Cultural Issues In Canada

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.

Canada today is a respectful country, however it has not always been this way. Events happened in the past gradually shaped how people view Canada and people’s sense of Canada will continue to be affected by events happen in the

When the topic of Canada comes up among peoples, immediately the thought of ice hockey, the Mounted Police, and beavers comes to mind. In fact, Canada has truly lost its true identity that we once knew. It is slowly being assimilated and in fact 'Americanized'; in aspects of social identity, national identity, and cultural identity.

Being Canadian is so much more than just the cliché stereotype of living in igloos, playing hockey 24/7, and drinking Tim Hortans coffee every day. Being a part of the Canadian culture means that all Canadians are unified as one big family. Culture is defined as “a set of human made objective and subjective elements that have increased the probability of survival, and resulted in satisfaction for the participants” (Samovar, 1991). Every culture has their own attitudes, customs and beliefs that differentiate one culture from another. Canadian culture can be very distinctive from other cultures. Usually the first impression of Canadians is that we are very polite and we live in an extremely friendly and accepting country. Being Canadian is about having big hearts and appreciating our diverse environment. Our country shares a wide variety of different ethnic backgrounds which makes being Canadian unique.

In the eyes of many Canadians our country is viewed as a historically racially-inclusive society. This idea is false, and there is very limited evidence to support the contrary. Many events in Canada’s history have shows that it is guilty of promoting racial hierarchies and cultural insensitivities. Throughout Canada’s development there has always remained an emphasis on promoting the supremacy of the white race, and Anglo-Canadian culture.

The geography of Canada affects our culture considerably. Canada is located north of the United

As the title of the article indicates, arguments about Canadian culture also make up a large portion of the article’s logos. The author argues that sports shows in Canada “feature the top fights every night” and points out that “almost all NHL goons are Canadian” (par.13). He continues, arguing that one particular proponent of violence in hockey “can’t stand seeing his country’s game wussified by foreigners” (par.14). This is a bold assertion, and is one he backs away from rather

As Alvin Toffler once said, “The wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets”1. Such holds true for the American culture, which is not only a dominating factor in its own internal market and known domestically but also a dictating force in countries around the world on the global scale, and the first on their list – Canada. This issue of cultural imperialism is touched upon by Gaëtan Tremblay in his article, “Is Quebec Culture Doomed to Become American?”

This issue brought into question the extent to which Canada is a multicultural country, and what point does the government step in to no longer allow cultural

Native Canadians play an important role in our national identity, unfortunately, the culture has been slowly dying out for the past century as advancing generations lose the spoken language. Less identify themselves as a true Native for the little knowledge they have of their culture, especially those who live in an urbanized city. One of the greatest contributing factors to this outcome were residential schools, a tragic and critical part of Canadian history.

The Canadian government portrays the country as a land of new beginnings, where people go to start a better life for themselves and their families. With much to offer to newcomers, including the promises of safety, security and healthcare, the vast selection of jobs and education, and an overall high quality of living, many immigrants have chosen and will continue to choose Canada as their new home country. Canadian officials take pride in accepting and embracing multiculturalism - as Canada is often referred to as a country of cultural mosaic in contrast to the idea of the American ‘melting pot’. This image of Canada overlooks the ill-advised past actions that have taken place, much the same way as it disregards the subtle discrimination that

Ever since the 1950’s more of the American culture has been known to influence Canadian ways of living through the media.

Great questions, I feel that in order for Canada to better represent the people of Canada they have to have the different views in order to ensure the best option for the country. In order to eliminate negative stereotypes, they have to rid a label that has been created by the media or the government. The only way to get rid of a label is to allow different cultures or group to be given the power during policy-making to ensure they are not being victimized which will have large social repercussions. Canada has to realize that they are not just trying to make the majority of Canadian happy when they have branded themselves a multicultural country. That means that they have to be accepting of all background and not create stereotypes which might

Canada is considered to be a cultural mosaic, where all cultures are embraced opposed to a melting pot where it is expected to adopt one culture. Government regulated media is more favourable than policies based off of self-regulated solutions when addressing Canada’s media industries and cultural needs. Canadians place importance on national identity and without government regulated policies, the content in the media would have minimal Canadian information. According to the Aird Commission, when Canada’s media was operating through private enterprise, many stations expressed conflicting content, however, with state regulated media, broadcasting allows the nation to have a unified vocation. One unified message being sent to the nations citizens is more beneficial than multiple broadcasts on differentiated and insignificant information.

Altogether, Canada must abandon the Western world’s propagandization for Americanization in globalization and foreign trades seeing that Canada’s exports are just not reaching it’s full potential; this has been an ineffective approach that also deteriorates foreign cultures. This new policy pushes for a cultural approach and will encourage the existence of unique cultures, thus multiculturalism will continue to exist and radiate in the global stage. Meanwhile, this form of multiculturalism is exactly what Canada is founded upon, therefore, Canada’s national identity is not risked, but rather producing a uniquely new Canadian custom. Collectively, this can increase Canada’s exports because this unprecedented approach satisfies both end users.