Cultures of Canada
Cultures of Canada:
Canada occupies much of
the continent of North Amrica, sharing land borders with the contiguous United
States to the south, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada
stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west;
to the north lies the Arctic Ocean.
The Canadian Culture embodies the culinary, musical,
artistic, humour, literary, political and social elements that are
representative of Canada and Canadians. Basically, European Culture and
traditions influence the history of Canada, especially French and British, and
by its own indigenous Cultures. Over time, elements of the cultures of
Canada's immigrant populations have become incorporated to form a Canadian
Cultural mosaic. And because of the share of the language, television,
proximity and migration between the two countries the population has also been
influenced by American Culture.
Canada is often characterized as being "very diverse,
progressive and multicultural”. The Federal Government of Canada has often
been described as the instigator of multicultural ideology because of its
public emphasis on the social importance of immigration. Canada's culture
draws from its broad range of constituent policies and nationalities that
promote a just society are constitutionally protected. Canadian
Government policies—such as higher and more progressive taxation, publicily
funded heath care; an emphasis on cultural diversity, strong efforts to
eliminate poverty, outlawing capital punishment, strict gun control; the
legalization of same-sex marriage, euthanasia, pregnancy terminations, and cannabis —
are social indicators of the country's Cultural and political values. Canadians
indentify with the country's institutions of health care, the national
park system, military peacekeeping, and the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.
The government of Canada has influenced culture with laws,
programs, and institutions. It has created crown corporations to promote
Canadian culture through media, such as the the National Film Board of
Canada (NFB) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)
and, and promotes many events which it considers to promote Cultures and traditions
of the Canada. It has also tried to protect Canadian culture by
setting legal minimums on Canadian content in many media using bodies
like the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).
Cultural components:
Influences:
Canada has been inhabited by indigenous
peoples for thousand of years from a several major
linguistic groupings and a variety of different cultures. Although not without bloodshed and conflict, early
European interactions with inuit populations and First Nations in what is now
Canada were arguably peaceful. In the
development of European Colonies in Canada, Metis and First Nations peoples
played a critical part, particularly for their role in assisting European
voyageurs and bois in the exploration of the continent during the North
American fur trade. Combined with late economic
development in many regions, this comparably
nonbelligerent early history allowed indigenous Canadians to have a lasting
influence on the national culture (see: The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal people). Over the course of
three centuries, countless North American Indigenous words, concepts,
inventions, and games have become an everyday part of Canadian
language and use. Many places in
Canada, both human habitations ad natural features,
use indigenous names. The name "Canada" itself derives from the St. Lawrence
Iroquoian word meaning settlement or village.
The city ottawa name that is the of Canada's capital comes from the Algonquin
language term "adawe" meaning
"to trade".
The French originally settled New France along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River and
Atlantic Ocean during the early part of the 17th century. The British conquest of New France during the mid-18th century
brought seventy thousand Franco-phones under British rule, creating a need for
compromise and accommodation. The migration of 40 thousand to 50 thousands United
Empire Loyalists from the 13 colonies during
the American Revolution (1775–1783)
brought American colonial influences. Following the War of 1812, a
large wave of English, Scottish and Irish, settlers arrived in Lower Canada and
Upper Canada.
The Forces of Canada and overall civilian participation in the 1st
and 2nd world war helped to foster the Canadian nationalism.
However, in 1917 and in 1944, conscription crises highlighted
the considerable rift along ethnic lines between Francophones and Anglophones. As
a result of the 1st and 2nd World Wars, the Government of
Canada became more assertive and less deferential to British authority. Canada
until the 1940s saw itself in terms of French and English cultural, traditional,
linguistic and political identities, and to some extent aboriginal.
Legislative restrictions on immigration (such as the Chinese
Immigration Act and Continuous journey regulation) that
had favoured British, American and other European immigrants (such as Dutch,
German, Italian, Swedish, Polish and Ukrainain) were amended during the
1960s, resulting in an influx of diverse people from Africa, Asia, and the
Caribbean. By the end of the 20th century, immigrants were increasingly Chinese,
Vietnamese, Indian, Jamaican, Filipino, Haitian and Lebanese. As of 2006, Canada has grown to have
34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members for each group, of
which 11 groups have over 1 million people and numerous others are represented
in smaller numbers. 16.2% of the population self identify as a visible
minority. The Canadian public as-well as the major political parties
supports immigration.
Development of popular culture
Political culture
Development of popular culture
Symbols and Themes of trappers, pioneers, and traders played an
important part in the early development of the culture of Canada. The modern culture of Canada as it is understood today can be
traced to its time period
of westward expansion and nation building.
Contributing factors include Canada's unique
geography, climate,tradition and cultural makeup. Being a cold country with
long winter nights for most of the year, certain unique leisure activities
developed in Canada during this period including hockey and embracement of the summer indigenous game
of lacrosse.
Canadians by the 19th century came to believe themselves
possessed of a unique "northern character," due to the long, harsh
winters that only those of hardy body and mind could survive. This
hardiness was claimed as a trait of
Canada, and such sports as cross-country skiing and snowshoeing that
reflected this were asserted as characteristically Canadian. During this
period the churches tried to steer leisure activities, by preaching against
drinking and scheduling annual revivals and weekly club activities. In a
society in which most middle-class families now owned a piano or harmonium, and
standard education included at least the rudiments of music, the result was
often an original song. Such stirrings frequently occurred in response to
noteworthy events, and few local or national excitements were allowed to pass
without some musical comment.
Radio played a major role by the 1930s in uniting Canadians behind their ragional or
local teams. Rural areas were especially influenced by the propagation of
national myths and sports coverage. Outside the sports and music arena
Canadians express the national characteristics of being polite, orderly, hard
working and peaceful. [
Political culture
The early development pf
French Canada’s was relatively cohesive during the 17th and 18th centuries, and
this was preserved by the Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed Roman Catholics to
hold offices and practice their faith. The Constitution Act, In 1867, was
thought to meet the growing calls for Canadian autonomy while avoiding the
overly strong decentralization that In United States contributed to the Civil
War. The compromises reached during this time between the French and English speaking Fathers of Confederation set
Canada on a path to bilingualism which
in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity. Since 1867 The French
and English languages have had limited
constitutional protection and full official status since 1969. Section 133
of the Constitution Act of 1867 (BNA Act) guarantees that both languages may be
used in the Canadian Parliament. In 1969 Canada adopted its first
Official Languages Act , giving French and
English equal status in the government of Canada. Doing so makes them
"official" languages, having preferred status in law over all other
languages that are spoken in Canada. [
In 1960 Prior to the
advent of the Canadian Bill of Rights and its successor
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, the laws of Canada did not
provide much in the way of civil
rights and this issue was typically of limited
concern to the courts. Since the 1960s Canada has placed emphasis on
inclusiveness and equality for all people. In Canada Multiculturalism was
adopted as the official policy of the Government of Canada and is enshrined in Section
27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The Supreme Court of Canada, in
1995 ruled in Egan v. Canada that sexual
orientation should be "read in"
to Section Fifteen of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a part of the Constitution of Canada guaranteeing equal rights to all Canadians. Following a series of
decisions by Supreme and provincial courts of Canada, on July 20, 2005,
the Civil Marriage Act (Bill
C-38) received Royal Assent,
legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada.
Furthermore, In the human-rights laws of the
federal Government the sexual
orientation was included as a protected status and of all territories and
provinces.[
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