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Essay Name       : 816.txt 
Uploader         : J. Dowling
Email Address    : 
Language         : English
Subject          : History
Title            : Canadian History / Government
Grade            : B
School System    : Private
Country          : USA
Author Comments  : 
Teacher Comments : Well researched
Date             : 11/6/96
Site found at    : A link from somewhere
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                         Canadian Government / History

Part I. GOVERNMENT AND LAW

   The Governor General represents the monarch in Canada. He/she is
appointed by the monarch on advice of the Canadian Government. Governors
General open Parliment and read the speech from the throne which
outlines
the governments plans. They also give royal assent to bills, appoint
important officials, greet foreign leaders, and give out awards and
medals.
The role of the Governor General is formal and symbolic.

   The current Govener General is Ray Hnatyshyn. The Last one was Jeanne
Sauve. The Senate is, in essence, an independant House of Commons.  It
appoints its own Speaker and runs its own affairs.  The Prime Minister
(I'll call him the PM) chooses new members for the senate whenever a
vacancy occurs. The Senate acts as a check on the power of the House of
Commons by rejecting bills.  The Senate may also introduce bills itself,
pass them, and send 'em to the House of Commons.

   Elections for the House of Commons occur every five years, unless the
PM
wants one sooner. Elected members of the House of Commons (MPs) each
represent a Constituency. How many members in the commons depends on how
many people in Canada. MPs must be over 18, and not disqualified by law.
The House only has to meet once a year, but usually there's so much to
do
they have to put in many months of work.  Any MP can try to introduce a
bill, but the Cabinet usually controls the number of bills introduced.
Most bills come from the Cabinet, but the ideas can come from things
like:
A senator, public servant, the media, party platform etc.

   The PM chooses The Cabinet from fellow party members who have been
elected to the House of Commons.  When choosing Cabinet members, the PM
must choose representatives of all regions and cultural groups of Canada
who together, represent and understand all of Canada.  A Cabinet member
is
usually made head of, and responsible for a department of government.
For
example, the Minister of Finance prepares the federal budget and assumes
a
big role in managing our economy. The Cabinet members meet together
under
the leadership the of the PM to discuss the important decisions that the
government must make concearning proposed laws or bills.  Each Cabinet
member is expected to accept decisions made by the Cabinet on the whole.
The Cabinet must always appear unified and capable to Parliment and to
the
country.

 How A Bill Becomes A Law:
-Cabinet Minister has idea for a bill
-Idea explained to Cabinet
-Cabinet approves idea
-Lawyers Draft bill
-Cabinet committee examines bill
-Cabinet and caucus approve bill
-Bill introduced to House of Commons or Senate (first reading)
-Second reading
-House debates and votes on principle of bill
-Parliamentary committee examines bill
-House amends bill
-Third reading, debate and vote
-Bill passes House
-Senate (or House of Commons if introduced in Senate) examines, debates,
amends bill
-Bill passes Senate
-Govener general gives royal assent, Bill is now Law.

   Criminal Law deals with the punishment of people who commit crimes
against the public such as murder, arson, and theft. These are
considered
to be crimes against society.  The rules for this are set down in the
Criminal Code of Canada.  The federal government is responsible for
bringing criminal offenders to trial.

   Civil Law deals with the protection of private rights.  It is
concearned
with disputes between individuals or groups. In civil cases, it is up to
the injured party to take the case to court. For an exmaple of a civil
case, let's say that a friend of yours pulls out a gun and shoots a hole
through your wall, but doesn't want to pay for it. It would be up to you
to
sue your friend for the cost of the wall in a civil court.



                         Supreme Court of Canada

               Supreme (or Superior) Court of The Province
                 Trials Division        Appeals Division


District (or County) Courts        Provincial (Magistrate's) Court


                       Family Court    Youth Court


Indictable Offences                     Summary Conviction Offences

                         Classification Hearing

                             Alleged Offence

Rights Guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of rights and Freedoms

Fundamental freedoms:
Worship as you like, believe what you want, express your opinions,
associate with whomever you like, and gather together peacefully.

Democratic rights:
Vote in elections, run as a candidate in elections, elect a new
government
at least every five years. (except, possibly in times of war.)

Mobility rights:
Enter or remain in or leave Canada, live and work wherever you wish
within
Canada.

Equality rights:
Live and work and be protected by the law without discrimination based
on
race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, arge, or mental
or
physical disability.

(There are also Language rights and Enforcement.)

    The Rights of The Accused in The Legal Process: (As outlined in the
legal rights of all Canadians in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

   The right to be secure from unreasonable search and seizure.  This
prevents the police from searching you, your home, or your personal
belongings unless they have a good reason to believe that the search
will
help them discover some information about a criminal activity.

   The right of Habeus Corpus.  This means that you have to be told the
reason you are being arrested.  You must also be brought to trial
without
undue delay.

   The right to a fair trial.  This means that you a right to have a
lawyer.  If you cannot afford one, the court must appoint one to defend
you.  You have a right to give your side of the case. The judge must
treat
you in a fair manner.

   The right not to be tried twice for the same crime.  this means that
once you have been tried and sentenced, the government cannot decide to
take you to court again for the same crime.

   The right not to be subject to cruel and unusual punishment.  This
means
that if you are found guilty of a crime, the courts cannot decide to
torture you. (pity.) Also, your sentance must be the same as the
sentance
of other people who have been found guilty of a similar crime.

   Some other rights outlined in the same section of the charter are:

The right not to be arbitrarily detained and imprisoned.
The right against self-incrimination.
The right to an interpreter.
The right to be considered innocent until proven guilty.
The right to bail.

   Governor Sir Guy Carleton was convinced that the Thirteen Colnoies
were
on the verge of rebellion and he felt that he had to secure the loyalty
of
the Canadiens (The French-speaking inhabitants of New France) to prevent
them from joining with the rebels. To accomplish this goal, he convinced
the British government to pass The Quebec act in 1774. The Anglophone
Colonists in Quebec felt that the act made Quebec a French Colony
instead
of a British colony. Generally, Canadiens were pleased. The act meant
that
they could keep their land, religion, and language and participate in
politics.

   Basically, here are the Main points of the Quebec Act:

- Quebec border is expanded far to the west. The new area included the
best
fur- trapping lands.
- Freedom of religion is granted for Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics
are
also permitted to hold public office.

- French civil law is retained, but British (fag) criminal law is
established.
- Roman Catholic churches are permitted to own property and collect
tithes.
- No land is taken from the French.
- No elected assembly is created.

Red River resistance
   The settlement of Red River was occupied by some Metis, (people of
mixed
European (usually French) and Native Ancestry) and some Anglophone
settlers.

   When the Canadian Government bought the Northwest from the Hudson Bay
Company in the 1860s, the Metis were angered that they were not
consulted
in the sale of the land, nor had their intrests been safeguarded. A
Metis
leader, Louis Riel felt that Metis rights had to be safeguarded before
Canada took over the settlement. So he organized groups of Metis who
forced
a surverying team to leave, and prevented the new Governor, Mcdougall,
from
entering the colony.

   In November 1869, The Metis organized a provisional government (a
temporary government) with Riel as president. They drew up a list of
rights
which they wanted the government to grant before Red River joined
confederation. While these were being negotiated, some Anglophones got
mad
at the provisional government and one of them, Thomas Scott, was
arrested
and executed for treason. This execution stopped the negotiations with
the
federal government. Macdonald had wanted to bring Red River into
confederation peacefully, but he had to forget about that. Citizens of
Ontario were outraged that an Anglophone had been killed by
Francophones.

   the longer Macdonald delayed action in the Read River settlement, the
more complex the problem became. English speaking Canadians wanted a
military force to be sent to Red River to stop Riel's uprising. French
speaking Canadians wanted the Metis rights to be protected.

   Finally Macdonald acted. His government passed a bill that made the
province of Manitoba, sent over a new governor who the Metis agreed on,
gave each Metis 240 acres of land, gave the Metis the right to vote, and
gave Red River a representative in Parliment. French was made an
official
language. Macdonald also sent a military force to Red River to keep
order
in the colony. The crisis was over, in 1870 the French-English relations
looked good. The Northwest Rebellion

   During the 1880s many Metis moved farther west near to present day
Saskatchewan in search of buffalo, and because of loss of land in Red
River
due to more settlers. By 1885 the buffalo again disappeared and more
settlers moved into Saskatchewan. The federal Government sent out
surveryers. The Metis demanded payments of money and land and were
getting
concearned about their rights again. Anglophones too wanted the land
issue
resolved. Macdonald's government, did not respond.

   Riel came to Saskatchewan on request of the Metis. He drew up yet
another bill of rights for the Metis and sent it to Ottawa. Macdonald
still
ignored the situation in the Northwest. After waiting about four months,
Riel concluded that the government wasn't going to meet any demands, so
Riel decided to use force and he appointed Gabriel Dumont as his
military
commander and an armed clash between the Metis and the North West
Mounted
police occured. The Anglophone settlers withdrew their support when Riel
decided to use force.

   Meanwhile, the Cree's economy was hurt by destruction of the Buffalo
and
they used the unrest caused by the Metis to launch several attacks on
the
Blackfoot. The government mistakingly thought that the Metis were
encouraging the Cree to rebel.

   People in eastarn Canada were in a fenzy after the news of these
events
reached them, so Macdonald ordered General Middleton, the commander of
the
Canadian Militia to go to Red River and kick some %&! So, using the new
Canadian Pacifac Railway, troops were rushed to the disturbances. Dumont
and his allies beat the government in early battles, but the government
had
superior military equipment and greatly outnumbered the Metis, so
eventually their stronghold at Batoche was surrounded and defeated on
May
12, 1885. Riel surrendered on May 15 and he was tried and executed for
treason, which became a national French-English conflict.

   Strains on French-English relations worsened with the outbreak of
World
War I.

   In the early years of the war, Canadians were eager to help Britain
and
its allies, and Canadians served in the war on a voluntary basis and it
seemed like there would be enough volunteers. By 1916, however, the
death
tolls in Europe were staggering. No matter how hard Canada tried, they
couldn't recruit enough volunteers. It became apparent that Quebec was
providing fewer volunteers than Ontario, although their populations were
similar in size.

   The government had to resort to other methods of recrution such as
conscription. (The compulsory enlistment of citizens into military
service.) The government was hesitant to bring in conscription, because
they knew it would damage French-English relations. (Which it did.) Many
Francophones had refused to volunteer for the army. How would they react
if
they were forced to join?   Robert Borden was PM of Canada when World
War I
broke out. He felt that Britain and its allies would need all the help
Canada could give. He thought Canada should supply arms, ships, food,
and
above all, soldiers. In 1917 he attended the Imperial War Cabinet, which
convinced him even more that Britain needed help. Consequently, when he
found that he couldn't wait for enough men to volunteer, he passed the
Military Service act (which made conscription legal) in 1917. In 1918,
conscription began, but a large number of Canadians (mostly
Francophones)
refused to join the army. What wimps!

   Henri Bourassa was the founder of the Francophone daily paper, Le
Devoir. He used the paper to express his ideas. Bourassa felt that
Canada
should think of itself as an independant nation, not as a colony of
Britain, and as far as he was concearned, World War I had nothing to do
with Canada so we shouldn't help Britain. He thought that Britain and
France were imperealistic and that they were just fighting Germany to
see
who could build up the greatest empire.

   In 1960 the "impatient generation" (Basically, these people were
proud
of being Francophones and felt that Francophones were not being treated
as
well as they deserved to be by Anglophones. They wanted to change this
by
gaining political power.) gained political power and great changes
occurred
in Quebec. This period of Radical change has become known as the Quiet
Revolution.

   These changes were introduced by the Liberal government of Jean
Lesage,
who became premier of Quebec in the 1960 election.

Here is a list of some of the concearns of Quebeckers in 1960:
- Wages in Quebec were less than the national average.
- The unemployment rate in Quebec was 9.1%.
- Only 18% of Canada's federal jobs were given to Francophones.
- Majority of businesses in Quebec were owned by Anglophones.
- Hospital and health care were not adequate.
- Education system was not geared towards an industrial society.

Here are the Lesage Government's solutions to Quebec's concearns:
- Get more hospitals and doctors in Quebec.
- Increase old age pensions.
- Have new laws which increase wages paid to workers.
- Provide more schools and education facilities.
- Provide jobs by providing money to start businesses.
- Develop Quebec's vast natural resources.
- Take over all the hydro-electric companies in Quebec.


   In 1962 Lesage campaigned under the slogan "maitres chez nous". This
suggested that he wanted to change the relationship between Quebec and
Ottawa. He felt that English Canada had too much control over the
economy
and the federal government.

   After the Conscription Crisis, English Canada thought that Quebec was
reletively satisfied with their situation, ergo they were suprised when
Lesage used that above mentioned slogan.

   The federal government and English Canada did not see why Quebec
should
be given special status over the other provinces. (i.e. Quebec wanted
complete control over all of its taxes.) French Canada argued that they
are
one of Canada's founding people, and they are Canada's largest minority,
(28%) and they have their own language and culture to preserve,
therefore
they should have special status to determine their unique way of life.

   Thus, during the '60s Canada was divided into two parts. On one side
were French Canadians who demanded special status. On the other side
were
the rest of Canadians, who felt that Quebec should not be given special
privileges.

The Official Languages Act of 1969 had four main points:

- English and French are the official languages of Canada.
- Both languages must be recognized in parts of the country where there
are
large minorities of French or English speaking people.
- Both languages must be recognized in certain sections of the federal
civil service.
- Both languages must be offered as the language of instruction in all
schools in Ottawa.

   When Trudeau made this act, it led to big changes such as all labels
being bilingual, and all civil servants learning french. Bilingualism
was a
symbol that all Francophones were accepted in Canada. The government
wanted
to prove that the French didn't have to seperate form Canada to protect
their way of life. Trudeau was so sure that this act was the solution to
all French-English relation problems that he made four more proposals,
which were:

- 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 
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