Journal Assignment: My Cultural Background

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

“Strange Brew” was a full-length movie released in 1983 that depicts how Canadian Identity was viewed at the time and to Canadians, it was a blatant representation of national identity through cultural commentary. The idea was put forth after a sketch with a similar plot line aired and was very successful in Canada and the United States, thus leading to the creation of the film. When compared to modern national identity it emphasizes the change globalization has facilitated. The national identity of past Canadians is vastly different from what is considered national identity of the modern population. Some aspects of identity affected are; the cultural ethnicity of Canadians, the fashion worn and the technology used.

Culture is defined as the boundary between different people from different ends of the earth. For my project I had to interview another person from a different culture. This was difficult for me because I had no idea where to start because I didn’t know what made my culture specific to me. I found my interview subject relatively fast and I sat down and asked the questions. I found my subject from my boss I interviewed my bosses boyfriends sister and we went at it.

Although Canada can be defined as a nation state, its vast landscape means many people are faced with different views and mindsets. Source one simply shows the differences within the nation of Canada. Eastern and Western Canada, because of their geographical differences, can be faced with contending loyalties when it comes to some nations aspects of life. Different lifestyles under the same set of government creates a physiological barrier between a nation. The source also shows the differences in Quebec nationalism compared to the rest of Canada. Some groups like the FLQ or the Front for Liberation of Quebec are known for their extremist views of Quebec nationalism. The small group called the FLQ was active in the 1960’s and 1970’s and they

Nationalism is an important aspect of national pride and identity for countries around the world. For example, Canada takes pride in its cultural identity, one that is claimed to be different from other ‘Western’ more ‘industrialized’ nations, such as countries in Europe, and the United States. Even though Canada currently has a national identity that differs greatly from that of other more established countries, history has dictated the way in which a particular national identity exists today. In Canada, Samuel De Champlain and the French established colonies that created a cultural clash between the French Europeans, and First-Nations Canadians within the country. However, this notion of French Canadian Nationalism isn’t necessarily embraced by all of the Canadian Population. This paper seeks to analyze important pieces of Canadian History that have contributed to a broken concept of what constitutes Canadian nationalism, with an emphasis on how historic events prevent and affect coherent Canadian Nationalism in modern society. Through the analysis of the notions and histories associated with ‘First-Nations Nationalism’, ‘Quebecois Nationalism’, and a broader ‘Anti-American’ identity embraced by many Canadians, this paper seeks to locate common ground within the culturally diverse Canadian population in order to progress toward a singular coherent

From the Confederation of Canada, to present day, French Canadians have always thought that Canada's path towards the future should be embodied in a different manner. Several events in Canadian History have resulted in several heated feelings between French and English Canadians. Though the majority of English Speaking Canadians have tried to reconcile with French Canadians by making several attempts to mend their relationships, the question about the needs of French Canadians still exists. Through an extremely thorough analysis of several key sources, it is evident that the needs of French Canadians were, undoubtedly, not met, which shall be plainly and exhaustively proven through an in depth analysis of French Canadian Nationalism,

Now that we have studied the history surrounding the issue of Quebec's unique place within Canada, we will explore the pros and cons of recognizing Quebec as a

Prior to the Quebec Referendums, many national movements in regards to national movement which drove nationalism of French ethnicity. In order to understand what the Quebec Referendums reveal about Canadian government reveals, the context the Quebec Referendum was set needs to be understood as well as the existing strained relationship between Canadians and Quebecois. Prior to the referendums, Quebec nationalists and federalists have been dominant figures in Canadian politics. In essence, this paper explores 1) the context prior to the referendum in order to illustrate the significance of the Quebec referendum, 2) briefly discuss the referendum results and 3) tie in the following in order to exemplify what the Quebec Referendums reveal about Canadian Government. As this paper will illustrate, the referendums are multi-faceted issues and as Boucher brings up, what happen to the true Canadianism, "compromising to avoid confrontation and reaching consensus"? Unfortunately for Quebecois, in order to protect their distinct identity, they have been depicted as an insensitive tyrant by dealing with direct confrontation. On a superficial level, the Quebec Referendums reveal the Canadian government is divided amongst two distinct cultures of Quebecois and Inuit who make up a

The political parties that occupy the Canadian house of commons have changed dramatically over the past several few decades. Although none more so than the creation and evolution of the Bloc Quebecois from a small group of disillusioned parliamentary members of the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties. To go on and found the Quebecois separatist movement that would prove nearly catastrophic in the several referendums they held to succeed from the Canadian nation-state and establish themselves as their own sovereign nation. You could see how well this nationalistic party has flourished due to the level of attachment that the Quebecois people hold towards being a part of Canada, with the Quebecois often asking what does the ““attachment” or, for that matter, “identification” mean?” towards being a part of the Canadian state; when they themselves feel far more

Since British Settlers took control of Canada from the French, the needs of the remaining French Canadians, or Quebecois, have consequently been overlooked. Several events in Canadian History have resulted in heated feelings between French and English Canadians. Although the majority of English Canadians have tried to reconcile with the French by making numerous attempts to mend the relationship, questions relating to the needs of French Canadians still exists today. Various key sources indefinitely establish that the that the needs of French Canadians were not met, which will be proven through an in depth analysis of Quebecois Nationalism, Heritage Problems in Quebec, as well as impending acts of terrorism in Quebec.

In order to appreciate the impact of these international developments, it is important to look at local causes and effects. It is the process of emergent nationalism and its relationship to economic action that interests me. I wish to examine, at a very local level, the relationship between economic sovereignty and cultural identity among the rank-and-file membership of the Toronto AFL locals in the W.W.II and post-war period. How do Canadians with a rising sense of nationalism understand themselves and their roles within a decidedly American institution? The relationship of the Canadian and the American is often

The merging of two separate and distinct groups is what has given Canada its unique cultural identity. While some early politicians believed assimilation was the best approach to building a strong Canada, it became increasing difficult to convince the Quebec francophones that a national identity should take precedence over retaining their unique culture. Opposing viewpoints and different agendas have caused mistrust among the Quebec francophones towards the federal government and mistrust among other provinces towards Quebec. Constitutional amendments have been proposed on a number of occasions and, to date, none have been successfully

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.

While the rest of Canada employs the concept of multiculturalism, Quebec emphasizes on another theory: interculturalism, or the notion of support in cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. In the province, the word multiculturalism announces pejorative meanings. This was due, in part, to the fact that “a federal commission which was charged several years ago with the task of developing policies for Canada, based on its bicultural and bilingual character emerged with a recommendation that Canada think of itself as a multicultural and bilingual country.3”. Francophones, on the other hand, felt that this concept placed them at the same level as minority ethnic groups, thus erasing their thoughts of being seen as one of the country's founding nations.

The debate on banning religious symbols in Quebec, and Quebec wanting to be their own country has been an issue for quite some time. The province we formally known as Quebec established a shield against themselves to advocate that they would like things to go their own way. It is said that they would like to form a place where religion is neutral (Hughes, 2013). Time after time, we get new reports on Quebec being disturbed at the sight of all the different symbols in their province; they aren’t too fond of multiculturalism. We know all of Canada to be a place where everyone can be comfortable in their own skin. Our country is a place of diversity and has not changed until a province like Quebec wants to turn away from our multiculturalism and change the Charter of Rights to please themselves, but why?