Overview of Unit Four

Between 1945 and 1975, Canadians enjoyed nearly thirty years of prosperity. That prosperity was generated by both domestic and external forces. By the late 1960s, external and domestic forces emerged that challenged the assumptions Canadians held concerning the role of government, the continued existence of the nation, and the continued economic well-being of the Canadian people. This unit will examine the external forces and domestic realities that affected the Canadian people during that time period.

The most significant external relationship since 1945 has been with the United States. That relationship influenced Canadian economic, social and political policies. The economic well-being of the Canadian nation greatly depended on unfettered access to the American market. American investment in Canada generated employment for Canadians. The American market became the largest consumer of Canadian exports. Canada became the U.S.'s largest trading partner.

On the international level, Canadian foreign and military policy makers accepted the United Sates as the leader of the "free world" in the ideological struggle against the Soviet Union and spread of communism. Canada eagerly entered into a military alliance with the United States. NATO and NORAD were two manifestations of that alliance.

The merits of that relationship engendered considerable debate among Canadians. Existing besides the American superpower meant that Canadian policymakers have had to consider the ramifications of specific policies on our relationship with the Americans. The consequences of the military, economic, cultural and political aspects of that relationship were and continue to be, a matter of almost continuous debate.

The debate was Framed by competing visions of the relationship that should exist between the two nations. There are those, sometimes labelled "continentalists," who supported the economic integration of the two nations. They generally did not feel that economic and military co-operation would endanger Canadian sovereignty.

Canadian nationalists were less comfortable with the close relationship with the United States. They maintained that the economic and military disparity that exists between Canada and the United States poses a threat to Canadian sovereignty. In their opinion, Canadian independence can be best secured by pursuing economic and political policies that are less dependent on the American market or American external policies.

The 1960s saw the re-emergence of Quebec nationalism. That nationalism was, in part, reflected in the emergence of the Parti Québécois, whose paramount mission was to make Quebec a sovereign nation. The political success of the Parti Québécois presented a challenge to the entire nation. Would it be possible to accommodate the perceived interests and well-being of francophone Quebec within the Canadian federation? The debate over national unity and the "Quebec issue" dominated Canadian politics during the last decades of the twentieth century.

Regional tensions, particularly between Western Canada and the national government, gained national prominence during the 1970s. Escalating world energy prices in the early 1970s produced prosperity for Alberta and Saskatchewan. This prosperity created new employment opportunities. Between 1971 and 1981, the populations of Alberta and B.C. increased by 37.5 and 25.6 percent, respectively.

Once one of the weaker partners of the federal union, the West began to acquire enormous economic power through its sale of natural resources. The Western premiers called for a redistribution of powers, within the federation, to reflect the West's growing economic strength.

The Arab oil boycott of the early 1970s caused an escalation in the price of imported oil. In an attempt to provide relief for Eastern Canada, who relied on imported oil, Ottawa instituted the National Energy Program. The N.E.P. was vilified by many within the prairies. Its implementation seemed to confirm that the West's new-found economic prosperity was not accompanied by greater political influence over national decision making. Its implementation precipitated a political storm that pitted the petroleum-rich provinces of Western Canada against the national government.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan viewed the N.E.P. as an attempt by Central Canada to "rob" the West of the oil revenue windfall. They claimed that they had the constitutional right to control and benefit from natural resources and that they intended to use the revenue windfall as an opportunity to diversify their respective provincial economies. The federal Liberal government was increasingly seen as the agent of Central Canada.

The most public expression of Western alienation, in the 1980s, was the formation of political parties advocating the separation of the Western provinces from Canada. The Western Canada Concept Party attracted significant support with campaigns against national policies such as bilingualism and immigration. The various Western separatist groups, were never able to form a broad alliance. Support for Western separatism declined by the mid-1980s.

A political price accompanied Western resentment towards the federal government and Central Canada. Only two Liberals were elected in Western Canada in the 1984 federal election which was won by the Progressive Conservatives. The new government had fifty-eight members from Western Canada. The West was given strong representation in the Cabinet of the new Mulroney government and it met many of the West's regional expectations. The Western Energy Accord (1985) effectively ended the contentious tax provisions imposed by the National Energy Program, deregulated the price and sale of oil, and created a climate that attracted foreign investment into the energy field.

The actions of the Mulroney government did not end Western alienation. The Reform Party emerged in the mid-1980s and articulated numerous demands to change the political status quo to get a greater influence for the West in national decision making.

The Reform Party capitalized on the unpopularity of a number of federal policies including the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax, and the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional packages. Running on a platform of fiscal restraint, populist unrest and social conservatism, the Reform Party won 51 seats across Western Canada, picking up 38 percent of the regional vote in the 1993 federal election. The federal Conservative party lost all its seats in Western Canada. It elected only two members from the entire nation.

A fundamental challenge to the economic well-being of Canadians relates to the state of the environment and the resources that Canadians have relied on to sustain their economic well-being. The debate over strategies to secure export markets and sustain our national economic well-being will not be of great importance, if Canadians fail to protect the natural resources and environment that have sustained a high level of prosperity and economic well-being for many generations.

There are compelling reasons why the nature of the relationship Canadians have with the environment is, and will continue to be, crucial. This relationship will significantly impact the economic well-being of this generation of Canadians and future generations. It will significantly impact the health of both Canadians and their environment. There is increasing evidence that Canada's environment is being seriously degraded.

The 1993 federal election revealed the deep division within the nation. Both specific populations and regions of the nation expressed discontent with the political status quo. The future of the nation will depend greatly on the response of Canadians to the challenge of Quebec francophone nationalism and the challenge of regional disparity.

Core Material for Unit Four

Core material appears in bold type on the pages that follow. The remainder of the material in this unit is not core material; teachers may choose to work through all, some, or none of this material. This material should be seen as an opportunity to individualize instruction for students with different levels of intellectual ability and motivation. Teachers may also choose to substitute locally-developed material in optional areas where it is appropriate. Such material should reflect community interests and must also meet the skills, values, and concept objectives of the course.

Unit Four: Foundational Objectives

Foundational Objective 1

Know that sovereignty asserts that the nation-state is the supreme decision-making power within a delineated territory and is subject to external authority only by its consent.

Core Concepts

Sovereignty

• Know that a nation's sovereignty can be challenged by the influence and actions of significant other nations.
• Know that every nation, including Canada, seeks to limit the influence of other nations in its national decision-making processes.

External Influence

• Know that external forces and actions influence both Canadian decision-making processes and the economic well-being of the Canadian citizenry.
• Know that Canada's most significant external relationship in the last half of the 20th century has been with the United States.
• Know that a number of incidents occurred throughout the decades following the Second World War that reawakened debate and concerns about Canada's close relationship with the United States.
• Know that international organizations, such as the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs, have power to influence the economic policies and trade practices of individual nations.

Foreign Policy

• Know that the alignment of Canadian foreign policy with American policies has, and continues to, generate public debate within the Canadian public.
• Know that at specific times during the 20th century, Canadian foreign policies have mirrored American foreign policies, and at other times, Canadian foreign policies have differed from the foreign policy stances of the United States.
• Know that both continentalist and nationalist sentiments have influenced the foreign policies and actions of successive Canadian governments.
• Know that the issue of connecting human rights to foreign policy has raised debate within Canada.

Continentalism

• Know that continentalists believe that Canada's proximity to the United States has benefited the Canadian nation, both economically and politically, and that the nation's continued well-being is greatly dependent on maintaining satisfactory relations with the United States.
• Know that continentalists believe that elimination of trade and investment barriers between Canada and the United States would maximize Canadian prosperity.

Cold War

• Know that the ideological struggle between the communist Soviet Union and the United States became known as the "Cold War."
• Know that among the western democracies, the United States assumed military and economic leadership, in the Cold War, against the Soviet Union.
• Know that the Cold War dominated international affairs for 50 years following the Second World War.
• Know that the Cold War convinced Canadians to collaborate in the face of the Soviet menace, and collaboration required Canada to align many of its international policies with those of the United States.

Continental Integration

• Know that many forces/realities existed to explain why Canada and the United States evolved a close and interconnected relationship.
  • Know that geography forced both nations to be aware of the actions/policies of the other. They shared decades of experience of interacting.
  • Know that the two nations shared a common language, similar legal systems, similar constitutional guarantees of individual rights and limits on the powers of government.
  • Know that the Second World War hastened the integration of the two nations' economies. The two nations were each other's largest trading partner.
  • Know that the perceived threat of communist expansion convinced Canadians of the need to have close co-operation with the United States.
• Know that throughout the 20th century, Canada's trading relationship with the United States increased, while its trading relationship with Great Britain declined.

Extraterritoriality

• Know that extraterritoriality occurs when a nation attempts to impose its laws and policies on citizens and organizations beyond its borders.
• Know that the application of extraterritorial actions infringes on the sovereignty of other nations.

Nationalism

• Know that nationalism reflects the belief that the well-being of one's own nation should be protected and enhanced, in order to meet the challenges of foreign interests and influences.
• Know that Canadian nationalists have maintained that the economic and military disparity that exists between Canada and the United States poses a threat to Canadian sovereignty.
• Know that Canadian nationalists feel that Canadian independence can be best secured by pursuing economic and political policies that are less dependent on the American market or American external policies.
• Know that Canadian nationalists have been concerned about the influence of the Americans on the Canadian political, cultural and economic agendas.

Foundational Objective 2

Know that the unity and well-being of the nation will be influenced by the extent to which significant populations feel that their interests and well-being are being enhanced and secured within the existing political structure.

Core Concepts

Human Rights

• Know that the issue of connecting human rights to foreign policy has raised debate within Canada.
• Know that human rights are universal and, as such, apply to everyone regardless of nationality, race, religion, political beliefs, age, or gender.
• Know that the concept of human rights differs from the concept of privilege.

Societal Cohesion

• Know that societal stability and national well-being are linked to whether the peoples and regions perceive that they have meaningful influence in national decision-making processes.
• Know that the degree to which those peoples and regions are satisfied with existing relationships will influence the long-term well-being of the nation.

Cultural Identity

• Know that within francophone Quebec, the relationship with English-speaking Canada has been, and continues to be, defined in terms of how best to secure French Canada's culture and identity.
  • Know that some francophones support the present constitutional status quo in terms of Quebec's place within the Canadian nation.
  • Know that some francophones favour Quebec remaining an integral part of Canada, but redefining the political arrangement between the two linguistic communities.
  • Know that some francophones favour the political separation of Quebec from Canada, making Quebec a sovereign nation.
  • Know that during the deliberations leading to Confederation, the paramount concern of Quebec's francophone leaders was to secure the French-Canadian culture, language and way of life.

Ethnic Nationalism

• Know that common characteristics associated with ethnic nationalist groups include:
  • the group's commitment to the larger state is in competition with the group's commitment towards its own well-being;
  • the groups often develop organizations such as political parties, nationalist organizations and, in some cases, paramilitary and/or terrorist groups;
  • the group's history helps to define the distinctiveness, the separateness of the group, and the linguistic and cultural characteristics which define the group; and,
  • the group perceives ithself as being unique from other population groups in the larger state and as needing some form of special status or rights to protect its unique identity.
  • Know that ethnic nationalists and organizations may possess some or a combination of the above attributes.

Quiet Revolution

• Know that the Quiet Revolution refers to period in which the Lesage Liberal government brought rapid but non-violent change to Quebec society.
• Know that Quiet Revolution created a climate of confidence and fuelled nationalist fervour within the francophone community.
• Know that a new vision of Quebec developed as the nature of Quebec society changed. This vision was based on several assumptions:
  • Quebec could no longer remain isolated from the modern world and remain a rural society;
  • Quebec had to become a modern, industrial society;
  • Quebec could enhance its political power and maintain a vibrant culture by utilizing technology; and,
  • French-Canadians could compete successfully in the modern world.

Regionalism

• Know that there are a number of long-standing realities that have influenced and continue to influence the relationship among the regions of the nation.
• Know that the mere existence of various regions within the Canadian community makes it inherently difficult to arrive at national consensus on policy issues, priorities and decisions.
• Know that the allocation and application of political power and economic activity and development are issues that most often bring the various regions into conflict, conflict among themselves and conflict with the central government.

Foundational Objective 3

Know that the future of the nation will, in part, depend on how well the interests of the regions are perceived to be addressed by the populations of those regions.

Core Concepts

Regional Disparity

• Know that there is regional disparity in terms of resources, population, economic well-being, and political and economic influence over national decision making.
• Know that each region has evolved its own institutions, and patterns of economic development that reflect its uniqueness.
• Know that each region has evolved its own agenda reflecting the needs and perceptions of the region's population, and its expectations about the performance of the nation's institutions and government.
• Know that a region's success in enacting its agenda is, in part, dependent on the ability of the region to influence national policy making.
• Know that regions that possess significant political and economic power are usually more successful at influencing the policies and actions of the central government than those with little political and economic power.

Heartland-hinterland

• Know that certain geographic areas called the heartland possess the resources and economic power (population, capital, services, industry, and political influence) to acquire and process staples from distant resource-producing areas called the hinterland.
• Know that alienation in the hinterlands was fuelled by their lower rates of economic development compared to the Central Canadian provinces and by their lack of political power at the federal level, which meant less influence over federal policies.

Regional Alienation

• Know that dissatisfaction with the response of the political establishment to the social and economic catastrophe of the 1930s led to the formation of new prairie-based political movements and contributed to Western alienation from the national decision-making processes.
• Know that during the latter decades of the 20th century, many in Western Canada believed that the West was being denied a role in the national decision making that was commensurate with its resources and economic strength.

Environment

• Know that there are compelling reasons why the nature of the relationship Canadians have with the environment has been, and will continue to be, crucial.
  • Know that the relationship will significantly impact the economic well-being of this generation of Canadians and future generations.
  • Know that the relationship between the people and the environment will significantly impact the health of both Canadians and their environment.
  • Know that there is increasing evidence that Canada's environment is being seriously degraded.
• Know that for centuries, Canada was viewed as a nation possessing infinite amounts of resources, thus there was little concern about conservation and sustainability.

Foundational Objective 4

Know that dialectical thinking is a system of reasoned exchange between points of view in which the merits of each case (thesis) are discussed and evaluated.

Dialectical Evaluation

• Know that dialectical evaluation is the process of:
  • gathering information;
  • defining the issues within the information;
  • testing the viewpoints for factual accuracy;
  • testing the viewpoints for their morality;
  • evaluating the factual and moral testing; and,
  • forming a conclusion about the issue.

Criteria

• Know that criteria are rules or standards which are accepted and used to provide a consistent basis for making judgements.

Evaluation

• Know that in determining whether a viewpoint is based on a legitimate moral principle, a variety of moral tests could be applied, including:
  • role exchange: is the principle still considered valid when it is applied to oneself?
  • universal consequences: would the principle still be considered valid if everyone behaved according to its dictates?
  • new cases: is the principle still valid when it is applied to a different but logically relevant case?

Foundational Objective 5

Know that every society will evolve, through debate and consensus, assumptions and practices concerning certain key societal relationships.

• Know that within each society, a divergent views will exist concerning key societal relationships, including:
  • whether it is possible for nations, of vastly unequal power and resources, to sustain a relationship based on equality;
  • whether a concern for human rights be considered a guiding principle of Canadian foreign policy;
  • whether it is possible to secure the well-being of all groups and regions within the Canadian nation; and,
  • whether government has a role in securing the well-being of the citizenry.