Key Vocabulary
This term refers to the number and variety of plant and animal species on Earth.
biodiversity?
In Canada, this major social program is publicly funded and provided to all citizens equally, whereas in the U.S., it is largely privatized.
What is health care?
Environmental issues can span different levels. A local recycling program is municipal, but laws regarding clean air or international climate targets are managed by this level of government.
What is the federal (or national) government?
This is a type of tax added to the purchase price of most goods and services, collected by the vendor and sent to the government.
What is a sales tax (e.g., GST or PST)?
Political parties that lean to the "left" on the economic continuum generally favor more government involvement and higher levels of this to fund social programs.
What is taxation?
This term describes a rise in the Earth's average temperature, primarily caused by emissions from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.
What is climate change?
This foundational legislation in Canada ensures that all provinces provide accessible, comprehensive, and universally available health care to their residents.
What is the Canada Health Act?
Besides the government making laws, this group of people has a major role in taking action, protesting, or changing habits to protect the environment.
Who are citizens?
Governments use tax dollars to build and maintain these shared resources, which include roads, public schools, and community parks.
What is public infrastructure (or public goods)?
Political parties on the "right" of the economic continuum generally believe that these individuals or organizations—rather than the government—should be responsible for providing social programs.
Who are private businesses (or individuals/charities)?
his is a tax base where citizens are required by law to pay a portion of their income to the government to fund public services.
What is income tax?
In the United States, low-income citizens may qualify for health insurance assistance through this specific government program.
What is Medicaid?
This is one way governments can try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by making companies or individuals pay a fee for the carbon they pollute.
What is a carbon tax (or taxation/regulation)?
This illegal practice occurs when individuals or corporations deliberately misrepresent or hide their income to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.
What is tax evasion?
This major Canadian federal political party traditionally leans to the left, strongly advocating for expanded public social programs like pharmacare and dental care.
Who is the New Democratic Party (NDP)?
This term refers to economic activity that is not reported to the government, often done to avoid paying taxes (also known as the underground economy).
What is the black market?
This financial assistance program exists in Canada to support senior citizens who are retired or no longer able to earn an income, funded by tax revenues.
What is the Old Age Security (OAS) program? (Accept: Canada Pension Plan / CPP).
True or False: According to the Grade 9 Social Studies curriculum, governance and economics are completely separate from a citizen's identity.
What is False? (Governance and economics directly connect to citizenship and identity).
This is the total amount of money a person earns before any taxes or deductions are taken out by the government.
What is gross income?
This term describes a political party's official, written statement of its goals and principles, which outlines where they stand on taxation and social spending.
What is a party platform?
This is the government practice of reducing taxes for certain companies or individuals to encourage investment or business growth.
What is a tax break (or tax incentive)?
In the United States, this political party generally opposes government-run healthcare, favoring individual responsibility and private insurance models instead.
Who is the Republican Party?
When making political decisions about climate change or protecting biodiversity, governments must consider how their policies will impact these two major pillars of a society, which Grade 9 students have been investigating all year.
What are governance and economics?
When a government's economic decision-making shifts from a mixed economy toward a market economy, this action is usually taken regarding government-owned services.
What is privatization?
When looking at environmental issues, citizens and governments must balance two competing interests: protecting nature and developing these for the economy.
What are natural resources?