Native name	Canada
Common name	Canada
Alt flag	Vertical triband (red, white, red) with a red maple leaf in the centre of the white
Image coat	Coat of arms of Canada.svg
Alt coat	A shield divided into four rectangles over a triangle. The first rectangle contains three lions passant guardant in gold on a red background; the second, a red lion rampant on a gold background; the third, a gold harp on a blue background; the fourth, three gold fleurs-de-lis on a blue background. The triangle contains three red maple leaves on a white background. A gold helmet sits on top of the shield, upon which is a crowned lion holding a red maple leaf, with a larger crown over its head. On the right is a lion rampant flying the Union Flag. On the left is a unicorn flying a blue flag with three fleurs-de-lis. Both animals hold a red ribbon that goes around the shield, which says "desiderantes meliorem patriam". Below is a blue scroll inscribed "A mari usque ad mare" on a wreath of flowers.
National motto	(Latin)"From Sea to Sea"
National anthem	"O Canada"
Royal anthem	"God Save the Queen"
Alt map	Projection of North America with Canada in green
Map width	220px
Capital	Ottawa
Largest city	Toronto
Official languages	English and French
Regional languages	Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Cree, , Gwich’in, Inuvialuktun, Slavey and
Demonym	Canadian
Government type	Federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
Leader title1	Monarch
Leader name1	Elizabeth II
Leader title2	Governor General
Leader name2	David Johnston
Leader title3	Prime Minister
Leader name3	Stephen Harper
Legislature	Parliament
Upper house	Senate
Lower house	House of Commons
Sovereignty type	Establishment
Established event1	British North America Acts
Established date1	July 1, 1867
Established event2	Statute of Westminster
Established date2	December 11, 1931
Established event3	Canada Act
Established date3	April 17, 1982
Area km2	9,984,670
Area sq mi	3,854,085
Area rank	2nd
Area magnitude	1 E12
Percent water	8.92 (891,163 km2/344,080 mi2)
Population estimate	}}

|population_estimate_year = 2011 |population_estimate_rank = 36th |population_census = 32,623,490 |population_census_year = 2006 |population_density_km2 = 3.41 |population_density_sq_mi = 8.3 |population_density_rank = 228th |GDP_PPP_year = 2010 |GDP_PPP = $1.330 trillion |GDP_PPP_rank = |GDP_PPP_per_capita = $39,057 |GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = |GDP_nominal = $1.574 trillion |GDP_nominal_rank = |GDP_nominal_year = 2010 |GDP_nominal_per_capita = $46,215 |GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = |HDI_year = 2010 |HDI = 0.888 |HDI_rank = 8th |HDI_category = very high |Gini = 32.1 |Gini_category = medium |Gini_year = 2005 |currency = Canadian dollar ($) |currency_code = CAD |time_zone = |utc_offset = −3.5 to −8 |time_zone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = −2.5 to −7 |date_format = dd-mm-yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, ''and'' yyyy-mm-dd (CE) |drives_on = Right |cctld = .ca |calling_code = +1 |footnotes = Canada portal }} Canada () is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area. Canada's common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.

The land that is now Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federal state that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual nation with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G7, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN. With the eighth-highest Human Development Index globally, it has one of the highest standards of living in the world.

History

Etymology

The name ''Canada'' comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, ''kanata'', meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word ''Canada'' to refer not only to that particular village, but also the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as ''Canada''.

In the 17th and early 18th century, Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. The area was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada. They were re-unified as the Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name ''Canada'' was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and ''Dominion'' (a term from Psalm 72:8) was conferred as the country's title. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply ''Canada'' on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982.

Aboriginal peoples

Archaeological and genetic studies support a human presence in the northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the earliest archaeological sites of human (Paleo-Indians) habitation in Canada. Among the First Nations peoples, there are eight unique creation myths and their adaptations. The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks. Some of these cultures had faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and have been discovered through archaeological investigations.

The aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million in the late 15th century, with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health. Repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a forty to eighty percent aboriginal population decrease post-contact. Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. The Métis are a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nation and Inuit married European settlers. The Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the colonization period.

European colonization

European colonization began when Norsemen settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000. No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast for England. Basque and Portuguese mariners established seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast. In 1534 Jacques Cartier explored the Saint Lawrence River for France. In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed St. John's, Newfoundland as the first North American English colony by royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I. French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. Among French colonists of New France, ''Canadiens'' extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The Beaver Wars broke out over control of the North American fur trade.

The English established additional colonies in Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland beginning in 1610 and soon after founded the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four French and Indian Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769. To avert conflict in Quebec, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there. This angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies and helped to fuel the American Revolution.

The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.

The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. Following the war, large-scale immigration to Canada from Britain and Ireland began in 1815. From 1825 to 1846, 626,628 European immigrants landed at Canadian ports. Between one-quarter and one-third of all Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891 died of infectious diseases.

The desire for responsible government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture. The Act of Union 1840 merged The Canadas into a united Province of Canada. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849. The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).

Confederation and expansion

Following several constitutional conferences, the Constitution Act, 1867 officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative government established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries.

To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon Territory. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

Early 20th century

Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Confederation Act, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I. Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps. The Corps played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major battles of the war. Out of approximately 625,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 173,000 were wounded. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain and, the Statute of Westminster 1931 affirmed Canada's independence.

The Great Depression brought economic hardship throughout Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan enacted many measures of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) into the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.

Canadian troops played important roles in the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. Canada provided asylum and protection for the monarchy of the Netherlands while that country was occupied, and is credited by the country for leadership and major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.

Modern times

Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) joined Canada in 1949. Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and official multiculturalism in 1971. There was also the founding of socially democratic programmes, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the 1982 patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.

At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a modern nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis in 1970. The sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976 and organized an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990. This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6 to 49.4 percent. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.

In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history; the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students; and the Oka Crisis in 1990, the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Aboriginal groups. Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a US-led coalition force, and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the late 1990s. It sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to send forces to Iraq when the US invaded in 2003.

Geography

Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing the land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area, Canada ranks fourth.

The country lies between latitudes 41° and 84°N, and longitudes 52° and 141°W. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—817 kilometres (450 nautical miles, 508 miles) from the North Pole. Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada also has the longest coastline in the world: .

Since the last glacial period Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield. Canada has more lakes than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water. There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The volcanic eruption of Tseax Cone in 1775 caused a catastrophic disaster, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia; the eruption produced a lava flow, and according to legend of the Nisga'a people, it blocked the flow of the Nass River.

The population density, , is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River.

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary according to the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below with severe wind chills. In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year (more in the north). Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from , with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding .

Government and politics

Canada has strong democratic traditions upheld through a parliamentary system within the construct of constitutional monarchy; the monarchy of Canada is the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's ten provinces and resides predominantly in the United Kingdom. As such, the Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada (presently David Lloyd Johnston), carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.

The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in areas of governance is limited; in practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (presently Stephen Harper), the head of government. To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies. The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Nycole Turmel) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.

Each of the 308 Members of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, within four years of the previous election, or may be triggered by the government losing a confidence vote in the House. The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75. Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2011 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the New Democratic Party (the Official Opposition), the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces and with some structural differences.

Law

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982) affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments; the Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy; and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to the UK, added a constitutional amending formula, and added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.

Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful. Combined with Canada's late economic development in many regions, this peaceful history has allowed Canadian Indigenous peoples to have a relatively strong influence on the national culture while preserving their own identity. The Crown and Aboriginal peoples began interactions during the European colonialization period. Numbered Treaties, the Indian Act, the Constitution Act of 1982, and case laws were established. A series of eleven treaties were signed between Aboriginals in Canada and the reigning Monarch of Canada from 1871 to 1921. These treaties are agreements with the Government of Canada administered by Canadian Aboriginal law and overseen by the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The role of the treaties was reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982, which "recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights". These rights may include provision of services such as health care, and exemption from taxation. The legal and policy framework within which Canada and First Nations operate was further formalized in 2005, through the First Nations–Federal Crown Political Accord.

Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and has been led by the Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. (the first female Chief Justice) since 2000. Its nine members are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with nongovernmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels.

Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Foreign relations and military

Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner. Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to officially participate in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie. Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation.

Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of over 67,000 regular and approximately 43,000 reserve personnel including supplementary reserves. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force.

Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations. Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize. As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989, and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.

Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).

In 2001, Canada had troops deployed to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Starting in July 2011, Canada began withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan. The mission had cost 157 soldiers, one diplomat, two aid workers, and one journalist their lives, with an approximate cost of C$11.3 billion Canada and the U.S. continue to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the Canada-United States border through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925. In July 2010 the largest purchase in Canadian military history, totaling C$9 billion for the acquisition of 65 F-35 fighters was announced by the federal government.

Provinces and territories

Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada (Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces have more autonomy than territories. The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.

Economy

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per-capita income. It is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G8, and is one of the world's top ten trading nations. Canada is a mixed economy, ranking above the U.S. and most western European nations on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom. The largest foreign importers of Canadian goods are the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to a more industrial and urban one. Like other First World nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the logging and petroleum industries are two of the most important.

Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy. Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta has large oil and gas resources. The immense Athabasca oil sands give Canada the world's second-largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia.

Canada is one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important producers of wheat, canola, and other grains. Canada is the largest producer of zinc and uranium, and is a global source of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead. Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.

Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened the borders to trade in the auto manufacturing industry. In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).

In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to "Investment Canada" in order to encourage foreign investment. The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in the 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the Liberal government under Jean Chrétien began to post annual budgetary surpluses and steadily paid down the national debt. The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a recession, which could increase the country's unemployment rate to 10 percent. In 2008, Canada's imported goods were worth over $442.9 billion, of which $280.8 billion was from the United States, $11.7 billion from Japan, and $11.3 billion from the United Kingdom. The country’s 2009 trade deficit totaled C$4.8 billion, compared with a C$46.9 billion surplus in 2008.

As of October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate was 8.6 percent. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 5.8 percent in Manitoba to a high of 17 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador. Between October 2008, and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs. Canada's federal debt is estimated to be $566.7 billion for 2010–11, up from $463.7 billion in 2008–09. Canada’s net foreign debt rose by $41-billion to $194-billion in the first quarter of 2010.

Science and technology

Canada is an industrial nation with a highly developed science and technology sector. Nearly 1.88 percent of Canada's GDP is allocated to research & development (R&D). The country has ten Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine. Canada ranks twelfth in the world for Internet usage with 28.0 million users, 84.3 percent of the total population.

The Canadian Space Agency conducts space, planetary, and aviation research, and develops rockets and satellites. In 1984, Marc Garneau became Canada's first astronaut, serving as payload specialist of STS-41-G. Canada was ranked third among 20 top countries in space sciences. Canada is a participant in the International Space Station and one of the world's pioneers in space robotics with the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre. Since the 1960s, Canada Aerospace Industries have designed and built 10 satellites, including Radarsat-1, Radarsat-2 and MOST. Canada also produced one of the most successful sounding rockets, the Black Brant; over 1000 have been launched since they were initially produced in 1961. Universities across Canada are working on the first domestic landing spacecraft: the Northern Light, designed to search for life on Mars and investigate Martian electromagnetic radiation environment and atmospheric properties. If the Northern Light is successful, Canada will be the third country to land on another planet.

Demographics

The Canada 2006 Census counted a total population of 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4 percent since 2001. Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About four-fifths of Canada's population lives within of the United States border. The majority of Canadians (approximately 80%) live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, the BC Lower Mainland, and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor in Alberta. In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age of the population was 39.5 years.

According to the 2006 census, the largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (32%), followed by English (21%), French (15.8%), Scottish (15.1%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%), Italian (4.6%), Chinese (4.3%), First Nations (4.0%), Ukrainian (3.9%), and Dutch (3.3%). There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands encompassing 1,172,790 people.

Canada's Aboriginal population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and 3.8 percent of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Another 16.2 percent of the population belonged to a non-aboriginal visible minority. The largest visible minority groups in Canada are South Asian (4.0%), Chinese (3.9%) and Black (2.5%). Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population rose by 27.2 percent. In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) could be classified as belonging to a visible minority group and less than 1% as aboriginal. As of 2007, almost one in five Canadians (19.8%) were foreign-born. Nearly 60 percent of new immigrants come from Asia (including the Middle East). The leading emigrating countries to Canada were China, Philippines and India. By 2031, one in three Canadians could belong to a visible minority group.

Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification, and is aiming for between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2011, the same number of immigrants as in recent years. New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver. Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. The country resettles over one in 10 of the world’s refugees.

According to the 2001 census, 77.1 percent of Canadians identify as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (9.5% of Canadians), followed by the Anglicans (6.8%), Baptists (2.4%), Lutherans (2%), and other Christians (4.4%). About 16.5 percent of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3 percent are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which is Islam (2.0%), followed by Judaism (1.1%).

Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar, while reflecting regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years, contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent. In 2002, 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51 percent.

Language

Canada's two official languages are English and French. Official bilingualism is defined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the Official Languages Act, and ''Official Language Regulations''; it is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.

English and French are the first languages of 59.7 and 23.2 percent of the population respectively. Approximately 98 percent of Canadians speak English or French: 57.8% speak English only, 22.1% speak French only, and 17.4% speak both. English and French Official Language Communities, defined by First Official Language Spoken, constitute 73.0 and 23.6 percent of the population respectively.

The Charter of the French Language makes French the official language in Quebec. Although more than 85 percent of French-speaking Canadians live in Quebec, there are substantial Francophone populations in Ontario, Alberta, and southern Manitoba; Ontario has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. New Brunswick, the only officially bilingual province, has a French-speaking Acadian minority constituting 33 percent of the population. There are also clusters of Acadians in southwestern Nova Scotia, on Cape Breton Island, and through central and western Prince Edward Island.

Other provinces have no official languages as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and for other government services in addition to English. Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec allow for both English and French to be spoken in the provincial legislatures, and laws are enacted in both languages. In Ontario, French has some legal status but is not fully co-official. There are 11 Aboriginal language groups, made up of more than 65 distinct dialects. Of these, only Cree, Inuktitut and Ojibway have a large enough population of fluent speakers to be considered viable to survive in the long term. Several aboriginal languages have official status in the Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.

Over six million people in Canada list a non-official language as their mother tongue. Some of the most common non-official first languages include Chinese (mainly Cantonese; 1,012,065 first-language speakers), Italian (455,040), German (450,570), Punjabi (367,505) and Spanish (345,345). and the languages most spoken at home by 68.3 percent and 22.3 percent of the population respectively.

Culture

Canada has a diverse makeup of nationalities and cultures, and has constitutional protection for policies that promote multiculturalism. In Quebec, cultural identity is strong, and many French-speaking commentators speak of a culture of Quebec as distinguished from English Canadian culture; however, as a whole Canada is a cultural mosaic—a collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures. Government policies such as publicly-funded health care, higher taxation to distribute wealth, outlawing capital punishment, strong efforts to eliminate poverty, an emphasis on multiculturalism, stricter gun control, and legalization of same-sex marriage are social indicators of how Canada's political and cultural evolution differs from that of the United States. Historically Canada has been influenced by British, French, and aboriginal cultures and traditions. Through their culture, language, art and music, aboriginals continue to influence the Canadian identity. Many Canadians value multiculturalism and see Canada as being inherently multicultural. American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide. Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified "North American" or global market. The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Canadian visual art has been dominated by Tom Thomson — Canada's most famous painter — and by the Group of Seven. Thomson's brief career painting Canadian landscapes spanned just a decade up to his death in 1917 at age 39. The Group were painters with a nationalistic and idealistic focus, who first exhibited their distinctive works in May 1920. Though referred to as having seven members, five artists — Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley — were responsible for articulating the Group's ideas. They were joined briefly by Frank Johnston, and by commercial artist Franklin Carmichael. A. J. Casson became part of the Group in 1926. Associated with the Group was another prominent Canadian artist, Emily Carr, known for her landscapes and portrayals of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast.

The Canadian music industry has produced internationally renowned composers, musicians and ensembles. Canada's music broadcasting is regulated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences administers Canada's music industry awards, the Juno Awards, which commenced in 1970. The national anthem of Canada ''O Canada'' adopted in 1980, was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French, before it was translated to English in 1906.

Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Hockey is a national pastime and the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is also the sport most played by Canadians, with 1.65 million participants in 2004. Seven of Canada's eight largest metropolitan areas—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg—have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the NHL than from all other countries combined. Other popular spectator sports include curling and football; the latter is played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, cricket, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not widespread.

Canada has hosted several high-profile international sporting events, including the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Canada was the host nation for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.

Canada's national symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and Aboriginal sources. The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century. The maple leaf is depicted on Canada's current and previous flags, on the penny, and on the Arms of Canada. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada Goose, Common Loon, the Crown, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and more recently, the totem pole and Inuksuk.

See also

References

Further reading

; History ISBN 0802050166, ISBN 0802028012 ; Geography and climate ; Government and law ; Foreign relations and military ; Economy ; Demography and statistics ; Culture

External links

Official website of the Government of Canada

Official website of the Governor General of Canada

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canada at UCB Libraries GovPubs

Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources

Canadiana: The National Bibliography of Canada

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Name	Alice Cooper
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Vincent Damon Furnier
Born	February 04, 1948Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, harmonica, guitar
Genre	Rock, hard rock, heavy metal, shock rock
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, actor, DJ
Years active	1964–present
Associated acts	Alice Cooper band, Ozzy Osbourne, Slash
Label	Straight, Warner Bros., Atlantic, MCA, Epic, Spitfire, Eagle, New West
Website	}}

Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier; February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades. With a stage show that features guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors, and baby dolls, Cooper has drawn equally from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock to pioneer a grandly theatrical and violent brand of heavy metal designed to shock.

Alice Cooper was originally a band consisting of Furnier on vocals and harmonica, lead guitarist Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and drummer Neal Smith. The original Alice Cooper band broke into the international music mainstream with the 1971 hit "I'm Eighteen" from the album ''Love it to Death'', which was followed by the even bigger single "School's Out" in 1972. The band reached their commercial peak with the 1973 album ''Billion Dollar Babies''.

Furnier's solo career as Alice Cooper, adopting the band's name as his own name, began with the 1975 concept album ''Welcome to My Nightmare''. In 2008 he released ''Along Came a Spider'', his 18th solo album but his 25th album. Expanding from his original Detroit rock roots, over the years Cooper has experimented with many various musical styles, including conceptual rock, art rock, hard rock, new wave, pop rock, experimental rock and industrial rock.

Alice Cooper is known for his social and witty persona offstage. ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' goes so far as to call him the world's most "beloved heavy metal entertainer". He helped to shape the sound and look of heavy metal, and is seen as the one who "first introduced horror imagery to rock'n'roll, and whose stagecraft and showmanship have permanently transformed the genre". Away from music, Cooper is a film actor, a golfing celebrity, a restaurateur and, since 2004, a popular radio DJ with his classic rock show ''Nights with Alice Cooper''.

In 2011 the original Alice Cooper band was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early life

Cooper was born as Vincent Damon Furnier in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ella Mae (Née McCart) and Ether Moroni Furnier. His father was a lay preacher in the Church of Jesus Christ (also known as the Bickertonite Church) which, historically, is a branch of the Latter Day Saint movement. He has French Huguenot, Sioux Native American, English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry, and was named after one of his uncles (Vincent Collier Furnier) and the writer Damon Runyon. His paternal grandfather, Thurman Sylvester Furnier, was an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ (Bickertonite). Vincent Furnier was active in his church at the ages of 11 and 12.

While growing up in Detroit, Furnier attended Washington Elementary School, then Nankin Mills Jr. High, now Lutheran High School Westland. Following a series of childhood illnesses, Furnier moved with his family to Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended Cortez High School in north Phoenix, and was a member of the Order of DeMolay.

Recording career

1960s

In 1964 sixteen year-old Furnier was eager to take part in the local annual letterman's talent show, so he gathered fellow cross-country teammates to form a group for the show. They named themselves The Earwigs. Since they did not know how to play any instruments at the time, they dressed up like The Beatles and mimed their performance to Beatles songs. As a result of winning the talent show and loving the experience of being onstage, the group immediately proceeded to learn how to play instruments they acquired from a local pawn shop. They soon renamed themselves The Spiders, featuring Furnier on vocals, Glen Buxton on lead guitar, John Tatum on rhythm guitar, Dennis Dunaway on bass guitar, and John Speer on drums. Musically, the group was inspired by artists such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, and The Yardbirds. For the next year the band performed regularly around the Phoenix area with a huge black spider's web as their backdrop, the group's first stage prop. In 1965 they recorded their first single, "Why Don't You Love Me" (originally performed by The Blackwells), with Furnier learning the harmonica for that song.

In 1966 The Spiders graduated from high school, and after North High School footballer, Michael Bruce, replaced John Tatum on rhythm guitar, the band scored a local #1 radio hit with "Don't Blow Your Mind," an original composition from their second single release. By 1967 the band had begun to make regular road trips to Los Angeles, California to play shows. They soon renamed themselves The Nazz and released the single "Wonder Who's Lovin' Her Now," backed with future Alice Cooper track "Lay Down And Die, Goodbye." At around this time drummer John Speer was replaced by Neal Smith. By the end of the year the band had relocated to Los Angeles permanently.

In 1968 upon learning that Todd Rundgren also had a band called Nazz, the band was again in need of another stage name. Believing that the group needed a gimmick to succeed, and that other bands were not exploiting the showmanship potential of the stage, Furnier chose "Alice Cooper" as the band's name and adopted this stage name as his own. Cooper later stated that the name change was one of his most important and successful career moves.

Nonetheless, at the time Cooper and the band realized that the concept of a male playing the role of a villian, a woman killer, in tattered women's clothing and wearing make-up, would have the potential to cause considerable social controversy and grab headlines. In 2007 in his book ''Alice Cooper, Golf Monster'' Cooper stated that his look was inspired in part by film. One of the band's all time favorite movies was ''What Ever Happened to Baby Jane'' starring Bette Davis. "In the movie, Bette wears disgusting caked makeup smeared on her face and underneath her eyes, with deep , dark, black eyeliner." Another movie watched over and over was ''Barbarella''. "When I saw Anita Pallenberg playing the Great Tyrant in that movie in 1968, wearing long black leather gloves with switchblades coming out of them, I thought, 'That's what Alice should look like'. That, and a little bit of Emma Peel from ''The Avengers''".

The conception for the character that Cooper plays on stage came when he took careful observation of the rock world around him. He noticed that rock stars were always made out to be heroes, and that rock villains were scarce. In a 2010 interview he stated, "Why do we always have rock heroes? Why not a rock villain? I was more than happy to be rock's Darth Vader. I was more than happy to be Captain Hook."

The classic Alice Cooper group line-up consisted of singer Alice Cooper (Vincent Furnier), lead guitarist Glen Buxton, rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis Dunaway, and drummer Neal Smith. With the exception of Smith, who graduated from Camelback High School (which is referred to in the song "Alma Mater" on the ''School's Out'' album), all of the band members were on the Cortez High School cross-country team, and many of Cooper's stage effects were inspired by their cross-country coach, Emmett Smith (one of Smith's class projects was to build a working guillotine for slicing watermelons). Cooper, Buxton and Dunaway were also art students, and their admiration for the works of surrealist artists such as Salvador Dalí would further inspire their future stage antics.

One night after an unsuccessful gig at the Cheetah club in Venice, California, where the band emptied the entire room of patrons after playing just ten minutes, they were approached and enlisted by music manager Shep Gordon, who ironically saw the band's negative impact that night as a force that could be turned in a more productive direction. Shep then arranged an audition for the band with composer and renowned record producer, Frank Zappa, who was looking to sign bizarre music acts to his new record label, Straight Records. For the audition Zappa told them to come to his house "at 7 o'clock." The band mistakenly assumed he meant 7 o'clock in the morning. Being woken up by a band willing to play that particular brand of psychedelic rock at seven in the morning impressed Zappa enough to sign them to a three-album deal. Another Zappa-signed act, the all-female GTOs, who liked to "dress the Cooper boys up like full size barbie dolls," played a major role in developing the band's early onstage look.

Cooper's first album ''Pretties for You'' (released in 1969) had a slight psychedelic feel. Although it touched the US charts for one week at #193, it was ultimately a critical and commercial failure.

Alice Cooper's "shock rock" reputation apparently developed almost by accident at first. An unrehearsed stage routine involving Cooper and a live chicken garnered attention from the press, and the band decided to capitalize on the tabloid sensationalism, creating in the process a new subgenre, shock rock. Cooper claims that the infamous "Chicken Incident" at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival concert in September 1969 was an accident. A chicken somehow made its way onto the stage during Cooper's performance, and not having any experience around farm animals, Cooper presumed that, because the chicken had wings, it would be able to fly. He picked it up and threw it out over the crowd, expecting it to fly away. The chicken instead plummeted into the first few rows occupied by disabled people in wheelchairs, who reportedly proceeded to tear the bird to pieces.

The next day the incident made the front page of national newspapers, and Zappa phoned Cooper and asked if the story, which reported that he had bitten off the chicken's head and drunk its blood on stage, was true. Cooper denied the rumor, whereupon Zappa told him, "Well, whatever you do, don't tell anyone you didn't do it", obviously recognizing that such publicity would be priceless for the band.

1970s

Despite the publicity from the Chicken Incident, the band's stronger second album, ''Easy Action'', released in June 1970, met with the same fate as its predecessor. At around this time the band, fed up with Californians' indifference to their act, relocated to Cooper's birthplace, Detroit, where their bizarre stage act was much better received by the crowds of the Midwest states who were accustomed to the similar hard rock styles of local bands such as The Stooges and The MC5. Despite this, Cooper still managed to receive a cream pie in the face when performing at the Cincinnati Pop Festival. Detroit would remain their steady home base until 1972. "LA just didn’t get it," Cooper stated. "They were all on the wrong drug for us. They were on acid and we were basically drinking beer. We fit much more in Detroit than we did anywhere else."

Alice Cooper appeared at the Woodstock-esque, Strawberry Fields Festival near Toronto, Ontario in August 1970. The band's mix of glam and increasingly violent stage theatrics stood out in stark contrast to the bearded, denim-clad hippie bands of the time. As Cooper himself stated: "We were into fun, sex, death and money when everybody was into peace and love. We wanted to see what was next. It turned out we were next, and we drove a stake through the heart of the Love Generation".

In autumn 1970 the Alice Cooper group teamed with producer Bob Ezrin for the recording of their third album ''Love it to Death''. This was the final album in their Straight Records contract and the band's last chance to create a hit. That first success came with the single "I'm Eighteen", released in November 1970, which reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971. Not long after the album's release in January 1971 Warner Bros. Records purchased Alice Cooper's contract from Straight and re-issued the album, giving the group a higher level of promotion.

''Love it to Death'' proved to be their breakthrough album, reaching number 35 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album charts. It would be the first of eleven Alice Cooper group and solo albums produced by Ezrin, who is widely seen as being instrumental in helping to create and develop the band's definitive sound.

The group's 1971 tour featured a stage show involving mock fights and gothic torture modes being imposed on Cooper climaxing with a staged execution by electric chair, with the band sporting tight, sequined, and color-contrasting glam rock-style costumes made by prominent rock fashion designer Cindy Dunaway (sister of band member Neal Smith, and wife of band member Dennis Dunaway). Cooper's androgynous stage role had developed to present a villainous side, portraying a potential threat to modern society. The success of the band's single, the album, and their tour of 1971, which included their first tour of Europe (audience members reportedly included Elton John and a pre-Ziggy David Bowie), provided enough encouragement for Warner Bros. to offer the band a new multi-album contract.

Their follow-up album ''Killer'', released in late 1971, continued the commercial success of ''Love It To Death'' and included further single success with "Under My Wheels", "Be My Lover" in early 1972, and "Halo Of Flies" which became a Top 10 hit in the Netherlands in 1972. Thematically, ''Killer'' expanded on the villainous side of Cooper's androgynous stage role, with its music becoming the soundtrack to the group's morality-based stage show, which by then featured a boa constrictor hugging Cooper onstage, the murderous axe chopping of bloodied baby dolls, and execution by hanging at the gallows. Back then, the real criticism was aimed at questioning the artists' sexual ambiguity, rather than the stage gore. In January 1972, Cooper was again asked about his peculiar name, and told talk show hostess Dinah Shore that he took the name from a "Mayberry RFD" character.

The summer of 1972 saw the release of the single "School's Out". It went Top 10 in the US, was a #1 single in the UK, and remains a staple on classic rock radio to this day. ''School's Out'' the album reached #2 on the US charts and sold over a million copies. The band now relocated to their new mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. With Cooper's on-stage androgynous persona completely replaced with brattiness and machismo, the band solidified their success with subsequent tours in the US and Europe, and won over devoted fans in droves while at the same time horrifying parents and outraging the social establishment. Controversy seemed to have little negative effect on the band's popularity, as they were selected to be the first band to appear on then-new US television series ABC In Concert in September 1972. In England, Mary Whitehouse, a well known campaigner for values of morality and decency, succeeded in having the BBC ban the video for "School's Out" and Member of Parliament Leo Abse petitioned Home Secretary Reginald Maudling to have the group banned altogether from performing in the country.

In February 1973 ''Billion Dollar Babies'' was released worldwide and became the band's most commercially successful album, reaching #1 in both the US and UK. "Elected", a late-1972 Top 10 UK hit from the album, which inspired one of the first MTV-style story-line promo videos ever made for a song (three years before Queen's promotional video for "Bohemian Rhapsody"), was followed by two more UK Top 10 singles, "Hello Hooray" and "No More Mr. Nice Guy", the latter of which was the last UK single from the album; it reached #25 in the US. The title track, featuring guest vocals by Donovan, was also a US hit single. Due to Glen Buxton's waning health around this time Mick Mashbir was secretly added to the band (who also played, without credit, on ''Muscle of Love'') to supplement Glen's playing.

With a string of successful concept albums and several hit singles, the band continued their gruelling schedule and toured the US once again. Continued attempts by politicians and pressure groups to ban their shocking act only served to fuel the myth of Alice Cooper further and generate even greater public interest. Their 1973 US tour broke box office records previously set by The Rolling Stones and raised rock theatrics to new heights; the multi-level stage show by then featured numerous special effects, including Billion Dollar Bills, decapitated baby dolls and mannequins, a dental psychosis scene complete with dancing teeth, and the ultimate execution prop and highlight of the show: the guillotine. The guillotine and other stage effects were designed for the band by magician James Randi, who appeared on stage during some of the shows as executioner. The Alice Cooper group had now reached its peak and it was among the most visible and successful acts in the industry. (Cooper's stage antics would influence a host of later bands, including, among others, Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Kiss, Blue Öyster Cult, GWAR, W.A.S.P., Lizzy Borden and, later, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Rob Zombie and Norwegian black metal bands.) Beneath the surface, however, the repetitive schedule of recording and touring had begun to take its toll on the band, and Cooper, who was under the constant pressure of getting into character for that night's show, was consistently sighted nursing a can of beer.

''Muscle of Love'', released at the end of 1973, was to be the last studio album from the classic line-up, and marked Alice Cooper's last UK Top 20 single of the 1970s with "Teenage Lament '74". An unsolicited theme song was recorded for the James Bond movie ''The Man with the Golden Gun'', but a different song of the same name by Lulu was chosen instead. By 1974, the ''Muscle of Love'' album had not matched the top-charting success of its predecessor, and the band began to have constant disagreements. Cooper wanted to retain the theatrics in the show that had brought them so much attention, while the rest of the group thought they should be toned down so that they could concentrate more on the music which had given them credibility. Largely as a result of this difference of opinion, the band decided to take a much-needed hiatus.

During this time Cooper relocated back to Los Angeles and started appearing regularly on TV shows such as ''Hollywood Squares'', and Warner Bros. released the ''Alice Cooper's Greatest Hits'' compilation album. It featured classic style artwork and reached the US Top 10, performing better than ''Muscle of Love''. However, the band's 1974 feature film ''Good To See You Again, Alice Cooper'' (consisting mainly of 1973 concert footage with 'comedic' sketches woven throughout to a faint storyline), released on a minor theatrical run mostly to drive-in theaters, saw little box office success.

As some of the Alice Cooper band members had begun recording their own solo albums, Cooper decided to do the same himself. In 1975 he released his first solo album, ''Welcome To My Nightmare''. To avoid legal complications over ownership of the group name, Alice Cooper had by then become the singer's new legal name. The success of the solo album marked the final break with the original members of the band with Cooper collaborating with their producer Bob Ezrin, who recruited Lou Reed's backing band, including guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, to play on the album. Spearheaded by the US Top 20 hit ballad, "Only Women Bleed", the album was released by Atlantic Records in March of that year and became a Top 10 hit for Cooper. It was a concept album that was based on the nightmare of a child named Steven, featuring narration by classic horror movie film star Vincent Price (several years after ''Welcome To My Nightmare'', he guested on Michael Jackson's "Thriller"), and serving as the soundtrack to Cooper's new stage show, which now included more theatrics than ever (including an furry Cyclops which Cooper decapitates and kills).

By this time, however, alcohol was clearly affecting Cooper's performances. During the ''Welcome to My Nightmare'' tour in Vancouver, and only a few songs into the routine, Cooper tripped over a foot-light, staggered a few paces, lost his bearings, and plunged head-first off the stage and onto the concrete floor of the Pacific Coliseum. Some fans, thinking it was all part of the act, reached through the barriers to pull at his blood-matted hair before bouncers could pull him away for help. He was taken to a local hospital, where medical staff stitched his head wound and provided him with a skullcap. Cooper returned to the venue a couple of hours later and tried to perform a couple of more songs, but within minutes he had to call it a night. The opening act, Suzi Quatro, had already left the building and the remainder of the concert was canceled.

Accompanying the album and stage show was the TV special ''The Nightmare'', starring Cooper and Vincent Price, which aired on US prime-time TV in April 1975. ''The Nightmare'', the first rock music video album ever made (it was later released on home video in 1983 and gained a Grammy Awards nomination for Best Long Form Music Video), was regarded as another groundbreaking moment in rock history. Adding to all that, a concert film, also called ''Welcome to My Nightmare'' produced, directed and choreographed by the West Side Story cast member David Winters and filmed live at London's Wembley Arena in September 1975, was released to theaters in 1976. Though it failed at the box office, it later became a midnight movie favorite and a cult classic.

Such was the immense success of Cooper's solo project that he decided to continue alone as a solo artist, and the original band became officially defunct. It was also during this time that Cooper co-founded the legendary drinking club The Hollywood Vampires, which gave him yet another reason to indulge his continued ample appetite for alcohol.

Following the 1976 US #12 hit "I Never Cry", another ballad, two albums, ''Alice Cooper Goes to Hell'' and ''Lace and Whiskey'', and another ballad hit, the US #9 "You and Me", it became clear from his performances during his 1977 US tour that he was in dire need of help with his alcoholism (at his alcoholic peak it was rumored that Cooper was consuming up to two cases of Budweiser and a bottle of whiskey a day). Following the tour, Cooper had himself hospitalized in a New York sanitarium for treatment, during which time the live album ''The Alice Cooper Show'' was released. His experience in the sanitarium was the inspiration for his 1978 semi-autobiographical album ''From The Inside'', which Cooper co-wrote with Bernie Taupin. The release spawned another US Top 20 hit "How You Gonna See Me Now", which peaked at #12, and was yet another ballad, based on his fear of how his wife would react to him after his spell in hospital.

The subsequent tour's stage show was based inside an asylum, and was filmed for Cooper's first home video release, ''The Strange Case of Alice Cooper'', in 1979. Around this time, Cooper performed "Welcome To My Nightmare", "You and Me", and "School's Out" on ''The Muppet Show'' (episode # 307) on March 28, 1978 (he played one of the devil's henchmen trying to dupe Kermit the Frog and Gonzo into selling their souls). He also appeared in an against-type casting in the campy role of a piano playing, disco bellboy in Mae West's final film, ''Sextette''. Cooper also led celebrities in raising money to remodel the famous Hollywood Sign in California. Cooper himself contributed over $27,000 to the project, buying an O in the sign in memory of friend and comedian Groucho Marx.

1980s

Cooper's albums from the beginning of the 80s, ''Flush the Fashion'', ''Special Forces'', ''Zipper Catches Skin'', and ''DaDa'', were not as commercially successful as his past releases, and Cooper has claimed that, suffering from acute alcoholic amnesia, he has no recollection of recording the latter two of these albums. ''Flush the Fashion'', produced by Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker, had a thick, edgy New Wave musical sound that baffled even long-time fans, though it still yielded the US Top 40 hit "(We're All) Clones". The album ''Special Forces'' featured a more aggressive but consistent form of New Wave style, and included a new version of "Generation Landslide". The following album, ''Zipper Catches Skin'' was a more power pop-oriented recording, with lots of quirky high-energy guitar-driven songs. While those three albums engaged the experimental New Wave sound with energetic results, 1983 marked the return collaboration of producer Bob Ezrin and guitarist Dick Wagner with the haunting epic ''DaDa'', the final album in his Warner Bros. contract.

In 1983 after the recording of ''DaDa'', Cooper was re-hospitalized for alcoholism. In a deathly state of health he moved back to Phoenix to save his marriage from collapse, and so that he could receive the support of family and friends. Cooper was finally clean and sober by the time ''DaDa'' and ''The Nightmare'' home video (of his 1975 TV Special) were released in the fall of that year; however, both releases performed below expectations. Even with ''The Nightmare'' scoring a nomination for 1984's Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video (he lost to Duran Duran), it was not enough for Warner Bros. to keep Cooper on their books, so in 1984 Cooper became a "free agent" for the first time in his career.

After over a year on hiatus, during which time he spent being a full-time father, perfecting his golf swing every day on the golf course, and finding time to star in the Spanish B-grade horror movie production ''Monster Dog'', Cooper sought to pick up the pieces of his musical career. In 1985 he met and began writing songs with guitarist Kane Roberts. Cooper was subsequently signed to MCA Records, and appeared as guest vocalist on Twisted Sister's song "Be Chrool To Your Scuel". A video was made for the song, featuring Cooper donning his black snake-eyes make-up for the first time since 1979. But any publicity it may have generated toward Cooper's return to the music scene was cut short as the video was promptly banned because of its graphically gory make-up (by Tom Savini), and because of the innumerable zombies in the video and their insatiable appetite for gorging on human flesh.

In 1986 Alice Cooper officially returned to the music industry with the album ''Constrictor''. The album spawned the hits "He's Back (The Man Behind the Mask)" (the theme song for the movie ''Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives''; in the video of the song Cooper was given a cameo role as a deranged psychiatrist) and the fan favorite "Teenage Frankenstein". The Constrictor album was a catalyst for Cooper to make (for the first time since the 1982 ''Special Forces'' tour) a triumphant return to the road, on a tour appropriately entitled ''The Nightmare Returns''. The Detroit leg of this tour, which took place at the end of October 1986 during Halloween, was captured on film as ''The Nightmare Returns'', and is viewed by some as being the definitive Alice Cooper concert film. The concert, which received rave reviews in the rock music press, was also described as bringing "Cooper’s violent, twisted onstage fantasies to a new generation". The ''Constrictor'' album was followed by ''Raise Your Fist and Yell'' in 1987, which had an even rougher sound than its predecessor, as well as the Cooper classic "Freedom". The subsequent tour of ''Raise Your Fist and Yell'', which was heavily inspired by the slasher horror movies of the time such as the Friday the 13th series and Nightmare on Elm Street, served up a shocking spectacle similar to its predecessor, and courted the kind of controversy, especially in Europe, that recalled the public outrage caused by Cooper's public performances in America in the early 1970s.

In Britain Labour M.P. David Blunkett called for the show to be banned, saying "I'm horrified by his behaviour — it goes beyond the bounds of entertainment". The controversy spilled over into the German segment of the tour, with the German government actually succeeding in having some of the gorier segments of the performance removed. It was also during the London leg of the tour that Cooper met with a near fatal accident during the hanging execution sequence at the end of the show. Needless to say the attendant publicity served only to increase public interest and ensure that the tour was completely sold out.

''Constrictor'' and ''Raise Your Fist and Yell'' were recorded with lead guitarist Kane Roberts and bassist Kip Winger, both of whom would leave the band by the end of 1988 (although Kane Roberts played guitar on "Bed Of Nails" on 1989's album Trash). Roberts would continue as a solo artist while Kip Winger would go on to form Winger.

In 1987 Cooper made a brief appearance as a vagrant in the horror movie ''Prince of Darkness'', directed by John Carpenter. His role had no lines and consisted of generally menacing the protagonists before eventually impaling one of them with a bicycle frame. Cooper also appeared at ''WrestleMania III'', escorting wrestler Jake 'The Snake' Roberts to the ring. After the match was over, Cooper got involved and threw Jake's snake Damien at The Honky Tonk Man's manager Jimmy Hart. Jake considered the involvement of Cooper to be an honor, as he had idolized Cooper in his youth and was still a huge fan.

In 1988 Cooper's contract with MCA Records expired and he signed with Epic Records. Then in 1989 his career finally experienced a real revival with the Desmond Child produced album ''Trash'', which spawned a hit single "Poison", which reached #2 in the UK and #7 in the US, and a worldwide arena tour.

1990s

1991 saw the release of Cooper's 19th studio album, ''Hey Stoopid'', again featuring several of rock music’s glitterati guesting on the record. Released as glam metal's popularity was on the wane, and just before the explosion of grunge, it failed to have the same commercial impact as its predecessor. The same year also saw the release of the video ''Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts'' which chronicled his entire career using in depth interviews with Cooper himself, Bob Ezrin, and Shep Gordon. One critic has noted that ''Prime Cuts'' demonstrates how Cooper had used (in contrast to similar artists who succeeded him) themes of satire and moralisation to such good effect throughout his career. It was in the ''Prime Cuts'' video that Bob Ezrin delivered his own summation of the Alice Cooper persona: "He is the psycho killer in all of us. He's the axe murderer, he's the spoiled child, he's the abuser, he's the abused; he's the perpetrator, he's the victim, he's the gun slinger, and he's the guy lying dead in the middle of the street".

By the early 1990s Cooper had become a genuine cultural icon, guesting on records by the most successful bands of the time, such as the Guns N' Roses album ''Use Your Illusion I'', (on which he shared vocal duties with Axl Rose on the track "The Garden"); making a brief appearance as the abusive stepfather of Freddy Krueger in the ''Nightmare On Elm Street'' film ''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare'' (1991); and making a famous cameo appearance in the 1992 comedy film ''Wayne's World'', in which he and his band intellectually discuss (after a performance of the song "Feed My Frankenstein" from ''Hey Stoopid'') the history of Milwaukee in surprising depth. In a now famous scene, the movie's main characters Wayne and Garth, upon seeing Cooper, kneel and bow reverently before him while chanting "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" He later made an appearance on an episode of ''That 70s Show'', at the end of which he and two other (minor) guest characters parody ''Dungeons & Dragons''.

In 1994 Cooper released ''The Last Temptation'', his first concept album since ''DaDa''. The album deals with issues of faith, temptation, alienation, and the frustrations of modern life, and has been described as "a young man's struggle to see the truth through the distractions of the 'Sideshow' of the modern world". Concurrent with the release of ''The Last Temptation'' was a three-part comic book series written by Neil Gaiman, fleshing out the album's story. This was to be Cooper’s last album with Epic Records, and his last studio release for six years, though during this period the live album ''A Fistful of Alice'' was released, and in 1997 he lent his voice to the first track of Insane Clown Posse's ''The Great Milenko''. In 1999, the four-disc box set ''The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper'' appeared, which contained an authorized biography of Cooper, ''Alcohol and Razor Blades, Poison and Needles: The Glorious Wretched Excess of Alice Cooper, All-American'', written by ''Creem'' magazine editor Jeffrey Morgan.

During his absence from the recording studio, Cooper toured extensively every year throughout the latter part of the 1990s, including, in 1996, South America, which he had not visited since 1974. Also in 1996, Cooper sang the role of Herod on the London cast recording of the musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''.

2000s

The first decade of the 21st century saw a sustained period of activity from Alice Cooper. In the decade that he turned sixty, he toured extensively and released (after a significant break) a steady stream of studio albums to favorable critical acclaim. During this period Cooper was also recognized and awarded in various ways: he received a Rock Immortal award at the 2007 Scream Awards; was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003; he received (in May 2004) an honorary doctoral degree from Grand Canyon University; was given (in May 2006) the key to the city of Alice, North Dakota; he scooped the living legend award at the 2006 Classic Rock Roll of Honour event; he won the 2007 Mojo music magazine Hero Award; and fans twice tried to induct him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The lengthy break between studio albums ended in 2000 with ''Brutal Planet'', which was a return to horror-lined heavy metal, with industrial rock, and with subject matter thematically inspired by the brutality of the modern world, set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future, and also inspired by a number of news stories that had recently appeared on the CNN news channel. The album was produced by Bob Marlett, with longtime Cooper production collaborator Bob Ezrin returning as Executive Producer. The accompanying world tour, which included Cooper's first concert in Russia, was a resounding success, introducing Alice Cooper to a new audience and producing the live home video, ''Brutally Live'', in 2001. During one memorable episode in ''Brutally Live'', Britney Spears (being played by Alice Cooper's real life daughter, Calico), and representing "everything that my audience hates — the softening of rock and roll...the sweetness of it" is executed by Cooper.

Brutal Planet was succeeded by the sonically similar and widely acclaimed sequel ''Dragontown'', which saw Bob Ezrin back at the helm as producer. The album has been described as leading the listener down "a nightmarish path into the mind of rock's original conceptual storyteller" and by Cooper himself as being "the worst town on Brutal Planet". Like ''The Last Temptation'', both ''Brutal Planet'' and ''Dragontown'' are albums which explore Cooper's personal faith perspective (born again Christianity). It is often cited in the music media that ''Dragontown'' forms the third chapter in a trilogy begun with ''The Last Temptation''; however, Cooper has himself indicated that this in fact is not the case.

Cooper again adopted a leaner, cleaner sound for his critically acclaimed 2003 release ''The Eyes Of Alice Cooper''. Recognizing that many contemporary bands were having great success with his former sounds and styles, Cooper worked with a somewhat younger group of road and studio musicians who were very familiar with his oeuvre of old. However, instead of rehashing the old sounds, they updated them, often with surprisingly effective results. The resulting ''Bare Bones'' tour adopted a less-orchestrated performance style that had fewer theatrical flourishes and a greater emphasis on musicality. The success of this tour helped support the growing recognition that the classic Cooper songs were exceptionally clever, tuneful and unique.

Cooper's radio show, ''Nights with Alice Cooper'', began airing on January 26, 2004 in several US cities. The program showcases classic rock, Cooper's personal stories about his life as a rock icon, and interviews with prominent rock artists. The show is broadcast on nearly 100 stations in the US and Canada, and has also been broadcast all over the world. In 2005, Alice Cooper was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

A continuation of the songwriting approach adopted on ''The Eyes of Alice Cooper'' was again adopted by Cooper for his 24th studio album, ''Dirty Diamonds'', released in 2005. ''Dirty Diamonds'' became Cooper's highest charting album since 1994's ''The Last Temptation''. The Dirty Diamonds tour launched in America in August 2005 after several European concerts, including a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on July 12. Cooper and his band, including Kiss drummer Eric Singer, were filmed for a DVD released as ''Alice Cooper: Live at Montreux 2005''. One critic, in a review of the Montreux release, commented that Cooper was to be applauded for "still mining pretty much the same territory of teenage angst and rebellion" as he had done more than thirty years previously.

In December 2006 the original Alice Cooper band reunited to perform six classic Alice Cooper songs at Cooper's annual charity event in Phoenix, entitled "Christmas Pudding".

On July 1, 2007, Cooper performed a duet with Marilyn Manson at the B'Estival event in Bucharest, Romania. The performance represented a reconciliation between the two artists; Cooper had previously taken issue with Manson over his overtly anti-Christian onstage antics, which included tearing up Bibles, and he had sarcastically made reference to the originality of Manson's choosing a female name and dressing in women's clothing. Cooper and Manson have been the subject of an academic paper on the significance of adolescent antiheroes.

In January 2008 he was one of the guest singers on the new ''Avantasia'' album ''The Scarecrow'', singing the 7th track, ''The Toy Master''. In July 2008, after lengthy delays, Cooper released ''Along Came a Spider'', his 25th studio album. It was Cooper's highest charting album since 1991's ''Hey Stoopid'', reaching #53 in the US and #31 in the UK. The album, visiting similar territory explored in 1987's ''Raise Your Fist and Yell'', deals with the nefarious antics of a deranged serial killer named "Spider" who is on a quest to use the limbs of his victims to create a human spider. The album generally received positive reviews from music critics, though Rolling Stone magazine opined that the music on the record sorely missed Bob Ezrin's production values. The resulting ''Theatre of Death'' tour of the album (during which Cooper is executed on four separate occasions) was described in a long November 2009 article about Cooper in ''The Times'' as "epic" and featuring "enough fake blood to remake Saving Private Ryan".

2010s

On January 22, 2010, it was announced that Alice would be touring with Rob Zombie on the "Gruesome Twosome" tour.

On March 29, 2010, Cooper revealed during his weekly radio show on ''Planet Rock'' that his next record is to be titled ''The Night Shift''. Cooper stated he has 10 demos ready.

On May 26, 2010, Cooper made an appearance during the beginning of the season finale of the reality-show, American Idol, in which he sang "School's Out".

On June 20, 2010, Cooper joined Slash on stage in Paris to perform the song "School's Out". On June 15, 2010 to coincide with the release of the "Alice Cooper Track Pack" for Guitar Hero, a free download of the newly-recorded "Elected" was made available on Alice Cooper's official website. He scored alongside his daughter and band member Dick Wagner the score for the Indie horror flick Silas Gore.

During 2010 Cooper began working on a new album, dubbed ''Welcome 2 My Nightmare'', a sequel to the original ''Welcome to My Nightmare''. In a Radio Metal interview, he said that "[w]e'll put some of the original people on it and add some new people[...]I'm very happy with working with Bob (Ezrin) again."

During a press conference in France Cooper said about ''Welcome to My Nightmare II'': "this album is more bloody and more accomplished than the first. It sounds like the early years." By October 2010, Alice and Bob Ezrin had come up with 13 songs, including the ballads "I Am Made of You" and "Something to Remember Me By." In addition, Cooper cut three new songs with original band members Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith and Michael Bruce.

On December 15, 2010, it was announced Cooper and his former band would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The official Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony took place March 14, 2011, where Cooper was inducted by fellow horror-rocker Rob Zombie. He showed up for the event wearing a (presumably fake) blood-splattered shirt and had a live giant albino boa snake wrapped around his neck. Cooper told ''Rolling Stone'' magazine that he was "elated" by the news and that the nomination had been made for the original band, as "We all did go to the same high school together, and we were all on the track team, and it was pretty cool that guys that knew each other before the band ended up going that far".

On March 10, 2011 Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Alice Cooper, Jennifer Warnes, and others performed at a benefit concert in Tucson, Arizona benefiting The Fund For Civility, Respect, and Understanding, a foundation that raise awareness about and provides medical prevention and treatment services to people with mental disorders. The concert also benefited the injured and the families of victims of the January 8, 2011 shootings in Tucson, AZ. On March 19, 2011, Alice appeared on the Tonight Show With Jay Leno, and on June 26, 2011, he took his place in the Reasonably Priced Car at the BBC auto show Top Gear. He also announced on the BBC One chat show, Lee Mack's All Star Cast, that he would be shooting a small cameo in Tim Burton's upcoming film version of Dark Shadows.

On July 2 he joined the Foo Fighters on the first of their two nights at the Milton Keynes Bowl to perform "Schools Out" and "I'm 18".

Influences and fans

During an interview for the program ''Entertainment USA'' in 1986 Cooper stunned interviewer Jonathan King by stating that The Yardbirds were his favorite band of all time. Perhaps King should not have been so taken aback, as Cooper had as far back as 1969 gone on record as saying that it was music from the mid-sixties, and particularly from British bands The Beatles, The Who, and The Rolling Stones, as well as The Yardbirds, that had the greatest influence on him. Cooper would later pay homage to The Who by singing "I'm A Boy" for ''A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who'' in 1994 at Carnegie Hall in New York, and performing a cover of "My Generation" on the ''Brutal Planet'' tour of 2000.

During an interview Cooper himself conducted with Ozzy Osbourne on his radio show, ''Nights with Alice Cooper'' in 2007, Cooper again affirmed his debt of gratitude to these bands, and to The Beatles in particular. During their discussion, Cooper and Osbourne bemoaned the often inferior quality of songwriting coming from contemporary rock artists. Cooper stated that in his opinion the cause of the problem was that certain modern bands "had forgotten to listen to The Beatles".

On the 25th Anniversary DVD of ''Cabaret'', Liza Minnelli stated that her good friend, Alice Cooper, had told her that his whole career was based on the movie ''Cabaret''.

Evidence of Cooper's eclectic tastes in both classic and contemporary rock music, from the 1960s to the present, can be seen in the track listings of his radio show; in addition, when he appeared on the BBC Radio 2 program ''Tracks of My Years'' in September 2007, he listed his favourite tracks of all time as being: "19th Nervous Breakdown" (1966) by The Rolling Stones; "Turning Japanese" (1980) by The Vapors; "My Sharona" (1979) by The Knack; "Beds Are Burning" (1987) by Midnight Oil; "My Generation" (1965) by The Who; "Welcome To The Jungle" (1987) by Guns N' Roses; "Rebel Rebel" (1974) by David Bowie; "Over Under Sideways Down" (1966) by The Yardbirds; "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" (2003) by Jet; and "A Hard Day's Night" (1964) by The Beatles, and when he appeared on Desert Island Discs in 2010 he chose the songs "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" by The Yardbirds; "I Get Around" by The Beach Boys; "I'm a Boy" by The Who; Timer by Laura Nyro; "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson; "Been Caught Stealing" by Jane's Addiction; "Work Song" by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and "Ballad of a Thin Man" by Bob Dylan.

Rob Zombie, former frontman of White Zombie, claims his first "metal moment" was seeing Alice Cooper on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

In a 1978 interview with ''Rolling Stone'', Bob Dylan stated, "I think Alice Cooper is an overlooked songwriter".

In the foreword to Alice Cooper's CD retrospective box set ''The Life and Crimes of Alice Cooper'', John Lydon of The Sex Pistols pronounced ''Killer'' as the greatest rock album of all time, and in 2002 Lydon presented his own tribute program to Cooper on BBC radio. Lydon told the BBC that "I know the words to every Alice Cooper song. The fact is, if you can call what I have a musical career, it all started with me miming to I'm Eighteen on a jukebox".

The Flaming Lips are longtime Alice Cooper fans and used the bass line from "Levity Ball" (an early song from the 1969 release ''Pretties for You'') for their song "The Ceiling Is Bending". They also covered "Sun Arise" for an Alice Cooper tribute album. (Cooper's version, which closes the album ''Love It To Death'', was itself a cover of a Rolf Harris song.)

In 1999 Cleopatra Records released ''Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper'' featuring a number of contributions from rock and metal all-star collaborations, including Dave Mustaine, Roger Daltrey, Ronnie James Dio, Slash, Bruce Dickinson, and Steve Jones. The album was notable for the fact that it was possible to assemble a different supergroup for each cover version on the record, which gave an indication of the depth of esteem in which Cooper is held by other eminent musicians within the music industry.

A song by alternative rock group They Might Be Giants from their 1994 album ''John Henry'' entitled "Why Must I Be Sad?" mentions 13 Cooper songs, and has been described as being "from the perspective of a kid who hears all of his unspoken sadness given voice in the music of Alice Cooper; Alice says everything the kid has been wishing he could say about his alienated, frustrated, teenage world".

Such unlikely non-musician fans of Cooper included Groucho Marx and Mae West, who both reportedly saw the early shows as a form of vaudeville revue, and artist Salvador Dalí, who on attending a show in 1973 described it as being surreal, and made a hologram, ''First Cylindric Chromo-Hologram Portrait of Alice Cooper's Brain''.

Personal life

Cooper, a huge fan of ''The Simpsons'', was asked to contribute a storyline for the September 2004 edition of Bongo Comics's ''Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror'', a special ''Monsters of Rock'' issue that also included stories plotted by Gene Simmons, Rob Zombie and Pat Boone. Cooper's story featured Homer Simpson being a Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th style killer and Alice and the citizens of Springfield are being stalked by Homer.

On June 20, 2005, ahead of his June–July 2005 tour, Cooper had a wide-ranging interview with interviewer of celebrities Andrew Denton for the Australian ABC Television's ''Enough Rope''. Cooper discussed various issues during a revealing and frank talk, including the horrors of acute alcoholism and his subsequent cure, being a Christian, and his social and work relationship with his family. During the interview, Cooper remarked "I look at Mick Jagger and he's on an 18-month tour and he's six [sic] years older than me, so I figure, when he retires, I have six more years. I will not let him beat me when it comes to longevity."

The actual ownership of the Alice Cooper name is often cited by intellectual property lawyers and law professors as an example of the value of a single copyright or trademark. Since "Alice Cooper" was originally the name of the band, and not the lead singer (e.g. Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Amy Meredith, etc.), and it was actually owned by the band as whole, Cooper paid, and continues to pay, a yearly royalty to his original bandmates for the right to use the name commercially. Although the exact amount is not known, insiders agree that it is large enough for the surviving band members to live comfortably.

Relationships and family

In the period when the Alice Cooper group was signed to Frank Zappa's Straight label, Miss Christine of the GTOs became Cooper's girlfriend. Miss Christine (real name: Christine Frka), who had actually recommended Zappa to the group, died on November 5, 1972 of an overdose.

Another long-time girlfriend of Cooper's was Cindy Lang, with whom he lived for several years. They separated in 1975. Lang sued Cooper for palimony, and they eventually settled out of court in the early 1980s.

After his separation from Lang, Cooper was briefly linked with actress Raquel Welch. Cooper then reportedly left Welch, however, to marry, on March 20, 1976, ballerina instructor/choreographer Sheryl Goddard, who performed in the Alice Cooper show from 1975 to 1982. In November 1983, at the height of Cooper's alcoholism, Sheryl filed for divorce, but by mid-1984, she and Cooper had reconciled. The couple has remained together since. In a 2002 television interview, Cooper claimed that he had "never cheated" on his wife in all the time they had been together. In the same interview, he also claimed that the secret to a lasting and successful relationship is to continue going out on dates with your partner. The couple have three children: elder daughter Calico Cooper (born 1981), an actress and singer who has been performing in the Alice Cooper show since 2000; son Dash (b. 1985), a student at Arizona State University, and also plays in a band called Runaway Phoenix; and younger daughter Sonora Rose (b. 1993).

Drug recovery

In 1986, Megadeth was asked to open for Cooper for dates on his US tour. After noticing the hardcore abuse of alcohol and other drugs in the band, Cooper personally approached the band members to try to help them control their abuse, and he has stayed close to front man Dave Mustaine ever since; Mustaine in fact considers him his godfather. Since conquering his own addiction to alcohol in the mid 1980s, Cooper has continued to help and counsel other rock musicians battling addiction problems who turn to him for help. "I've made myself very available to friends of mine - they're people who would call me late at night and say, 'Between you and me, I've got a problem.'" In recognition of the work he has done in helping other addicts in the recovery process, Cooper received in 2008 the Stevie Ray Vaughan Award at the fourth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert in Los Angeles.

Religion and politics

Although he originally tended to shy away from speaking publicly about his religious beliefs, Cooper has in recent years been quite vocal about his faith as a born-again Christian. He has avoided so called "celebrity Christianity" because, as Cooper states himself: "It's really easy to focus on Alice Cooper and not on Christ. I'm a rock singer. I'm nothing more than that. I'm not a philosopher. I consider myself low on the totem pole of knowledgeable Christians. So, don't look for answers from me".

When asked by the British ''Sunday Times'' newspaper in 2001 how a shock-rocker could be a Christian, Cooper responded "Drinking beer is easy. Trashing your hotel room is easy. But being a Christian, that's a tough call. That's real rebellion!"

Throughout his career, Cooper's philosophy regarding politics is that politics should not be mixed with rock music. He has usually kept his political views to himself, and in 2010 said "I am extremely non-political. I go out of my way to be non-political. I'm probably the biggest moderate you know. When John Lennon and Harry Nilsson used to argue politics, I was sitting right in the middle of them, and I was the guy who was going 'I don't care.' When my parents would start talking politics, I would go in my room and put on The Rolling Stones or The Who on as long as I could to avoid politics. And I still feel that way". On occasion he has spoken out against musicians who promote or opine on politics, for example in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, he told the Canadian Press that the then crop of rock stars campaigning for and touring on behalf of Democratic candidate John Kerry were committing "treason against rock n' roll". He also added that upon seeing the list of musicians who supported Kerry, "if I wasn't already a Bush supporter, I would have immediately switched. Linda Ronstadt? Don Henley? Geez, that's a good reason right there to vote for Bush."

Love of golf

Cooper has on several occasions credited golf as having played a major role in helping him to overcome his addiction to alcohol, and has even gone as far to say that when he took up golf, it was a case of replacing one addiction with another. The importance that the game has had in his life is also reflected in the title to his 2007 autobiography, ''Alice Cooper, Golf Monster''. Cooper, who has participated in a number of Pro-Am competitions, plays the game six days a week, off a handicap of two. Since 1997, he has hosted an annual golf competition, the ''Alice Cooper Celebrity AM Golf Tournament'', all proceeds from which go to his charity, the Solid Rock Foundation. In 2005, while playing with manager Shep Gordon on The Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Cooper recorded an impressive round of two-over par 74 on the world-class course. Cooper has also appeared in commercials for Callaway Golf equipment, was a guest of veteran British player and broadcaster Peter Alliss on ''A Golfer's Travels''. He wrote the foreword to the Gary McCord book "Ryder Cup" and participated in the second All*Star Cup in South Wales. In an interview with VH1, friend and fellow golfer Pat Boone said that Cooper was "'this close' to being a pro".

Discography

:''See: Alice Cooper discography''

Awards and Nominations

Grammy Awards

!Year	!Nominated work	!Award	!Result
align=center	Alice Cooper: The Nightmare
align=center	Hands of Death (Burn Baby Burn)

Filmography

:''See: Alice Cooper filmography''

List of Alice Cooper band personnel

;Current

Alice Cooper – vocals, guitar, harmonica (1963–present)

Steve Hunter – guitar (1975–79; 2011–present)

Tommy Henriksen – guitar (2011–present)

Orianthi Panagaris – guitar, vocals (2011–present)

Chuck Garric – bass guitar, vocals (2002–present)

Glen Sobel – drums, percussion (2011–present)

;Past

Bibliography

References

External links

Download music (promotional use only)

Official ''Nights with Alice Cooper'' website

Alice Cooper Artist Page @ VH1.com

Alice Cooper at Allmusic.com

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:People from Allen Park, Michigan * Category:American heavy metal singers Category:American actors Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French descent Category:Actors from Michigan Category:American Christians Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of French descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American heavy metal musicians Category:American DJs Category:American rock musicians Category:American rock singers Alice Cooper Category:Musicians from Arizona Category:Bands with fictional stage personas Category:Musicians from Detroit, Michigan Category:People from Phoenix, Arizona Category:People from Paradise Valley, Arizona Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees

bg:Алис Купър ca:Alice Cooper cs:Alice Cooper da:Alice Cooper de:Alice Cooper et:Alice Cooper eml:Alice Cooper es:Alice Cooper fa:آلیس کوپر fr:Alice Cooper gl:Alice Cooper hr:Alice Cooper io:Alice Cooper it:Alice Cooper he:אליס קופר la:Alice Cooper lt:Alice Cooper hu:Alice Cooper mk:Елис Купер nl:Alice Cooper ja:アリス・クーパー ka:ელის კუპერი no:Alice Cooper oc:Alice Cooper uz:Alice Cooper pl:Alice Cooper pt:Alice Cooper ro:Alice Cooper ru:Элис Купер scn:Alice Cooper simple:Alice Cooper sk:Alice Cooper sl:Alice Cooper sr:Алис Купер sh:Alice Cooper fi:Alice Cooper sv:Alice Cooper th:อลิซ คูเปอร์ tr:Alice Cooper uk:Еліс Купер

Name	Eric Bogle
Background	solo_singer
Born	September 23, 1944Peebles, Scotland
Genre	Folk music
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Website	http://ericbogle.net }}

Eric Bogle (born 23 September 1944, Peebles, Scotland) is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.

Career

Several of his most famous songs tell of the futility or loss of war. Prominent among these is "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda", written in 1971. The lyrics tell of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) experience fighting in the Battle of Gallipoli. It has also been interpreted as a reaction to the Vietnam War. Another of his best-known songs, "No Man's Land", is also World War I-themed. This song is commonly known as "The Green Fields of France", a title it was first given by The Fureys, and which has subsequently been used in many further cover versions. The song refers to the traditional Scottish song "Flowers of the Forest" being played over the grave of a World War I soldier. This song has been remade by Alec Beaton (with a Scottish soldier from "The Water is Wide"), Plethyn ("Gwaed ar eu Dwylo" (Blood on their Hands), sung in Welsh from "Blas y Pridd"), and Hannes Wader ("Es ist an der Zeit" (It is the Time)). American folk singer Charlie Zahm also has a version on his album ''Festival Favorites'', as does American Folk Singer Robert Marr on his 2011 album "Celticism".

Another notable song on a similar theme, but with a more contemporary setting, is the Troubles-inspired "My Youngest Son Came Home Today", with its tale of a young man killed during factional fighting in Northern Ireland. Notably, the song does not take sides in the conflict; it does not mention whether the title character is Irish or British.

Bogle's songs cover a wide range of subjects and themes, including comedic songs ("The Aussie Bar-B-Q"), satires ("I Hate Wogs") protest songs and serious songs about the human condition such as "Now I'm Easy". His song "Safe in the Harbour" is an homage to Stan Rogers. "Katie and the Dreamtime Land" is a tribute to American folk singer Kate Wolf, who died from leukaemia in 1986. Other well-known songs, with lighter subject matter, include two homages to departed pets, "Little Gomez" and "Nobody's Moggy Now" and an acknowledgment of his folk music fans with "Do You Sing Any Dylan?".

Touring

Bogle has undertaken an extensive concert tour of the UK (sometimes including dates in Europe as well), every three years since 1985. These tours have usually included a supporting cast of Australian-based singers and musicians, most regularly John Munro and Brent Millar. Bogle said that his 2009 tour, with John Munro, would be his last. This featured a Saturday Night Special on 27 June with Martyn Wyndham-Read, Johnny Collins and Les Sullivan in Watford, the only London venue.

Bogle was a prominent artist at the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia over Easter 2011.

Tributes

Many of Bogle's songs have been covered by other artists; including John Schumann, June Tabor, The Men They Couldn't Hang, The Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, John McDermott, Liam Clancy, Mike Harding, The Pogues, Robert Lawrence, De Dannan, Dropkick Murphys, The Corries, Billy Bragg, The Bushwackers, Slim Dusty and John Williamson.

In 2000 a five CD collection was released called ''Singing The Spirit Home''. His first and only live performance DVD was released in May 2009.

Notes

External links

Official site

Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:Celtic folk musicians Category:Scottish folk singers Category:Scottish pacifists Category:Scottish singer-songwriters Category:People from Peebles Category:Australian folk singers Category:Australian musicians

de:Eric Bogle eu:Eric Bogle fr:Eric Bogle it:Eric Bogle ru:Богл, Эрик sv:Eric Bogle

name	Rick Mercer
birth name	Richard Vincent Mercer
birth date	October 17, 1969
birth place	St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
website	http://www.rickmercer.com/ }}

Richard Vincent "Rick" Mercer (born October 17, 1969) is a Canadian comedian, television personality, political satirist, and blogger.

Mercer first came to national attention in 1990, when he premiered his one man show ''Show Me the Button, I'll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die'' at the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Ottawa. A pointed, satirical political commentary on Canadian life after Meech Lake, ''Show Me the Button'' made Mercer a national star as he toured the show across Canada. Mercer came to greater attention for his role in the satirical news show ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', and his spinoff special ''Talking To Americans'' was the highest-rated comedy special in the history of CBC Television, with 2.7 million viewers.

Television shows

In 1992, he created and performed his second show, ''I've Killed Before, I'll Kill Again'', which was also a popular touring show. Also in that year, he began to work with former ''CODCO'' members Cathy Jones, Mary Walsh, and with fellow Newfoundlander Greg Thomey, to create a new television series for CBC Television which became ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes''.

In the first eight seasons of ''22 Minutes'', Mercer provided some of the show's signature moments, including an Internet petition (on the '' 22 Minutes'' website) to force Canadian Alliance leader Stockwell Day to change his first name to Doris.

Mercer's tightly scripted and performed two-minute "rants," in which he would speak directly to the camera about a current political issue, shot in a style similar to those Denis Leary used in MTV commercials, quickly became the show's signature segment. In 1998, he published a book, ''Streeters'', which compiled many of his most famous ''22 Minutes'' rants. It quickly became a national bestseller. In 2007 he published his second book, ''Rick Mercer Report: The Book''.

In November 2010, Mercer contributed a rant he had previously recorded in 2007 on the subject of teen bullying in high schools to Dan Savage's It Gets Better Project.

''Made in Canada''

Mercer co-created the series ''Made in Canada'', which ran for five seasons on CBC Television from 1998 – 2003. The show was a fast-paced situation comedy which self-referentially satirized the Canadian TV production industry, often drawing from details of its own production companies and including thinly veiled parodies of contemporary programs. It was syndicated abroad as ''The Industry'' and won several Gemini Awards (which were themselves satirized in subsequent episodes.)

''Talking to Americans''

One of Mercer's trademark comedy routines on ''22 Minutes'' was ''Talking to Americans'', in which he would travel to a major American city or institution and conduct on-the-street interviews with average Americans regarding Canadian politics, the weather, etc., often with hilarious results as the subject's ignorance about Canada was illustrated. One famous example saw Mercer asking Americans' opinion on whether Canada should change its "20 Hour Clock" to the 24 hour one used by the United States. He received approval from citizens and from the Governor of Iowa, Tom Vilsack. On another occasion he got the support of Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in calling on Canadians to save the "National Igloo."

Mercer made international headlines in 2000 when he pulled a ''Talking to Americans'' stunt on then-presidential candidate George W. Bush. He successfully got Bush to answer questions about non-existent Canadian Prime Minister "Jean Poutine". Bush was not amused at the time, and thereafter refused to accept interviews from the CBC. However, he did make a joking reference to this incident during his visit to Canada in 2004. In the same US election campaign, Mercer asked Democratic candidate Al Gore to promise to visit the "Canadian capital city" of Toronto after his election. Gore did not question Mercer's incorrect identification of the capital of Canada.

In 2001, Mercer co-produced a CBC special based on ''Talking to Americans'', which attracted 2.7 million Canadian viewers—the highest-rated television special in Canadian history. Later, the respected ABC News program ''Nightline'' would devote a show to it. This was his last major project related to ''22 Minutes''—at the end of the 2000–2001 season, he announced his departure from that show. It was rumoured that he had decided to leave because of friction between Mercer and co-star Mary Walsh, although other reasons include focusing on his other television show, ''Made in Canada''. ''Talking to Americans'' was nominated for a Gemini Award, but following the 9/11 attacks, Mercer declined the nomination.

''The Rick Mercer Report''

In 2003, ''Made in Canada'' ended its run as well, and Mercer began to work on a new CBC series, ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report''. Similar in format to ''22 Minutes'' and ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'', the show debuted in January 2004. Also in 2003, Mercer went to Afghanistan to visit the Canadian troops stationed there (See: Operation Athena), resulting in the television special ''Christmas in Kabul''.

Despite reports of a long-standing feud Mercer invited Walsh to appear on ''Monday Report'' as a special guest to promote her own series ''Hatching, Matching and Dispatching''.

At the end of its second season, ''Monday Report'' was the highest rated arts and entertainment show on the CBC. Mercer has had a who's who from the world of Canadian entertainment and politics appear as guests on his show. Ex-Prime Minister Paul Martin gave him a private tour of 24 Sussex Drive and former New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent made snow angels with Mercer on Parliament Hill. Other prominent guests were NDP leader Jack Layton; Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper (now Prime Minister); Green Party leader Elizabeth May; then-Conservative MP Belinda Stronach; Conservative MP Peter MacKay; Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams; Olympic gold medallist Kyle Shewfelt; author Pierre Berton; recording artists Jann Arden, Bif Naked, Rush bassist Geddy Lee, and Sarah McLachlan; publishing mogul Conrad Black; and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. When Mercer hosted a relief benefit concert for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, musical guests Barenaked Ladies appeared in a segment Mercer shot backstage completely naked.

Since Mercer launched his own show, he became a regular target of his old show ''22 Minutes''. Criticism of Mercer focused mostly on his ongoing support of the Canadian Forces and his personal wealth.

In 2005, the CBC moved ''Monday Report'' to Tuesday nights, which caused the show's name to be changed to ''The Rick Mercer Report''. On his blog, Mercer wrote of the time slot shift that "we ended the season as the highest rated comedy show on the network. Clearly some drastic changes were needed."

A book by Mercer, ''Rick Mercer Report: The Book'', based on his television program, was published on September 25, 2007, by Doubleday Canada. This was Mercer's first book since his bestselling ''Streeters'' of 1998, and contained a collection of the best of Mercer's "rants" from the first four seasons of ''Rick Mercer Report'', together with choice moments from interviews for the program and other writings by Mercer. On CBC Radio's ''Sounds Like Canada'' on September 21, Shelagh Rogers said of the book that "it's the most fun I've had in bed in a long time." The book entered the ''Globe and Mail'' books chart on October 6 at number three. A continuing commercial success, it was number one in the ''Globe'' bestseller list in the week before Christmas 2007, and has been reprinted eight times.

An expanded and updated paperback version of ''Rick Mercer Report: The Book'', called ''Rick Mercer Report: The Paperback Book'', was published by Anchor Canada on September 16, 2008 and immediately entered the top ten of the ''Globe and Mail'' bestseller list. It continues to sell well and has been reprinted several times.

Other film and television work

Mercer has hosted ''It Seems Like Yesterday'', which examines pop-culture from the 1950s to the 1980s. He has appeared in a few films, including ''Secret Nation'', ''Understanding Bliss'' and ''Bon Cop, Bad Cop''.

Awards

Mercer has received more than 20 Gemini Awards for his television work. He has also been a winner of the prestigious Sir Peter Ustinov Comedy Award, presented to him at the 2003 Banff Television Festival. In 1993, Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells honoured Mercer with the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council's Artist of the Year award. In 2004, Mercer was presented with the Governor General's Performing Arts Award. He donated his $15,000 cash prize to the LSPU hall, the theatre in Newfoundland where Mercer performed his early work.

He holds honorary degrees from Laurentian University in Sudbury, Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Brock University in St. Catharines, McMaster University in Hamilton, Bishop's University in Sherbrooke, and the University of British Columbia. He received an honorary high school diploma for his outstanding efforts and determination from Landmark East School in Wolfville, Nova Scotia in 1999.

Mercer was awarded the 30th Annual Bob Edwards Award in Calgary.

In 2007, he was named honorary colonel of the 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, based in Shearwater, Nova Scotia; the squadron flies the Sea King helicopters.

Spokesperson and endorsements

Rick Mercer is co-chair, along with Belinda Stronach, in the Spread the Net campaign, partnered through UNICEF, which kicked off at Brock University on September 10, 2008. Spread the Net provides bed nets for $10 each to prevent the spread of malaria among children in Africa.

In December 2004 Mercer appeared on the commercials advertising the One-Tonne Challenge for the Government of Canada. Mercer also appeared as a model in a national ad for men's clothing store, Harry Rosen, wearing a Canali suit. All of Mercer's fees for the campaign went to Casey House, a hospice in Toronto for people living with AIDS. Casey House was founded by June Callwood, who appeared as a celebrity guest on ''Monday Report''.

In September 2005, Mercer became the national spokesperson for the 2005 Walk For Life, a series of 132 fund-raising walks across Canada that raise money for people living with HIV and AIDS. The Walk for Life is a project of the Canadian AIDS Society.

Mercer has narrated an animated science video on climate change for Science North in Sudbury.

In November 2010, Mercer joined the It Gets Better, Canada campaign, a series of videos that aim to help gay and lesbian youth to overcome bullying.

Personal life

Mercer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland. He dropped out of Prince of Wales High School in St. John's before completing his diploma requirements. However, in 2002 he was presented with an honorary doctor of letters by Laurentian University and in 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Memorial University of Newfoundland. He was a member of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets when he was in his teen years.

Mercer's partner is television producer Gerald Lunz. Although the romantic relationship came first, Lunz is also Mercer's long-time partner in business, who discovered him, fostered his career, and is currently the executive producer of ''The Rick Mercer Report''. He regards his personal life as private, and says little about it in public.

References

Further reading

External links

Personal website

''Rick Mercer Report'' Official website

Category:1969 births Category:Canadian bloggers Category:Canadian satirists Category:Canadian television comedians Category:Gemini Award winners Category:LGBT comedians Category:LGBT people from Canada Category:LGBT television personalities Category:Living people Category:People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

de:Rick Mercer fr:Rick Mercer ko:릭 머서 nl:Rick Mercer simple:Rick Mercer

Name	Ezra Levant
Birth date	1972
Birth place	Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Death date
Resting place coordinates
Education	B.Comm; LLB
Alma mater	University of Calgary, University of Alberta
Religion	Judaism
Website	Ezra Levant
Footnotes	}}

Ezra Isaac Levant (born 1972) is a Canadian lawyer, conservative political activist and media figure. He is the founder and former publisher of the ''Western Standard'', hosts ''The Source'' daily on Sun News Network, and has written several books on politics.

Early life and education

Born in Calgary, Levant holds a commerce degree from the University of Calgary and a law degree from the University of Alberta. His great-grandfather emigrated to Canada in 1903 from Russia to establish a homestead near Drumheller, Alberta. Levant grew up in a suburb of Calgary. He attended a Jewish day school in his childhood before transferring to a public junior high school.

Levant campaigned for the Reform Party of Canada as a teenager and joined it as a university student. In 1992, while at the University of Calgary, his two-person team won the "best debating" category in the Intercollegiate Business Competition held at Queen's University. In 1994, he was featured in a ''Globe and Mail'' article on young conservatives after accusing the University of Alberta of racism for instituting an affirmative action program of hiring women and aboriginal professors. His actions outraged aboriginal law students, feminists, and a number of professors, and he was called to a meeting with the assistant dean who advised him of the university's non-academic code of conduct and defamation laws. As head of the university's speakers committee, Levant organized a debate between Doug Christie, a lawyer known for his advocacy in defence of Holocaust deniers and accused Nazi war criminals, and Thomas Kuttner, a Jewish lawyer from the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

Levant gained a reputation as the university's leading conservative. He was invited to write a guest column for the ''Edmonton Journal'' and interviewed on television. He spent the summer of 1994 in Washington, D.C., in an internship arranged by the libertarian Charles G. Koch Foundation Summer Fellow Program. He worked for the Fraser Institute in 1995, writing ''Youthquake'', which argued for smaller government, including privatization of the Canada Pension Plan. Levant saw "youthquake", the term he used to describe what he identified as a conservative youth movement of the 1990s, as similar to the 1960s civil rights movement except that instead of being enslaved by racism, his generation was "enslaved by debt" and, in order to liberate itself, society needed to dismantle elements such as trade unions, the minimum wage, universal health care, subsidized tuition and public pension plans.

Political activism

Views on Quebec

Levant favoured Quebec separatism and a yes vote during the 1995 Quebec referendum in a ''Calgary Sun'' column titled "10 Reasons to Hope for a Yes Victory" Among his 10 reasons were Levant's views that the departure of Quebec from Canadian confederation would lead to the elimination of bilingualism and multiculturalism, that it would give the Canadian government the "fortitude" to say no to "other special interest groups" such as First Nations and environmentalists; it would end corruption in Parliament, which Levant blamed on Quebec politicians, and clear the way for Preston Manning to become Prime Minister of Canada.

In 1996, Levant wrote a column saying that if the federal Liberals were re-elected, Alberta could separate from Canada making it "free from Quebec's demands."

Uniting the right

In 1996, Levant worked with David Frum to organize the "Winds of Change" conference in Calgary, an early attempt to encourage the Reform Party of Canada and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to merge so that a united rightwing party could defeat the Liberal Party of Canada in the subsequent election. While unsuccessful, the conference anticipated future attempts at a Unite the Right movement which ultimately led to the formation of the Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. Levant supported Preston Manning's United Alternative initiative in 1999, a more advanced attempt to unite the country's conservative movement and was one of the leaders of the movement to create the Canadian Alliance as an attempt to broaden the party's base.

Political organizer and aide

While he was a student-at-law, Levant was an active political organizer in the Reform Party, and guided the successful attempts by Rahim Jaffer (as the campaign manager for his nomination in Edmonton-Strathcona and later as his communications-director during the 1997 Federal Election) and Rob Anders to win party nominations. In 1997, he went to Ottawa to work for the Reform Party, becoming a parliamentary aide to party leader Preston Manning and being put in charge of Question Period strategy.

In 1999, after being dismissed as Preston Manning's legislative-assistant, Levant left Ottawa to join the editorial board of the fledgling ''National Post'' newspaper in Toronto. A close friend of Stockwell Day's son Logan, Levant proclaimed himself a "Stockaholic" and supported the elder Day in his successful attempt to defeat Reform Party leader Preston Manning for the leadership of the new Canadian Alliance.

In February 2001, he returned to Ottawa as communications director to Day. In May of that year he resigned after leaking to the ''National Post'' a letter that he sent to dissident MP Chuck Strahl in which he threatened to sue over Strahl's criticisms of his office.

Candidacy and resignation

Later in 2001, Levant returned to Calgary to practice law. By February 2002 he had won the Canadian Alliance party nomination for the riding of Calgary Southwest, but stepped aside after public pressure so that new party leader Stephen Harper could run there in a 2002 by-election. When the by-election was called, Levant, who said he spent over $150,000 to gain the nomination, announced on March 28 that he would not step aside. Later that night, however, he relented after widespread pressure from the party and accusations that he was putting himself ahead of the party.

Publishing

In 2004 Levant co-founded the ''Western Standard'', an Alberta-based magazine with an emphasis on Western Canada, political conservatism, and libertarianism. In October 2007 the magazine stopped publishing its print edition after failing to become profitable, becoming an online magazine. Levant later sold the publication's remaining assets to Matthew Johnson, the former legislative aide to Rahim Jaffer.

Levant wrote an irregular column for the ''Calgary Sun'' for ten years, until he was dropped in October 2007 because of "internal decisions." He continued to write occasional columns for the ''National Post'' on a freelance basis.

In 2010, Levant joined Sun Media a columnist and now has an on-air position on the Sun TV News Channel as host of The Source.

Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

In February 2006, the ''Western Standard'' published the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons depicting Muhammad. Syed Soharwardy of the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada and the Edmonton Council of Muslim Communities complained about the publication to the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission and a hearing was scheduled for January 2008. On the day of the hearing Levant republished the cartoons on his website.

At the request of Levant and his lawyers Levant was allowed to videotape his interview with Shirlene McGovern, a human rights investigator with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. Levant later published that video on YouTube where it spent several days among the top-ten viewed videos. Soharwardy's complaint was ultimately withdrawn, and a complaint he filed with Calgary police came to naught. An identical complaint by the Edmonton Muslim Council was dismissed by the Commission on August 5, 2008.

The timing of the Levant case was notable in that it coincided with a high-profile case considered by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (which Levant has criticized), the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and the Ontario Human Rights Commission regarding complaints by the Canadian Islamic Congress about a column by Mark Steyn in Maclean's Magazine. None of the complaints obtained a ruling against Steyn or Maclean's.

Stance against the Alberta Human Rights Commission

Levant is a fierce critic of the Alberta Human Rights Commission, particularly concerning Rev. Stephen Boissoin, who in the Lund v. Boissoin matter was fined $7,000 and banned from publicly "disparaging ... gays and lesbians" in May 2008. This case concerned a letter published by the ''Red Deer Advocate'' in 2002 in which Boissoin attacked the "homosexual agenda" as "wicked". In June 2008, Levant republished Boissoin's letter on his blog. When the AHRC dismissed the resulting complaint in November 2008, Levant accused the HRCs of religious discrimination, asserting that "100% of the CHRC's targets have been white, Christian or conservative" and that "It's legal for a Jew like me to publish [Boissoin’s letter]. It's illegal for a Christian like Rev. Boissoin to publish it." The HRC's ruling was overturned by the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in 2009, on the grounds that Levant had the right to free speech.

Support and criticism

Levant's case has attracted the attention of organizations such as PEN Canada, the Canadian Association of Journalists, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association — all of which have called for reform of the commissions. He has been featured on Glenn Beck's show on CNN. Levant supported the Canadian government's decision to refuse George Galloway entry into Canada in March 2009. Although Levant described it as "an immigration matter", free speech advocates protested this move, citing it as a hypocritical double standard.

Libel cases

In 1988, Levant wrote a Reform Party fundraising letter in which he criticized Alberta Progressive Conservative Senator Ron Ghitter . Ghitter sued for defamation and in 2000, Canadian Alliance MP Rob Anders and Levant admitted liability and issued a formal apology and undisclosed damages to settle the suit.

According to Levant, after the HRC cases against him were dismissed, "the most aggressive members of the human rights industry proceeded to punish [him] by filing over 20 law society complaints and five defamation suits against [him]. ... the point of all these lawsuits [is] just to bury [him] in an avalanche of paperwork and bills, to get [him] to shut up. So far, it ain't working."

The Law Society of Alberta had found that Levant violated the following rules of professional conduct: to “respect and uphold the law in personal conduct,” to “seek to improve the justice system,” to not “ act in a manner that might weaken public respect for the law,” to be “courteous and candid,” and to not “harass any person or discriminate against any person” on various prohibited grounds and ordered Levant to attend a "mandatory conduct advisory" after which the matter was dropped.

As a result of one lawsuit, Levant was ordered to pay $25,000 to Giacomo Vigna, a Canadian Human Rights Commission lawyer, for libelling him with "reckless indifference" in his blog. Justice Robert Smith ruled that Levant "spoke in reckless disregard of the truth and for an ulterior purpose of denormalizing the Human Rights Commission across Canada which makes his statements malicious in that sense" and ordered Levant to remove the libellous materials from his blog.

Lawyer Richard Warman is also suing Levant as well as Kathy Shaidle, Kate McMillan of Small Dead Animals and several other conservative bloggers for libel over statements made about Warman on Free Dominion. Levant says this "lawsuit isn't logical, or serious. It's a nuisance suit."

Levant is also being sued by Warren Kinsella for libel, asking for $5,000,000. Levant has called Kinsella's suit "laughable".

George Soros

In September 2010, Levant wrote a column for Sun Media accusing George Soros of funding avaaz.org, a group lobbying to stop Sun Media being granted a license for Sun TV News Channel, and strongly attacking Soros's character and history by alleging that as a child he collaborated with the Nazis. Soros threatened to sue Sun Media for libel and on September 18, Sun Media issued a retraction and apology to Soros stating that: :''On September 5, 2010, a column by Ezra Levant contained false statements about George Soros and his conduct as a young teenager in Nazi-occupied Hungary. ...'' :''The management of Sun Media wishes to state that there is no basis for the statements in the column and they should not have been made.'' :''Sun Media, this newspaper and Ezra Levant retract the statements made in the column and unreservedly apologize to Mr. Soros for the distress and harm this column may have caused to him.''

Recent activities

In July 2008, Levant was invited to be a witness before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus "about the threat posed by radical Islam using Western legal mechanisms as weapons".

From 2009 until 2010, Levant worked as a lobbyist for Rothman's Incorporated, a manufacturer and distributor of tobacco products.

In March 2010, Levant accompanied U.S. conservative personality Ann Coulter on a Canadian speaking tour. Her speech at the University of Ottawa was canceled at the last minute, apparently by its organizers, because of what Levant called "physical danger to Coulter and the audience" from protesters. The Ottawa Police later disputed any claims of unrest or violence.

In September 2010, Levant published a book, ''Ethical Oil: The Case for Canada's Oil Sands'', arguing a moral case for developing the Athabasca oil sands rather than importing oil from nations with bad records concerning human rights and the environment. The book was the winner of the 2011 National Business Book Award, awarded on May 12, 2011 in Toronto.

Levant hosts ''The Source'', an evening talk show host on the Sun News Network and writes a regular column for the Sun Media chain of newspapers.

Books

Notes

External links

Ezra Levant's blog

YouTube Account

Category:Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament Category:Canadian columnists Category:Jewish Canadian writers Category:Living people Category:Canadian magazine publishers (people) Category:1972 births Category:Canadian political consultants Category:Lawyers in Alberta Category:Canadian Alliance politicians Category:Canadian television journalists

fr:Ezra Levant