Social Studies 20-1 - Unit 6: National Identity in Canada

Nation

A group of people who feel connections to one another in some way (a group).

Nation-State

A territory with internationally recognized boundaries and a politically organized body of people under a sovereign government (a country).

Civic Nation

A nation where people agree to live by set rules or laws, regardless of ethnicity, race, or religion.

Ethnic Nation

A nation based upon shared ethnic origins or culture.

Nationalism

An ideology based on the premise that the individual's loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpasses other individual groups or interests.

Patriotism

A love for a nation or nation-state, related to a pride in that nation or nation-state's culture and achievements.

Early Canada

1. Indigenous people, relationship to land

2. John Cabot explores for England

3. New France, Catholic, industrious, loyal to a European King

4. The Battle of the Plains of Abraham, English defeat French in Seven Years War, loyalty to a new monarch

5. Confederation; anti-American sentiment

6. Euro-descended community based on British crown law, development of agriculture, immigration

7. Multiculturalism and pluralism

John Cabot

- Explores the east cost of North America for England

- Notes the water teems with cod

The Battle of the Plains of Abraham (1759)

- Fought just outside of Quebec

- Won by British

- Final battle of Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The worldwide struggle between France and Great Britain for power and control of land.

Confederation (1867)

A negotiated union of the formerly separated colonial governments of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

=> Creation of Canada

=> Manitoba joins as a Metis province

Mike Meyers

"Not being something else"

=> Not being American, or not being British

=> What are we?

Pluralism

A condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, or more coexist.

Bilingualism

Fluency in two languages; in Canada, official bilingualism includes English and French.

Multiculturalism

The presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

Mosaic

A metaphor for CANADA; everyone fits in to make a piece of collective art.

Melting Pot

A metaphor for the US; everyone gets melted into one big culture.

Canada First Movement

- Worked to promote a British Protestant identity as being central to a Canadian identity

- Opposed the Metis movement for self determination

- Vocal opponents of Louis Riel after the execution of Thomas Scott

- Anglo-Saxon, protestant "northern" race

Protestant

- No pope
- Many different types
- English, Scottish

Catholic

- Pope
- 1 unified church
- French

Louis Riel

The Metis leader of the Manitoba and North-West rebellions.

Anglo-Saxon

The entire English race wherever found, as in Europe, the United States, or India.

Early Immigration

- American, British, or Eastern European groups were considered "ideal"

- Francophone, Asian, and African immigrants were NOT targeted

- Greeks and Italians were "hard to assimilate"

- Valued cultural similarity or economic contributions

Chinese Head Tax

A fixed fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada.

Contiguous Journey Regulation

This prevented immigration from South Asia in 1914.

The Immigration Act

- Overhauled the Canadian immigration system due to the UN Convention; Status of Refugees and 1976 Protocol

- Emphasis placed on economic immigrants, as well as reuniting families

- Multiculturalism becomes Canada's main strength

The Canadian Federal Government

This takes on the responsibility of promoting and protecting Canadian identity.

=> Department of Canadian Heritage, Historica Canada

Cultural Protectionism

The process of attempting to protect, maintain and promote the unique aspects of a culture.

=> CRTC and Canada's Broadcasting Act require a certain percentage of media aired to be Canadian-produced

Canadian Symbols

These create a heightened sense of belonging for Canadians; create national mythology for a civic nation.

=> Official: The beaver, the maple tree, hockey, lacrosse

=> Unofficial: The maple leaf, the RCMP

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

The document that protects the basic rights of Canadians and those living in Canada.

Patriation

This means that the British North American Act was brought from the British parliament to the Canadian one, and rewritten to be a Canadian piece of legislature.

=> Full sovereignty

British North America Act

The original Canadian constitution.

Challenges to Canadian Identity

1. Intangible unifying factors (values, legal system)

2. Geographic issues

3. Regional (provincial) identities

"Time Immemorial"

- First Nations have been on Canadian land forever

- Live in unique communities

European Colonialism

- Originally trade and mercantilism, now exploitative due to European ethnocentrism

- New settlements forced Indigenous people off their traditional lands; some groups extinct

Beothuk

- Indigenous group living in Newfoundland

- Became extinct in 1830 due to a combination of factors including disease, competition for resources, and conflict

Treaties

An attempt to legally claim land from Indigenous groups, and to gain control over First Nations people.

=> Offered education, resources, and healthcare; these were not always recieved

The Numbered Treaties

- Historical agreements between the Canadian Government and First Nations

- Negotiated control of the land for promised education, health care, reserves, rights to hunt & fish, farming assistance and annual payment

Indigenous Vision of Treaties

- Cultural and spiritual protection
- Physical survival
- Peaceful relations
- Oral agreements

Federal Vision of Treaties

- Gain legal title to land
- Settle the West
- Stop American expansion
- Respond to Indian requests for treaty protection (sovereignty)

Indian Act

- Laws that govern Indians

- Who has status, what rights to members have, who controls funding, who controls land

=> Permission for traditional costumes, uncultivated land goes to people who are willing to farm the land

The White Paper

A document that suggests the government end all treaty obligations, the Department of Indian Affairs, and the Indian Act so First Nations peoples would be able to "catch up" with the rest of society.

The Red Paper

A document where First Nations outline their objections to the White Paper; they want their legislative rights to be maintained.

=> Created by the National Indian Brotherhood

Kanesatake Resistance

=> Oka Crisis, Mohawk Resistance

- Standoff between Mohawk protestors and Canadian officials

- Original grievance over the expansion of a golf course

- Police officer killed

- Involvment of army, Canadian government bought land and took it from the Mohawk people

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

- 94 Calls to Action

- Reconcile with the First Nations from their trauma

- Nation to nation demands

Royal Proclamation of 1763

- Colonists couldn't move and expand to the west of the Appalachian mountains

- Asserted Indigenous land rights

Comprehensive Land Claims

Treaties that are not signed.

Specific Land Claims

Treaty violations.

Lump Sum

- All survivors of residential schools are given $10,000

- $3,000 for every year attended

Jacques Cartier

The first French explorer in Saint Lawrence.

Samuel de Champlain

The founder of Acadia and New France.

Quebec Act

This protected some religious and language rights, but it wasn't enough to keep Francophones happy.

Act of the Union

The act that united Upper and Lower Canada.

=> Each region has the same number of representatives in the legislature

Official Languages Act

The act in which Canada is officially established as bilingual, and mandates that government services must be provided in both languages.

The Quiet Revolution

- A period of rapid change experienced in Quebec

- Quebec's political party (Union Nationale) stuck to a conservative ideology and outdated traditional values

- Liberals broke the hold of the Union Nationale

- Redefine the role of Francophone society in Canada

FLQ

=> Front de la Liberation de Quebec

A radical separatist organization of the 1960s and early 1970s which was responsible for the October Crisis of 1970.

October Crisis

A crisis where members of the FLQ kidnapped French politicians.

Parti Quebecois

The Quebec separatist party.

Bill 101

=> The Charter of French Languages

- Restricts the rights of Anglophones in Quebec

- Businesses relocate to avoid law (Bank of Montreal)

Je Me Souviens

"I remember"
- Past experiences
- Education system
- Minority

Asymmetrical Federalism

A form of federalism in which some subnational units in the federal system have greater or lesser powers than others.
=> Alienation of other regions
=> Sponsorship scandal

The Reform Party

- Right-wing, populist, western political protest movement

- Becomes official opposition

- Eventually took over the Conservative Party

"The West Wants In"

- Albertans feeling alienated

- Felt as if their interests and ideology were not being represented in Ottawa

Regional Disparity

Inequality between different regions of Canada.

Causes of Regional Disparity

1. Physical features
2. Climate
3. Resources
4. Location
5. Urbanization
6. Transportation
7. Labour force

Signs of Regional Disparity

1. Wages
2. Unemployment
3. Education
4. Standard of living
5. Migration

Equalization Payments

- Effort to reduce regional disparities

- Federal Government looks at how strong the economy is in each province

- Government takes tax revenue from strong province to give to weak province

"Have" Province

A strong province.

"Have Not" Province

A weak province.