Western Canada

**Manitoba** • Capital: Winnipeg — located at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers • Known as the "Keystone Province" — at the centre of the country • Rich Aboriginal and Métis heritage; Louis Riel and the Red River Resistance **Saskatchewan** • Capital: Regina • One of the world's largest wheat producers • Tommy Douglas introduced Medicare here in 1962 • Famous for flat prairie landscape and big skies **Alberta** • Capital: Edmonton (also called "Gateway to the North") • Largest city: Calgary — known for the Calgary Stampede • Canada's oil and gas heartland — Alberta oil sands are among the world's largest petroleum deposits • Banff and Jasper National Parks in the Rocky Mountains **British Columbia** • Capital: Victoria (on Vancouver Island) • Largest city: Vancouver — Canada's third-largest city and major Pacific port • Gateway to Asia-Pacific trade; very multicultural • The Rocky Mountains and Pacific forests make it one of the world's most scenic regions • Rich Aboriginal heritage — totem poles, Haida Gwaii • Hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler