Social 9
The teacher said that grade 8 had the “more fun” Social Studies compared to grade 9 :(
Federal Government Politics
- The government is the body with power to make decisions for a society (governance).
- Canada’s constitution is the law that describes governance in the country. It sets out the roles of the three branches of government and how they work together. It also sets out other institutions like the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
- The king or queen of Britain is represented in Canada by the governor general, who is part of both the executive and legislative branches of the government. The monarch is the formal head of state in Canada, but doesn’t play an active role in Canada’s government.
- The executive branch proposes most laws, puts them into action, and runs the day-to-day business of the federal government. It includes the PM (Prime Minister) and the Cabinet.
- The PM is the head of Canada’s government. To be one, they have to be elected as the leader of a political party. Then, they must be elected as a member of parliament, and the party has to win the most seats in the House of Commons.
- The PM decides what portfolios to include in the cabinet and chooses cabinet ministers.
- The cabinet includes cabinet ministers with responsibility for different government departments and agencies or portfolios, such as health, finance, defense, trade, justice, and environment.
- Cabinet ministers belong to the leading political party in the House of Commons and are members of parliament or senators. The cabinet also proposes most bills.
- The legislative branch makes laws and represents the interests and rights of Canada’s regions. It includes the House of Commons and the Senate and is also often known as Canada’s parliament.
- The House of Commons is the major law-making body in the country’s federal political system; members debate study, debate, and vote on proposed laws, called bills.
- Each MP represents the constituents (voters) of one riding/district, and because of representation by population, the higher the population in an area, the more seats available for its riding
- The popular vote is the total number of votes cast in an election for each party, rather than the seats won for each party.
- The first-past-the-post system is when the candidate with the most votes wins all.
- If a party wins the majority of the seats in the House, it always forms the government. However, if a political party wins the most seats (not the majority), a minority government is formed where the party will have to negotiate the support of other parties.
- As of 2023, there are 343 total House of Commons seats across Canada.
- The Senate can propose laws (except for ones that create or spend taxes), but usually only considers bills passed first by the House (a “sober second thought”, or careful reconsideration).
- Its members are called senators, but they aren’t elected; the PM appoints them. They can remain in office until the age of 75. They provide another round of study, debate, and voting on bills and have the power to reject bills, but this is seldom done.
- Rather than rep-by-pop, senators are appointed based off of some set divisions/regions, to better represent the minorities of Canada, like Quebec’s francophone population.
- As of 2023, there are 105 total senate seats across Canada.
- The judicial branch applies and interprets laws. It includes Canada’s courts of law, with the Supreme Court being the highest one.
- The Supreme Court has the final word on all legal questions in the country, including questions about the rules for making and applying laws.
- For most of Canada’s history, the PM and cabinet have appointed Supreme Court judges. However, former PM Stephen Harper later changed the appointment process, so that the executive branch nominates judges, who then go through a review by a committee of MPs.
- It is separate form the other branches of government, as it acts as a check on their powers. It interprets and applies all law in Canada, to make sure the rights of Canadians are respected.
- Civil service includes the people who serve Canadians as employees of the government.
- For a bill to become a law, there’s quite the process to go through:
- In the House of Commons, the fist reading is when the bill is proposed. There’s no debate or vote.
- The second reading is when the bill is studied by MPs, and it can either be rejected or passed on. Debate and vote is made to find out whether the bill serves the interests of Canadians.
- In the committee stage, a committee of MPs/senators reviews the bill with the help of witnesses including experts and citizens. It issues a report with recommendations that the House or Senate usually accepts.
- During the report stage, debate and vote on the bill’s amendments are made.
- In the third reading, the House debates and votes on the final form of the bill.
- The entire process above is repeated all over again, but by the senate.
- The House of Commons and Senate debate and vote on each other’s amendments and decisions before coming to an agreement.
- The bill becomes a law after the Governor General gives Royal assent; this is a formality.
- A lobbyist is someone hired by a group to influence MPs and government officials.
- They have to register with a Commissioner of Lobbyists, so that everyone in Canada can know who they are and who they represent.
- They voice their views of groups on issues that affect their members, products, or services. These issues can also affect everyone, so lobbyists provide different perspectives and in-depth expertise on many issues.
Youth Justice System
- Justice is the application of laws, and justice systems are the institutions and procedures for doing that in a society. They should be fair and equitable (governed by rules that apply to everyone, taking into account individual needs and circumstances).
- A sentence is a consequence for a crime, such as imprisonment, as determined by a court of law, and community service is help in the community performed as part of a sentence, such as assisting a community clean-up or food bank.
- A criminal record is a permanent record of breaking the law, which is public information. It can bar people from some jobs, volunteer positions, and travel to other countries.
- Rehabilitation is the act of instilling supposedly positive behaviors and attitudes, and reintegration is the act of making someone part of something else like society again.
- Canada has different legislation for young people who break the law and for adults who break the law. The YCJA (Youth Criminal Justice Act) was passed by parliament in 2003. Laws like these, that treat young offenders differently from adult offenders, have existed since the 1890s in this country. This is done because youth are often not as developed or mature as adults.
- The YCJA has quite a bit of differences with the way it deals with youth and adult offenders:
- The YCJA deals with youth 12 to 17 years old in trouble with the law; it allows some young offenders to face consequences such as counselling and community services.
- Adult sentences are prohibited for youth 12 to 14 years of age, but they’re allowed for serious crimes committed by older young people.
- Unlike adults, the names of young offenders can’t be published by news media to protect their privacy, unless if an adult sentence is received.
- The avoidance of a criminal record is allowed a lot of the time, while adults often have their criminal record modified.
- The goal of the YCJA is to attempt to follow its intentions:
- It attempts to prevent crime by addressing the circumstances underlying a young person’s offending behavior, so counselling may be needed for alcohol, drug, or family abuse, as an example.
- It attempts to rehabilitate young persons who commit offences and reintegrate them into society, by for example finding them positive ways to participate in their community.
- The YCJA tries to ensure that a young person is subject to meaningful consequences for their offence in order to promote the long-term protection of society (property being damaged may result in property being repaired).
- In a court, the jury is a group of twelve people that must agree on a verdict; their decision has to be unanimous, or a consensus.
- Any Canadian citizen of at least 18 years of age is eligible for jury duty, with some exceptions, like people convicted of crime.
- Serving on juries is considered a duty of Canadian citizens. If one is to be summoned to jury duty, it’s their responsibility to appear at the courthouse on time. Any arrangements must be made.
- People may be excused from jury duty if they can demonstrate that it would cause them undue hardship.
- Canada has two major citizen led organizations involved in the justice system: the John Howard Society for everyone, and the Elizabeth Fry Society for females.
- These organizations work independently of government and try to solve the underlying reasons for crime. They also provide public education about laws and the justice system, including the YCJA.
- They work with youths and adults who’ve broken the law to help them return to their communities. This including assistance with finding jobs and places to live. Meetings between the victims and offenders are also sometimes arranged.
- They stand up for the rights of people accused of crimes, and call for measures to improve the fairness of the justice system for the accused and the victims.
- In the societies of many aboriginal peoples, sentencing circles are similar to Youth Justice Committees in that they act on the idea that breaking a law harms everyone in a community. Elders, along with the rest of the community, often play an important role in finding solutions.
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, from 1982, is part of Canada’s constitution. With the Charter, Canadians can challenge laws that restrict their rights in court. It declares the following rights and freedoms:
- Fundamental freedoms allow anyone to express their opinion, choose their religion, organize peaceful meetings and demonstrations, and associate with any person or group.
- Democratic rights allow citizens to vote for members of the House of Commons and provincial legislature, and for a new government at least every five years.
- Mobility rights allow citizens to move anywhere within Canada and to earn a living there, and enter, stay in, or leave Canada.
- Legal rights allow anyone to be free of imprisonment and search and seizure without reasons backed by law and evidence, and to have a quick and fair public trial by an impartial court that assumes one is innocent until proven guilty.
- Equality rights allow anyone to be free of discrimination because of race, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, age, or mental or physical disability.
- Prior to the Charter’s existence, the Canadian government did things that were stark in comparison to what the Charter advocated for.
- For more than fifty years until 1918, the Canada Elections Act barred women from voting and from running as candidates in federal elections. They began to campaign for the right to vote in 1875; Emily Howard Stowe, Canada’s first female doctor, founded a club to promote women’s suffrage.
- At the beginning of the first World War in 1914, more than 8000 people of Ukrainian and German descent were sent to camps, because Canada and its allies were at war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, where parts of Ukraine fell within enemy territory.
- Canada’s government made the arrests under the War Measures Act, which it passed at the outbreak of the war. People interned had to work as laborers, building things like roads, but not for wages.
- In addition, during World War II, Canadians of Italian descent were sent to camps. The arrests began in 1940, when Italy declared war on Canada.
- When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 during the war as well, so the Canadian government decided to move all people of Japanese origin away from the west coast.
- Under the War Measures act, more than 20,000 people were forced to leave their communities, bringing only what they could carry.
- They were not permitted to leave their camps without permission from the RCMP.
- In 1943, the government sold off their homes, businesses, and possessions.
- Upon the Charter being put into effect, there have been successful attempts to win cases against things that were said to violate the Charter.
- After a deaf couple found themselves unable to communicate with any staff in a hospital, the problem was taken to court, and they argued that by failing to provide sign language interpreters, the government was violating their equality rights.
- Until 1985, the Lord’s Day Act made it illegal for most Canadian businesses to open on Sunday, upholding the Christian Sabbath, or day of rest. In 1982, not too long after the Charter became part of the constitution, some shops opened for business on a Sunday to challenge the Lord’s Day Act, deliberately breaking the law to make a point.
- The Supreme Court overturned the law, because it violated the fundamental right to freedom of conscience and religion.
- In 2001, labor unions launched a Charter challenge, arguing that the province was discriminating against them based no gender. Law required the province to pay women and men equally when they had equivalent levels of experience and training. They said that the promised pay equity wasn’t followed through and that millions of dollars in wages have been lost.
- In 2003, before the courts began a hearing on the case, the government agreed to pay female workers a total of $414 million in pay adjustments.
- In the early 1990s, people were being forced to retire from their jobs due to age, and this was said to violate the Charter’s definition equality rights, under age discrimination. The Supreme Court than ruled that employers can’t force retirement due to age.
Collective Rights
- Collective rights are special rights guaranteed for specific groups of people; they exist to acknowledge the founding peoples of Canada and those that were in Canada before that. For example, First Nations get the right to hunt, fish, and perform other activities in their reserves, while Francophones and Anglophones get the right to communicate with the government and receive publicly funded education in their language.
- Treaties were were historic agreements between Canada, Britain, or the Queen, and First Nations. They allow for the two parties share land, while providing other services and annuities (annual payment) to Aboriginal people.
- Treaties were signed for a variety of reasons; Canada wanted to build a railway and avoid wars (unlike the United States at the time), while First Nations wanted to secure their futures, since there were many social and economical pressures at the time.
- Many First Nations disagreed with the concept of the ownership of land, since they believed that land simply isn’t something that can be owned, and numerous promises were also unfulfilled by the Canadian government.
- In 1876, parliament passed the Indian Act. It affected First Nations who had concluded treaties with Canada’s government. However, it was passed without consulting First Nations.
- Each reserve got an official, an “Indian Agent”, to attempt to fulfill the government’s duties, but there were many interpretations of treaty rights.
- The act required First Nations people to obtain government permission to wear traditional clothing, banned traditional ceremonies, and prevented them from taking political action.
- It originally aimed to assimilate First Nations peoples into European culture. Additionally, they had to give up their rights and status to vote, until 1960.
- After lots of pressure from many groups, the government revised the Indian Act several times.
- Metis people didn’t receive the same rights as First Nations; rather, upon the formation of Manitoba, they received scrips which could be exchanged for land. However, they later gradually attained more rights as time progressed.
Immigration Laws and Policies
- Push factors are things going on in a country that repels emigrants from it, while pull factors are things going on in another country that brings immigrants to it.
- Canada has a relatively low birth rate per person, so immigration is heavily required for good population growth.
- The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act dates from 2003 and establishes categories of who can come to Canada from other countries to make permanent homes. Immigration contributes to social, cultural, and economic benefits, as well as a more multicultural society.
- Of all immigrants as of 2006, 55% come for economic reasons, 28% come because of family, and 13% are refugees.
- Economic immigrants need to pass a point system to come to Canada; it assesses factors like health and education.
- In the past, Canada favored immigrants of British ancestry and restricted immigration from Asian countries, like China and India.
- Canada signed the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in 1951, and in 1976, Canada began to accept refugees steadily, instead of crisis by crisis.
- Refugees considered dangerous are excluded from entering Canada.
- In 1985, Satnam Singh came to Canada from India seeking refugee status, but he was rejected under the 1976 Immigration Act. He couldn’t appeal, because he wasn’t a citizen, so the Supreme Court said this violated section 7 of Charter of Rights and Freedoms, saying the charter (excluding democratic rights) applies to everyone physically in Canada. This was known as the Singh decision.
- Provinces can nominate how many immigrants they want, and how to allocate them for different economic sectors with labor shortages.
- The Canada-Quebec Accord is an agreement to bring in more Francophone immigrants to Quebec.
Economic Systems
- Economics is the study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. An economy is the resources and processes involved in that.
- Economic systems are the ways societies organize that.
- Scarcity is the idea that land, labor, and capital are in limited supply of what people want and need.
- Land consists of all the materials found in the natural environment needed to produce goods and services. (trees, food, oil, gold)
- Labor consists of the physical and mental effort needed to produce goods and services. (agricultural workers, restaurant staff, plumbers)
- Capital consists of the money that people own or borrow, used to purchase equipment, tools, and other resources to produce goods and services. (factories, machines)
- An economic system is the way societies solve the basic problem of scarcity; different ideas about how to best organize an economy result in different economic systems.
- Privately owned resources are controlled by businesses and individuals, while publicly owned resources are controlled by the government and paid for by taxes.
- A crown corporation is a company owned by Canada’s government to provide products and services to Canadians. This can be to provide essential services, promote economic development, or support culture and identity. (Air Canada, Petro-Canada, CBC/Radio-Canada)
- In a right-wing/conservative market economy, the choices of individuals solve scarcity. Private businesses own and manage resources. They sell their products and services to consumers, who make their own decisions. They succeed if they do what consumers want, otherwise they fail. The government doesn’t get involved. (tax cuts, privatized healthcare)
- In a centrist mixed economy, private ownership is combined with government control. For example, private businesses own some resources and the government owns others. The level of government involvement fluctuates depending on what political party is in power.
- In a leftist/liberal/progressive planned economy, the government makes the decisions about how to solve scarcity. It owns the resources needed to produce and plans what will be done with limited resources. (public healthcare, social security)
- Producers produce a supply of things, and consumers create a demand for it. When demand goes up, supply goes down, and price goes up. When supply goes up, price goes down, and demand goes up. When price goes up, demand goes down, and supply goes up.
- Equilibrium is reached when the supply of a product can meet the demand for a product at a particular price. Producers try to aim for this.
- Competition is rivalry among producers to sell products to consumers. This results in variations in price and quality.
- A monopoly happens when only one producer controls all supply of a product or service, with no competition. They are often able to control much more for their benefit as a result of this. Governments tend to form monopolies for expensive essential services, and break up other monopolies. (Microsoft Window’s Internet Explorer)
- The unemployment rate of a region is the percentage of the workforce that doesn’t have jobs.
- Workers organize labor unions to represent their needs to employers, providing a way for workers to act as a group. They make collective bargaining possible. Canada has labor laws that establish that workers have a right to form unions, but it has opposed them too sometimes.
- A strike is a cessation of work by workers to pressure employers to respond to issues that concern workers. (wages, pensions, working conditions)
Consumerism
- Consumerism is the economic theory that links prosperity to consumer demand for goods and services, and that therefore consumer behavior is central to economic decision making. This leads to companies putting a ton into marketing and governments encouraging people to buy.
- Many factors influence what consumers spend their money on. This includes consumers’ identities and cultures, health and safety problems, environmental concerns, and marketing and advertising’s influence on consumers.
- When spending on goods or services, there’s a huge chain of people working their jobs involved in production. (with a pen for example, there needs to be plastic and metal suppliers with lots of workers, managers, and staff providing for manufacturing plant workers providing for transport workers providing for store workers)
- GDP (Gross Domestic Product) measures the amount of wealth a country’s economy generates. When a given GDP is said to be per capita, it’s the average for one person.
- A boycott is a decision by consumers to stop buying a product or service as a way to bring about change. This can be caused by many things, ranging from expensive prices to bad behavior to employees.
Social Programs and Taxation
- A social program is a service provided by the government to reduce economic inequalities and promote the well-being of citizens.
- Canada has public health care, which means public funds, or taxes, pay for healthcare for everyone. On the other hand, the US has private health care, meaning individuals pay for healthcare themselves.
- Many US citizens pay for health insurance to cover the costs of care. It’s when one pays money to a company on a regular basis, whether they currently need healthcare or not. If they need it, the insurance company covers the medical costs.
- Views differ as to whether healthcare should be a social program. Usually, public healthcare is seen as left or liberal, while private healthcare is seen as right or conservative.
- The Canada Health Act is a federal law that sets out five principles for health care in Canada. In every province and territory, health care must be publicly administered, comprehensive, universal, portable, and accessible.
- Pension for senior citizens has all 65-year-old citizens who have lived in Canada for at least 10 years automatically qualify for a monthly pension, paid for by taxes. The Old Age Security Act is involved here.
- Income assistance has citizens who are unable to meet their basic needs receive assistance, paid for by taxes.
- Canadian citizens pay two main types of provincial and federal taxes: income tax is based on what one earns, and sales tax like GST (Goods and Services Tax) is based on what one spends.
- A taxation model is a policy about taxation that describes what to tax, how much to tax, and how to spend taxes.
- The economic activity that the government taxes is called the tax base. It pays for the services provided by governments, such as social programs.
- In pretty much every nation, it’s illegal to avoid paying taxes. Canadians must report what they earn, so the government can determine and collect the tax they owe.
- Tax evasion involves not reporting economic activity, so no tax is paid. People who work without paying taxes are part of the underground economy, or the black market. Lots of extremely rich people pay little to no taxes, because they hire people to find loopholes and evade taxes for them.
- A political platform describes the official policies of a political party. It reflects a variety of issues, including those linked to social programs and taxation models.
- Political parties create platforms to reflect the values of their members. They often change in response to local, national, and international events.
- Did you know that 14-year-olds are allowed to join political parties?
Environmental Issues and Society
- Environmental issues arise because of human activities that change the natural world. For example, changes happen when factories release toxins and other pollutants into the air or water, or when housing developments occupy land that once supported wild plants and animals.
- Climate change refers to a rise in the average temperature of the Earth due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. It has extensive negative impacts, like rising sea levels, sever weather, and ecosystem and freshwater supply disruptions.
- Greenhouse gases primarily come from burning fossil fuels, such as natural gas, gasoline, coal, and oil. Most economies in the world rely on fossil fuels to produce resources and to manufacture and transport goods and services. Individuals also use fossil fuels.
- Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere affect the whole world, so one region emitting more greenhouse gases won’t experience “worse” global warming. However, some regions will experience different impacts compared to other regions.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from industry is one way to respond to climate change. This is a way man people are seeking.
- International negotiations on climate change focus on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of developed countries, such as the US and Canada. Developing countries, such as Mexico, do not face the same greenhouse gas restrictions, as they can slow the economy of a country. Developed countries also have a higher greenhouse gas output.
- The US has faced pressure from countries around the world to reduce its emissions, but it didn’t partake, partly because former president George W. Bush didn’t believe human actions caused climate change, and international climate change agreements shouldn’t exempt developing countries from taking action.
- The Kyoto Protocol was the first climate change plan the countries of the world negotiated. The US didn’t agree to the plan. Canada at first agreed, but its position has changed depending on the political party in power.
- The federal government also tries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by putting in place laws and policies. (public transport, biofuel funding, emission standards for plants and industries, renewable energy technologies funding, carbon taxes in some provinces)