites, and a significant population of
Seventh-day Adventists in and around the
Lacombe area due to the presence of the
Canadian University College. Alberta is also home to several
Eastern Rite Catholic Churches as part of the legacy of Eatern European immmigrantion, including the
Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton.
Many people of the
Hindu,
Sikh, and
Muslim faiths also make Alberta their home; one of the largest
Sikh temples in Canada is located just outside of Edmonton.
Main article: History of Alberta
The present province of Alberta, as far north as about 53° north latitude, was a part of
Rupert's Land from the time of the incorporation of the
Hudson's Bay Company (
1670). After the arrival in the North-West of the French around 1731 they settled the prairies of the west, establishing communities such as
Lac La Biche and
Bonnyville. Fort La Jonquière was established near what is now Calgary in (1752). The
North-West Company of Montreal occupied the northern part of Alberta territory before the Hudson's Bay Company arrived from Hudson Bay to take possession of it. The first explorer of the Athabasca region was
Peter Pond, who, on behalf of the North-West Company of Montreal, built
Fort Athabasca on Lac La Biche in 1778.
Roderick Mackenzie built
Fort Chipewyan on
Lake Athabasca ten years later in 1788. His cousin, Sir
Alexander Mackenzie followed the
North Saskatchewan River to its northernmost point near Edmonton, then setting northward on foot, trekked to the
Athabasca River, which he followed to Lake Athabasca. It was there he discovered the mighty outflow river which bears his name which he followed to its outlet in the Arctic Ocean. Returning to
Lake Athabasca, he followed the
Peace River upstream, eventually reaching the
Pacific Ocean, and so being the first white man to cross the North American continent north of
Mexico.
The district of Alberta was created as part of the North-West Territories in 1882. As settlement increased, local representatives to the North-West Legislative Assembly were added. After a long campaign for autonomy, in 1905 the district of Alberta was enlarged and given provincial status.
Fauna
The three climatic regions (
alpine,
forest, and
prairie) of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the land of the bison, its grasses providing a great pasture and breeding ground for millions of
buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then buffalo have made a strong comeback, and thrive on farms and in parks all over Alberta.
Alberta is home to many large
carnivores. Among them are the
grizzly and
black bears, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the
dog and
cat families include
coyotes,
wolves,
fox,
lynx,
bobcat and
mountain lion (cougar).
Herbivorous, or plant-eating animals, are found throughout the province.
Moose and
deer (both mule and white-tail
varieties) are found in the wooded regions, and
pronghorn antelope can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta.
Bighorn sheep and
mountain goats live in the Rocky Mountains.
Rabbits,
porcupines,
skunks,
squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is fortunate in that it is home to only one variety of venomous snake, the prairie
rattlesnake.
Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north is the nesting-ground of the migratory birds. Vast numbers of
ducks,
geese,
swans, and
pelicans arrive in Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta.
Eagles,
hawks,
owls, and
crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other
temperate regions, is home to
mosquitoes, ,
wasps, and
bees. Rivers and lakes are well stocked with
pike,
walleye,
whitefish,
rainbow,
speckled, and
brown trout, and even
sturgeon.
Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province.
Frogs and
salamanders are a few of the
amphibians that make their homes in Alberta.
Flora
In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring brings the prairie anemone, the
avens,
crocuses, and other early flowers. The advancing summer introduces many flowers of the
sunflower family, until in August the plains are one blaze of yellow and purple. The southern part of Alberta is covered by a short grass, very nutritive, but dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the
buffalo bean,
fleabane, and
sage. Both yellow and purple
clover fill the roadways and the ditches with their beauty and aromatic scents. The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely
deciduous, typically
birch,
poplar, and
tamarack. Many species of
willow and other shrubs grow in virtually any terrain. On the north side of the North Saskatchewan River evergreen forests prevail for hundreds of thousands of square kilometres.
Aspen poplar,
balsam poplar (or
cottonwood), and
paper birch are the primary large deciduous species.
Conifers include
Jack pine, Rocky Mountain pine,
Lodgepole pine, both white and black
spruce, and the deciduous conifer
tamarack.
*
Family Law Act*
Alberta Advantage*
Alberta separatism
*
Government of Alberta website*
Travel Alberta*
Alberta Encyclopedia*
Alberta First - Alberta Community Profiles, statistics, facts
*
Alberta Demosphere*
CBC Digital Archives - Striking Oil in Alberta*
CBC Digital Archives - Electing Dynasties: Alberta Campaigns 1935 to 2001*
CBC Digital Archives - Alberta @ 100
