Shaping the Nation (History & Policy)
This Canadian Prime Minister is most closely associated with the introduction of Canada's official policy of multiculturalism in 1971.
Who is Pierre Elliott Trudeau?
This rodent has been featured on the Canadian five-cent coin since 1937 due to its historic role in the fur trade that drove early European exploration.
What is the beaver?
This catchy slogan was the rallying cry for Western Canadian political movements in the late 20th century, expressing frustration with Central Canadian political dominance.
What is "The West wants in"?
This historic event took place in the House of Commons in 2008, delivered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to formalize a shift in the government's relationship with First Nations.
What is the Official Apology for Residential Schools?
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier used this grand architectural metaphor to describe his vision of Canada, where different cultures represent distinct stained-glass windows or pillars making up a unified structure.
What is a "Cathedral"?
This demographic shift in Western Canada was a direct result of the aggressive turn-of-the-century immigration policies of Interior Minister Clifford Sifton.
What is a massive population boom / influx of diverse non-British/non-French European settlers?
This federal institution is responsible for enforcing "Canadian-content" (CanCon) quotas on national radio and television broadcasts.
What is the CRTC (Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission)?
This program involves the federal government transferring funds to less prosperous provinces to ensure all Canadians have access to reasonably comparable public services.
What are equalization payments?
Indigenous peoples argue that their right to self-determination is this type of right—meaning it belongs to them naturally because they occupied the land first, rather than being granted by European treaties.
What is an inherent right?
This television series created by Zarqa Nawaz aimed to dismantle cultural stereotypes and promote inclusion by humorously depicting a Muslim community living in a small Saskatchewan town.
What is Little Mosque on the Prairie?
In the 1840s, this political duo formed a famous French-English partnership to achieve responsible government for Canada.
Who are Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine?
This political leader was voted the "Greatest Canadian" in a 2004 CBC contest, widely celebrated for pioneering Canada's public healthcare system.
Who is Tommy Douglas?
Between 2001 and 2006, this province's population growth drastically outpaced the national average of Canada due to an economic resource boom.
What is Alberta?
This region in Northern Quebec established a unique self-governing agreement that set it apart from traditional land-claim settlements by blending regional public government with Inuit cultural protections.
What is Nunavik?
This descriptive term is used by sociologists to describe individuals who do not stick to just one national identity, but instead borrow, adopt, and adapt values from many different cultures.
What is a global/hybrid identity (or "cultural cosmopolitans / transculturals")?
This major 1960s commission was established to investigate the state of Canada’s two founding languages and cultures, leading directly to the Official Languages Act.
What is the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (The B and B Commission)?
Named "Voyageur" in 2008, this multi-cultural mosaic project initiated by Jowi Taylor in 1995 combined pieces of Canadian history into a single musical instrument.
What is the Six String Nation guitar?
This constitutional mechanism allows different provinces to possess different degrees of power or autonomy within the federation, often proposed to satisfy Quebec's unique position.
What is asymmetrical federalism?
According to political scientist Alan C. Cairns, this commission’s "fundamental unit of analysis" focused on examining the historical and systemic relationship between Indigenous nations and the Canadian state.
What is the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP)?
Because Canada lacks a singular cultural identity, journalist Susan Delacourt suggested that being Canadian relies heavily on this type of ongoing internal mindset.
What is a consumer mentality / a continuous process of negotiation and re-definition?
This French-Canadian politician famously led the opposition against military conscription during World War I, arguing that Canada should not be forced to fight in Britain's imperial wars.
Who is Henri Bourassa?
This specific visual change was made to Canadian banknotes in 1937, signifying a major shift away from British colonial identity toward a distinct Canadian one.
What is replacing the portrait of the British Monarch with the first bilingual notes and Canadian specific imagery / featuring King George VI but removing imperial text?
This 1982 political milestone legally cut Canada's final colonial ties to the British Parliament but strained relations between Ottawa and several provinces, most notably Quebec.
What is the Patriation of the Constitution?
The 1996 RCAP report fundamentally challenged traditional Canadian myths by suggesting Canada be viewed not as a duality, but as this multi-realm political concept.
What is a "three-order" government / a partnership of equal nations (Aboriginal, French, and British)?
While Canada’s national myth traditionally paints the country as a "nation of peacekeepers," 21st-century critics point to combat deployments in this specific global conflict zone as evidence of a shift toward a more aggressive military role.
What is the war in Afghanistan?