National Identity In Strange Brew

Canadian identity wasn’t always stereotypically related to polar bears, maple syrup and beavers. Various movements in the 20th century began the development of Canadian identity. Aspects of Canadian society such as technology, peacekeeping and immigration gave Canada a distinct identity. Technology distinguished Canada as a developed nation amongst others with advanced transportation, communication and electricity. Peacekeeping is also an essential part in Canada's identity as it displays effort and desire for world peace, which is something many individuals embrace. Lastly, diversity in Canada is recognized worldwide and plays a major role in Canadian identity. Through technology, peacekeeping and immigration during the 20th century, Canadian

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

Throughout the years living in JNF, I’ve asked myself “why are there so many negative stereotypes and what causes them? The media does not report positive stories of the neighbourhood, so when something bad happens, that becomes a brand. As a result, it affects that people who lives there because they continue to receive messages that implies that they are more likely to become criminals because of where they reside. Not only do blacks receive a negative responses for living in JNF, but also people of other cultural backgrounds. As I’ve stated before, my thought-process in the Caribbean was that blacks were the only ones that experience racism, but I began to realize that this was untrue. For example, after the Canadian government was done using Chinese for labour to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, they were deemed useless where some were left with no jobs and the others were unfairly paid compared to their white counterparts (Packota, 2017). Similarly, Japanese, Jewish and South Asians faced hardships too. 1967 was a pivotal period in Canadian history due to the changes in the immigration laws as the system became less objective. This was done by developing a point system to protect applicants from racial discrimination.

Canada achieved a just society by changing the civils rights in Canada so everyone was equal. Canada has achieved its goal in becoming a just society by revising civil rights to be less discriminating against black people. Black Discrimination continued into the 1950’s despite the 1944 Racial Discrimination Act prohibiting it. In 1954 two black people had visited Dresden, Ontario and were refused service in two restaurants. “The Toronto Telegram sent Black ‘testers’ to investigate, [They] were also refused service.

The act of targeting or judging someone based on their race is called racial profiling and it is an issue especially in law enforcement. Racial profiling occurs more often than we know. It has been all over the news with several prevalent cases, but acts of racial profiling may occur almost every day. Police officers make arrests based on skin colour or information about that person that could indicate their heritage, mostly their names. Acts of racial profiling can be made subconsciously, the idea to prejudge someone based in their race already ingrained in one’s head without realizing, but in the court of law racial profiling is not legal. Under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadian citizens have the right to not be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. When an accused is racially profiled, they are most likely being arbitrarily detained based on the colour of their skin.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (herein referred to as the Charter) as well as the Canadian Human Rights Act stipulates that everyone has the right not to be discriminated against. Moreover, the Human Rights Commission defines discrimination as ‘an action or a decision that treats a person or a group negatively for reasons such as their race, age or disability.’ Furthermore, the Charter states:

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?”

What does it mean to be Canadian? What is Canada’s national identity? These are questions which are difficult to answer. The International and Universal Exposition in 1967, or otherwise known as Expo 67, was an exhibition held in Montreal, Quebec from April to October, which was celebrating Canada’s centennial. I found many primary and secondary sources that recognize how Canadians perceive national identity through the exhibition. The theme for the Expo was ‘Man and his World’ and this raised the sense of national pride for Canadians. I found some sources that looked at ‘Canadian National Identity’ as a whole; as well as Canadian National Identity for the Natives, the French Canadians

This video is called Canada Between Two World Wars and describes the difficulties and impacts that Canada made to the world war and how it influenced our identity as Canadians to further develop the Canadian name. It also shows the years of prosperity as Canada went into the Great Depression. Audiences of all ages are able to experience and learn from the good and bad things that happened in Canada’s past. It also shows the different economic changes happening at the time. For example, entertainment, economy(factories amd technology) and new ways of life.In summary, the video illustrates

Canada’s identity is tremendously challenging to delineate, due to encompassing a vast population of various cultures, traditions, and values spanning an enormous landmass. From various historical perspectives, Canadian identity has changed over the course of the last century - valuing discrete ideologies through various time periods. Due to various government policies and acts, as well as reformed beliefs and ideas regarding large social issues, Canada’s identity has shifted and constantly renewed its identity over the course of the past half century.

This course revolves around the local,national and global aspects that have shaped Canada's identity from as early as World War I to the present. The course is also taught in a Catholic School that encourages students to relate subjects to the Catholic religion. Students are to evaluate issues such as human rights, social and economic change and national and international relationships from a Catholic perspective. It aids students in achieving these goals by splitting the subject into five different strands.

A few years ago in Smalltown, CA a burning cross was placed in the lawn of a visible minority family. Although the media seemed shocked at this explicit racial attack and portrayed the attackers as a group of abnormal, twisted deviants, I was not surprised. As an Asian student who is writing her Sociology honours thesis on visible minorities in Canada, I know on a personal and academic level that racism in Canada does exist. Although explicit racial incidents are not a common occurrence, they do happen. Here at school, a visible minority student left the school when a car sped past her, while the young men inside shouted racial slurs. Two weeks ago The school paper published an article about a group of

Art’s and Culture has and will continue to make a significant impact on Canadian identity. Media, Radio,Television,Film,Song,Book and Magazine industries have all helped to shape our society by using These industries show us who we really are as true canadians. (See For Yourself)(Blattberg)

In this paper, I will discuss Brian Gabrial’s article, “The Second Revolution”: Expressions of Canadian Identity in News Coverage at the Outbreak of the United States Civil War. Gabrial’s article is about how the Canadian identity was challenged by the American Civil War. In particular, he argues that Canadian identity is significant in five important themes: the importance of British identity, antipathy toward Americanism and suspicion of American democracy, a well-grounded fear of American militarism, a patronizing sympathy for Americans in crisis and liberal and conservative political threads. After summarizing Gabrial’s main arguments, I shall be claiming that the article has valuable points for many different reasons.

The media often helps to shape and solidify our national identity, but it also helps to challenge our view. In this paper, I will be summarizing a media narrative on the Canadian national identity and conveying the message received from this article, about Canada as a nation-state, in terms of topics discussed in this course.