Who are Canadians? There’s no clear definition. A thousand years ago, Canadians were Native Americans and 300 years ago, Canadians were French settlers. Today there is not one single definition of who we are. People have moved to Canada from all corners of the globe. No longer are we fur hat wearing court Dubois, or soldiers from the British army. Very few Canadians can say they truly come from North America. Were a hodge podge collage of all different ethnicities, religions and languages, but all Canadians share one thing; their home. We live in such a diverse society hat is made up of people all over the world. But this culture and way of life didn’t just magically appear; it took years of interactions and influences. With the help of the ongoing French Canadian’s struggle for cultural and linguistic recognition, to the success story of the Vimy Ridge, to our unique Canadian Charter of rights, Canada has become an independent multicultural nation.
A great man once said, “Love thy neighbor as thyself…” Unfortunately for Canada, that was not always the case. For many years, disagreement has existed between the two prime cultural denominations in Canada, the French and the English. Both have tried to demoralize one another in aspects of religion, language, culture and politics. Throughout Canadian history, there were many occasions where the French and English have clashed but three major historical events tore the relationship into pieces for Canada : Red River Rebellion, Conscription dilemma of World War I and the FLQ October Crisis of 1970 in Quebec, were key events in Canadian history that “split” the French-English Canadian connection. This problem plagues our country today and many measures were taken to try to improve the...
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...eration Is a Compact, Made... at BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote. Web. 26 July 2011. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/w/wilfridlau363730.html
"Essay: French and English Relations – A History of Conflict." Online Essays.com - Thousands of Essays Online | Essay Writing. Web. 26 July 2011. .
"Wilfrid Laurier Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. Web. 26 July 2011. .
"How Did the Battle of Vimy Ridge Prove Help Canada? - Yahoo! Answers." Yahoo! Answers - Home. Web. 26 July 2011. .
"WHAT IS THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION?" CANADIAN CONSTITUTION, ENGLISH COLONIAL LAW & ETHNOCENTRISM. Web. 26 July 2011. .
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
Contrary to what any believe, the Battle of Vimy Ridge was more than “another bloodshed” to Canada as a nation. This battle confirmed Canada’s eligibility to participate on the world stage and that they are not to be trifled with by other nations. The accomplishments of the Canadian army brought respect from other countries to Canada. The Canadian army gained confidence in themselves after the victory at the battle Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was significant to the growth of Canada as a nation.
Sanderson, Curtis. Famous Canadian Quotes to Remember. 26 Sept. 2010. Quotes for Canadian Life Co. 29 May 2011
Humphreys, Edward. Great Canadian battles: heroism and courage through the years. London GB: Arcturus Publishing, 2008.
Today in Canada it is not uncommon to see people of various races, ethnic backgrounds or cultural groups living within a mutual society; commonly known as multiculturalism. Multiculturalism refers to the presence of, or support for the presence of several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society. As the topic becomes more more popular due to news events and social media debates, multiculturalism gets twisted and misunderstood. In essence, multiculturalism is not about dwelling on about our differences, it is about emphasizing our commonality. Diversity of the human race has the power to unify society and make it stronger. Firstly, innovation
The Dual Nation Theory took its heading starting in 1960, with the beginning of the sovereignty movement (Gorman, Robert F. 2008. 2018-2020). It truly took off, however, with the Quiet Revolution, where the idea of “maîtres chez nous” and the shift from being a distinct part of Canada to Quebec being a nation in its own right begins to take hold. Québécois nationalism defined Confederation as being an agreement between two peoples: the French and the English. “Quebec constitutes within Canada a distinct society, which includes a French-speaking majority, a unique culture and civil law tradition” (Chotalia, 1993). This is significant to mention because this is the theory that ultimately leads to the Three Nation Theory.
Our government’s predecessors have attempted to eradicate Canada’s first people, which is not only an insult to the indigenous people of the past, but to the present. This country did not start off as a joint endeavor of the two general groups of people that inhabited it during its birth, but decimation and forced assimilation of great traditions and people. The assimilation of a great culture, the destruction of oral histories, and the forced loss of language destroyed the chance trust. Only by teaching disgust towards that type of attitude and action, by not excusing it or attempting to justify, will begin a new age of
Canada is known by outsiders to be a very peaceful country. But if you ask any Canadian they well tell you that is unfortunately not the case. For there is a large ongoing conflict between Canadians. The conflict is between the French and the English, or more specifically between Quebec and the rest of Canada. As a result of this conflict, along with some wrongdoing and propaganda. Quebec has considered and has gone as far to hold referendums over Separatism (Surette,2014). Separatism is that the province of Quebec separates from the rest of Canada to form its own country. Which would have immense effects on indubitably Quebec but also the rest of Canada (Martin, 2014). This report will focus on the root causes and origin of Quebec Separatism, the current state of Quebec Separatism and finally how we as a society can act towards Quebec Separatism.
“ Canada 's national obsession seems to be its own identity.” For many years Canada has feared the increasing influence of its North American neighbors on its culture - the United States . It has become a matter of growing concern for the people of power and influence in Canada to maintain their separate cultural identity and to promote their own cultural norms. Gaetan Tremblay presents his views on this topic and does this from the perspective of a person living and working in Quebec.
Do you know that despite Canada being called multicultural and accepting, Canada’s history reveals many secrets that contradicts this statement? Such an example are Canadian aboriginals, who have faced many struggles by Canadian society; losing their rights, freedoms and almost, their culture. However, Native people still made many contributions to Canadian society. Despite the efforts being made to recognize aboriginals in the present day; the attitudes of European Canadians, acts of discrimination from the government, and the effects caused by the past still seen today have proven that Canadians should not be proud of Canada’s history with respect to human rights since 1914.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
Canada has had a long and storied history especially in the 20th century. A key part of this history is Canada’s road to autonomy. The first step on this road is Canada’s role in fighting and ending World War I. The second step is Canadian involvement in the United Nations’ early days to the mid 1950’s. The last step on the road to autonomy is the Constitution Act, 1982. These three moments in time form the backbone of Canada’s road to autonomy.
In conclusion Canada gained independence because of a series of events that took place during the twentieth century. If it hadn’t been for these events, Canada to this day might have been a part of the British Empire. Through discussion on the Chanak affair we signalled that we wanted autonomy. Through our hard work and lives, the world knew we had the ability to stand alone as a strong nation. While, our international reputation of being a “peacekeeping” country the right to stand as an independent self-governing nation. But finally through the Canada Act, we stood solely independent from our Empire. It is obvious that the twentieth century provided us with great chances to become an independent strong nation.
Canada and Quebec have always been in conflict from the confederation of 1867 to the Supreme court judgement on the secession of Quebec in 1998. Quebec faces several challenges in terms of constitutional relations with the rest of Canada. Quebec is seeking a special status to preserve and protect its culture and language, while the rest of English-speaking Canada accepts the view of provincial equality. There have been attempts to recognize Quebec's concerns through constitutional amendments, but these attempts have not lived up to Quebec's expectations and for the most parts have failed. Quebec has threatened Canada throughout history with separation from Canada. These threats have not been ignored, the rest of Canada realizes the devastating impact economically and politically if Quebec did separate but they cannot reach a compromise. Canada has as tried to encourage Quebec not to separate from Canada. In 1995 Quebec held its second referendum on sovereignly and the separatists narrowly lost the province wide. The province brought the case to the Supreme court of Canada to rule on the legal guidelines of unilateral secession under Canadian and international law, in the end some say the federalists (those not wanting to separate) came out on top. In this essay I will discuss the various historical attempts made by government to keep Quebec a part of Canada. I will also attempt to explain the impact of the Supreme Court Ruling on the Quebec secession. Many argue that the federalist won in the decision but that statement is debatable. Both Quebec and the rest of Canada won in the ruling. I believe that English Canadians should spend some time getting to know their French neighbors and vice ...
Ever wonder why a country is a country, and how it came to be. Often times nationalism comes into play when forming a nation. There are many types of nationalism but the two main categories are ethnic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism can be divided into eight separate subcategories. The first of these is cultural, which relates to connections between individuals and groups alike. The second is historical. Typically historical can be associated with political nationalism. Often times the French Revolution is a prime example for both of these classifications of nationalism. The fourth category is religious nationalism. This subcategory can also be grouped with spiritual nationalism. Both of these relate to the religious beliefs drawing people