Canada In The 1950's And 1960s

Canada as a nation has been striving to characterize itself as more ?Canadian? for decades. This has included numerous struggles and events such as protests, bans, and the creation of the Massey Commission, to encourage national development in the arts, and support major companies like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board (NFB). However, this has not been an easy task for the Canadian government, as major influences from below the border (the United States) have been captivating the Canadian audiences by large. American media has had a momentous revolutionizing effect on Canada, even through efforts made to define Canada with its own cultural identity.

In Canadian history, nationalism and sovereignty tend to be common themes prevalent since Confederation. A well-known example of this in Quebec was during the Quiet Revolution which strengthened the need for change through Premier Lesage’s reforms and in turn, developed a strong sense of nationalism in Quebec. In contrast to beliefs that the rapid modernization of the Quiet Revolution had a positive impact on Quebec, it rather had a negative impact on Quebec and its citizens and identity. The three consequences which arose in Quebec as a result of the revolution are the encouragement of separatism, the elimination of traditional values and roles and the establishment of powerful bureaucratic control. Quebec’s attempt to be more like the

Between 1914 and today, Canada has changed for the better, as it becomes a more respectful country. There was a great change in women’s right shortly after WW1. Leaders such as the famous five fought for women’s right continuously. They achieved great success as women gained the right to vote and the right to serve in the Senate. Women were being respected as they were allowed to speak their mind and express their opinion, and were willing to participate in many other aspect of public life.

Following a decade of classy, conventional living, the 1960’s was a decade filled with the Beatles, turtlenecks, Barbies, and afros. A decade where days were filled with tie dye shirts, and coloured televisions determined your social status. The 1960’s was also filled with racism and many were faced with unjust judgements and consequences for their actions. Through all of this emerged three events that changed Canadian history and how Canadians themselves viewed their country as a whole. Through the acceptance of a new flag, hosting Expo 67 on Canada’s centennial, and the fulfillment of universal health care, the 1960’s was a decade that brought tremendous unity and national pride to Canadians.

The relationship between the Canadian government and Quebec has been in constant turmoil for years. This paper will discuss and critique Quebec’s five demands made in 1986 by the Liberal government and their current implications. Reasonable demands are ones in which a limited amount of asymmetrical federalism grants provincial sovereignty. Currently all provinces have certain guaranteed rights, however Quebec’s rights provide more autonomy. Quebec, though home to the largest population of French speaking Canadians, have asked too much of the Government of Canada. This is evident Quebec’s increased control over immigration, Supreme Court Justices appointment, and their veto on future constitutional negotiations. Conversely, the demand of recognizing Quebec as a distinct society is however reasonable and has been accommodated into Canadian society, and the ability to restrict federal spending power keeps the federal power in check. In this essay, I will discuss each demand, and argue whether or not it is reasonable.

After the end of World War Two, the world was split into two, east and west. This marked the beginning of an era called the Cold War. The Cold War was the most subtle war in history, but the world came very close to a nuclear war that had the potential to inevitably wipe out mankind. The two main opponents in this war were the Soviet Union and the United States. With Canada being the United States neighbour to the north and close to The Soviet Union geographically, Canada allied itself with the United States. This union cause a lot of political trauma, but it brought a lot of new technology to Canada and helped strengthen our relationship with the United States. Therefore Canada did ally with the United States, but at the same time Canada

Through the eyes of many, the 1920s had a major impact on Canadian history. It was a time of change and the beginning of a new era. The standard of living for Canadians was reshaped, Canada’s chief trading partner changed, and the Canadian resources grew which all contributed to the growth of the economy during this time. Women’s role in Canada drastically changed through the Person’s Case, the Federal Divorce Law and The Dominion Elections Act. Canada’s autonomy from Britain was a result of The Halibut Treaty, The King-Byng Crisis and The Balfour Declaration. The 1920’s had a positive impact on the development of Canadian society because of the economic changes, the evolution of women’s role in society and the autonomy

In 1963 the Quebecois movement for greater sovereignty started upon the election of the Parti Quebecois with it’s Quebec first policies after its rise following the failures of the current government led by Brian Mulroney after his handling of the meech lake accord. Mulroney’s way of dealing with this was to win Quebec over through Canada’s “recogniz[ing] the province of Québec as a distinct society within Canada.” these were widely accepted amongst Canadians until people such as Pierre Elliott Trudeau began to speak out against because of all the federal power these reforms would take away and give to the provincial

During the 15 years as prime minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau treated Quebec equally which helped Quebec stay united with Canada. Pierre Elliott Trudeau stated that "I am trying to put Quebec in its place — and the place of Quebec is in Canada."(Pierre Elliot Trudeau, "Quotes by Prime Minsters- Pierre Trudeau”). Quebec place is in Canada because Quebec had a major impact for Canada confederation. This is why Pierre Trudeau said this to the country. Pierre Trudeau passed a bill that was called Official Languages Act in 1969, that made English and French the official languages of Canada.The act declared that “the English and the French languages are the official languages of Canada, for all purposes of the Parliament and Government of Canada and possess and enjoy equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada.” (Cruxton, Bradley and Douglas Wilson, “The Official Language Act 1969”) Until that time, only 14 percent of the high rank government jobs were held by French Canadian, even though they made 25 percent of Canada population. Pierre Trudeau believed that the Official Languages Act was the only way to keep the French heritage in Canada and to treat the Quebec people equally like English Canadians. Trudeau’s ability to keep French and English Canadians

Although Tremblay talks about the American culture’s influence on Canada as a whole, his main concern in this article is Quebec, which is in a separate league than the rest of Canada due to its different linguistics. Tremblay

More than 100 years ago Canada was a small child, progressing through life trying to find her place in this vast world. During the time periods of 1914-1945, 1950-1970, and 1971- 1990, there have been many factors that have helped induce her independence, including recognition due to military achievements, her international relationship with the United States, and uniting as one country. Through these times of hardship and glory Canada has succeeded in finding her autonomous identity in the world, as a middle power.

However, Quebec’s nationalism also helped improve French-English relations with the Bi & Bi Commission. “The official Languages act is passed, which made Canada bilingual, as a Nation. The French Canadians alienation from the rest of Canada, was growing and problematic, the commission was used in attempt to try and unify the country. It was a very Influential commission, making Canada Bilingual as a nation” (Alderson, Lauren). This quote shows how the Bi & Bi Commission which was created to make Canada bilingual, tried to improve French-English relations by placing both languages on equal footing in Canada. Finally, Quebec’s change in nationalism added tension to French-English relations because Quebec started to make decisions independently. For example, in 1961, the Quebec government started to open government offices in countries such as America and France. “When Quebec announced its intention to sign cultural and educational agreements with France’s government, the Canadian government intervened, asserting that only the federal government could enter agreements with foreign

1). Evidently, the Official Languages Act was the key to improving their relationship and created a pathway to a unified Canada. Firstly, this act helped maintain and strong connection with Quebec and prevented their total isolation from Canada (par. 1). To explain, Quebec sought to maintain their culture and preserve the French language and if the terms were not met, they would attempt to leave Canada (Quebec par. 2). Therefore, this act agreed upon the terms that the Quebecers wanted and allowed every single Canadian citizen to seek services in their preferred language (Understand par. 1). This right allowed French Canadians to feel less disconnected with the rest of Canada, thus fixing the English and French relationship. Secondly, this act prevented discrimination between the two cultures, as rights were created to merge the two languages into the Canadian society (Understand par. 3). For example, a section in the Official Languages Act states that “federal institutions are required to provide services in both official languages” (par. 3). In other words, these two languages were now implemented into the Canadian society and English Canadians became more exposed to this minority culture, which lead to acceptance of the French culture and language. Lastly, the Official Languages Act endorsed the advancement of

Though the separatist movements came very close to achieving their goal, the steady actions of PM Chrétian show a change in attitude towards French Canadians in within the country. The fact that Chrétian managed to succeed in keeping Quebec from separating further proves that the perspective of cultural differences in Canada started to develop for the better. The language rights within Canada add depth to the sincere maturity and growth that Canada has experienced in the years after WWII. Some direct impacts were the immediate enactments of French policies within the federal government, and indirectly the language rights reduced tension within all of Canada and mainly Quebec. Over the years, language rights have helped the country learn to blend itself back into a bilingual nation of acceptance and diversity. Canada, during the years after WWII, managed to stop the cultural bond between the French and the English from further deteriorating and helped to repair previous bruises by accepting Quebec’s ideas and beliefs, by enacting language rights, and through Chrétian’s active attendance to maintaining the balance between French and English

Finally in 1867, the United Canadas joined two other British Colonies, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form the Dominion of Canada (McRoberts 1991, 413). French-Canadians continued to fight against assimilation and received autonomous privileges with exclusive jurisdiction over matters regarding its cultural distinctiveness***. Thus, the Francophone language and culture has always been at the forefront of Quebec priorities. Since Confederation, Quebec nationalist have felt that the Francophone language and culture has been at risk of assimilation by the rest of Canada. As a result, Quebec nationalism is fundamentally rooted in the preservation of the Francophone language and culture (Guiberneau 2006, 52). Political leaders in Quebec continuously urge for the recognition that Canada is composed of two nations or cultures (McRoberts 1991, 413). Prior to confederation Quebec enjoyed numerous autonomous privileges. Unfortunately, post-confederation Quebec did not enjoy as many autonomous privileges because Canada was created as a relatively centralized federation (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). A centralized federation not only took several of these autonomous powers away from Quebec, but it also threatened the Francophone language and culture (Beland and Lecours 2007, 406). With this said, Quebec nationalism has placed a great deal of pressure on the federal government to decentralize, giving more powers to provincial governments.