Editing History of Canada (section)

==2001–present==
{{main|History of Canada (1982–present)}}
Environmental issues increased in importance in Canada during the late 90s, resulting in the signing of the [[Kyoto Accord]] on climate change by Canada's Liberal government in 2002. The accord was in 2007 nullified by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government, which proposed a "made-in-Canada" solution to climate change.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://www.ec.gc.ca/doc/ed-es/p_123/CC_Plan_2007_e.pdf |title=A Climate Change Plan for the Purposes of the Kyoto Protocol Implementation Act – 2007 |publisher=Environment Canada |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-662-46496-9 |access-date=April 16, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:March of Hearts crowd on Parliament Hill 2004.jpg|thumb|The March of Hearts rally in support of same-sex marriage at [[Parliament Hill]] in 2004. Same-sex marriage was legalized in 2005 with the passage of the ''[[Civil Marriage Act]]''.]]

Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize [[Same-sex marriage in Canada|same-sex marriage nationwide]] with the enactment of the ''[[Civil Marriage Act]]'' in 2005.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Jason |last1=Pierceson |first2=Adriana |last2=Piatti-Crocker |first3=Shawn |last3=Schulenberg |title=Same-Sex Marriage in the Americas: Policy Innovation for Same-Sex Relationships |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JbO-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA169 |year=2010 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-0-7391-4657-6 |page=169}}</ref> Court decisions, starting in 2003, had already legalized [[same-sex marriage]] in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories. Before the passage of the act, more than 3,000 same-sex couples had married in these areas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Canada passes bill to legalize gay marriage |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/06/29/america/web.0629canada.php |publisher=The New York Times Company |year=2005 |access-date=April 10, 2010}}</ref>

The [[Canadian Alliance]] and PC Party merged into the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] in 2003, ending a 13-year division of the conservative vote. The party was elected twice as a minority government under the leadership of [[Stephen Harper]] in the [[2006 Canadian federal election|2006 federal election]] and [[2008 Canadian federal election|2008 federal election]].<ref name="Dyck2011dfg"/> Harper's Conservative Party won a majority in the [[2011 Canadian federal election|2011 federal election]] with the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]] under [[Jack Layton]] forming the Official Opposition for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://enr.elections.ca/National_e.aspx |title=Preliminary Results |publisher=Elections Canada |access-date=May 3, 2011}}</ref>

Under Harper, Canada and the United States continued to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the Canada–United States border through the [[Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative]].<ref name="KonradNicol2008">{{cite book |first1=Victor |last1=Konrad |first2=Heather N. |last2=Nicol |title=Beyond Walls: Re-inventing the Canada-United States Borderlands |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FqyaQJtAsDsC&pg=PA189 |year=2008 |publisher=Ashgate Publishing |isbn=978-0-7546-7202-9 |page=189}}</ref> From 2002 to 2011, [[Canada's role in the Afghanistan War|Canada was involved in the Afghanistan War]] as part of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|U.S. stabilization force]] and the NATO-commanded [[International Security Assistance Force]]. In July 2010, the largest purchase in [[Military history of Canada|Canadian military history]], totalling {{CAD|9}}&nbsp;billion for the acquisition of 65 [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II|F-35 fighters]], was announced by the federal government.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-10667633 |title=Row over Canada F-35 fighter jet order |publisher=BBC News |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=July 20, 2010}}</ref> Canada is one of several nations that assisted in the [[Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II#Canada|development of the F-35]] and has invested over {{CAD|168&nbsp;million}} in the program.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Laura |last1=Stone |url=https://vancouversun.com/business/Conservatives+purchase+fighter+jets/3286911/story.html |title=Conservatives announce $9B purchase of military fighter jets |work=Vancouver Sun |location=Canada |date=July 16, 2010 |access-date=July 20, 2010 |archive-date=July 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100719214633/http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Conservatives+purchase+fighter+jets/3286911/story.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:TRC in the Community (Map 1) without captions.svg|thumb|Map with areas labelled where the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada|Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] held outreach and statement-gathering events over the impact of [[Canadian residential schools|residential schools]] with the indigenous peoples]]
In 2008, the Government of Canada formally apologized to the indigenous peoples of Canada for the residential school system and the damage it caused.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/a-long-awaited-apology-for-residential-schools |title = A long-awaited apology for residential schools – CBC Archives}}</ref> The government set up the [[Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada]] that year to document the damage caused by the residential school system and the reconciliation needed to proceed into the future. It provided a "call to action" report in 2015.<ref name="calltoaction-pdf">{{Cite report|url=http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/File/2015/Findings/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf|title=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action|publisher=Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2012|quote=In order to redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following calls to action.|access-date=June 14, 2015}}</ref>

On 19 October 2015, Stephen Harper's Conservatives were defeated by a newly resurgent Liberal party under the leadership of [[Justin Trudeau]] and which had been reduced to third-party status in the 2011 elections.<ref>{{cite news |first1=Mark |last1=Gollom |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-election-2015-voting-results-polls-1.3278537 |title=Justin Trudeau pledges 'real change' as Liberals leap ahead to majority government |work=[[CBC News]] |date=October 19, 2015 |access-date=November 13, 2015}}</ref>

Multiculturalism (cultural and ethnic diversity) has been emphasized in recent decades. Ambrose and Mudde conclude that: "Canada's unique multiculturalism policy&nbsp;... which is based on a combination of selective immigration, comprehensive integration, and strong state repression of dissent on these policies. This unique blend of policies has led to a relatively low level of opposition to multiculturalism".<ref name="Ambrose">{{cite journal |title=Canadian Multiculturalism and the Absence of the Far Right |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |volume=21 |issue=2 |page=213 |doi=10.1080/13537113.2015.1032033 |date=2015 |first1=Emma |last1=Ambrose |first2=Cas |last2=Mudde <!--|pp=213–236-->|s2cid=145773856 }}</ref><ref name="polls">{{cite web |url=http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/research/por-multi-imm/sec02-1.asp |title=A literature review of Public Opinion Research on Canadian attitudes towards multiculturalism and immigration, 2006–2009 |publisher=Citizenship and Immigration Canada |date=2011 |access-date=December 18, 2015}}</ref>

In 2013, the consumption of [[cannabis]] for medical reasons was legalized. In October 2018, the Canadian government under Justin Trudeau passed the ''[[Cannabis Act (Canada)|Cannabis Act]]'', legalizing the recreational use and sale of cannabis. Under the [[Cannabis in Canada|new law]], Canadians could consume cannabis and cannabis products in public, grow limited numbers of plants themselves, pardons for simple possession convictions were promised, while drivers could not have any traces of THC in their blood.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/marijuana-legalization-in-canada |publisher=The Canadian Encyclopedia |title=Cannabis Legalization in Canada |first=John |last=Tattrie |first2=Eli |last2=Yarhi |date= |accessdate=January 30, 2025}}</ref>

From January 2020 to May 2022, Canada was greatly impacted by the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Canada|COVID-19 pandemic]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marchand-Senécal |first1=Xavier |last2=Kozak |first2=Rob |last3=Mubareka |first3=Samira |last4=Salt |first4=Natasha |last5=Gubbay |first5=Jonathan B |last6=Eshaghi |first6=Alireza |last7=Allen |first7=Vanessa |last8=Li |first8=Yan |last9=Bastien |first9=Natalie |last10=Gilmour |first10=Matthew |last11=Ozaldin |first11=Omar |date=March 9, 2020 |title=Diagnosis and Management of First Case of COVID-19 in Canada: Lessons applied from SARS |journal=Clinical Infectious Diseases |volume=ciaa227 |doi=10.1093/cid/ciaa227 |doi-access=free |last12=Leis |first12=Jerome A|issue=16 |pages=2207–2210 |pmid=32147731 |pmc=7108147 }}</ref> which caused over 40,000 deaths in the country, the third highest mortality toll in North America (behind the United States and Mexico).<ref>{{Cite news |date=June 23, 2022 |orig-date=First published March 13, 2020 |title=Tracking every case of COVID-19 in Canada |work=[[CTV News]] |publisher=[[Bell Media]] |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/tracking-every-case-of-covid-19-in-canada-1.4852102 |access-date=June 24, 2022}}</ref>

On 28 April 2025, [[Mark Carney]]'s Liberals secured a third consecutive minority government, beating [[Pierre Poilievre]]'s Conservatives, a Liberal upset largely attributed to a rise in Canadian patriotism following United States President [[Donald Trump]]'s [[Movements for the annexation of Canada to the United States|threats to annex Canada]] and [[2025 United States trade war with Canada and Mexico|announcement of tariffs against the country]].