New Brunswick
Encyclopedia
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces
and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally
bilingual (English–French). The provincial capital is Fredericton
and Saint John
is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area. Statistics Canada
estimates the provincial population in 2009 to have been 750,457; a majority of the population is English-speaking, but there is also a large Francophone minority (33%), chiefly of Acadian origin.
The province's name comes from the English and French partial transcription of the city of Brunswick
(Braunschweig
in German) located in modern day Lower Saxony
, northern Germany (and former duchy of the same name), the ancestral home of the Hanoverian
George III of the United Kingdom
.
's Gaspé Peninsula
and Chaleur Bay
; along the east coast by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
and Northumberland Strait
; in the southeast corner the narrow Isthmus of Chignecto
connects New Brunswick to the Nova Scotia peninsula
; in the south by the Bay of Fundy
coast, (which with a rise of 16 m (52.5 ft), has amongst the highest tides in the world); and in the west by the US state of Maine
.
New Brunswick differs from the other Maritime provinces physiographically, climatologically, and ethnoculturally. Both Nova Scotia
and Prince Edward Island
are either surrounded by, or are almost surrounded by water. Oceanic effects therefore tend to define their climate, economy, and culture. On the other hand, New Brunswick, although having a significant seacoast, is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean proper and has a large interior that is removed from oceanic influences. As a result, the climate tends to be more continental
in character rather than maritime
.
The major river systems of the province include the St. Croix River
, Saint John River, Kennebecasis River
, Petitcodiac River
, Miramichi River
, Nepisiguit River
, and the Restigouche River
. Although smaller, the Bouctouche River
, Richibucto River
and Kouchibouguac River
are also important. The settlement patterns and the economy of New Brunswick are based more on the province's river systems rather than its seacoasts.
Northern New Brunswick is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains
within the Eastern Canadian forests
ecoregion
, with the northwestern part of the province consisting of the remote and rugged Miramichi Highlands as well as the Chaleur Uplands and the Notre Dame Mountains
, with a maximum elevation at Mount Carleton
of 817 m (2,680 ft). The New Brunswick Lowlands form the eastern and central portions of the province and are part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests
ecoregion. Finally the Caledonia Highlands and St. Croix Highlands extend along the Bay of Fundy coast reaching elevations of more than 400 m (1,312 ft).
The total land and water area of the province is 72908 km² (28,150 sq mi), over 80 percent of which is forested. Agricultural lands are found mostly in the upper St John River valley, with lesser amounts of farmland in the southeast of the province, especially in the Kennebecasis and Petitcodiac river valleys. The three major urban centres
are in the southern third of the province.
inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mi'kmaq, and they occupied the eastern and coastal areas of the province. They were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 B.C. near Metepnákiaq (Red Bank First Nation
). The western portion of the province was the traditional home of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) people. The smaller Passamaquoddy
tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province.
in 1534, who discovered and named the Bay of Chaleur. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain
set up camp for the winter on St.Croix Island
, between New Brunswick and Maine. The colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia
. Over the next 150 years, a number of other French settlements and seigneuries
were founded in the area occupied by present-day New Brunswick, including along the St. John River, the upper Bay of Fundy region, in the Tantramar Marshes
at Beaubassin, and finally at St. Pierre (site of present day Bathurst
). The whole maritime region (as well as parts of Maine) was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia
.
One of the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht
of 1713 was the surrender of peninsular Nova Scotia to the British
. The bulk of the Acadian population thus found themselves residing in the new British colony of Nova Scotia. The remainder of Acadia (including the New Brunswick region) was only lightly populated and poorly defended.
During Father Le Loutre's War
, in 1750, in order to protect their territorial interests in what remained of Acadia, France built three forts (Fort Beauséjour
, Fort Menagoueche
and Fort Gaspareaux
) along the frontier with Nova Scotia. (A major French fortification (Fortress of Louisbourg
) was also built on Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island
) after Queen Anne's War
, but the function of this fort was mostly to defend the approaches to the colony of Canada
, not Acadia.)
During the French and Indian War
(1754–63), the British completed their conquest of Acadia and extended their control to include all of New Brunswick. Fort Beauséjour (near Sackville
), Fort Menagoueche and Fort Gaspareaux were captured by a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton
in 1755. Inside Fort Beauséjour, the British forces found not only French regular troops, but also Acadian irregulars. Governor Charles Lawrence
of Nova Scotia used the discovery of Acadian civilians helping in the defence of the fort as a pretext to order the expulsion
of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia. The Acadians of the recently captured Beaubassin and Petitcodiac
regions were included in the expulsion order. Some of the Acadians in the Petitcodiac and Memramcook
region escaped, and under the leadership of Joseph Broussard
continued to conduct guerrilla action
against the British forces for a couple of years. Other actions in the war included British expeditions up the St. John River in the St. John River Campaign
. Fort Anne (Fredericton) fell during the 1759 campaign, and following this, all of present-day New Brunswick came under British control.
. New Brunswick's relatively isolated location on the Bay of Fundy, away from the Atlantic coastline proper tended to discourage settlement during the postwar period. There were exceptions however, such as the coming of New England Planters
to the Sackville region and the arrival of Pennsylvania Dutch
settlers in Moncton in 1766. In both these cases, many of the new settlers took up land that had originally belonged to displaced Acadians before the deportation.
There were several actions on New Brunswick soil during the American Revolutionary War
: the Maugerville Rebellion
(1776), the Battle of Fort Cumberland
(1776), the Siege of Saint John (1777) and the Battle at Miramichi (1779)
. The Battle of Fort Cumberland was the largest and most significant of these conflicts. Following the war, significant population growth finally came to the area when 14,000 refugee Loyalists from the newly created United States arrived on the Saint John River in 1783. Influential Loyalists such as Harvard
-educated Edward Winslow
saw themselves as the natural leaders of their community and that they should be recognized for their rank and that their loyalty deserved special compensation. However they were not appreciated by the pre-loyalist population in Nova Scotia. As Colonel Thomas Dundas wrote from Saint John, "They [the loyalists] have experienced every possible injury from the old inhabitants of Nova Scotia." Therefore 55 prominent merchants and professionals petitioned for 5000 acres (20.2 km²) grants each. Winslow pressed for the creation of a "Loyalist colony" – an asylum that could become "the envy of the American states". Nova Scotia was therefore partitioned, and the colony of New Brunswick was created on August 16, 1784; Sir Thomas Carleton
was appointed as Lieutenant-Governor in 1784, and in 1785 a new assembly
was established with the first elections.
Even though the bulk of the Loyalist population was located in Parrtown (Saint John), the decision was made by the colonial authorities to place the new colonial capital at St. Anne's Point (Fredericton), about 150 km up the Saint John River as it was felt that by placing the capital inland, it would be less vulnerable to American attack. The University of New Brunswick was founded at Fredericton at the same time (1785), making it the oldest English-language university in Canada and the first public university in North America.
Initial Loyalist population growth in the new colony extended along the Fundy coastline from Saint Andrews
to Saint Martins and up the Kennebecasis and lower Saint John River valleys.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, some of the deported Acadians from Nova Scotia found their way back to "Acadie," where they settled mostly along the eastern and northern shores of the new colony of New Brunswick. Here, they lived in relative (and in many ways, self-imposed) isolation.
Additional immigration to New Brunswick in the early part of the 19th century was from Scotland
; western England; and Waterford
, Ireland, often after first having come through (or having lived in) Newfoundland
. A large influx of settlers arrived in New Brunswick after 1845 from Ireland as a result of the Potato Famine; many of these people settled in Saint John or Chatham
. Both Saint John and the Miramichi region remain largely Irish today.
The northwestern border between Maine and New Brunswick had not been clearly defined by the Treaty of Paris (1783)
that had ended the American Revolution
. By the late 1830s, population growth and competing lumber interests in the upper Saint John River valley created the need for a definite boundary in the area. During the winter of 1838–39, the situation quickly deteriorated, with both Maine and New Brunswick calling out their respective militias. The "Aroostook War
" was bloodless (but politically very tense), and the boundary was subsequently settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
of 1842.
Throughout the mid 19th century, shipbuilding
on the Bay of Fundy shore and also on the Petitcodiac River and rivers on the east coast became a dominant industry in New Brunswick. The Marco Polo
, the fastest clipper
ship ever built, was launched from Saint John in 1851. Resource-based industries such as logging and farming were also important components of the New Brunswick economy during this time.
on July 1, 1867. The Charlottetown Conference
of 1864, which ultimately led to the confederation movement, originally had been intended to discuss only a Maritime Union
, but concerns over the American Civil War
as well as Fenian
activity along the border led to an interest in expanding the scope of the proposed union. This interest in an expanded union arose from the Province of Canada
(formerly Upper
and Lower Canada
, later Ontario
and Quebec), and a request was made by the Canadian political leaders to the organizers of the Maritime conference to have the meeting agenda altered.
Although the Maritime leaders were swayed by the arguments of the Canadians, many ordinary residents of the Maritimes wanted no part of this larger confederation for fear that their interests and concerns would be ignored in a wider national union. Many politicians who supported confederation, such as Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
(New Brunswick's best-known Father of Confederation), found themselves without a seat after the next election; nevertheless, backers of the wider confederation eventually prevailed.
Following confederation, the fears of the anti-confederates were proven correct as new national policies and trade barriers were soon adopted by the central government, thus disrupting the historic trading relationship between the Maritime Provinces and New England
. The situation in New Brunswick was exacerbated by both the Great Fire of 1877
in Saint John
and the decline of the wooden shipbuilding industry; skilled workers were thus forced to move to other parts of Canada or to the United States to seek employment.
As the 20th century dawned, however, the province's economy again began to expand. Manufacturing gained strength with the construction of textile mills; and in the crucial forestry sector, the sawmill
s that had dotted inland sections of the province gave way to larger pulp and
paper mill
s. The railway industry, meanwhile, provided for growth and prosperity in the Moncton region. Nevertheless, unemployment remained high throughout the province, and the Great Depression
brought another setback. Two influential families, the Irvings
and the McCains
, emerged from the Depression to begin to modernise and vertically integrate
the provincial economy—especially in the vital forestry, food processing, and energy sectors.
The Acadians in northern New Brunswick had long been geographically and linguistically isolated from the more numerous English speakers, who lived in the south of the province. Government services were often not available in French, and the infrastructure in predominantly Francophone areas was noticeably less developed than in the rest of the province; this changed with the election of Premier Louis Robichaud
in 1960. He embarked on the ambitious Equal Opportunity
Plan, in which education, rural road maintenance, and health care fell under the sole jurisdiction of a provincial government that insisted on equal coverage throughout the province. County councils were abolished, and the rural areas came under direct provincial jurisdiction. The 1969 Official Languages Act made French an official language.
(1755), which drove thousands of French residents into exile in North America, Britain, and France for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to King George III during the French and Indian War
. Acadians who were deported to Louisiana
are often referred to as Cajun
s in English .
Much of the English Canadian population of New Brunswick is descended from 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 with 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
.
In the 2001 Canadian census, the most commonly reported ethnicities were 193,470 French
(26.9%); 165,235 English (23.0%); 135,835 Irish
(18.9%); 127,635 Scottish
(17.7%); 27,490 German (3.8%); 26,220 Acadians (3.6%); 23,815 "North American Indian" (First Nations)
(3.3%); 13,355 Dutch (Netherlands) (1.9%); and 7,620 Welsh (1.1%). It should be noted that 242,220 people (33.7%) identified themselves as simply "Canadian"
or "Canadien," while 173,585 (24.1%) also selected another ethnicity—for a total of 415,810 (57.8%) calling themselves Canadian
. (Each person could choose more than one ethnicity.)
showed a population of 729,997. Of the 708,145 singular responses to the census question concerning "mother tongue," the most commonly reported languages were:
In addition, there were 560 responses of both English and a "nonofficial language"; 120 of both French and a nonofficial language; 4,450 of both English and French; 30 of English, French, and a nonofficial language; and about 10,300 people who either did not respond to the question, reported multiple nonofficial languages, or gave another unenumerated response. New Brunswick's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.
, with 80,490 (11%); the United Church of Canada
, with 69,235 (10%); the Anglicans
, with 58,215 (8%); the Pentecostals with 20,155 (3%).
The rural primary economy is best known for forestry
, mining, mixed farming
, and fishing.
Forestry is important in all areas of the province but especially in the heavily forested central regions. There are many sawmills in the smaller towns and large pulp and paper mills located in Saint John, Miramichi
, Nackawic, and Edmundston.
Heavy metals, including lead and zinc
, are mined in the north around Bathurst. One of the world's largest potash
deposits is located in Sussex
; a second potash mine, costing over a billion dollars, is in development in the Sussex region. Oil and natural gas deposits are also being developed in the Sussex region.
Farming is concentrated in the upper Saint John River valley (in the northwest portion of the province), where the most valuable crop is potatoes. Mixed and dairy farms
are found elsewhere, but especially in the southeast, concentrated in the Kennebecasis and Petitcodiac river valleys.
The most valuable fish catches are lobster
, scallop
s and king crab
. The farming of Atlantic salmon
in the Passamaquoddy Bay
region is an important local industry.
The largest employers in the province are the Irving group
of companies, several large multinational forest companies, the government of New Brunswick, and the McCain group of companies.
Aside from Saint John's large tourism industry from cruise ships, some of the province's tourist attractions include the New Brunswick Museum
, Minister's Island
, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
, Kings Landing Historical Settlement
, Village Historique Acadien
, Les Jardins de la République, Hopewell Rocks
, La Dune de Bouctouche, Saint John Reversing Falls
, Magnetic Hill and the Magnetic Hill Zoo, Crystal Palace, Magic Mountain Water Park
, Casino New Brunswick
, Cape Jourimain
National Wildlife Preserve, Sackville
Waterfowl Park, and the 41 km (25.5 mi) Fundy Hiking Trail.
, Mactaquac
, Mount Carleton
, Murray Beach, New River Beach, Parlee Beach
, Sugarloaf
, The Anchorage
National Parks: Fundy National Park
, Kouchibouguac National Park
International Parks: Roosevelt Campobello International Park
New Brunswick has a unicameral
legislature with 55 seats. Elections are held at least every five years, but may be called at any time by the Lieutenant Governor (the viceregal representative) on consultation with the Premier
. The Premier is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the legislature.
There are two dominant political parties in New Brunswick, the Liberal Party
and the Progressive Conservative Party
. While consistently polling approximately 10% of the electoral vote since the early 1980s, the New Democratic Party
has elected few members to the Legislative Assembly
. 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.
The dynamics of New Brunswick politics are different from those of other Canadian provinces. The lack of a dominant urban centre in the province means that the 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 parallels the federal stage.
Since 1960, the province has tended to elect a succession of young bilingual leaders. This combination of attributes has permitted recent premiers of New Brunswick to be disproportionately influential players on the federal stage. Former Premier Bernard Lord
(Progressive Conservative) has been touted as a potential leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
. Frank McKenna
(premier, 1987–97), had been considered to be a front-runner to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
. Richard Hatfield
(premier, 1970–87) played an active role in the patriation
of the Canadian constitution
and creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
. Louis Robichaud (premier, 1960–70) was responsible for a wide range of social reforms.
On September 27, 2010, the Progressive Conservatives won a large majority with 42 out of 55 seats by taking 16 formerly Liberal seats, making David Alward
the new Premier of New Brunswick. see New Brunswick general election, 2010
A recent report released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
criticized the pensions made by members of the legislative assembly, which take 16 taxpayer dollars for every dollar contributed by the Member of the Legislative Assembly
(MLA) and cost taxpayers $7.6 million annually. According to the organization, New Brunswick legislators have one of the richest pension plans in the county, after voting for an 85 percent increase two years ago.
Moncton
is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the province and is among the top ten fastest growing urban areas in Canada. Its economy is principally based on the transportation, distribution, information technology, commercial, and retail sectors. Moncton has a sizeable Francophone Acadian minority population (35%) and became officially bilingual in 2002.
Saint John
is a historical city with a popular cruise ship terminal in the uptown area. The city is one of the busiest shipping ports in Canada in terms of gross tonnage. Saint John has become a major energy hub for the East Coast
. It is the home of Canada's biggest oil refinery and an LNG
terminal has also been constructed in the city. In addition, there are both large oil-fired and nuclear power plants located in or near the city. Due to recent prosperity, the retail, commercial, and residential sectors are currently experiencing a resurgence.
Fredericton, the capital of the province, is home to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the University of New Brunswick
, and St. Thomas University
. Canada's largest military base, CFB Gagetown
, is located near suburban Oromocto. The economy of Fredericton is tied to the governmental, military, and university sectors.
Public education
in the province is administered by the Department of Education
, a department
of the Government of New Brunswick
.
New Brunswick has a comprehensive parallel system of Anglophone and Francophone public schools providing education to both the primary and secondary levels. These schools are segregated by government decree. If a family doesn't have French ancestry, their children are forbidden by law to attend French schools. There are also secular and religious private schools in the province.
The New Brunswick Community College
system has campuses in all regions of the province. This comprehensive trade school system offers roughly parallel programs in both official languages at either Francophone or Anglophone campuses. Each campus, however, tends to have areas of concentration to allow for specialisation. There are also a number of private colleges for specialised training in the province, such as the Moncton Flight College
, one of the top pilot-training academies in Canada.
There are four publicly funded secular universities and four private degree-granting institutions with religious affiliation in the province. The two comprehensive provincial universities are the University of New Brunswick
and the Université de Moncton
. These institutions have extensive postgraduate
programs and Schools of Law
. Medical education programs have also been established at both the Université de Moncton and at UNBSJ in Saint John (although affiliated with Universite de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University respectively). Mount Allison University
in Sackville is currently ranked as the best undergraduate liberal arts
university in Canada and has produced 49 Rhodes Scholars
, more than any other liberal arts university in the Commonwealth
.
Publicly funded provincial comprehensive universities
Publicly funded undergraduate liberal arts universities
Private Christian undergraduate liberal arts university
Private degree-granting religious training institutions
in flavour, influenced by the native populations who made their home along the coast and riverbanks until the arrival of French-speaking in the early 17th century and English-speaking settlers beginning in the mid 18th century. Aboriginal culture in turn quickly came under European influence through trade and religion. Even writing was affected; see for example, Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
. Aboriginal societies were gradually marginalized under the reserve system, and it was not until the late nineteenth century, through the work of Silas Rand
, that the tales of Glooscap
began to emerge.
As described by the political historian Arthur Doyle in a book published in 1976, an invisible line separated the two founding European cultures, beginning on the eastern outskirts of Moncton and running diagonally across the province northwest towards Grand Falls
. Franco-New Brunswick (Acadie) lay to the northeast of this divide, and Anglo-New Brunswick lay to the southwest.
Doyle's characterization was made not long after government reforms by former premier Louis J. Robichaud had significantly improved the status of French-speaking Acadians within the province and initiated their journey towards cultural recognition and equality with their English-speaking counterparts.
Early New Brunswick was influenced by its colonial ties to France, England, Scotland, and Ireland as well as by its geographical proximity to New England and the arrival of about 40,000 Loyalists in 1783.
As local society was founded in forestry and seaborne endeavours, a tradition of lumber camp songs and sea shanties
prevailed. Acadian cloggers
and Irish
and Scots step dance
rs competed at festivals to expressive fiddle
and accordion
music. The art of storytelling, well-known to the native populations, passed on to the early settlers, and poetry—whether put to music or not—was a common form of commemorating shared events, as the voice of a masterful poet or soulful musician easily conquered the province's language barriers.
Other cultural expressions were found in family gatherings and the church; both French and English cultures saw a long and early influence of ecclesiastical architecture
, with Western European and American influences dominating rather than a particular vernacular sense. Poets produced the first important literary contributions in the province. Cousins Bliss Carman
and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts
found inspiration in the landscape, as would later writers as well. In painting, individual artists such as Anthony Flower
worked in obscurity, either through design or neglect, while others such as Edward Mitchell Bannister
left the province before ever developing a local influence.
Few 19th-century artists emerged, but those who did often benefited from fine arts training at Mount Allison University in Sackville, which began offering classes in 1854. The program came into its own under John A. Hammond
, who served from 1893 to 1916. Alex Colville
and Lawren Harris
later studied and taught art there and both Christopher Pratt
and Mary Pratt
were trained at Mount Allison. The University’s art gallery – which opened in 1895 and is named for its patron, John Owens of Saint John – is Canada’s oldest.
In French-speaking New Brunswick, it would not be until the 1960s that a comparable institution was founded, the Université de Moncton. Then, a cultural renaissance occurred under the influence of Acadian historians and such teachers as Claude Roussel and through coffeehouse
s, music, and protest. An outpouring of Acadian art, literature, and music has pressed on unabated since that time. Popular exponents of modern Acadian literature and music include Antonine Maillet
, Édith Butler
and France Daigle
. A recent New Brunswick Lieutenant-Governor, Herménégilde Chiasson
, was a poet. In northeast New Brunswick and neighbouring Quebec and northern Maine, a separate French-speaking group, the Brayon
, have fostered such important artists as Roch Voisine
and Lenny Breau
. (See also "Music of New Brunswick
").
Dr. John Clarence Webster
and Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
have made important endowments to provincial museums. Dr. Webster gave his art collection to the New Brunswick Museum in 1934, thereby endowing the museum with one of its greatest assets, James Barry
's Death of General Wolfe, which ranks as a Canadian national treasure
. Courtesy of Lord Beaverbrook, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
in Fredericton has a collection of world-renowned art, including works by Salvador Dalí
and J. M. W. Turner
.
The performing arts have a long tradition in New Brunswick, dating back to travelling road shows and 19th-century opera in Saint John. The early recording star Henry Burr
was discovered at the Imperial Theatre
in Saint John. Based in Fredericton, the most important proponent of theatre today is Theatre New Brunswick
, originally under the direction of Walter Learning
, which tours plays around the province; Canadian playwright Norm Foster
saw his early works premiere at TNB. Other live theatre troops include Théâtre l’Escaouette
in Moncton, the Théatre populaire d'Acadie in Caraquet
, and Live Bait Theatre
in Sackville. All three major cities have significant performance spaces. The refurbished Imperial and Capitol
Theatres are found in Saint John and Moncton, respectively; the more modern Playhouse
is located in Fredericton.
In modern literature, writers Alfred Bailey
and Alden Nowlan
dominated the New Brunswick literary scene in the last third of the 20th century and world-renowned literary critic Northrop Frye
was influenced by his upbringing in Moncton. The annual Frye Festival
in that city celebrates his legacy. The expatriate British poet John Thompson
, who settled outside Sackville, proved influential in his short-lived career. Douglas Lochhead
and K. V. Johansen
are other prominent writers living in the town of Sackville. David Adams Richards
, born in the Miramichi, has become a well-respected Governor-General's Award-winning author. Canadian novelist, story-writer, biographer and poet, Raymond Fraser
, grew up in Chatham and lives now in Fredericton.
The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada
, based in Moncton and featuring Russian and European trained dancers, has recently flourished and has started touring both nationally and internationally. Symphony New Brunswick
, based in Saint John, also tours extensively in the province.
(40,000 daily), based in Moncton and serving eastern New Brunswick. Also, there is the Telegraph-Journal
(37,000 daily), which serves Saint John and is distributed throughout the province, and the provincial capital daily The Daily Gleaner
(25,000 daily), based in Fredericton. The French-language daily is L'Acadie Nouvelle
(12,000 daily), based in Caraquet. There are also several weekly newspapers that are local in scope and based in the province's smaller towns and communities.
The three English-language dailies and the majority of the weeklies are owned and operated by Brunswick News
, privately owned by J.K. Irving. The other major media group in the province is Acadie Presse, which publishes L'Acadie Nouvelle.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
has various news bureaus throughout the province, but its main Anglophone television and radio operations are centred in Fredericton. Télévision de Radio-Canada
(CBC French) service is based in Moncton. Global TV
is based in Halifax, with news bureaus in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John. CTV Atlantic
, the regional CTV
station, is based in Halifax and has offices in Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John. Western New Brunswick is served by WAGM-TV
which broadcasts CBS and Fox stations into the province and covers New Brunswick news and weather on its NewsSource 8 broadcasts.
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.
(PCC). The Trutta-scenario from 2007/’08 is additionly in use by the Royal Netherlands Army
. The Dutch army incorporates the host nation of Trutta in different aspects of its educational and training program. The operation the Royal Netherlands Army fictionally executes in Trutta takes place under the name of TRUFOR (Trutta Force).
Lists:
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally
Constitution of Canada
The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...
bilingual (English–French). The provincial capital is Fredericton
Fredericton, New Brunswick
Fredericton is the capital of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by virtue of the provincial parliament which sits there. An important cultural, artistic, and educational centre for the province, Fredericton is home to two universities and cultural institutions such as the Beaverbrook Art...
and Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area. Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
estimates the provincial population in 2009 to have been 750,457; a majority of the population is English-speaking, but there is also a large Francophone minority (33%), chiefly of Acadian origin.
The province's name comes from the English and French partial transcription of the city of Brunswick
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
(Braunschweig
Braunschweig
Braunschweig , is a city of 247,400 people, located in the federal-state of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located north of the Harz mountains at the farthest navigable point of the Oker river, which connects to the North Sea via the rivers Aller and Weser....
in German) located in modern day Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, northern Germany (and former duchy of the same name), the ancestral home of the Hanoverian
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
George III of the United Kingdom
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
.
Geography
New Brunswick is bounded by: on the north by QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
's Gaspé Peninsula
Gaspé Peninsula
The Gaspésie , or Gaspé Peninsula or the Gaspé, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, extending into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
and Chaleur Bay
Chaleur Bay
frame| Satellite image of Chaleur Bay . Chaleur Bay is the large bay opening to the east;the [[Gaspé Peninsula]] appears to the north and the [[Gulf of St...
; along the east coast by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
The Gulf of Saint Lawrence , the world's largest estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean...
and Northumberland Strait
Northumberland Strait
The Northumberland Strait is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada...
; in the southeast corner the narrow Isthmus of Chignecto
Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto is an isthmus bordering the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia which connects the Nova Scotia peninsula with North America....
connects New Brunswick to the Nova Scotia peninsula
Nova Scotia peninsula
The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America.-Location:The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Isthmus of Chignecto...
; in the south by the Bay of Fundy
Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy is a bay on the Atlantic coast of North America, on the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine...
coast, (which with a rise of 16 m (52.5 ft), has amongst the highest tides in the world); and in the west by the US state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
New Brunswick differs from the other Maritime provinces physiographically, climatologically, and ethnoculturally. Both Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
and Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
are either surrounded by, or are almost surrounded by water. Oceanic effects therefore tend to define their climate, economy, and culture. On the other hand, New Brunswick, although having a significant seacoast, is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean proper and has a large interior that is removed from oceanic influences. As a result, the climate tends to be more continental
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
in character rather than maritime
Oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
.
The major river systems of the province include the St. Croix River
St. Croix River (Maine-New Brunswick)
The St. Croix River is a river in northeastern North America, in length, that forms part of the Canada – United States border between Maine and New Brunswick . The river rises in the Chiputneticook Lakes and flows south and southeast, between Calais and St. Stephen...
, Saint John River, Kennebecasis River
Kennebecasis River
The Kennebecasis River is a tributary of the Saint John River in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The name Kennebecasis is thought to be derived from the Mi'kmaq "Kenepekachiachk", meaning "little long bay place." It runs for approximately 95 kilometres, draining an area in the Caledonia Highlands,...
, Petitcodiac River
Petitcodiac River
The Petitcodiac River is a Canadian river in south-eastern New Brunswick. The river runs about through the province's Westmorland, Albert, and Kings counties, draining a watershed area of about . The region around the river features valleys, ridges, and rolling hills, and is home to a diverse...
, Miramichi River
Miramichi River
The Miramichi River is a Canadian river located in the east-central part of New Brunswick. The river drains into Miramichi Bay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence...
, Nepisiguit River
Nepisiguit River
The Nepisiguit River is a major river in New Brunswick, Canada. The source of the river lies north of the Christmas Mountains, in the rugged terrain between Mount Carleton, and Big Bald Mountain . The river enters the sea at the city of Bathurst, New Brunswick, on the Bay of Chaleur...
, and the Restigouche River
Restigouche River
The Restigouche River is a river that flows across the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick and the southeastern part of Quebec....
. Although smaller, the Bouctouche River
Bouctouche, New Brunswick
Bouctouche is a Canadian town in Kent County, New Brunswick and in 2006 Census the population was 2,383.The town is located at the mouth of the Bouctouche River on the coast of the Northumberland Strait, approximately 40 kilometres northeast of Moncton....
, Richibucto River
Richibucto River
The Richibucto River is a river in eastern New Brunswick which empties into the Northumberland Strait north of Richibucto, New Brunswick. It is 80 kilometres long.The river's name means "river of fire" in the Mi'kmaq language....
and Kouchibouguac River
Kouchibouguac River
The Kouchibouguac River is a river in eastern New Brunswick which empties into the Northumberland Strait north of Richibucto, New Brunswick. It is 72 kilometres long.This river flows through Kouchibouguac National Park...
are also important. The settlement patterns and the economy of New Brunswick are based more on the province's river systems rather than its seacoasts.
Northern New Brunswick is dominated by the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
within the Eastern Canadian forests
Eastern Canadian forests
The Eastern Canadian forests is an ecoregion of Canada as defined by the World Wildlife Fund categorization system.-Setting:This ecoregion contains a number of mountainous areas on the east coast of Canada and along the Saint Lawrence River in eastern Quebec The Eastern Canadian forests is an...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, with the northwestern part of the province consisting of the remote and rugged Miramichi Highlands as well as the Chaleur Uplands and the Notre Dame Mountains
Notre Dame Mountains
The Notre Dame Mountains are a portion of the Appalachian Mountains, extending from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec to the Green Mountains of Vermont....
, with a maximum elevation at Mount Carleton
Mount Carleton
Mount Carleton, in Mount Carleton Provincial Park, is the highest elevation in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, and is also the highest peak in the Canadian Maritime Provinces. It is one of the highlights of the Canadian portion of the International Appalachian Trail...
of 817 m (2,680 ft). The New Brunswick Lowlands form the eastern and central portions of the province and are part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests
Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests
The Gulf of St. Lawrence lowland forests are a Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests ecoregion of eastern Canada-Setting:Located on the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary, this ecoregion covers all of Prince Edward Island, the Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine of Quebec, most of...
ecoregion. Finally the Caledonia Highlands and St. Croix Highlands extend along the Bay of Fundy coast reaching elevations of more than 400 m (1,312 ft).
The total land and water area of the province is 72908 km² (28,150 sq mi), over 80 percent of which is forested. Agricultural lands are found mostly in the upper St John River valley, with lesser amounts of farmland in the southeast of the province, especially in the Kennebecasis and Petitcodiac river valleys. The three major urban centres
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
are in the southern third of the province.
History
The original First NationsFirst Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mi'kmaq, and they occupied the eastern and coastal areas of the province. They were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 B.C. near Metepnákiaq (Red Bank First Nation
Red Bank, New Brunswick
Red Bank, New Brunswick is a small rural community in Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada. It is located approximately 20 km west of Miramichi, New Brunswick, at the mouth of the Little Southwest Miramichi River, at its confluence with the Northwest Miramichi River...
). The western portion of the province was the traditional home of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) people. The smaller Passamaquoddy
Passamaquoddy
The Passamaquoddy are the First Nations people who live in northeastern North America, primarily in Maine and New Brunswick....
tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province.
French colonial era
Although it is possible that Vikings may have reached as far south as New Brunswick, the first known European exploration of New Brunswick was that of French explorer Jacques CartierJacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
in 1534, who discovered and named the Bay of Chaleur. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
set up camp for the winter on St.Croix Island
Saint Croix Island, Maine
Saint Croix Island , long known to locals as Dochet Island, is a small uninhabited island in Maine near the mouth of the Saint Croix River that forms part of the International Boundary separating Maine from New Brunswick....
, between New Brunswick and Maine. The colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal, Nova Scotia
Port Royal was the capital of Acadia from 1605 to 1710 and is now a town called Annapolis Royal in the western part of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Initially Port Royal was located on the north shore of the Annapolis Basin, Nova Scotia, at the site of the present reconstruction of the...
. Over the next 150 years, a number of other French settlements and seigneuries
Seigneurial system of New France
The seigneurial system of New France was the semi-feudal system of land distribution used in the North American colonies of New France.-Introduction to New France:...
were founded in the area occupied by present-day New Brunswick, including along the St. John River, the upper Bay of Fundy region, in the Tantramar Marshes
Tantramar Marshes
The Tantramar Marshes is a National Wildlife Area on the southern part of the Isthmus of Chignecto, which joins Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the Canadian mainland. It is the site of the historic Battle of Fort Beauséjour, the final chapter in the long battle for Acadia by the British and French...
at Beaubassin, and finally at St. Pierre (site of present day Bathurst
Bathurst, New Brunswick
Bathurst is a Canadian city in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.Bathurst is situated on Bathurst Harbour, an estuary at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River at the southernmost part of Chaleur Bay....
). The whole maritime region (as well as parts of Maine) was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia
Acadia
Acadia was the name given to lands in a portion of the French colonial empire of New France, in northeastern North America that included parts of eastern Quebec, the Maritime provinces, and modern-day Maine. At the end of the 16th century, France claimed territory stretching as far south as...
.
One of the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed by the belligerents in the War of Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713...
of 1713 was the surrender of peninsular Nova Scotia to the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
. The bulk of the Acadian population thus found themselves residing in the new British colony of Nova Scotia. The remainder of Acadia (including the New Brunswick region) was only lightly populated and poorly defended.
During Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre's War
Father Le Loutre’s War , also known as the Indian War, the Micmac War and the Anglo-Micmac War, took place between King George's War and the French and Indian War in Acadia and Nova Scotia. On one side of the conflict, the British and New England colonists were led by British Officer Charles...
, in 1750, in order to protect their territorial interests in what remained of Acadia, France built three forts (Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour
Fort Beauséjour, was built during Father Le Loutre's War from 1751-1755; it is located at the Isthmus of Chignecto in present-day Aulac, New Brunswick, Canada...
, Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche
Fort Menagoueche was a French fort at the mouth of the St. John River, New Brunswick, Canada. French Officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot built the fort during Father Le Loutre's War and eventually burned it himself as the French retreated after losing the Battle of...
and Fort Gaspareaux
Fort Gaspareaux
Fort Gaspareaux was a French fort at the head of Baie Verte near the mouth of the Gaspareaux River and just southeast of the modern village of Port Elgin, New Brunswick, Canada, on the Isthmus of Chignecto...
) along the frontier with Nova Scotia. (A major French fortification (Fortress of Louisbourg
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg is a national historic site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th century French fortress at Louisbourg, Nova Scotia...
) was also built on Île Royale (now Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
) after Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War
Queen Anne's War , as the North American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession was known in the British colonies, was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought between France and England, later Great Britain, in North America for control of the continent. The War of the...
, but the function of this fort was mostly to defend the approaches to the colony of Canada
Canada, New France
Canada was the name of the French colony that once stretched along the St. Lawrence River; the other colonies of New France were Acadia, Louisiana and Newfoundland. Canada, the most developed colony of New France, was divided into three districts, each with its own government: Quebec,...
, not Acadia.)
During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
(1754–63), the British completed their conquest of Acadia and extended their control to include all of New Brunswick. Fort Beauséjour (near Sackville
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
), Fort Menagoueche and Fort Gaspareaux were captured by a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton
Robert Monckton was an officer of the British army and a colonial administrator in British North America. He had a distinguished military and political career, being second in command to General Wolfe at the battle of Quebec and subsequently being the Governor of New York State...
in 1755. Inside Fort Beauséjour, the British forces found not only French regular troops, but also Acadian irregulars. Governor Charles Lawrence
Charles Lawrence
Brigadier-General Charles Lawrence was a British military officer who, as lieutenant governor and subsequently governor of Nova Scotia. He is perhaps best known for overseeing the Expulsion of the Acadians and settling the New England Planters in Nova Scotia. He was born in Plymouth, England and...
of Nova Scotia used the discovery of Acadian civilians helping in the defence of the fort as a pretext to order the expulsion
Great Upheaval
The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from present day Canadian Maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island...
of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia. The Acadians of the recently captured Beaubassin and Petitcodiac
Petitcodiac, New Brunswick
Petitcodiac is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.It is named after the Petitcodiac River, which begins in the village at the junction of the North and Anagance rivers...
regions were included in the expulsion order. Some of the Acadians in the Petitcodiac and Memramcook
Memramcook, New Brunswick
Memramcook is a Canadian village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac derivative of the French language....
region escaped, and under the leadership of Joseph Broussard
Joseph Broussard
Joseph Gaurhept Broussard , also known as Beausoleil, was a leader of the Acadian people in Acadia; later Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Broussard organized a resistance movement against the forced Expulsion of the Acadians...
continued to conduct guerrilla action
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
against the British forces for a couple of years. Other actions in the war included British expeditions up the St. John River in the St. John River Campaign
St. John River Campaign
The St. John River Campaign occurred during the French and Indian War when Colonel Robert Monckton led a force of 1150 British soldiers to destroy the Acadian settlements along the banks of the Saint John River until they reached the largest village of Sainte-Anne des Pays-Bas in February 1759...
. Fort Anne (Fredericton) fell during the 1759 campaign, and following this, all of present-day New Brunswick came under British control.
British colonial era
After the Seven Years' War, most of present day New Brunswick (and parts of Maine) were absorbed into the colony of Nova Scotia and designated as Sunbury CountySunbury County, Nova Scotia
Sunbury County was a county in the crown colony of Nova Scotia. The county ceased to exist when the crown colony of New Brunswick was created in 1784....
. New Brunswick's relatively isolated location on the Bay of Fundy, away from the Atlantic coastline proper tended to discourage settlement during the postwar period. There were exceptions however, such as the coming of New England Planters
New England Planters
The New England Planters were settlers from the New England colonies who responded to invitations by the lieutenant governor of Nova Scotia, Charles Lawrence, to settle lands left vacant by the Bay of Fundy Campaign of the Acadian Expulsion...
to the Sackville region and the arrival of Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
settlers in Moncton in 1766. In both these cases, many of the new settlers took up land that had originally belonged to displaced Acadians before the deportation.
There were several actions on New Brunswick soil during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
: the Maugerville Rebellion
Maugerville, New Brunswick
Maugerville is a community in Sunbury County in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. In 1759, members of the Perley Colony, land-seekers from present-day Maine, settled in the area...
(1776), the Battle of Fort Cumberland
Battle of Fort Cumberland
The Battle of Fort Cumberland was an attempt by a small number of militia commanded by Jonathan Eddy to bring the American Revolutionary War to Nova Scotia in late 1776...
(1776), the Siege of Saint John (1777) and the Battle at Miramichi (1779)
Miramichi, New Brunswick
Miramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay...
. The Battle of Fort Cumberland was the largest and most significant of these conflicts. Following the war, significant population growth finally came to the area when 14,000 refugee Loyalists from the newly created United States arrived on the Saint John River in 1783. Influential Loyalists such as Harvard
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
-educated Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow (loyalist)
Edward Winslow was a loyalist officer and New Brunswick judge and official.Edward Winslow was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1746 or 1747, a descendant of Mayflower Pilgrim Edward Winslow. He studied at Harvard College, graduating in 1765 with an MA...
saw themselves as the natural leaders of their community and that they should be recognized for their rank and that their loyalty deserved special compensation. However they were not appreciated by the pre-loyalist population in Nova Scotia. As Colonel Thomas Dundas wrote from Saint John, "They [the loyalists] have experienced every possible injury from the old inhabitants of Nova Scotia." Therefore 55 prominent merchants and professionals petitioned for 5000 acres (20.2 km²) grants each. Winslow pressed for the creation of a "Loyalist colony" – an asylum that could become "the envy of the American states". Nova Scotia was therefore partitioned, and the colony of New Brunswick was created on August 16, 1784; Sir Thomas Carleton
Thomas Carleton
Thomas Carleton was a British army officer who was promoted to Colonel during the American Revolutionary War after relieving the siege of Quebec in 1776. After the war, he was appointed as Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, and supervised the resettlement of Loyalists from the United States in...
was appointed as Lieutenant-Governor in 1784, and in 1785 a new assembly
1st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly
The 1st New Brunswick Legislative Assembly represented New Brunswick between January 3, 1786 and 1792.The assembly sat at the pleasure of the Governor of New Brunswick, Thomas Carleton. The first and second sessions were held at the Mallard House, an inn in Saint John...
was established with the first elections.
Even though the bulk of the Loyalist population was located in Parrtown (Saint John), the decision was made by the colonial authorities to place the new colonial capital at St. Anne's Point (Fredericton), about 150 km up the Saint John River as it was felt that by placing the capital inland, it would be less vulnerable to American attack. The University of New Brunswick was founded at Fredericton at the same time (1785), making it the oldest English-language university in Canada and the first public university in North America.
Initial Loyalist population growth in the new colony extended along the Fundy coastline from Saint Andrews
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
St. Andrews is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick.It is sometimes referred to in tourism marketing by its unofficial nickname "St. Andrews-by-the-sea".-Geography:St...
to Saint Martins and up the Kennebecasis and lower Saint John River valleys.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, some of the deported Acadians from Nova Scotia found their way back to "Acadie," where they settled mostly along the eastern and northern shores of the new colony of New Brunswick. Here, they lived in relative (and in many ways, self-imposed) isolation.
Additional immigration to New Brunswick in the early part of the 19th century was from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
; western England; and Waterford
Waterford
Waterford is a city in the South-East Region of Ireland. It is the oldest city in the country and fifth largest by population. Waterford City Council is the local government authority for the city and its immediate hinterland...
, Ireland, often after first having come through (or having lived in) Newfoundland
History of Newfoundland and Labrador
The History of Newfoundland and Labrador is the story of the peoples who have lived in what is now the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador....
. A large influx of settlers arrived in New Brunswick after 1845 from Ireland as a result of the Potato Famine; many of these people settled in Saint John or Chatham
Chatham, New Brunswick
Chatham is a Canadian urban neighbourhood in the city of Miramichi, New Brunswick.Prior to municipal amalgamation in 1995, Chatham was an incorporated town in Northumberland County along the south bank of the Miramichi River opposite Douglastown...
. Both Saint John and the Miramichi region remain largely Irish today.
The northwestern border between Maine and New Brunswick had not been clearly defined by the Treaty of Paris (1783)
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
that had ended the American Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. By the late 1830s, population growth and competing lumber interests in the upper Saint John River valley created the need for a definite boundary in the area. During the winter of 1838–39, the situation quickly deteriorated, with both Maine and New Brunswick calling out their respective militias. The "Aroostook War
Aroostook War
The Aroostook War was an undeclared nonviolent confrontation in 1838/1839 between the United States and Great Britain over the international boundary between British North America and Maine. The compromise resolution win a mutually accepted border between the state of Maine and the provinces of...
" was bloodless (but politically very tense), and the boundary was subsequently settled by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty
Webster-Ashburton Treaty
The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty resolving several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies...
of 1842.
Throughout the mid 19th century, shipbuilding
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
on the Bay of Fundy shore and also on the Petitcodiac River and rivers on the east coast became a dominant industry in New Brunswick. The Marco Polo
Marco Polo (ship)
Marco Polo was a 3-masted wooden clipper ship, launched in 1851 at Saint John, New Brunswick. It was named after Venetian explorer Marco Polo.-Construction and design:She measured 184 feet in length, with a beam of 36 feet, and draught of 29 feet...
, the fastest clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
ship ever built, was launched from Saint John in 1851. Resource-based industries such as logging and farming were also important components of the New Brunswick economy during this time.
Canadian province
New Brunswick, one of the four original provinces of Canada, entered the Canadian ConfederationCanadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
on July 1, 1867. The Charlottetown Conference
Charlottetown Conference
The Charlottetown Conference was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island for representatives from the colonies of British North America to discuss Canadian Confederation...
of 1864, which ultimately led to the confederation movement, originally had been intended to discuss only a Maritime Union
Maritime Union
Maritime Union is a proposed political union of the three Maritime provinces of Canada to form a single new province which would be the fifth-largest in Canada by population...
, but concerns over the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
as well as Fenian
Fenian raids
Between 1866 and 1871, the Fenian raids of the Fenian Brotherhood who were based in the United States; on British army forts, customs posts and other targets in Canada, were fought to bring pressure on Britain to withdraw from Ireland. They divided many Catholic Irish-Canadians, many of whom were...
activity along the border led to an interest in expanding the scope of the proposed union. This interest in an expanded union arose from the Province of Canada
Province of Canada
The Province of Canada, United Province of Canada, or the United Canadas was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of...
(formerly Upper
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
and Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
, later Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
and Quebec), and a request was made by the Canadian political leaders to the organizers of the Maritime conference to have the meeting agenda altered.
Although the Maritime leaders were swayed by the arguments of the Canadians, many ordinary residents of the Maritimes wanted no part of this larger confederation for fear that their interests and concerns would be ignored in a wider national union. Many politicians who supported confederation, such as Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley
Samuel Leonard Tilley
Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, PC, KCMG was a Canadian politician and one of the Fathers of Confederation. Tilley was descended from United Empire Loyalists on both sides of his family...
(New Brunswick's best-known Father of Confederation), found themselves without a seat after the next election; nevertheless, backers of the wider confederation eventually prevailed.
Following confederation, the fears of the anti-confederates were proven correct as new national policies and trade barriers were soon adopted by the central government, thus disrupting the historic trading relationship between the Maritime Provinces and New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. The situation in New Brunswick was exacerbated by both the Great Fire of 1877
The Great Fire of Saint John, New Brunswick
The Great Fire was an urban fire that destroyed much of Saint John, New Brunswick in June 1877. On 20 June when a spark fell into a bundle of hay in Henry Fairweather's storehouse in the York Point Slip area. Nine hours later the fire had destroyed over and 1,612 structures including eight...
in Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
and the decline of the wooden shipbuilding industry; skilled workers were thus forced to move to other parts of Canada or to the United States to seek employment.
As the 20th century dawned, however, the province's economy again began to expand. Manufacturing gained strength with the construction of textile mills; and in the crucial forestry sector, the sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s that had dotted inland sections of the province gave way to larger pulp and
Pulp and paper industry
The global pulp and paper industry is dominated by North American , northern European and East Asian countries...
paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
s. The railway industry, meanwhile, provided for growth and prosperity in the Moncton region. Nevertheless, unemployment remained high throughout the province, and the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
brought another setback. Two influential families, the Irvings
K. C. Irving
Kenneth Colin Irving, OC also known as K. C. Irving was one of Canada's foremost entrepreneurs of the 20th century and ranked as one of the world's leading industrialists...
and the McCains
McCain Foods Limited
McCain Foods Limited is a privately owned company established in 1957 by four brothers—Harrison McCain, Wallace McCain, Robert McCain, and Andrew McCain—in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada...
, emerged from the Depression to begin to modernise and vertically integrate
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
the provincial economy—especially in the vital forestry, food processing, and energy sectors.
The Acadians in northern New Brunswick had long been geographically and linguistically isolated from the more numerous English speakers, who lived in the south of the province. Government services were often not available in French, and the infrastructure in predominantly Francophone areas was noticeably less developed than in the rest of the province; this changed with the election of Premier Louis Robichaud
Louis Robichaud
Louis Joseph Robichaud, PC, CC, QC , popularly known as "Little Louis" or "P'tit-Louis" , was a Canadian lawyer and politician...
in 1960. He embarked on the ambitious Equal Opportunity
New Brunswick Equal Opportunity program
The Equal Opportunity program in the Canadian province of New Brunswick was created to ensure equal services would be provided to citizens in all parts of the province regardless of the wealth in the area....
Plan, in which education, rural road maintenance, and health care fell under the sole jurisdiction of a provincial government that insisted on equal coverage throughout the province. County councils were abolished, and the rural areas came under direct provincial jurisdiction. The 1969 Official Languages Act made French an official language.
Ethnicity
First Nations in New Brunswick include the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik). The first European settlers, the Acadians, are today descendants of survivors of the Great ExpulsionGreat Upheaval
The Expulsion of the Acadians was the forced removal by the British of the Acadian people from present day Canadian Maritime provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island...
(1755), which drove thousands of French residents into exile in North America, Britain, and France for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to King George III during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. Acadians who were deported to Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
are often referred to as Cajun
Cajun
Cajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
s in English .
Much of the English Canadian population of New Brunswick is descended from 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 with Irish ancestry, especially in Saint John and the Miramichi Valley
Miramichi Valley
The Miramichi Valley is a Canadian river valley and region located in the east-central part of New Brunswick. It extends along both major branches of the Miramichi River and their tributaries, however it is generally agreed that the much larger Southwest Miramichi River forms the majority of this...
. People of Scottish descent are scattered throughout the province, with higher concentrations in the Miramichi and in Campbellton
Campbellton, New Brunswick
Campbellton is a Canadian city in Restigouche County, New Brunswick.Situated on the south bank of the Restigouche River opposite Pointe-à-la-Croix, Quebec, Campbellton was officially incorporated in 1889 and achieved city status in 1958.Forestry and tourism are major industries in the regional...
.
In the 2001 Canadian census, the most commonly reported ethnicities were 193,470 French
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
(26.9%); 165,235 English (23.0%); 135,835 Irish
Irish Canadian
Irish Canadian are immigrants and descendants of immigrants who originated in Ireland. 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived, 1825 to 1970, at least half of those in the period from 1831-1850. By 1867, they were the second largest ethnic group , and comprised 24% of Canada's population...
(18.9%); 127,635 Scottish
Scottish Canadian
Scottish Canadians are people of Scottish descent or heritage living in Canada. As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada and among the first to settle in Canada, Scottish people have made a large impact on Canadian culture since colonial times...
(17.7%); 27,490 German (3.8%); 26,220 Acadians (3.6%); 23,815 "North American Indian" (First Nations)
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
(3.3%); 13,355 Dutch (Netherlands) (1.9%); and 7,620 Welsh (1.1%). It should be noted that 242,220 people (33.7%) identified themselves as simply "Canadian"
English Canadian
An English Canadian is a Canadian of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual state, with English and French official language communities. Immigrant cultural groups ostensibly integrate into one or both of these communities, but...
or "Canadien," while 173,585 (24.1%) also selected another ethnicity—for a total of 415,810 (57.8%) calling themselves Canadian
Demographics of Canada
This article about the demographic features of the population of Canada, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population, the People of Canada....
. (Each person could choose more than one ethnicity.)
Population since 1851
| Year | Population | Five year % change |
Ten year % change |
Rank among provinces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 | 193,800 | n/a | n/a | 4 |
| 1861 | 252,047 | n/a | 30.0 | 4 |
| 1871 | 285,594 | n/a | 13.3 | 4 |
| 1881 | 321,233 | n/a | 12.5 | 4 |
| 1891 | 321,263 | n/a | 0.0 | 4 |
| 1901 | 331,120 | n/a | 3.1 | 4 |
| 1911 | 351,889 | n/a | 6.3 | 8 |
| 1921 | 387,876 | n/a | 10.2 | 8 |
| 1931 | 408,219 | n/a | 5.2 | 8 |
| 1941 | 457,401 | n/a | 12.0 | 8 |
| 1951 | 515,697 | n/a | 12.7 | 8 |
| 1956 | 554,616 | 7.5 | n/a | 8 |
| 1961 | 597,936 | 7.8 | 15.9 | 8 |
| 1966 | 616,788 | 3.2 | 11.2 | 8 |
| 1971 | 634,560 | 2.9 | 6.9 | 8 |
| 1976 | 677,250 | 6.7 | 9.8 | 8 |
| 1981 | 696,403 | 2.8 | 9.7 | 8 |
| 1986 | 709,445 | 1.9 | 4.8 | 8 |
| 1991 | 723,900 | 2.0 | 3.9 | 8 |
| 1996 | 738,133 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 8 |
| 2001 | 729,498 | −1.2 | 0.8 | 8 |
| 2006 | 729,997 | 0.1 | −0.1 | 8 |
Languages
The 2006 Canadian censusCanada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
showed a population of 729,997. Of the 708,145 singular responses to the census question concerning "mother tongue," the most commonly reported languages were:
| 1. | English | 463,163 | 64.83% |
| 2. | French | 232,975 | 32.61% |
| 3. | Míkmaq | 2,515 | 0.35% |
| 4. | Chinese | 2,160 | 0.30% |
| 5. | German | 1,935 | 0.27% |
| 6. | Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... |
1,290 | 0.18% |
| 7. | Spanish | 1,040 | 0.15% |
| 8. | Arabic Arabic language Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book... |
970 | 0.14% |
| 9. | Korean Korean language Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing... |
630 | 0.09% |
| 10. | Italian | 590 | 0.08% |
| 11. | Malecite Malecite-Passamaquoddy language Malecite–Passamaquoddy is an endangered Algonquian language spoken by the Maliseet and Passamaquoddy peoples along both sides of the border between Maine in the United States and New Brunswick, Canada. The language consists of two major dialects: Malecite, which is mainly spoken in New... |
490 | 0.07% |
| 12. | Persian Persian language Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence... |
460 | 0.06% |
In addition, there were 560 responses of both English and a "nonofficial language"; 120 of both French and a nonofficial language; 4,450 of both English and French; 30 of English, French, and a nonofficial language; and about 10,300 people who either did not respond to the question, reported multiple nonofficial languages, or gave another unenumerated response. New Brunswick's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.
Religion
The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church, with 385,985 (54%); BaptistsConvention of Atlantic Baptist Churches
Convention of Atlantic Baptist Churches - an association of Baptist Churches in the eastern provinces of Canada.The Baptist Convention of the Maritime Provinces was founded in 1846...
, with 80,490 (11%); the United Church of Canada
United Church of Canada
The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...
, with 69,235 (10%); the Anglicans
Anglican Church of Canada
The Anglican Church of Canada is the Province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French name is l'Église Anglicane du Canada. The ACC is the third largest church in Canada after the Roman Catholic Church and the United Church of Canada, consisting of 800,000 registered members...
, with 58,215 (8%); the Pentecostals with 20,155 (3%).
Economy
New Brunswick's urban areas have modern, service-based economies dominated by the health care, educational, retail, finance, and insurance sectors. These sectors are reasonably equitably distributed in all three principal urban centres. In addition, heavy industry and port facilities are found in Saint John; Fredericton is dominated by government services, universities, and the military; and Moncton has developed as a commercial, retail, transportation, and distribution centre with important rail and air terminal facilities.The rural primary economy is best known for forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, mining, mixed farming
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, and fishing.
Forestry is important in all areas of the province but especially in the heavily forested central regions. There are many sawmills in the smaller towns and large pulp and paper mills located in Saint John, Miramichi
Miramichi, New Brunswick
Miramichi is the largest city in northern New Brunswick, Canada. It is situated at the mouth of the Miramichi River where it enters Miramichi Bay...
, Nackawic, and Edmundston.
Heavy metals, including lead and zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
, are mined in the north around Bathurst. One of the world's largest potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...
deposits is located in Sussex
Sussex, New Brunswick
Sussex is a Canadian town in Kings County, New Brunswick.Sussex straddles the Kennebecasis River, 70 km northeast of Saint John, and is a major dairy products producer in the province...
; a second potash mine, costing over a billion dollars, is in development in the Sussex region. Oil and natural gas deposits are also being developed in the Sussex region.
Farming is concentrated in the upper Saint John River valley (in the northwest portion of the province), where the most valuable crop is potatoes. Mixed and dairy farms
Dairy farming
Dairy farming is a class of agricultural, or an animal husbandry, enterprise, for long-term production of milk, usually from dairy cows but also from goats and sheep, which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy factory for processing and eventual retail sale.Most dairy farms...
are found elsewhere, but especially in the southeast, concentrated in the Kennebecasis and Petitcodiac river valleys.
The most valuable fish catches are lobster
American lobster
The American lobster, Homarus americanus, is a species of lobster found on the Atlantic coast of North America, chiefly from Labrador to New Jersey. Within North America, it is also known as the northern lobster or Maine lobster. It can reach a body length of , and a mass of over , making it the...
, scallop
Scallop
A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...
s and king crab
King crab
King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their meat, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.King...
. The farming of Atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
in the Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay
Passamaquoddy Bay is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River. Most of the bay lies within Canada, with its western shore bounded by Washington County, Maine. The southernmost point is formed by...
region is an important local industry.
The largest employers in the province are the Irving group
J. D. Irving
J.D. Irving Limited is a privately owned conglomerate company headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Its activities include many industries: forestry, paper products, agriculture, food processing, transportation, shipbuilding...
of companies, several large multinational forest companies, the government of New Brunswick, and the McCain group of companies.
Tourism
New Brunswick is divided into five scenic drives: Fundy Coastal Drive, Acadian Coastal Drive, River Valley Scenic Drive, Miramichi River Route and Appalachian Range Route. Provincial and Municipal Visitor Information Centres are located throughout each drive.Aside from Saint John's large tourism industry from cruise ships, some of the province's tourist attractions include the New Brunswick Museum
New Brunswick Museum
The New Brunswick Museum, located in Saint John, New Brunswick is Canada's oldest continuing museum. The New Brunswick Museum was officially incorporated as the "Provincial Museum" in 1929 and received its current name in 1930, but its history goes back much further. Its lineage can be traced back...
, Minister's Island
Minister's Island
Ministers Island is an historic Canadian island in New Brunswick's Passamaquoddy Bay near the town of St. Andrews.The island stands several hundred metres offshore immediately northeast of the town and is a geographical novelty in that it is accessible at low tide by a wide gravel bar suitable for...
, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a small art gallery on the southwest bank of the Saint John River at the edge of the central business district of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada...
, Kings Landing Historical Settlement
Kings Landing Historical Settlement
King's Landing is a recreation of a New Brunswick town from the period of 1780-1910. It was created around buildings that were saved and moved to make way for the headpond for the Mactaquac Dam....
, Village Historique Acadien
Village Historique Acadien
Village Historique Acadien is an historical reconstruction that portrays the way of life of Acadians between 1770 and 1939. It is located in Rivière-du-Nord near Caraquet, in northeastern New Brunswick, east of Bathurst and north of Miramichi, New Brunswick....
, Les Jardins de la République, Hopewell Rocks
Hopewell Rocks
The Hopewell Rocks, also called the Flowerpot Rocks or simply The Rocks, are rock formations caused by tidal erosion in The Hopewell Rocks Ocean Tidal Exploration Site in New Brunswick....
, La Dune de Bouctouche, Saint John Reversing Falls
Reversing Falls
The Reversing Falls are a series of rapids on the Saint John River located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, where the river runs through a narrow gorge before emptying into the Bay of Fundy....
, Magnetic Hill and the Magnetic Hill Zoo, Crystal Palace, Magic Mountain Water Park
Magic Mountain Water Park
Magic Mountain Water Park , also known as Magic Mountain, is a water park located in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. It is part of the Magnetic Hill tourist site. The park is the largest man made tourist attraction in Atlantic Canada...
, Casino New Brunswick
Casino New Brunswick
Casino New Brunswick is located in the Magnetic Hill Area of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada.-Moncton Casino:On May 8, 2008, Sonco Gaming New Brunswick Limited Partnership was selected as the successful proponent for the New Brunswick Destination Casino Project...
, Cape Jourimain
Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick
Cape Jourimain is a headland in the western part of the Northumberland Strait on its southern shore, 3 kilometres west of New Brunswick's easternmost point at Cape Tormentine....
National Wildlife Preserve, Sackville
Sackville, New Brunswick
Sackville is a Canadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick.Mount Allison University is located in the town...
Waterfowl Park, and the 41 km (25.5 mi) Fundy Hiking Trail.
Parks
Provincial Parks: de la République, Herring CoveHerring Cove Provincial Park
Herring Cove Provincial Park is a provincial park located on Campobello Island near the New Brunswick - Maine border.-External links:*...
, Mactaquac
Mactaquac Provincial Park
Mactaquac Provincial Park is a Canadian provincial park with an area of 5.25 km² . It is located on the Saint John River 15 kilometres west of Fredericton, New Brunswick in the community of Mactaquac....
, Mount Carleton
Mount Carleton Provincial Park
Mount Carleton Provincial Park, established in 1970, is the largest provincial park in the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. Encompassing 174 km² in the remote highlands of north-central New Brunswick, the park's dominant natural features include the highest peak in the Maritimes, Mount...
, Murray Beach, New River Beach, Parlee Beach
Parlee Beach
Parlee Beach Provincial Park is a Canadian provincial park located in Pointe-du-Chêne, New Brunswick.It is owned by the Government of New Brunswick and operated by the Department of Tourism and Parks...
, Sugarloaf
Sugarloaf
A sugarloaf was the traditional form in which refined sugar was produced and sold until the late 19th century when granulated and cube sugars were introduced. A tall cone with a rounded top was the end product of a process that saw the dark molasses-rich raw sugar, which had been imported from...
, The Anchorage
National Parks: Fundy National Park
Fundy National Park
Fundy National Park is located on the Bay of Fundy, near the village of Alma, New Brunswick. The Park showcases both seashore habitats and highland Acadian forests...
, Kouchibouguac National Park
Kouchibouguac National Park
Kouchibouguac National Park is located on the east coast of New Brunswick, north of the town of Richibucto. The park includes barrier islands, sand dunes, lagoons, salt marshes and forests. It provides habitat for seabirds, including the endangered Piping Plover, and the second largest tern colony...
International Parks: Roosevelt Campobello International Park
Roosevelt Campobello International Park
Roosevelt Campobello International Park preserves the house and surrounding landscape of the Roosevelt summer retreat where, in August 1921, future president Franklin D. Roosevelt was stricken with poliomyelitis at the age of 39. The park occupies most of the southern end of Campobello Island, New...
Government and politics
Unicameralism
In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house...
legislature with 55 seats. Elections are held at least every five years, but may be called at any time by the Lieutenant Governor (the viceregal representative) on consultation with the Premier
Premier of New Brunswick
The Premier of New Brunswick is the first minister for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive....
. The Premier is the leader of the party that holds the most seats in the legislature.
There are two dominant political parties in New Brunswick, the Liberal Party
New Brunswick Liberal Association
The New Brunswick Liberal Association , more popularly known as the New Brunswick Liberal Party or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major political parties in the Canadian province of New Brunswick...
and the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick
The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right political party in New Brunswick, Canada. It has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granting of responsible government to the colony...
. While consistently polling approximately 10% of the electoral vote since the early 1980s, the New Democratic Party
New Brunswick New Democratic Party
The New Brunswick New Democratic Party is a social-democratic provincial political party in New Brunswick, Canada linked with the federal New Democratic Party .-Origins and early history:...
has elected few members to the Legislative Assembly
Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick
The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick is located in Fredericton. It was established de jure when the colony was created in 1784, but only came in to session in 1786 following the first elections in late 1785. Until 1891, it was the lower house in a bicameral legislature when its upper house...
. From time to time, other parties, such as the Confederation of Regions Party
Confederation of Regions Party of Canada
The Confederation of Regions Party was a right-wing Canadian political party founded in 1984 by Elmer Knutson. It was founded as a successor to the Western Canada Federation , a non-partisan organization, to fight the Liberal Party of Canada...
, have held seats in the legislature, but only on the strength of a strong protest vote.
The dynamics of New Brunswick politics are different from those of other Canadian provinces. The lack of a dominant urban centre in the province means that the 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 parallels the federal stage.
Since 1960, the province has tended to elect a succession of young bilingual leaders. This combination of attributes has permitted recent premiers of New Brunswick to be disproportionately influential players on the federal stage. Former Premier Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord
Bernard Lord, ONB, QC, is a Canadian politician and lobbyist. Lord served as the 30th Premier of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006.-Early life:...
(Progressive Conservative) has been touted as a potential leader of the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. Frank McKenna
Frank McKenna
Francis Joseph "Frank" McKenna, PC, OC, ONB, QC is a Canadian businessman and former politician and diplomat. He is currently Deputy Chairman of the Toronto-Dominion Bank. He served as Canadian Ambassador to the United States from 2005 to 2006...
(premier, 1987–97), had been considered to be a front-runner to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
. Richard Hatfield
Richard Hatfield
Richard Bennett Hatfield, PC, ONB was a New Brunswick politician and long time Premier of the province .- Early life :...
(premier, 1970–87) played an active role in the patriation
Canada Act 1982
The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that was passed at the request of the Canadian federal government to "patriate" Canada's constitution, ending the necessity for the country to request certain types of amendment to the Constitution of Canada to be made by the...
of the Canadian constitution
Constitution Act, 1982
The Constitution Act, 1982 is a part of the Constitution of Canada. The Act was introduced as part of Canada's process of "patriating" the constitution, introducing several amendments to the British North America Act, 1867, and changing the latter's name in Canada to the Constitution Act, 1867...
and creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
. Louis Robichaud (premier, 1960–70) was responsible for a wide range of social reforms.
On September 27, 2010, the Progressive Conservatives won a large majority with 42 out of 55 seats by taking 16 formerly Liberal seats, making David Alward
David Alward
David Nathan Alward is a Canadian politician, the 32nd and current Premier of New Brunswick.Alward has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick since 1999 and has been the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick since 2008...
the new Premier of New Brunswick. see New Brunswick general election, 2010
A recent report released by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Canadian Taxpayers Federation
The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a Canadian federally incorporated, non-profit organization and taxpayers union that claims to have over 70,000 supporters across Canada. The organization advocates lower taxes, and a reduction of what it considers to be waste in government...
criticized the pensions made by members of the legislative assembly, which take 16 taxpayer dollars for every dollar contributed by the Member of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
(MLA) and cost taxpayers $7.6 million annually. According to the organization, New Brunswick legislators have one of the richest pension plans in the county, after voting for an 85 percent increase two years ago.
Municipalities
Moncton
Moncton, New Brunswick
Moncton is a Canadian city, located in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The city is situated in southeastern New Brunswick, within the Petitcodiac River Valley, and lies at the geographic centre of the Maritime Provinces...
is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the province and is among the top ten fastest growing urban areas in Canada. Its economy is principally based on the transportation, distribution, information technology, commercial, and retail sectors. Moncton has a sizeable Francophone Acadian minority population (35%) and became officially bilingual in 2002.
Saint John
Saint John, New Brunswick
City of Saint John , or commonly Saint John, is the largest city in the province of New Brunswick, and the first incorporated city in Canada. The city is situated along the north shore of the Bay of Fundy at the mouth of the Saint John River. In 2006 the city proper had a population of 74,043...
is a historical city with a popular cruise ship terminal in the uptown area. The city is one of the busiest shipping ports in Canada in terms of gross tonnage. Saint John has become a major energy hub for the East Coast
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
. It is the home of Canada's biggest oil refinery and an LNG
Liquefied natural gas
Liquefied natural gas or LNG is natural gas that has been converted temporarily to liquid form for ease of storage or transport....
terminal has also been constructed in the city. In addition, there are both large oil-fired and nuclear power plants located in or near the city. Due to recent prosperity, the retail, commercial, and residential sectors are currently experiencing a resurgence.
Fredericton, the capital of the province, is home to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
, and St. Thomas University
St. Thomas University (New Brunswick)
St. Thomas University is jointly a public and Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work....
. Canada's largest military base, CFB Gagetown
CFB Gagetown
Canadian Forces Base Gagetown, referred to as CFB Gagetown is a large Canadian Forces Base located in southwestern New Brunswick.- Construction of the base :...
, is located near suburban Oromocto. The economy of Fredericton is tied to the governmental, military, and university sectors.
Education
Public education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
in the province is administered by the Department of Education
Department of Education (New Brunswick)
The Department of Education is a part of the Government of New Brunswick. It is charged with the administration of the New Brunswick public education system...
, a department
Ministry (government department)
A ministry is a specialised organisation responsible for a sector of government public administration, sometimes led by a minister or a senior public servant, that can have responsibility for one or more departments, agencies, bureaus, commissions or other smaller executive, advisory, managerial or...
of the Government of New Brunswick
Government of New Brunswick
The Government of New Brunswick refers to the provincial government of the province of New Brunswick. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
.
New Brunswick has a comprehensive parallel system of Anglophone and Francophone public schools providing education to both the primary and secondary levels. These schools are segregated by government decree. If a family doesn't have French ancestry, their children are forbidden by law to attend French schools. There are also secular and religious private schools in the province.
The New Brunswick Community College
New Brunswick Community College
The New Brunswick Community College is a community college. The enabling legislation is the New Brunswick Community Colleges Act ..-Campus:There are campuses in:#Miramichi,#Moncton,#Saint John,#St...
system has campuses in all regions of the province. This comprehensive trade school system offers roughly parallel programs in both official languages at either Francophone or Anglophone campuses. Each campus, however, tends to have areas of concentration to allow for specialisation. There are also a number of private colleges for specialised training in the province, such as the Moncton Flight College
Moncton Flight College
The Moncton Flight College is a pilot training school based at the Greater Moncton International Airport in Dieppe, New Brunswick, Canada. MFC is the largest private flight school in Canada. The college has trained over 16,000 pilots from around the world since 1929...
, one of the top pilot-training academies in Canada.
There are four publicly funded secular universities and four private degree-granting institutions with religious affiliation in the province. The two comprehensive provincial universities are the University of New Brunswick
University of New Brunswick
The University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
and the Université de Moncton
Université de Moncton
The Université de Moncton is a French language university located in Moncton, New Brunswick serving the Acadian community of Atlantic Canada...
. These institutions have extensive postgraduate
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
programs and Schools of Law
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
. Medical education programs have also been established at both the Université de Moncton and at UNBSJ in Saint John (although affiliated with Universite de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University respectively). Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University
Mount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
in Sackville is currently ranked as the best undergraduate liberal arts
Liberal arts
The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...
university in Canada and has produced 49 Rhodes Scholars
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
, more than any other liberal arts university in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
.
Publicly funded provincial comprehensive universities
- University of New BrunswickUniversity of New BrunswickThe University of New Brunswick is a Canadian university located in the province of New Brunswick. UNB is the oldest English language university in Canada and among the first public universities in North America. The university has two main campuses: the original campus founded in 1785 in...
(Fredericton and Saint John), Anglophone - Université de MonctonUniversité de MonctonThe Université de Moncton is a French language university located in Moncton, New Brunswick serving the Acadian community of Atlantic Canada...
(Moncton, ShippaganShippagan, New BrunswickShippagan is a Canadian town in Gloucester County, New Brunswick.Located in the northeastern part of the Acadian Peninsula, a combination bridge-causeway connects the town with Lamèque Island to the northeast. Approximately 99% of the town's residents are Francophone.The town was founded by the...
, and Edmundston), Francophone
Publicly funded undergraduate liberal arts universities
- St. Thomas UniversitySt. Thomas University (New Brunswick)St. Thomas University is jointly a public and Roman Catholic liberal arts university located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. It offers degrees exclusively at the undergraduate level for approximately 3,000 students in the liberal arts, humanities, journalism, education, and social work....
(Fredericton), Anglophone - Mount Allison UniversityMount Allison UniversityMount Allison University is a primarily undergraduate Canadian liberal arts and science university situated in Sackville, New Brunswick. It is located about a half hour from the regional city of Moncton and 20 minutes from the Greater Moncton International Airport...
(Sackville), Anglophone
Private Christian undergraduate liberal arts university
- Crandall University (Moncton), Anglophone
Private degree-granting religious training institutions
- St. Stephen's UniversitySt. Stephen's UniversitySt. Stephen's University is a small Christian trans-denominational university located in the town of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada.-History:Planning for the institution began in 1971 and the first students enrolled in 1975...
(St. StephenSt. Stephen, New BrunswickSt. Stephen is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River at .-Climate:...
), Anglophone - Bethany Bible CollegeBethany Bible CollegeBethany Bible College is an evangelical Christian Bible college associated with the Wesleyan Church, located in Sussex, New Brunswick, Canada. It is chartered by the province of New Brunswick.-History:...
(Sussex), Anglophone - New Brunswick Bible InstituteNew Brunswick Bible InstituteNew Brunswick Bible Institute, commonly called NBBI, is a conservative, evangelical Bible college that exists to educate Christian students in a thorough knowledge of the Bible as well as provide them with practical vocational training for ministry....
(HartlandHartland, New BrunswickHartland is a town in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada.Hartland is situated on the Saint John River in the central-western portion of the province in the agricultural heartland of Carleton County. It is the hometown of two of New Brunswick's premiers during the 20th century: Hugh John...
), Anglophone
Culture
Early New Brunswick culture was aboriginalAboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
in flavour, influenced by the native populations who made their home along the coast and riverbanks until the arrival of French-speaking in the early 17th century and English-speaking settlers beginning in the mid 18th century. Aboriginal culture in turn quickly came under European influence through trade and religion. Even writing was affected; see for example, Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing was a writing system and memory aid used by the Míkmaq, a Native American people of the east coast of what is now Canada....
. Aboriginal societies were gradually marginalized under the reserve system, and it was not until the late nineteenth century, through the work of Silas Rand
Silas Tertius Rand
Silas Tertius Rand was a Canadian Baptist clergyman, missionary, ethnologist, linguist and translator. His work centred on the Mi'kmaq people of Maritime Canada and he was the first to record the legend of Glooscap.-Life:...
, that the tales of Glooscap
Glooscap
Glooscap is a mythical culture hero, and "transformer" of the Wabanaki peoples...
began to emerge.
As described by the political historian Arthur Doyle in a book published in 1976, an invisible line separated the two founding European cultures, beginning on the eastern outskirts of Moncton and running diagonally across the province northwest towards Grand Falls
Grand Falls, New Brunswick
Grand Falls is a Canadian town located in Victoria County, New Brunswick.Situated on the Saint John River, the town derives its name from a waterfall created by a series of rock ledges over which the river drops 23 metres.-Geography:Grand Falls is located in the valley of the St...
. Franco-New Brunswick (Acadie) lay to the northeast of this divide, and Anglo-New Brunswick lay to the southwest.
Doyle's characterization was made not long after government reforms by former premier Louis J. Robichaud had significantly improved the status of French-speaking Acadians within the province and initiated their journey towards cultural recognition and equality with their English-speaking counterparts.
As local society was founded in forestry and seaborne endeavours, a tradition of lumber camp songs and sea shanties
Sea shanty
A shanty is a type of work song that was once commonly sung to accompany labor on board large merchant sailing vessels. Shanties became ubiquitous in the 19th century era of the wind-driven packet and clipper ships...
prevailed. Acadian cloggers
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance with roots in traditional European dancing, early African-American dance, and traditional Cherokee dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive...
and Irish
Irish stepdance
Irish stepdance is a type of performance dance originated in Ireland from traditional Irish dance, characterised by solo dancers who dance with hands by their sides and upper body stiff, making quick, intricate movements of the feet, often with a troupe. Irish stepdancing was popularized by the...
and Scots step dance
Step dance
Step dance is the generic term for dance styles where the footwork is the most important part of the dance. Body and arm movements and styling are either restricted or considered irrelevant.Step dance is one end of a spectrum of dance styles...
rs competed at festivals to expressive fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
music. The art of storytelling, well-known to the native populations, passed on to the early settlers, and poetry—whether put to music or not—was a common form of commemorating shared events, as the voice of a masterful poet or soulful musician easily conquered the province's language barriers.
Other cultural expressions were found in family gatherings and the church; both French and English cultures saw a long and early influence of ecclesiastical architecture
Church architecture
Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of Christian churches. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by imitating other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions...
, with Western European and American influences dominating rather than a particular vernacular sense. Poets produced the first important literary contributions in the province. Cousins Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman
Bliss Carman FRSC was a Canadian poet who lived most of his life in the United States, where he achieved international fame. He was acclaimed as Canada's poet laureate during his later years....
and Sir Charles G.D. Roberts
Charles G.D. Roberts
Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts, was a Canadian poet and prose writer who is known as the Father of Canadian Poetry. He was "almost the first Canadian author to obtain worldwide reputation and influence; he was also a tireless promoter and encourager of Canadian literature......
found inspiration in the landscape, as would later writers as well. In painting, individual artists such as Anthony Flower
Anthony Flower
Anthony Flower was a Canadian artist. He was born in London, England on March 4, 1792, the son of merchant mariner Cornelius Flower and Margaret Nicholson. Anthony Flower arrived in the New World in the fall of 1817 on his father's ship the Trent...
worked in obscurity, either through design or neglect, while others such as Edward Mitchell Bannister
Edward Mitchell Bannister
-Notes:...
left the province before ever developing a local influence.
Few 19th-century artists emerged, but those who did often benefited from fine arts training at Mount Allison University in Sackville, which began offering classes in 1854. The program came into its own under John A. Hammond
John A. Hammond
John A. Hammond was a Canadian adventurer, photographer artist, printmaker and art educator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, at age nine he began working with his father as a marble cutter. As a young man he joined the local militia and was sent to counter attack an expected Fenian raid that never...
, who served from 1893 to 1916. Alex Colville
Alex Colville
David Alexander Colville, is a Canadian painter.Colville's family moved from Toronto to Amherst, Nova Scotia in 1929. He attended Mount Allison University from 1938-1942, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Colville married Rhoda Wright that year and enlisted in the Canadian Army under the...
and Lawren Harris
Lawren Harris
Lawren Stewart Harris, CC was a Canadian painter. He was born in Brantford, Ontario and is best known as a member the Group of Seven who pioneered a distinctly Canadian painting style in the early twentieth century. A. Y. Jackson has been quoted as saying that Harris provided the stimulus for the...
later studied and taught art there and both Christopher Pratt
Christopher Pratt
For other uses, see Christopher Pratt .John Christopher Pratt CC is a Canadian painter.Pratt moved to New Brunswick in 1953 to attend Mount Allison University, where he met his future wife, the artist Mary West. They married in 1957. They have 4 children, John, Barbara, Anne and Edwin...
and Mary Pratt
Mary Pratt
Mary Frances Pratt, CC is a Canadian painter specializing in still life realist paintings....
were trained at Mount Allison. The University’s art gallery – which opened in 1895 and is named for its patron, John Owens of Saint John – is Canada’s oldest.
In French-speaking New Brunswick, it would not be until the 1960s that a comparable institution was founded, the Université de Moncton. Then, a cultural renaissance occurred under the influence of Acadian historians and such teachers as Claude Roussel and through coffeehouse
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
s, music, and protest. An outpouring of Acadian art, literature, and music has pressed on unabated since that time. Popular exponents of modern Acadian literature and music include Antonine Maillet
Antonine Maillet
Antonine Maillet, is an Acadian novelist, playwright, and scholar. She was born in Bouctouche, New Brunswick and lives in Montreal, Quebec....
, Édith Butler
Édith Butler
Édith Butler O.C. is an Acadian singer-songwriter and folklorist. Her career began in the early 1960s with performances in Moncton, followed by national appearances on CBC Television's Singalong Jubilee.2003's Madame Butlerfly is her most recent studio recording.-Honours:*Butler was appointed an...
and France Daigle
France Daigle
France Daigle is a Canadian author. Born and based in Moncton, New Brunswick, she has published six novels and three plays. She writes in French and has pioneered the use of the Chiac in her written dialogue....
. A recent New Brunswick Lieutenant-Governor, Herménégilde Chiasson
Herménégilde Chiasson
-External links:* entry in *...
, was a poet. In northeast New Brunswick and neighbouring Quebec and northern Maine, a separate French-speaking group, the Brayon
Brayon
Brayons are a francophone people inhabiting the area in and around Edmundston, New Brunswick, Canada. In French, they are called or feminine , and both terms are also used as adjectives, as in Brayon culture, or .) Given their location in New Brunswick, a Canadian Maritime province, they are...
, have fostered such important artists as Roch Voisine
Roch Voisine
Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, OC better known as Roch Voisine, is a Canadian Acadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host...
and Lenny Breau
Lenny Breau
Leonard Harold "Lenny" Breau was a musician, guitar player, and music educator. He was known for blending many styles of music including: jazz, country, classical and flamenco guitar...
. (See also "Music of New Brunswick
Music of New Brunswick
New Brunswick offers a wide range of musical entertainment at many different venues and diverse locations. In this place, you can enjoy everything from a Pow Wow at Bouctouche and Elsipogtog First Nations to Acadian Traditional or Contemporary Style Music around Moncton and the northern regions of...
").
Dr. John Clarence Webster
John Clarence Webster
John Clarence Webster was a Canadian-born physician pioneering in Obstetrics and gynaecology who in retirement had a second career as an historian, specializing in the history of his native New Brunswick...
and Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, Bt, PC, was a Canadian-British business tycoon, politician, and writer.-Early career in Canada:...
have made important endowments to provincial museums. Dr. Webster gave his art collection to the New Brunswick Museum in 1934, thereby endowing the museum with one of its greatest assets, James Barry
James Barry (painter)
James Barry , Irish painter, best remembered for his six part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts...
's Death of General Wolfe, which ranks as a Canadian national treasure
National treasure
The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of Romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology which supports the nation as the fundamental unit of human social life, which includes shared...
. Courtesy of Lord Beaverbrook, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Beaverbrook Art Gallery
The Beaverbrook Art Gallery is a small art gallery on the southwest bank of the Saint John River at the edge of the central business district of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada...
in Fredericton has a collection of world-renowned art, including works by Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
and J. M. W. Turner
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner RA was an English Romantic landscape painter, watercolourist and printmaker. Turner was considered a controversial figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting...
.
The performing arts have a long tradition in New Brunswick, dating back to travelling road shows and 19th-century opera in Saint John. The early recording star Henry Burr
Henry Burr
Henry Burr was a Canadian singer of popular songs from the early 20th century, an early radio performer and producer...
was discovered at the Imperial Theatre
Imperial Theatre, Saint John
The Imperial Theatre, in Saint John, New Brunswick, was designed by Philadelphia architect Albert Westover and built in 1912 by the Imperial Theatre by the Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation vaudeville chain of New York City and their Canadian subsidiary, the Saint John Amusements Company Ltd...
in Saint John. Based in Fredericton, the most important proponent of theatre today is Theatre New Brunswick
Theatre New Brunswick
Theatre New Brunswick is the only professional theatre company in New Brunswick Canada. It began operation in 1968, and has been successfully operating since that time.-Artistic directors:*Walter Learning *Malcolm Black...
, originally under the direction of Walter Learning
Walter Learning
Walter John Learning is a Canadian theatre director, actor, and founder of Theatre New Brunswick.-Biography:Walter Learning was born in 1938 in the small village of Quidi Vidi in Newfoundland. Learning attended Bishop Feild College in St. John's and the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton,...
, which tours plays around the province; Canadian playwright Norm Foster
Norm Foster (playwright)
Norm Foster is a Canadian playwright, considered to be Canada's most produced playwright. Foster discovered his talents as a playwright in Fredericton, New Brunswick, while he was working as host of a popular morning radio show. He accompanied a friend to an audition, and landed his first acting...
saw his early works premiere at TNB. Other live theatre troops include Théâtre l’Escaouette
Théâtre l’Escaouette
The Théâtre l’Escaouette is a professional theater company based in Moncton, New Brunswick. It was founded in 1978 by graduates of the drama program at the Université de Moncton. In the past the company was primarily a touring operation, touring the Atlantic provinces and the rest of Canada....
in Moncton, the Théatre populaire d'Acadie in Caraquet
Caraquet
Caraquet can refer to:* Caraquet, New Brunswick, a town in New Brunswick, Canada* Bas-Caraquet, New Brunswick, a village in New Brunswick, Canada* Caraquet , a riding that elects members to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick....
, and Live Bait Theatre
Live Bait Theatre
Live Bait Theatre is a professional theatre company based in Sackville, New Brunswick, in Canada. Established in 1988, it continues to have a vested interest in supporting and encouraging both up-and-coming and well-known Maritime actors and playwrights....
in Sackville. All three major cities have significant performance spaces. The refurbished Imperial and Capitol
Capitol Theatre (Moncton)
The Capitol Theatre in Downtown Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada is an 800 seat, restored 1920s-era vaudeville house on Main Street that serves as the centre for cultural entertainment for the city...
Theatres are found in Saint John and Moncton, respectively; the more modern Playhouse
The Playhouse (Fredericton)
The Fredericton Playhouse is a non-profit organization venue for hosting local talent acts and touring performers. It was originally constructed in 1964 at the behest of Lady and Lord Beaverbrook, and between the years of 1969 and 2003, the venue was home to Theatre New Brunswick...
is located in Fredericton.
In modern literature, writers Alfred Bailey
Alfred Bailey
Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey, was a Canadian educator, poet, anthropologist, ethno-historian, and academic administrator.-Life:...
and Alden Nowlan
Alden Nowlan
Alden Albert Nowlan was a critically acclaimed Canadian poet, novelist, and playwright-History:Alden Nowlan was born into rural poverty in Stanley, Nova Scotia, adjacent to Mosherville, and close to the small town of Windsor, Nova Scotia, along a stretch of dirt road that he would later refer to...
dominated the New Brunswick literary scene in the last third of the 20th century and world-renowned literary critic Northrop Frye
Northrop Frye
Herman Northrop Frye, was a Canadian literary critic and literary theorist, considered one of the most influential of the 20th century....
was influenced by his upbringing in Moncton. The annual Frye Festival
The Frye Festival
The Frye Festival, formerly known as the Northrop Frye International Literary Festival, is a bilingual literary festival held in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada in April of each year...
in that city celebrates his legacy. The expatriate British poet John Thompson
John Thompson (poet)
John Thompson was an English-born Canadian poet.John Thompson was born in Timperley in 1938. Following the death of his father and abandonment by his mother, he was educated at various boarding schools and the Manchester Grammar School. He received his B.A. in honours psychology from the...
, who settled outside Sackville, proved influential in his short-lived career. Douglas Lochhead
Douglas Lochhead
Douglas Lochhead, FRSC was a Canadian poet who lived in Sackville, New Brunswick, of which town he was the official poet laureate...
and K. V. Johansen
K. V. Johansen
K.V. Johansen is a Canadian fantasy, science fiction, and children's author.Born in Kingston, Ontario, Johansen holds Master's degrees in Medieval Studies and English literature.She lives in Sackville, New Brunswick....
are other prominent writers living in the town of Sackville. David Adams Richards
David Adams Richards
David Adams Richards, CM, ONB is a Canadian novelist, essayist, screenwriter and poet.Born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Richards left St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, three credits shy of completing a B.A.. Richards has been a writer-in-residence at various universities and...
, born in the Miramichi, has become a well-respected Governor-General's Award-winning author. Canadian novelist, story-writer, biographer and poet, Raymond Fraser
Raymond Fraser
Raymond Fraser is a Canadian author.Born in Chatham, New Brunswick, Fraser attended St Thomas University where in his freshman year he played on the varsity hockey and football teams, and in his junior year was co-editor with John Brebner of the student literary magazine Tom-Tom...
, grew up in Chatham and lives now in Fredericton.
The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada
Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada
The Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada is a professional award winning touring ballet company based in Moncton, New Brunswick. Founded in 2002 by Susan Chalmers-Gauvin, CEO, and Artistic Director Igor Dobrovolskiy, Ballet-théâtre atlantique du Canada/ The Atlantic Ballet Theatre Of Canada presents a...
, based in Moncton and featuring Russian and European trained dancers, has recently flourished and has started touring both nationally and internationally. Symphony New Brunswick
Symphony New Brunswick
Symphony New Brunswick is the largest classical music organization in New Brunswick, Canada.The orchestra was founded in 1983 following the demise of the Halifax-based Atlantic Symphony Orchestra which performed in several New Brunswick cities from 1969 to 1982...
, based in Saint John, also tours extensively in the province.
Media outlets
New Brunswick has four daily newspapers (three of which are in English), the largest being the Times & TranscriptTimes & Transcript
The “Times & Transcript” is New Brunswick's largest newspaper circulation daily newspaper with an average paid daily circulation of approximately 40,000, and readership of approximately 110,000. It serves Metro Moncton and eastern New Brunswick. Its offices and printing facilities are located on...
(40,000 daily), based in Moncton and serving eastern New Brunswick. Also, there is the Telegraph-Journal
Telegraph-Journal
The Telegraph-Journal is a daily newspaper published in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It publishes a hybrid newspaper, serving as a provincial daily while catering to the Saint John audience in its City and Sports sections. The newspaper is published by Brunswick News, owned by J. K. Irving...
(37,000 daily), which serves Saint John and is distributed throughout the province, and the provincial capital daily The Daily Gleaner
The Daily Gleaner
The Daily Gleaner, often just The Gleaner, is a morning daily newspaper serving the city of Fredericton, New Brunswick and upper Saint John River Valley. The paper is published Monday through Saturday and began operating in 1880. In April 2006, the paper switched from afternoon to morning publication...
(25,000 daily), based in Fredericton. The French-language daily is L'Acadie Nouvelle
L'Acadie Nouvelle
L'Acadie Nouvelle is an independent French newspaper published in Caraquet, New Brunswick, Canada since June 6, 1984. It is published from Monday through Saturday and is the only francophone newspaper published in New Brunswick.- History :...
(12,000 daily), based in Caraquet. There are also several weekly newspapers that are local in scope and based in the province's smaller towns and communities.
The three English-language dailies and the majority of the weeklies are owned and operated by Brunswick News
Brunswick News
Brunswick News Inc. is a Canadian newspaper publishing company based in Moncton, New Brunswick. It is privately owned by James K. Irving.-Newspapers:...
, privately owned by J.K. Irving. The other major media group in the province is Acadie Presse, which publishes L'Acadie Nouvelle.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
has various news bureaus throughout the province, but its main Anglophone television and radio operations are centred in Fredericton. Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada
Télévision de Radio-Canada is a Canadian French language television network. It is owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, known in French as Société Radio-Canada. Headquarters are at Maison Radio-Canada in Montreal, which is also home to the network's flagship station, CBFT-DT...
(CBC French) service is based in Moncton. Global TV
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
is based in Halifax, with news bureaus in Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John. CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic
CTV Atlantic is a system of four television stations in the Canadian Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media...
, the regional CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
station, is based in Halifax and has offices in Moncton, Fredericton, and Saint John. Western New Brunswick is served by WAGM-TV
WAGM-TV
WAGM-TV is the CBS-affiliated television station for Northern Maine, United States and Western New Brunswick, Canada. Licensed to Presque Isle, Maine, it broadcasts a high definition digital signal on VHF channel 8 from a transmitter on the northern section of Mars Hill Mountain among the wind...
which broadcasts CBS and Fox stations into the province and covers New Brunswick news and weather on its NewsSource 8 broadcasts.
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.
Trutta
New Brunswick is the basis for the scenario of the fictitious People's Republic of Trutta. The scenario is part of the training package Salmo. Both scenarios are made by the Canadian Pearson Peacekeeping CentrePearson Peacekeeping Centre
Established in 1994 by the Government of Canada, the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre is an independent, not-for-profit organization with its office based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on the campus of Carleton University...
(PCC). The Trutta-scenario from 2007/’08 is additionly in use by the Royal Netherlands Army
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands.-Short history:The Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, but its origins date back to 1572, when the so-called Staatse Leger was raised...
. The Dutch army incorporates the host nation of Trutta in different aspects of its educational and training program. The operation the Royal Netherlands Army fictionally executes in Trutta takes place under the name of TRUFOR (Trutta Force).
See also
- Counties of New BrunswickCounties of New BrunswickThis is a list of the counties in the Canadian province of New Brunswick, with shire towns in parentheses. Since 1966, counties in New Brunswick serve virtually no purpose except the court system, and as geographical expressions of location . They still appear on most maps...
- Royal eponyms in CanadaRoyal eponyms in CanadaIn Canada, a number of sites and structures are named for royal individuals, whether a member of the past French Royal Family, British Royal Family, or present Canadian Royal Family, thus reflecting the country's status as a constitutional monarchy under the Canadian Crown.-King Francis I:-Queen...
- Scouting and Guiding in New Brunswick
Lists:
- List of airports in New Brunswick
- List of New Brunswick general elections (post-Confederation)
- List of people from New Brunswick
- List of rivers of New Brunswick
- List of schools in New Brunswick
External links
- Official site of Tourism New Brunswick
- Official site of the Government of New Brunswick
- New Brunswick at the Department of Canadian HeritageDepartment of Canadian HeritageThe Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage |department]] of the Government of Canada with responsibility for policies and programs regarding the arts, culture, media, communications networks, official languages , status of women, sports , and multiculturalism...
- Maritime Tourism
- Symbols of New Brunswick
- New Brunswick Museum
- New Brunswick Covered Bridges
- New Brunswick Lighthouses
- Historical and Genealogical Resources of New Brunswick historical census, birth, marriage and death records, immigration, settlement, biography, cemeteries, burial records, land records, First Nations and more
- From Louis to Lord: New Brunswick Elections, 1960–2003