DOCSLIB.ORG

THE AMERICAN IMPRINT on ALBERTA POLITICS Nelson Wiseman University of Toronto

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
THE AMERICAN IMPRINT on ALBERTA POLITICS Nelson Wiseman University of Toronto University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for Winter 2011 THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS Nelson Wiseman University of Toronto Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly Part of the American Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, and the United States History Commons Wiseman, Nelson, "THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS" (2011). Great Plains Quarterly. 2657. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2657 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS NELSON WISEMAN Characteristics assigned to America's clas­ the liberal society in Tocqueville's Democracy sical liberal ideology-rugged individualism, in America: high status was accorded the self­ market capitalism, egalitarianism in the sense made man, laissez-faire defined the economic of equality of opportunity, and fierce hostility order, and a multiplicity of religious sects com­ toward centralized federalism and socialism­ peted in the market for salvation.l Secondary are particularly appropriate for fathoming sources hint at this thesis in their reading of Alberta's political culture. In this article, I the papers of organizations such as the United contend that Alberta's early American settlers Farmers of Alberta (UFA) and Alberta's were pivotal in shaping Alberta's political cul­ Social Credit Party.2 This article teases out its ture and that Albertans have demonstrated a hypothesis from such secondary sources and particular affinity for American political ideas covers new ground in linking the influence and movements. Alberta came to resemble of Americans to Alberta's exceptionalism in Canadian politics, the province where federal and provincial conservative parties have been strongest and where resistance to federal intru­ Key words: political culture, ideology, immigration, sions has been the most vigorous in English populism, religion Canada. Alberta has been Canada's "maverick" province, more receptive to neoliberalism (or Born in Bucharest, Nelson Wiseman is an associate what many term neoconservatism) than the professor in the Department of Political Science at the Canadian norm. University of Toronto where he specializes in Canadian government and politics. Choice designated his book, In Search of Canadian Political Culture, as an THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: IDEOLOGICAL Outstanding Academic Title in 2009. He has appeared FRAGMENTATION AND FORMATIVE EVENTS as an invited witness at committees of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate. In Louis Hartz's scheme, the ideological path of a new society is determined at the point [GPQ 31 (Winter 2011): 39-53] of its departure from the mother society.3 From 39 40 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, WINTER 2011 this perspective, the new society reflects only In Alberta, liberalism has been hegemonic, one slice of the older society's total ideological its cultural face more American than British. spectrum. America's liberal Puritan found­ Tory and socialist touches have been more ers, for example, split off from the totality of marginal in Alberta's political culture than in Britain's broader ideological spectrum, escaped English Canadian political culture as a whole. its Old World toryism and its later socialism. Evidence on the federal partisan level in the The dialectical dance between Old World clas­ 1990s was the undoing of the older federal sical conservatism and upstart revolutionary Progressive Conservative Party, identified by liberalism eventually produced socialist visions its tory touches, by the Alberta-based neo­ in Europe that were not replicated in the United liberal Reform Party. At the provincial level, States because its founding and reigning ideol­ Alberta is notable as the only province west ogy, liberalism, congealed at America's point of Quebec where the social democratic NDP of departure from Europe. Lockean liberalism (New Democratic Party) has not formed a gov­ became a national cult-the civil religion-of ernment. the United States. In this ken, the collectivism To be sure, Alberta has not been wholly of both toryism and socialism contrasts liberal­ bereft of tory and socialist tinges in its political ism's primacy of place for the individual and culture. As with the rest of English Canada, market competition. English Canada's found­ Alberta represents an ideologically impure ers, the Loyalists, were essentially American liberal fragment. Toryism and socialism in liberals but were infected with a "tory touch," small measure have inevitably leaked into the and embedded in their toryism was the seed for provincial political culture through Alberta's socialism to emerge in Canada later.4 early connection with British institutions This article applies Hartz's theory of ideo­ and its continuing cultural ties to the rest of logical fragmentation at the provincial level, Canada. Toryism in Alberta, however, has to Alberta. It makes no connection, however, always been much weaker than in eastern between toryism and socialism in Alberta Canada, and its socialism has been less robust except insofar as the toryism of the larger than elsewhere in western Canada.6 The first English Canadian political culture inevitably prime minister based in Alberta, R. B. Bennett, influenced Alberta. Highlighted are Alberta's had something tory and un-American in his Americans as founding settlers and their influ­ outlook. He became prime minister, however, ential ideas. The argument here also draws despite Alberta; his Conservatives captured on Seymour Upset's idea that a formative only a third of the province's votes and only event shapes a new society's political culture four of its sixteen seats in the 1930 election and applies the idea at the provincial level. in which half the national electorate voted For Upset, the formative event for both the Conservative and anti-Americanism was an United States and Canada was the American issue. Loyalist toryism had little purchase Revolution as it led directly to the creation of in Alberta. Nevertheless, viewed from an Upper Canada (now Ontario) by America's out­ American perspective and in comparison to cast tories.5 The Revolution had no relevance, states south of it such as Montana, Idaho, and however, to Alberta's settlement, which came Utah, the provincial political culture evinces more than a century later. The contention here some nonliberal elements. is that Alberta's political culture congealed Connections to the rest of Canada have in conjunction with the province's formative meant that socialism has also had some pres­ event at the turn of the twentieth century­ ence in Alberta politics. Socialism did not the disappearance of good, cheap agricultural completely fade out in Alberta as it did in the land in the United States and the emergence United States, where it appeared as a largely of Alberta and western Saskatchewan as North foreign blip at the turn of the twentieth cen­ America's "Last Best West." tury and soon vanished. British, particularly THE AMERICAN IMPRINT ON ALBERTA POLITICS 41 Scottish, socialists helped turn Calgary into grants were generally urban born and bred and an early hotbed for labor radicalism; the city more inclined to support labor-socialist causes served as the birthplace of both the syndical­ as they had in Britain. They headed to politi­ ist One Big Union and the NDP's predecessor, cally underrepresented cities such as Calgary, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation and this lessened their influence in shaping (CCF). Like toryism, however, the socialist provincial politics. touch in Alberta's political culture has always Manitoba in the 1880s, according to W. L. been relatively weak, and socialist fortunes in Morton, represented "the triumph of Ontario the province pale in comparison to those in the democracy," and the 1890s made it "a British neighboring provinces. and Canadian province" as more Britons Some surveys of popular values indicate that arrived.lO Parallel descriptions of Alberta in the Albertans' attitudes on many issues are similar twentieth century's first and second decades to those of other English Canadians, but many could be "the triumph of populist democracy" other surveys point to Alberta as an outlier. and "an American and Canadian province." Certainly, the political behavior of Albertans Unlike Manitoba and Saskatchewan where and their governments has been notably dis­ Ontarian settlers were first on the scene after similar in a comparative provincial context. Confederation, the various national groups They have often adopted more extreme pos­ constituting Alberta's pioneers arrived almost tures and policy positions at odds with most simultaneously. Unlike English Canadian provinces-on provincial rights, language political culture as a whole, which developed rights, multiculturalism, medicare, gun con­ over much time and from a variety of sources, trol, capital punishment, same-sex marriage, Alberta's particular political culture congealed and the environment.7 Many of these positions in its formative years and coincided with the have been more in harmony with neoliberal American influx. preferences common in the United States. American homesteaders and their political ideas enjoyed
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Grade 4 Program of Studies
    SOCIAL STUDIES KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 12 PROGRAM RATIONALE AND PHILOSOPHY Social studies provides opportunities for students Canada’s historical and constitutional to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge that foundations, which reflect the country’s will enable them to become engaged, active, Aboriginal heritage, bilingual nature and informed and responsible citizens. Recognition multicultural realities. A pluralistic view and respect for individual and collective identity is recognizes that citizenship and identity are shaped essential in a pluralistic and democratic society. by multiple factors such as culture, language, Social studies helps students develop their sense environment, gender, ideology, religion, of self and community, encouraging them to spirituality and philosophy. affirm their place as citizens in an inclusive, democratic society. DEFINITION OF SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAM VISION Social studies is the study of people in relation to each other and to their world. It is an issues- The Alberta Social Studies Kindergarten to focused and inquiry-based interdisciplinary Grade 12 Program of Studies meets the needs and subject that draws upon history, geography, reflects the nature of 21st century learners. It has ecology, economics, law, philosophy, political at its heart the concepts of citizenship and identity science and other social science disciplines. in the Canadian context. The program reflects Social studies fosters students’ understanding of multiple perspectives, including Aboriginal and and involvement in practical and ethical issues Francophone, that contribute to Canada’s evolving that face their communities and humankind. realities. It fosters the building of a society that is Social studies is integral to the process of enabling pluralistic, bilingual, multicultural, inclusive and students to develop an understanding of who they democratic.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    OPPOSITION TO CONSCRIPTION IN ONTARIO 1917 A thesis submitted to the Department of History of the University of Ottawa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts. % L,., A: 6- ''t, '-'rSily O* John R. Witham 1970 UMI Number: EC55241 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform EC55241 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE:IDEOLOGICAL OPPOSITION 8 CHAPTER TWO:THE TRADE UNIONS 33 CHAPTER THREE:THE FARMERS 63 CHAPTER FOUR:THE LIBERAL PARTI 93 CONCLUSION 127 APPENDIX A# Ontario Liberals Sitting in the House of Commons, May and December, 1917 • 131 APPENDIX B. "The Fiery Cross is now uplifted throughout Canada." 132 KEY TO ABBREVIATIONS 135 BIBLIOGRAPHY 136 11 INTRODUCTION The Introduction of conscription in 1917 evoked a deter­ mined, occasionally violent opposition from French Canadians. Their protests were so loud and so persistent that they have tended to obscure the fact that English Canada did not unanimous­ ly support compulsory military service.
    [Show full text]
  • Native Resistance to the Fossil Fuel Industry in the Pacific Northwest
    Native Challenges to Fossil Fuel Industry Shipping at Pacific Northwest Ports Dr. Zoltán Grossman Professor of Geography and Native Studies, The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington In recent years, the Pacific Northwest has become a region on the cutting edge of curbing carbon emissions. But any efforts to mitigate greenhouse gasses, adapt to climate change, or switch to renewable energies will become moot if the fossil fuel industry continues to expand in Alberta, the Great Plains, and beyond. Despite the enormous scale and reach of energy corporations, their top-heavy operations are actually quite vulnerable to social movements who creatively use spatial strategies and tactics. The climate justice movement has identified the Achilles heel of the energy industry: shipping. The industry needs to ship equipment from ports into its oil, gas, and coal fields, and to ship the fossil fuels via rail, barge, and pipeline to coastal ports for access to the U.S. market and shipment to global markets, particularly in Asia. The three growing fossil fuel sources in North America are in the middle of the continent: the Alberta Tar Sands, the Powder River Coal Basin, and more recently the Bakken Oil Shale Basin. Every step of the way, new alliances of environmental and climate justice activists, farmers and ranchers, and Native peoples are blocking plans to ship carbon and the technology to extract it. All three of these sources need outlets via ports in the Pacific Northwest states of Washington and Oregon. My presentation will focus on the role of Northwest ports in fossil fuel shipping and equipment networks, and the Native/non-Native alliances that are confronting them.
    [Show full text]
  • English Language Arts and Social Reproduction in Alberta
    University of Alberta Reading Between the Lines and Against the Grain: English Language Arts and Social Reproduction in Alberta by Leslie Anne Vermeer A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical, Cultural and International Studies in Education Department of Educational Policy Studies © Leslie Anne Vermeer Fall 2012 Edmonton, Alberta Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission. This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of Timothy James Beechey (1954–2011), who represented for me everything that teaching and learning are and can be; and to Bruce Keith and Zachary Keith, because no one earns a doctorate by herself. Abstract Alberta's 2003 High School English Language Arts curriculum produces differential literacies because it grants some students access to high-status cultural knowledge and some students access to merely functional skills. This differential work reflects an important process in sorting, selecting, and stratifying labour and reproducing stable, class-based social structures; such work is a functional consequence of the curriculum, not necessarily recognized or intentional.
    [Show full text]
  • Chretien Consensus
    End of the CHRÉTIEN CONSENSUS? Jason Clemens Milagros Palacios Matthew Lau Niels Veldhuis Copyright ©2017 by the Fraser Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The authors of this publication have worked independently and opinions expressed by them are, therefore, their own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Fraser Institute or its supporters, Directors, or staff. This publication in no way implies that the Fraser Institute, its Directors, or staff are in favour of, or oppose the passage of, any bill; or that they support or oppose any particular political party or candidate. Date of issue: March 2017 Printed and bound in Canada Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data End of the Chrétien Consensus? / Jason Clemens, Matthew Lau, Milagros Palacios, and Niels Veldhuis Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-88975-437-9 Contents Introduction 1 Saskatchewan’s ‘Socialist’ NDP Begins the Journey to the Chrétien Consensus 3 Alberta Extends and Deepens the Chrétien Consensus 21 Prime Minister Chrétien Introduces the Chrétien Consensus to Ottawa 32 Myths of the Chrétien Consensus 45 Ontario and Alberta Move Away from the Chrétien Consensus 54 A New Liberal Government in Ottawa Rejects the Chrétien Consensus 66 Conclusions and Recommendations 77 Endnotes 79 www.fraserinstitute.org d Fraser Institute d i ii d Fraser Institute d www.fraserinstitute.org Executive Summary TheChrétien Consensus was an implicit agreement that transcended political party and geography regarding the soundness of balanced budgets, declining government debt, smaller and smarter government spending, and competi- tive taxes that emerged in the early 1990s and lasted through to roughly the mid-2000s.
    [Show full text]
  • Renewing the Self
    Renewing the Self Renewing the Self: Contemporary Religious Perspectives Edited by Benjamin J. Wood Renewing the Self: Contemporary Religious Perspectives Edited by Benjamin J. Wood This book first published 2017 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2017 by Benjamin J. Wood and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-9885-6 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-9885-0 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 Individuality and Sociality in Christian Social Thought Jonathan Chaplin Section A: Historical Orientations Chapter One ............................................................................................... 10 The Canadian Red Tory Tradition: Individualism, Selfhood, Community and the Good Ron Dart Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 30 Autonomous Selves or Loved Others: A Theo-Political Perspective on the Individual Roger Haydon Mitchell Chapter Three
    [Show full text]
  • Steward : 75 Years of Alberta Energy Regulation / the Sans Serif Is Itc Legacy Sans, Designed by Gordon Jaremko
    75 years of alb e rta e ne rgy re gulation by gordon jaremko energy resources conservation board copyright © 2013 energy resources conservation board Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication ¶ This book was set in itc Berkeley Old Style, designed by Frederic W. Goudy in 1938 and Jaremko, Gordon reproduced in digital form by Tony Stan in 1983. Steward : 75 years of Alberta energy regulation / The sans serif is itc Legacy Sans, designed by Gordon Jaremko. Ronald Arnholm in 1992. The display face is Albertan, which was originally cut in metal at isbn 978-0-9918734-0-1 (pbk.) the 16 point size by Canadian designer Jim Rimmer. isbn 978-0-9918734-2-5 (bound) It was printed and bound in Edmonton, Alberta, isbn 978-0-9918734-1-8 (pdf) by McCallum Printing Group Inc. 1. Alberta. Energy Resources Conservation Board. Book design by Natalie Olsen, Kisscut Design. 2. Alberta. Energy Resources Conservation Board — History. 3. Energy development — Government policy — Alberta. 4. Energy development — Law and legislation — Alberta. 5. Energy industries — Law and legislation — Alberta. i. Alberta. Energy Resources Conservation Board. ii. Title. iii. Title: 75 years of Alberta energy regulation. iv. Title: Seventy-five years of Alberta energy regulation. hd9574 c23 a4 j37 2013 354.4’528097123 c2013-980015-8 con t e nt s one Mandate 1 two Conservation 23 three Safety 57 four Environment 77 five Peacemaker 97 six Mentor 125 epilogue Born Again, Bigger 147 appendices Chairs 154 Chronology 157 Statistics 173 INSPIRING BEGINNING Rocky Mountain vistas provided a dramatic setting for Alberta’s first oil well in 1902, at Cameron Creek, 220 kilometres south of Calgary.
    [Show full text]
  • Resource25-2Cbb0418.Pdf (Walking in Indian Moccasins Canadian
    _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Report Information from ProQuest July 28 2015 12:59 _______________________________________________________________ 28 July 2015 ProQuest Table of contents 1. Walking in Indian Moccasins: The Native Policies of Tommy Douglas and the CCF................................... 1 28 July 2015 ii ProQuest Document 1 of 1 Walking in Indian Moccasins: The Native Policies of Tommy Douglas and the CCF Author: Hall, Tony ProQuest document link Abstract (Abstract): Hall reviews "Walking in Indian Moccasins: The Native Policies of Tommy Doulas and the CCF" by F. Laurie Barron. Links: Check Library Availability Full text: Walking in Indian Moccasins: The Native Policies of Tommy Douglas and the CCF. F. LAURIE BARRON. Vancouver: UBC Press 1997. Pp. xix, 272, illus. $65.00 One of the big and powerful ideas to emerge from the intellectual history of English-speaking Canada concerns the broad overlap between the genesis of socialism and conservatism in the society emerging from the losing side of the American Revolution. A generation ago Gad Horowitz, George Grant, and Charles Taylor argued this case with particular vigour. Nowhere was their theory more vividly illustrated than in Saskatchewan after the Second World War, the political domain within which Tommy Douglas and the CCF took power in 1944 and the nurturing ground for John Diefenbaker, the fatally flawed Red Tory hero of Grant's sublime tragedy, Lament for a Nation. If the political culture of Saskatchewan provides fertile geography for one of English- speaking Canada's greatest political paradoxes, Aboriginal affairs provides one of the most illustrative areas of policy and principle linking the historical traditions embodied by Douglas and Diefenbaker.
    [Show full text]
  • The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990-2003
    THE REGIME CHANGE CONSENSUS: IRAQ IN AMERICAN POLITICS, 1990-2003 Joseph Stieb A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Sciences. Chapel Hill 2019 Approved by: Wayne Lee Michael Morgan Benjamin Waterhouse Daniel Bolger Hal Brands ©2019 Joseph David Stieb ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT Joseph David Stieb: The Regime Change Consensus: Iraq in American Politics, 1990-2003 (Under the direction of Wayne Lee) This study examines the containment policy that the United States and its allies imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War and argues for a new understanding of why the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. At the core of this story is a political puzzle: Why did a largely successful policy that mostly stripped Iraq of its unconventional weapons lose support in American politics to the point that the policy itself became less effective? I argue that, within intellectual and policymaking circles, a claim steadily emerged that the only solution to the Iraqi threat was regime change and democratization. While this “regime change consensus” was not part of the original containment policy, a cohort of intellectuals and policymakers assembled political support for the idea that Saddam’s personality and the totalitarian nature of the Baathist regime made Iraq uniquely immune to “management” strategies like containment. The entrenchment of this consensus before 9/11 helps explain why so many politicians, policymakers, and intellectuals rejected containment after 9/11 and embraced regime change and invasion.
    [Show full text]
  • The Impact of the New Right on the Reagan Administration
    LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THE IMPACT OF THE NEW RIGHT ON THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION: KIRKPATRICK & UNESCO AS. A TEST CASE BY Isaac Izy Kfir LONDON 1998 UMI Number: U148638 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U148638 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 2 ABSTRACT The aim of this research is to investigate whether the Reagan administration was influenced by ‘New Right’ ideas. Foreign policy issues were chosen as test cases because the presidency has more power in this area which is why it could promote an aggressive stance toward the United Nations and encourage withdrawal from UNESCO with little impunity. Chapter 1 deals with American society after 1945. It shows how the ground was set for the rise of Reagan and the New Right as America moved from a strong affinity with New Deal liberalism to a new form of conservatism, which the New Right and Reagan epitomised. Chapter 2 analyses the New Right as a coalition of three distinctive groups: anti-liberals, New Christian Right, and neoconservatives.
    [Show full text]
  • Lesson Plan with Activities: Political
    LESSON PLAN POLITICAL PARTIES Recommended for Grade 10 Duration: Approximately 60 minutes BACKGROUND INFORMATION Parliamentary Roles: www.ola.org/en/visit-learn/about-ontarios-parliament/ parliamentary-roles LEARNING GOALS This lesson plan is designed to engage students in the political process through participatory activities and a discussion about the various political parties. Students will learn the differences between the major parties of Ontario and how they connect with voters, and gain an understanding of the important elements of partisan politics. INTRODUCTORY DISCUSSION (10 minutes) Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy, founded on the rule of law and respect for rights and freedoms. Ask students which country our system of government is based on. Canada’s parliamentary system stems from the British, or “Westminster,” tradition. Since Canada is a federal state, responsibility for lawmaking is shared among one federal, ten provincial and three territorial governments. Canada shares the same parliamentary system and similar roles as other parliaments in the Commonwealth – countries with historic links to Britain. In our parliament, the Chamber is where our laws are debated and created. There are some important figures who help with this process. Some are partisan and some are non-partisan. What does it mean to be partisan/non-partisan? Who would be voicing their opinions in the Chamber? A helpful analogy is to imagine the Chamber as a game of hockey, where the political parties are the teams playing and the non-partisan roles as the people who make sure the game can happen (ex. referees, announcers, score keepers, etc.) LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO POLITICAL PARTIES 01 EXPLANATION (5 minutes) Political Parties: • A political party is a group of people who share the same political beliefs.
    [Show full text]
  • Welcome to Alberta: a Consumer Guide for Newcomers 1 SHOPPING in ALBERTA
    Welcome to Alberta: A Consumer’s Guide for Newcomers Table of Contents 1 GENERAL CONSUMER PROTECTIONS: RULES THAT PROTECT YOU WHEN SHOPPING . 1 SHOPPING IN ALBERTA .......................................................................................................................2 GENERAL SHOPPING INFORMATION ................................................................................................2 PRICES AND TAXES .............................................................................................................................3 SHOPPING ON THE INTERNET ...........................................................................................................4 DOOR-TO-DOOR SALES......................................................................................................................5 COMPLAINTS ........................................................................................................................................6 BUILD YOUR BUYING SKILLS .............................................................................................................7 2 FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE . 7 ARE THERE ANY LAWS IN CANADA ABOUT HOUSING? ..................................................................7 BUYING A HOME ................................................................................................................................11 TELEPHONE SERVICES ....................................................................................................................12 TELEVISION SERVICES .....................................................................................................................15
    [Show full text]