Canada's federal Crown corporations are a motley bunch. A few, like the Bank of Canada, are mostly viewed as indispensable. Most, such as a litany of museums or port authorities, attract little attention because of their benign purpose and relatively small budgets. Some, such as Canada Post, are now seen as increasingly anachronistic in a rapidly changing world.
One Crown corporation most Canadians outside Atlantic Canada have likely never even heard of is Marine Atlantic, which operates cargo and passenger ferry services between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Yet, Marine Atlantic's very existence is a consequence of a constitutional obligation agreed to by the federal government in 1949 as part of the deal that saw Newfoundland join Confederation. Under the terms of the Newfoundland Act, the federal government is required to "maintain... a freight and passenger steamship service between North Sydney and Port aux Basques."
