The Quest for Canadian Unity Chapter 15 The Quest for Canadian Unity

Chapter Issue To what extent should Canadian national unity be promoted? What is national unity? How does the nature of Canada affect national unity? How has the changing face of Canada affected national unity?

What is National Unity? Unity means Oneness with each other. I know I have an idea of what the “All-American” boy/girl is but what is an “All-Canadian” boy/girl. Do we have one? This national unity can be affected by many factors.

Forces affecting National Unity Rally-round-the-flag effect. Certain internal and external factors can cause people to support something (become unified) much more so than they normally would. An example of external may be war or 9/11 An example of internal may be people seeking to assert their nationhood like Francophones or First Nations.

How does the nature of Canada affect national unity How do you maintain unity within your own smaller groups like sports teams or clubs? How can we replicate this on such a large scale? Canada is the second largest political body on the planet yet it has a very small population so the people are relatively spread out – how would this affect unity?

Western Alienation Regional needs often dictate how federal government allocates money. Furthermore, the federal government may have differing views or goals from regional/provincial governments. This has lead to some provinces feeling mistreated since confederation. For example, western alienation.

Cont’d These feelings came to a head in 1982 when the battle over the national energy program were in full swing and transfer payments (equalization payments on pg. 349) were very high Read what Stephen Harper said about a firewall for Alberta before and after he became prime minister.

Alienation in other Regions Other provinces like Quebec and Nova Scotia have expressed deep dissatisfaction with the federal government. Read about the Newfoundland Labrador flags to half mast demonstration on pg. 348.

Federal System and National Unity In 1982, Canada patriated the constitution which means total control transferred from the British government to the Canadian government. This gave the provinces more power including exclusive control over resource development, which was a key demand put forth by Alberta.

Political Representation Because Canada’s population is spread so unevenly across the country it is hard to make sure all of the regions are represented fairly in parliament. If we just had representation by population (one person = one vote) then Ontario and Quebec would easily dominate our federal government. However, there is a built in formula which tries to address this. See the chart on the bottom of pg. 350 where the number of people represented by each MP is relatively constant. Why is PEI different?

Official Multiculturalism How do we maintain unity when, by 2006 statistics, one in every 6 Canadians was a member of a visible minority (1/6 isn’t quite so “minor” anymore is it?) Imagine trying to be a cohesive united team when all the players haven’t quite learned the same languages fully or they celebrate in a different way or they need to change the uniform for religious reasons. This is the challenge of Uniting Canada through its history but also finding a new vision for all new Canadians to rally behind.

Bilingualism We have focused a lot on the francophone community in Quebec in this course but there are also large French speaking communities throughout the rest of Canada that face similar problems but may not get the protection of their government. Read the “challenges for francophone's across Canada” section on pg. 351 and try to figure out how these scenarios could affect unity.

B and B Commission The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was established in 1963 to address the dual nature of Canada (not just Quebec). The Commission found that: Most francophone's were shut out of positions of economic and decision making power Francophone minorities outside Quebec lacked opportunities available to the Anglophone minority within Quebec Language barrier prevented many Francophone’s from getting government jobs and gaining federal services

Cont’d The B and B acted quickly to enact change since it faced a lot of criticism. It promoted funding to provinces to offer services and support for teaching French A Federal department of Multiculturalism was also set up as many thought the B and B was a way to divert attention from other minority groups.

Cont’d One of the most important aspects of the B & B was the Official Languages Act enacted by Trudeau. (Read on pg. 352) One more problem with uniting Canada, however, is that now approximately 20% of the population speak an “unofficial” language at home and this presents challenges to the government in regards to promoting the 2 official languages.

3 Readers Read the three “views from here” on page 353 and answer the exploration questions.

Aboriginal Self-Determination Although the 1982 Constitution recognized “Aboriginal Rights” it did not define whether this included self-determination Aboriginal people believe that this is an inherent right The Canadian government, under Paul Martin (PM from 2003-2006) has said he believes that aboriginal rights include self-determination, this was never made official

Cont’d The current government has explicitly refused to support the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous people which specifies self governance. There are examples of “making it work” such as the Nisga’a of BC and Nunavut and Nunavik where Federal, Provincial and Aboriginal laws must work in harmony.

Cont’d Nisga’a – In 1998, the Nisga’a nation reached an agreement with Canada over disputed land claims. The Nisga’a never signed a treaty yet they were able to achieve this agreement over land and self governance for themselves. Big Deal? Nunavut – A new territory as of 1999. Over 85% of the population is Inuit and they have gradually worked towards self governance since inception

Nunavik – Read the Georeality on pages 358 and 359 and answer the exploration questions. These three examples have all happened in your short lifetimes. What else do you think may happen?

Trends to note Increase in immigration Increase in urbanization Maybe more self government for urban centers like Toronto and its metropolitan area which is so big that it wants a say in decisions that were formerly made by just the federal government, let alone provincial

Cont’d Increase in aboriginal population (fastest growing segment of the countries population. They topped one million for the first time in 2006 since Canadian government has kept track) Economic Globalization – When do we let Foreign countries take over Canadian business? Read about the Investment Canada Act on pg. 362

3 readers for Taking turns on pg 3 readers for Taking turns on pg. 363 and answer the “your turn” question in your daily log.

Chapter Review Do the think, participate, research and communicate questions on pages 364 & 365.