Culminating Essay- American Influences on Canada
After the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Canada and the other British Dominions gained much independence from Great Britain. For Canada, this newfound independence eventually led to a less dependent relationship with Britain and a stronger relationship with the United States. The United States, partly due to its close geographical proximity to Canada, has influenced and shaped many Canadian cultural and societal components, such as sports, seasonal traditions, music, and social media. Since the passing of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, Canada’s culture has irrefutably become highly influenced by the United States.
American sport telecasts have not only dominated the average American household, but have also claimed a great presence and importance in the households of many Canadians. The sport of football is widely watched and praised in the United States. Every year the National Football League plays a championship game known as the Super Bowl, which is watched by many Americans. This American championship game is also popularly watched in Canada. According to statistics released by the National Football League and the Canadian Television Network, in 2015 more Canadians than Americans, on a per capita basis, watched the Super Bowl. These statistics showed that fifty-five percent of all Canadians, versus only fifty-one percent of all Americans, had watched part of the 2015 Super Bowl game telecast.1
This essay will show you how Canada was at the turn of the century in 1896 to 1919. A lot of points show how Canada was at the turn of the century such as how Canada was at a time of social change, the immigrants in Canada come from all over the world, Chinese were treated horribly, a lot of racism factored into this. Also, Canada was in a time of economic uprise, this can be characterized by electricity, inventions, the growth of cities, and some other contributing factors. Free trade laws with the United States were also in a heavy debate at the time.
For many decades, writers and authors have accused the American influence on Canada as one of the reasons why Canada is losing its heritage, with one major aspect being the game of hockey. The institutionalization of American Culture began to take root in Canada during the late 1920’s and 1930s as technological advances, specifically the invention of the radio, allowed Canadians to enjoy American entertainment. American stations were much more reliable than Canadian ones, causing American sporting stations such as NBC and CBS to become extremely popular in Canada (Gruneau et al, 1993). As Canada was becoming intertwined with the United States (U.S.), it was becoming less of a satellite of Britain, which made it tremendously difficult for Canada’s elite to protect British ideals such as self-improvement and participating in sport for the game’s sake. (Gruneau et al, 1993). In the early 1940’s, after the great depression forced many franchises to dismantle, the National Hockey League (NHL) was left with six teams, which made up the famous “original six.” At this time, America had a strong influence on the game, as four of the original six teams were based in the United States, and all of the players in league were paid in American dollars (Gruneau et al, 1993). By the early 1960’s, televised sports were emerging in North America, and NHL players were becoming mainstream stars. Inspired by this, along with the threat of the NHL losing its television contract to the Western
Furthermore, Canada remaining under the archaic British North America Act and not drafting its own constitution meant that the composition of the nation and the government was in the hands of the British Parliament, which denies the Canadians the luxury of dictating the structure and make-up of their own country. Now, one may say that Canada weakened its economic ties with Britain and was therefore no longer economically dependent on them, but the fact of the matter is that all we did was shift our dependence onto another nation, the United States. By 1926, America’s yearly investment in the Canadian economy had risen up to $3400 million (as opposed to $2000 million in 1920) mainly in the exporting of Canadian resources to the United States. In addition to that, American companies built “branch plants”, which were made to avoid having to pay trade tariffs, making this a pretty one-sided trade
Today Canada and the United States are major trading partners, allies, and two neighboring countries with a long history of cooperation with each other. But is it possible for Canada to protect its independence and culture living next door to the country so powerful and rich as the United States. Since the Canadian confederation, Canada started developing relations with the U.S. As the years passed by, Canada began to relay on the United States in the national defense. Many Canadians think that the military, political and economical dependence would not make a difference to their daily life. But today more then even Canadian culture is affected by the American influence. Media, American artists,
Globalization is the process by which a business or company becomes international or starts to operate on an international level. Globalization does not benefit the majority of the world’s population, including Canadians, and is slowly growing to increasingly deadly proportions. It benefits the wealthy, which are but a minority in comparison to the rest of the population, and leaves the impoverished ones out of the loop. The unsteady flow of invisible money running in and out of countries has our markets operating like roller coasters. Globalization renders our government powerless and leaves them at the mercy of foreign investors. The negative effects of globalization far outweigh and short term gains.
Political interferences have played a great role in economic crisis in the current world, especially in most decisions that gives the direction of the economy. Policies are made according people beliefs and the current situation and matter to address at hand. Ideologies and perceptions are made from past experiences and predictions with an aim to address the upcoming challenges. The Second World War resulted to the great depression and economy collapsed in many countries in the world. Wartime expenditure resulted to mobilization of countries funds and human resources, this resulted intervention in the economy that induced inflation.
Canada is a standout amongst the most comprehensively coordinated nations on the planet, with an exceedingly propelled arrangement of interchanges and data innovation, an administration that is dynamic in worldwide associations, an economy that is subject to exchange, a populace that voyages abroad every now and again, and a general public made out of people from a heap of social foundations.
Economic imperialism is a central part of the ongoing contemporary colonization of indigenous peoples in Canada. Since the colonial era marked the beginning of imperialism in North America, an intricate web of power and domination have formed leaving Indigenous communities in the grip of its economic philosophy. This has led to the ongoing contribution to the disposition of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Economic imperialism can be defined as the need for countries to expand their territories in order to collect resources from their colonies. This illustrates the inherent unsustainability of colonial settler society. In this essay I will look at how the impacts of economic imperialism has had an effect on the development of the indigenous
Fig. 2. President Ronald Reagan (left) signing the FTA with Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (right)7
Former prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, believed greatly in what he thought Canada was to become. “The nineteenth century was the century of the United States. I think that we can claim that is it Canada that shall fill the twentieth century. “ was said by Laurier and his words passed almost without notice at the time. However, it did not take long before his words had somehow been transformed into the most famous phrase in Canadian history, “The twentieth century belongs to Canada.” His words showed great confidence and pride in the actions that Canada was supposedly to take to fulfill his vision. He believed that Canada would fill the century, not in size or military might but in progress, growth, and quality of life. Ultimately, he
Economic imperialism plays an important role in colonization. The goal of this paper is to discuss the colonial control of Canada and how economics played an important role in dispossession of indigenous people of Canada. The negative impact of economic imperialism included loss of land, disrupted communities and exploitation of natural resources. In all cases, Canadian natives had to suffer the consequences of colonization and economic imperialism.
In the source the author clearly believes that the events of the past should not be dwelled upon, even if they have negative consequences in today’s society. The speaker believes that the current generation is not accountable for the actions of their ancestors, and the legacies of these actions should simply be accepted into the modern world. There are those, such as the owners of large corporations, who would embrace this perspective, because their focus is to continue to secure and grow their companies in the future, not consider past events that may affect their position today. Old corporations, such as the Hudson Bay Company, likely have helped shape some of the legacies of historical globalization in Canada, but their focus is maintaining
Secondly, closer ties to America helped us form a culture we know to this day. American media was playing through Canadian televisions and radios. In the late 1950s after Canadian’s pride and joy was aggravated by the “Avro Arrow”, Canadian aviation talent went to America and helped with the man landing on the moon. This influenced Hollywood to dedicate movies and T.V shows. Some of Canadian actresses and actors stared in the playing of Hollywood shows and movies, along with American actors and actresses. Canadians started watching more television which influenced Canadian buying behaviours, clothes, behaviours, food etc. American culture had slightly influenced Canadian culture through media. Also America has always been Canada’s number one trading partner. Gordon Morton McGregor, who was head of the Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd., set up the largest automotive car company in Candaians. This car company gave many Canadians jobs since they were manufactured by Canadians however the parts that came in for the automobiles were from America. American goods were being transferred to Canada so they can manufacture cars. The Americans have a culture that is recognized as being luxuries and rich. By America trading valuable goods with Canada we gained recognition as Canada being a wealthy and luxuries country. Canada and America
There are always many differences and similarities between two countries, even they are in close geographical area. Both United States and Canada are on the America continental, therefore the United States and Canada are in close geographical location and in the neighborhoods, most people think that culturally they are same .But this is not true. Despite all similarities between these two countries, there are many differences between them.
As the 20th century comes to an end, Canada is a transcontinental nation whose interests and representatives span the face of the globe and extend into every sphere of human behaviour. However this was not always the case. When the four colonies of British North America united to create Canada on July 1, 1867, the new country's future was by no means secure. Canada was a small country, with unsettled borders, vast empty spaces, and a large powerful neighbour, the United States. Confronting these challenges was difficult for the young country. Though Canada was independent in domestic matters, Britain retained control over its foreign policy. Over the next fifty or so years, Canada's leaders and its