# On the naming of Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443 "2024-04-18T03:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/41 "2024-04-19T17:02:32Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Can you or @Northern_Piper quote the law that makes that clear? It’s in the Union Act 1800, passed by the British Parliament, article 1: > That it be the First Article of the Union of the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, that the said kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland shall, upon the first day of January which shall be in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, and for ever after, be united into one kingdom, **by the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland** … > **[Union with Ireland Act 1800](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/apgb/Geo3/39-40/67)** > > An Act for the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. There was a parallel act of union passed by the Irish Parliament. The two parliaments were succeeded by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. There was apparently a regulation passed after the Anglo-Irish Treaty which said that the references in the Union Act to « Ireland » do not include the Irish republic. @UDS1 probably knows more about that. The name of the UK Parliament was altered in 1927 to be the « Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ». The same act authorized His Majesty to make a similar alteration to his Royal Titles. > **[ukpga\_19270004\_en.pdf](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1927/4/pdfs/ukpga_19270004_en.pdf)** > > 45.16 KB ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/42 "2024-04-19T17:23:47Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > If the name Dominion was to be feared, it was perhaps referring to Ontario’s most decrepit defunct grocery store; the specific Dominion’s nearest the University of Toronto campus As with all supermarkets, the major determiner of quality was location. I can well imagine a supermarket right in the downtown core being old and decrepit, but Dominion as a chain was perfectly fine, and so is Metro. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/43 "2024-04-19T17:42:07Z")
Trust me, [you don’t want to be a Dominion](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Dominion). ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/44 "2024-04-19T17:43:07Z")
[/quote] As with all supermarkets, the major determiner of quality was location. I can well imagine a supermarket right in the downtown core being old and decrepit, but Dominion as a chain was perfectly fine, and so is Metro. [/quote] Hear, hear. I have warm memories of Dominion, not the fanciest place, but certainly nothing decrepit about it. A perfectly good everyday food store. I could name other chains in the Toronto area that are / were of visibly lower quality, but won’t be mentioning any names. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/45 "2024-04-19T21:10:17Z")
Dominion’s had “The Baker’s Oven”, which was decent, and I have nothing against the chain. As a student in Montréal, I often shopped at Métro and liked it. When it moved to English Canada, it became more average, and did not have the things I liked about it Montreal: ten types of homemade sausage including lamb merguez, and several other quality Québécois products - from patisserie, spruce beer, pettes des soeurs and much else. But the _specific_ Dominion’s near U of T campus was a filthy, pricey, badly lit grocery store not at all similar to other stores. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/46 "2024-04-19T21:41:08Z")
The naming of Canada is a serious matter It isn’t just one of your holiday games You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter when I tell you Canada must have three different names. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/47 "2024-04-19T21:54:58Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Dominion’s had “The Baker’s Oven”, which was decent, and I have nothing against the chain. As a student in Montréal, I often shopped at Métro and liked it. When it moved to English Canada, it became more average, and did not have the things I liked about it Montreal: ten types of homemade sausage including lamb merguez, and several other quality Québécois products - from patisserie, spruce beer, pettes des soeurs and much else. > > But the _specific_ Dominion’s near U of T campus was a filthy, pricey, badly lit grocery store not at all similar to other stores. As a U of T alumnus, I can agree that the Dominion near the campus was not the best in the world. In 2002, I had a summer job in Sainte-Foy, a neighborhood of Quebec City. I would have lunch at the local mall, Place Sainte-Foy. I found it remarkable that the food court was poorer than at a typical Toronto mall. OTOH, there was this supermarket there, and it was gigantic. And one of the three best-stocked supermarkets I had seen in my life. In fact, perhaps the best-stocked. I came away from my 3-month stay in Quebec City with the impression that the locals like to cook at home rather than to eat out on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/48 "2024-04-19T22:07:26Z")
Times may have changed, but even the dingier-than-average student grocery store we went to in Montreal had many gourmet and quality store made items you just don’t often see in Ontario stores (until Farm Boy opened up, anyway). I know many Quebeckers who shopped for fresh ingredients several times a week, and rarely bought any frozen food, especially commercially prepared stuff to reheat. In my limited experience, Quebeckers also socially enjoy cooking a nice meal together as a group. Most know a lot about food and how to cook traditional dishes. I have made a social meal together, each doing a different dish, before in Ontario, of course, but not nearly as often. Usually you arrive at the potluck with the dish already prepared, not made together as part of the bonding and social entertainment. Eating food is emphasized over making food. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/49 "2024-04-19T23:29:29Z")
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily, Such as BC, Alberta, New Brunswick, or James, Such as Prince Edward Island or Manitoba— All of them sensible everyday names. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/50 "2024-04-19T23:31:47Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > But the _specific_ Dominion’s near U of T campus was a filthy, pricey, badly lit grocery store not at all similar to other stores. I assume you mean the one on Bloor west of Spadina. I agree, it was never a great store as a Dominion. It’s been renovated as a Metro but I would still choose to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/51 "2024-04-20T01:53:38Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > Having grown up around Dominions, I quite miss their old lettering / logo, with the distinctive not-quite Gothic-font red “D” into which a green maple leaf has been inserted. Nostalgia lives on Wikipedia: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Dominionlogo.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Dominionlogo.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/52 "2024-04-20T01:58:36Z")
And by the way, have you folks down south not realised that Dominion Voting Systems is just one more example of the hidden in plain sight Canadian infiltration? > The company maintains headquarters in Toronto and in Denver, Colorado.[[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems#cite_note-:6-4) Its name derives from the _[Dominion Elections Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Elections_Act)_ .[[29]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems#cite_note-29)[[30]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Voting_Systems#cite_note-30) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/53 "2024-04-20T02:25:22Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Anyway, great post! Can I quote you in a future paper? Thanks! Feel free! 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/54 "2024-04-20T02:27:32Z")
> [@themapleleaf](#): > > However, at least one later constitutional law, the Constitution [formerly British North America] Act, 1871, does use the title “Dominion of Canada” within its text. Make of that what you will. One interpretation of that could be that “Dominion of Canada” is an alternative, now disused title for the state. Yes, that’s Forsey’s approach. On the other hand, if you accept the “repeal by implication in 1982” interpretation, that would apply not just to s. 3 of the 1867 Act, but also subsequent acts enacted prior to 1982, like the 1871 Act. As I said, I can’t see the courts ever needing to resolve the issue. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/55 "2024-04-20T07:12:54Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Nostalgia lives on Wikipedia: 🎶 It’s mainly because of the meat! 🎶 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/56 "2024-04-20T11:21:23Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > And by the way, have you folks down south not realised that Dominion Voting Systems is just one more example of the hidden in plain sight Canadian infiltration? You fiends! ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/57 "2024-04-20T11:47:54Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Nostalgia lives on Wikipedia: > > [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Dominionlogo.jpg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Dominionlogo.jpg) > [@Spoons](#): > > 🎶 It’s mainly because of the meat! 🎶 Warm and fuzzy nostalgia indeed! And @Spoons has a far better memory than me – I recall the jingle now that it’s been shoved in my scatter-brained face, but I never would have remembered it on my own! Incidentally, Google informs me that the conversion of Dominion stores to the Metro name began in August, 2008, beginning with the stores in the Toronto area, which is more recent than I would have guessed. So the supermarket closest to me when I last lived in Toronto would have been a Dominion for many years, where I shopped occasionally except when I was pretending to be Mr. Moneybags and went to Pusateri’s instead. That Dominion briefly became a Metro and then, in a typical sign of the times, became a high-rise condominium. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/58 "2024-04-20T13:17:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That Dominion briefly became a Metro and then, in a typical sign of the times, became a high-rise condominium. And that condo likely has a Cannabis store in it at street level ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/59 "2024-04-20T13:30:55Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > And that condo likely has a Cannabis store in it at street level Never checked to see if it did, but out here in the 'burbs, a large cannabis store recently opened right beside my local liquor store. Very convenient for those who wish to get wasted in several different ways at once, and further convenience is provided by the fact – perhaps inspired by the cannabis store – that over a dozen fast-food outlets have recently opened in the immediate area! 😃🇨🇦 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443/60 "2024-04-20T13:48:53Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I thought they got the name from a guy drawing letters out of a bag and saying: “C - ay? N - ay?..” 😉 I came here to post this joke. But to be accurate, you need to use “eh” spelling. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-naming-of-canada/1000443.md?page=4)