How is this novel shown as a Canadian work of literature, and how does setting play a role in this novel?

The Last Crossing takes place in both Victorian England and the rugged prairie lands of Canada, as well as parts of the wild frontier in Montana that border the United States. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, and the Canadian topography is varied. Glacier-eroded mountains bump up against flatlands, and wildlife abounds. It can be argued that this novel is a Canadian novel because the Canadian landscape is as much a character in the novel as any of the speaking human characters. 
At the beginning of Chapter 2, the reader meets this 'character' of the Canadian landscape: "But here, on a barren tabletop plain, wood and shelter were a figment of the imagination." The wide expanse of the landscape is introduced at nighttime, during a snow storm, and Simon Gaunt is asleep on his horse. This image is a striking one with which to open the story as it takes place in the Canadian frontier. Simon Gaunt is alone and vulnerable in a wilderness that exposes him to all harsh winter elements and weather conditions, and the narrator presents Simon as overpowered by Canadian nature.
The native Canadian Talks Different also emphasizes this notion of the natural landscape of Canada as a character. During the 19th century, Canada was still a colony of England, and the settlers of the Canadian wild west, like Simon Gaunt and the reverend Witherspoon, encountered native peoples all the time. The character of Talks Different introduces the reader to the native Canadian point of view; she too is part of this Canadian landscape, and the change in narrative voice when her perspective is presented is interesting. This narrative voice capitalizes the names of natural elements of the setting, like the Sun, which suggests that the landscape is as much a living being as Talks Different is.