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Arcadian's Exiled from their Homes
Acadian's were French settlers who lived along the coast of the maritime's and made their living by farming and fishing. They all spoke French and practiced Catholicism. They chose to be neutral but that was not good enough for the Brits because they wanted them to pledge allegiance to Britain. They reluctantly agreed but the British deported them anyway, sending them to English colonies or back to France. Many died on the voyages or from fleeing. This shows the English didn't trust the French. -
The Battle on the Plains of Abraham
This Battle was fought against the English and French, both side also had different First Nation tribes. After the French leader Montcalm made a poor war battle decision, the fortress and Quebec was given up to Britain. This is why Canada is mostly Anglophone. This battle has influenced the country to be majority English and many Francophone's are feel left out. -
The Royal Proclamation Determines that First Nations are Sovereign
The Royal Proclamation was the start of land claims for Aboriginals. They were given land and had special rights to the land they owned. The First Nation felt more equal because they were finally allowed to own land and have their separate government. The Proclamation also stated that the First Nations would not be tormented by the Europeans and would be protected by Britain. Other First Nations saw it as them giving up their right to have self-determination for themselves. -
Lord Durham's Report
The report suggested the union of Upper and Lower Canada and for the new colony to have responsible government. He believed that the union would assimilate the Francophone, which was what was needed because they were the problem. The report was very important in influencing the democratic system we have now, but the French were discriminated against and blamed for all of Canada's problems. -
Confederation
The colonies in North America felt that Britain did nit want to defend them anymore. There were also talks of America expanding into Canada. Quebec, Ontario. Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were the first provinces of Canada. Newfoundland and PEI were not yet ready to become part of Canada and felt confident they could stay independent. The Indigenous began signing treaties that promised them money, land, and benefits. The Province of Canada had already been made and supported expanding. -
Riel Rebellion
Riel was Metis and fought for their rights as well as Aboriginal rights in general. He supported uprisings and protests to get Metis land back. The buffalo had begun to disappear and there was less and less land left to farm and settle. The Metis were starving.The uprisings were ended when federal troops were brought in and hung Louis Riel. The Metis felt discriminated against because they weren't all included in treaties but were not given the same opportunity to land as normal settlers. -
Indian Act
The Indian Act was first created to promote assimilation into European culture. It prohibited traditional ways of government, culture, and justice. It also forced kids into Residential Schools. The Act also stopped them from having religious ceremonies or fighting for land claims. This Act would have been very oppressing to the First Nation's because they were not seen as fit to make mature judgement. Canada treated them like children that needed guidance and tried to take away their culture. -
Chinese Head Tax
The Canadian government forced Chinese wanting to immigrate to pay a tax of $50, then $100, then $500. After the railway had been built, Canada wanted to stop Chinese from immigrating to Canada. They did this by beginning a head tax which increased because there were still too many immigrates moving in. This would have given the Canadian's a bad perspective on the Chinese because they were seen as unwanted. the Chinese would have felt left out and like they weren't welcome in Canada. -
Manitoba's School Question
When Manitoba was first created, it had Catholic schools for the French and English schools for the Protestant. When Manitoba ended bilingualism, it also made one school board. This board allowed French education to continue but not in the Catholic religion. If the French wanted Catholic education, they had to pay for it themselves and also pay for public schools with their taxes. This was unfair because many could not afford this and the French were again being persecuted against. -
Conscription Crisis During WWI
Many Canadian's had signed up for the army in the beginning because of the unemployment problem. Canada was only made up of 8 million people though, and its people willing to sign up was beginning to run dry. The government decided to force people to go to war to ensure they were sending enough soldiers overseas. This angered the French because they did not feel loyal to France because they had abandoned them. The Francophone also didn't want to support the English who did not acknowledge them. -
Chinese Immigration Act
The Head Tax was not as effective as the government had hoped, so they got rid of the tax and added the new Immigration Act. This made it impossible for any Chinese immigrates to come to Canada except a few merchants, diplomats, and students. This lasted for 24 years. This affected Canadian perspective because the Canadians feel like Chinese people should not be in their country which would not promote multiculturalism. The Chinese immigrates were very angry and felt abandoned. -
Referendum to Decide if Newfoundland Should Join Canada
The first referendum had 3 options: join Canada, become self-governing, or join the U.S. The self-governing had won but only by 4 points, so they held a second one which put joining Canada in the lead. Newfoundland and Canada had been working together for a long time and this encouraged many people to vote for the union. This gave Canada more land and Newfoundland's resources, while Newfoundland was also benefited too. The islanders may not have as strong connection because they came in later. -
Canada Adopts Official Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism was used to replace "biculturalism" that had been occurring in Canada. It had only been promoting French and English instead. There are many different cultures in Canada from the many immigrates. When Canada adopted multiculturalism, showed that Canadians accept people of all ethnicity, culture, and religion. This also attracted immigrated because they know they won't be discriminated against by people of the country. The immigrants would be supported by the government. -
The Quiet Revolution
The provincial governments focused on modernizing Quebec, by making the education system better and improving social programs. the gov't also promoted French culture. Quebec wanted to control their own foreign policy. It was not violent and that is why it's called the quiet revolution. This revolution worked to benefit Francophone's by keeping their culture alive, but it discriminated against Anglophone's living in Quebec. This is because they worked on stopping English from being used in Quebec -
The Calder Case
The people of Nisga’a were forced off their land and put onto reserves without being given money or goods in exchange. It was then made illegal for any Indigenous groups to fight for land claims. After going to school, Calder asked a lawyer to represent them in court to get their lands back. After going to the Supreme Court, their lands were recognized and after negotiations they were given land back. This case was important because it was the start of modern day land claims in all of Canada -
Election of the Parti Quebecois
The Parti Quebecois was a Francophone political group in Quebec. Their aim was to promote French culture and independence. When they came to power they held a referendum in 1980 asking Quebec if they wanted to become a sovereign government. Sixty percent voted no. In 1995, they held another referendum which again was negative but just barely. This showed Canadians that the Francophone's did not feel like they were accepted as Canadians. This also angered Anglophones that they wanted to leave. -
The White Paper
The White Paper was created to end the poor conditions First Nations lived in. The Paper proposed ending treaties and the Indian Act, ending the status of being "Indian", and turning reserve land to private owned land. This Paper was more focused on saving money than ending poverty. Provinces saw the discrimination and made their own papers that made sure land would not be taken away and neither would their status. This was very unfair to the First Nations because those treaties were sacred. -
The Red Paper
The Red Paper was the Aboriginal reaction to the White Paper. It was made by the Indian Association of Alberta and focused on protecting past treaties and their lands. It counteracted what the White Paper had to say. The Red Paper was empowering to the Aboriginals because it brought them closer together to end the discrimination and attempted assimilation by the government. The Citizens Plus also showed the government that they cannot treat people the way they were. -
FLQ Crisis
The FLQ was a group of radicals wanting to demonstrate they were superior to Anglophones. Many members were in prison so the FLQ kidnapped the British trade commissioner and demanded that the prisoners be released. They then kidnapped and killed the Minister of Immigration. The WMA was released and 450 people were arrested. The group ended in 1981. The FLQ felt they were not being listened to and went to extreme measures. The Anglophones did not trust the French and led to bad relations. -
Bill 101 Passed in Quebec
Bill 101 made French the official language of Quebec and in the government on Quebec. French became the common language.This Bill was passed because Francophone's in Quebec were not treated equally to Anglophones and were paid less. This Bill ensured that the French language and culture would be kept alive. This would have made Francophone's feel more equal to Anglophone's, and would not force them to have to learn English to be successful. -
National Energy Program
Oil prices had been very high from the instability in the Middle Eastern countries. The government decided to stabilize Canadian oil prices so that Eastern provinces would not have to pay as much. The NEP also taxed the Western provinces and shared that wealth with all other provinces. This made many Albertan's angry because the East was taking their resources for cheap and not allowing them to sell oil for regular price. The East was also taking their wealth. Alberta felt unheard. -
The Referendum of 1980
Parti Quebecois was the party in government at time. They had told voters they would hold a referendum on whether Quebec should become sovereign or not during their campaign. 60% of the voters voted no to separate and 40% voted yes. If they had won then another referendum would have been held. With this information we can see how many Francophone's do not accept being Canadian.This is due to them having a hard time being accepted as a "distinct society". -
Quebec Refuses to Sign Constitution
Quebec refused to sigh the Constitution because of two reasons. The first was that they would have been forced to give up their veto on change to the constitution. The second reason was that the English language in Quebec would no longer be protected, but the language rights for French in Canada would. This would have made Quebecois feel like they didn't have a say of they lost their veto. The Anglophones in Quebec would have also felt unprotected because of the changes. -
Meech Lake Accord
The Accord had come about because Canada wanted to change the constitution and Quebec refused to allow that. The French felt that it was based too heavily on Britain values. This perspective affected the French who were not allowed to become a distinct society, and were not being accepted as different than Anglophones. This also influenced the First Nation to fight for their own distinct society. This Accord was eventually dropped and would not be accepted. -
Turban can be Worn with RCMP Uniform
When Dhillon tried to become an RCMP he had difficulty following the dressing requirements. These demanded his beard be shaved off and his turban was not allowed to be worn. He was a Sikh. He fought these rules and the Prime Minister finally changed many dress code laws. This allowed to have a beard and wear a turban. This is important to Canada because the RCMP are very symbolic and prideful. These changes gave the RCMP multiculturalism and encouraged all religions to become RCMP. -
Oka Crisis
Oka was trying to build a golf course on Mohawk land. The tribe had been fighting land claims bu had not been recognized. The land the golf course would be built included a burial ground. The tribe set up a barrier that got police involved. The police violently attacked the barricade, but one police was killed from gunfire. The RCMP were forced to get involved. Finally the gov't agreed to buy the land so the course could not be built. This left many locals angered at the tribes and vise versa. -
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
After researching two separate reserves it was understood that what the Aboriginal Peoples need is more money. The Reserves lack necessary options for healthcare, education, and food. Many children do not go past Grade 6, and if they do, there are very few jobs that are actually offered on the reserve. Money is needed to boost the economy. People of Canada may find this unfair because they have to pay for the FNMI but they did not have to go through hardships that the Aboriginal did. -
Formation of Bloc Quebecois
The party is made up of members who left the Conservative and Liberal parties after the Meech Lake Accord. The party works to preserve Quebec interests and sovereignty. The party exposed the government of Quebec of using federal funds improperly. They then focused on showing the people of Quebec that they supported Quebecois. This party would have been been seen as a voice for Quebecois. They offered what Quebecois were looking for, which was recognition. -
Charlottetown Accord
Was a second-attempt to change the constitution and offered "distinct society" for Quebec, senate and Supreme Court of Canada changes, and self-government for FNMI. This Accord also failed because of the government at the time. In Canada, it is hard to address everyone because of all the cultures and different beliefs. The Accord tried to get the best of both words but left out the Aboriginal, because they wouldn't see the start of self-government for 3 years. -
The Referendum of 1995
The Parti Quebecois were again brought into power and offered a second attempt at self-determination for Quebec. The second "no" side won the referendum by just 50.58% and many people believed the votes had been tampered with. Th government decided to step in before a third was held. They allowed Quebec to become a "distinct society", have a separate veto, and and would step out of training programs so that the provinces could take over. These changes would have made Quebec finally feel heard. -
Recognition of Quebecois Nation
The House of Commons passed a motion stating that Quebec be seen as an independent nation in the nation-state of Canada. The vote was 266-16 which made it legal for Quebec to be its own nation. This is very important to Canadians to see that Quebec is part of Canada but is also a special state with a culture, language, and identity. This was also important to Quebecois because they were finally being seen and accepted as unique from other provinces. -
Canada Apologizes for Residential Schools
Stephen Harper apologized to all First Nations affected by the Residential Schools in 2008. A year before, the IRSSA had been introduced, which is a multi-billion dollar fund to help support all victims of the Residential Schools. It was also implemented to fix the damage that had been created in the First Nation groups. This apology was extremely important because it showed First Nations that Canada recognized it had done something wrong, and was working to fix the wrongs. -
Calls to Action
The TRC was a group that was created to promote Aboriginal culture and help the FNMI that were affected by Residential Schools get stable again. The Calls to Action were to educate all Canadians on the crimes and also gave FNMI money. These Calls also help to preserve culture and promote their growth as a people that need to be treated with respect and dignity. This is important because it teaches Canadians about the FNMI and how they have been harmed. -
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
RCMP say 1200 FNMI women have gone missing or been murdered in the last 32 years, but Indigenous women's groups say it's been over 4000. FNMI females are 3.5 times more likely to experience sexual and physical violence, and have a higher homicidal rate than other races. This has been going on since the Europeans first came to Canada. FNMI women were not treated with respect before, and the residential schools did not help to teach this. This Inquiry gives money to raise awareness for the women.
