- All of the provinces of Canada should provide French services for their French-speaking minorities.
- Provinces with large French-speaking minorities should recognize both French and English as an official language.
- All provinces should provide both French and English schools.
- Businesses in Quebec should use both French and English.
Meanwhile, Anglophones were unhappy with being asked to give a greater
share of power and influence to Francophones. They were afraid that they
would either learn French, or be excluded form many jobs and politics.
Also, they didn’t like that fact that Trudea was spending so much of their
tax money on bilingualism.
In October 1970, members of the FLQ (FRONT DE LIBERATION DU QUEBEC.
This is a political terrorist group in Quebec which used violence to
promote the separation of Quebec from the rest of Canada during the 1960s
and early 1970s.) kidnapped James Cross, the Britsh Trade Commissioner, and
Pierre Laporte, the Quebec Labour Minister. As a result of this, the War
Measures Act was put into effect. (This is an act giving police and the
armed forces sweeping powers of arrest, search and detention. It was also
used in World War I and II.) The FLQ killed Laporte and then released
Cross. The kidnappers were allowed to fly to Cuba. Some people were
arrested in connection with the Laporte case, and they are tried and
sentanced.
Meech lake is a lake in Quebec near Ottawa where the Mulroney cabinet
goes for it’s out ot town meetings. The Meech Lake Accord is a deal between
Ottawa and the Provinces for changing the Constitution, worked out at Meech
Lake on April 30, 1987 and refined in an all-nighter June 2-3 1987, at the
Langevin Block across the street from the Parliment buildings in downtown
Ottawa. The objective of this accord is to get Quebec to sign the
constitution of April 17, 1982. All provinces must ratify the Meech Lake
amendment or it dies because it tries to change parts of the 1982
Constitution that need agreement by Ottawa and all provinces. Mulrony’s
government has set the deadline for all the provinces to sign the accord
for June 23, 1990, although some people say there is no deadline.
Here are some of the key points in the accord:
- The “Quebec Clause” is the key clause in this accord. It means that no matter what happens, Quebec must always be recognized within Canada as a distinct society and the Quebec government must be allowed to preserve and promote the distinct society.
- Other provinces are just given the job of preserving the fundamental characteristic of Canada, which is the fact of Francophones centered in Quebec and present in the rest of Canada, and Anglophones concentrated outside of Quebec but also present inside Quebec.
- Changes to the Senate will need consent of all province.
- Supreme Court goes into constitution, provinces get right to propose people when new justices are being names, Quebec gets 3/9 judges.
- Each province gets a guarantee on it’s share of immigrants
The International Joint Commission handles conflicts in which an action by a country on one side of the border effects the country on the other side of the border. It was created in 1912 and has three American and Three Canadian members which are appointed by each country’s federal government. It makes dicisions by majority rules. It has one headquarter in Ottawa and one in Washington. There are three main functions of the commission:
- To regulate.
- To investigate.
- To survey and coordinate.
With the creation of The Autopact in 1965, the makers of cars could freely move cars across the Canadian-US border without tariffs. The pact required that a certain proportion of the cars manufactured in North America be made in Canadian factories. Despite the tensions of the two countries being mad that the flow of trade sometimes went in the other countries favour, the Autopact allowed car makers to better plan production. This was to the benefit of both Canada and US.
In 1957 Canada and US made a formal agreement to join defence efforts against attack from the air. This is the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). Billions of dollars from Canada and US have been spent on radar stations, fighter planes, and command centres. Also, Canadians and Americans train with each other. The basic function of NORAD is to detect any attack on North America and respond to it quickly. The American bomber forces need to be kept from suprise attack, so the US wanted Canada’s help to provide the land for radar warning sights.
There is a big debate as to whether or not Canada should remain in NORAD, some arguments for Canada remaining in NORAD are:
- NORAD provides protection of Canada’s airspace.
- North America would be a single target in any nuclear war.
- NORAD protects the US deterrent force.
Some arguments for Canada not remaining in NORAD are:
- The US doesn’t need Canada to help with air defence.
- It is unlikely that the Soviet Union would Launch an all-out war on NA.
- Costly CF-18 fighters are not needed to meet intruders into our airspace.
Canada’s contribution to victory in World War I.
The Canadian army entered combat in the spring of 1915. Thousands of
Canadians died, and Canada’s army soon gained a reputation for its bravery
and good organization. (note – a lot of Canadians were forced to join the
army with conscription) General Currie, Commander of the Canadian Corps,
was rated among the best generals on the Allied side. Some Canadian
victories were the battle of Ypres, and Hill 70. Canadians also fought in
Britsh Empire forces. Billy Bishop, a Canadian in the flying corps, was an
outstanding pilot.
Canada’s contribution to victory in World War II.
In World War II, Canada only sent a few soldiers to the war (there was
NO conscription, as PM Mackenzie King didn’t want the country divided again
like in world war I. Most Canadian help took the form of food and
manufactured goods such asvehicles and weapons. After the defeat of France
in 1940, Canada made a full-scale war effort. In 1941, Canada declared war
on Super Mario 3 Japan. By 1942, Canada, with its many volunteers, was
ready to make a major contribution to the fighting. By 1944, King was
forced to send 13 000 soldiers oversees because the war was going pretty
badly.
b) The United Nations is the international organization (formed in 1945) of
nations dedicated to world peace and security. Canada was one of the
fifty original members. Canada has been one of the United Nations
Security Council non-permanent members in 1948-49, 1958-59, 1966-68, and
1977-78.