Significant Forces That Have Shaped Canadian Identity

DEMOGRAPHIC FORCES AND IDENTITY *Demography-The grouping of citizens according to specific characteristics

1. An Aging Population Demographers suggest that by 2056, up to 30 percent of of Canadian residents will be senior citizens. This may place a strain on social services and the health care system

2. Changing Immigration Patterns In the decades after confederation (1867), most immigrants came from Britain and Western Europe. As the 20th Century progressed this began to change. Immigrants began to come from non-European countries, thus creating a more diverse society.

3. Increased Urbanization By 2006, more than 80 percent of people were urbanites This change in the urban-rural balance is fuelled in part by immigrants…about 73 per cent of immigrants settle in one of Canada’s 3 largest cities: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

4. Aboriginal Population Growth In 2006, the number of Aboriginal people in Canada topped one million for the first time since the government started keeping records. Overall the number of Aboriginal people increased by 45 per cent, which the non-Aboriginal population increased only by 8 per cent

SOCIAL FORCES AND IDENTITY

1. Refugees and Immigrants Helping refugees is a cornerstone of Canadian policy accepting about 221,000 immigrants and refugees per year. To ensure fairness a point system is used to decide which immigrants to accept. Criteria includes advanced education and fluency in English or French

2. Multiculturalism Immigration has changed the face of Canada. By 2006 the country’s people came from over 200 different ethnic origins.

3. People With Disabilities In 2007, Canada was among the first countries to sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Despite the commitment to the UN convention, studies have shown that the poverty rate among Canadians with disabilities is twice that of those without.

4. Women and Pay Equity To narrow the gap between men’s and women’s incomes some provinces (including Manitoba and Ontario) have passed specific laws requiring employers to offer pay equally

CULTURAL FORCES AND IDENTITY

1. Official-Language Minorities French and English are official languages in Canada-thus, Canadian heritage is responsible for ensuring that both languages thrive. More than two million Canadians belong to an official language minority community (Anglophone in Quebec and Francophone in the rest of Canada)

POLITICAL FORCES AND IDENTITY

1. Aboriginal Peoples and Self-Determination Before the 1600’s Aboriginal people enjoyed self-determination, however as settlers flooded in the Aboriginal people became a minority. There right to self-determination was severely limited as the government tried to force them to abandon their own culture and join the dominant culture.

2. The Oka Crisis In the spring of 1990 the village of Oka, Quebec decided to expand a golf course on the land that Mohawks from the Kanesatake reserved claimed as their own. On July 11th, violence erupted, shots were fired, and a police officer was killed.

3. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples As a result of the Oka crisis Brian Mulroney set up a royal commission in 1991 to look into and recommend solutions to this controversial issue. The commissioners summed up their recommendations with these words “The main policy direction, pursued for more than 150 years, first by colonial then by Canadian governments, has been wrong.”

4. Sovereignty Many francophone Quebecois believe that the only way to maintain their language and distinct cultural identity is to work toward sovereignty. A referendum was held and out of 93.5 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots as Quebecois voted to stay in Canada by a slim margin of 50.5 per cent to 49.42 per cent.

YOUR TASK… Now that you have a brief overview of each of the significant factors that have helped shape Canadian Identity, your task is to read pages 28-37 and add any relevant or helpful information from the text into your notes. These notes will be very helpful in creating your PowerPoint project for the final culminating assignment.