The most noted socialist figure in Canada was Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas was crowned the ‘Greatest Canadian’ on November 26th by Canadians through the CBC poll. In 1944, Tommy Douglas became the passionate leader of the only provincial socialist party in North America – the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). However, the most noted achievement for himself and for the Canadian people was the creation of universal Medicare. Universal Medicare is a clear symbol of the difference between Canadians and Americans. Universal Medicare emphasizes Canadian’s trust of authority because they are much more comfortable to turn their money over to the government in order to receive a standard for all Canadians. As a Democrat, Senator John Kerry never even touched on universal Medicare, in fact, both candidates were not particularly interested in social issues. The most important agenda item was homeland security. On the other hand, Stephen Harper is a Conservative who supports universal health care. Stephen Harper would not be a Republican in the US mainly because of the difference of political culture between the two countries. Toryism is serving as a foundation to the Canadian political culture.
Why has socialism and in turn toryism found an underlying place in the Canadian political culture? The birth of Canada was one of evolution not revolution, as the United States. Canada was not quick to separate from Britain; only between 1791 and 1840 was a true Canadian political culture different from Britain forming. The American Revolution, on the other hand was an abrupt and rebellious end to a relationship between Britain and America. These births show just what both countries stood for historically; Canada having a reputation for being accepting especially of authority, hierarchical and unwelcoming to rapid change while US was always known as the rebellious southern partner. To further enforce the original Canadian values, it must also be emphasized that immigrants from France came to Canada to escape the French Revolution. The French Revolution was aiming to decentralize power from the monarchy to the people. People escaping to Canada wanted to maintain hierarchy and a strong government.
Toryism is depicted in the Charter of Rights. The Charter states that it is to “preserve the principle of parliamentary supremacy and place less emphasis on the individual, as distinct from group rights.” A strong executive in Canada is important in Canada because of the fragmentations the country faces. The executive needs to have the power to execute an agenda, if Canada had to incorporate everyone’s say in issues, it would not be able to pass anything. The fragmentations within Canada are French-speaking Canadians, aboriginals, and immigrants. Quebec has always had a distinct language and culture from the rest of Canada. French-speaking Canadians have debated the issue of separation quite heatedly, this alienated Quebec from the rest of the country. Quebec is seen as the France of EU; just as the EU, Canada pressured Quebec to give up its veto power in the Council.
The greatest example of fragmentations in Canada is Toronto. Toronto is the home of Chinese, Polish, Italian, Greek, and many, many more cultures. Streets such as Spadina, Roncesvales, College, and Danforth all echo these culture associations. Historically, cultures in Toronto have ghettoized on these streets. The first generation Canadians have had a hard time letting go of their past and instead continue to live just as they would at home, oblivious to other cultures or to Canada. There are a lot of immigrants in Toronto who have been residing in Canada for 10 or 15 years and do not speak English and have not attempted to chant the ‘I am Canadian’ slogan. This kind of behaviour is quite apparent among immigrants and poses a threat to commonality in Canada. The cultural mosaic is due to the fact that these cultures do not integrate themselves into Canada not only because they have a right to, but also because they have the ability to.
The second generation immigrants are the ones becoming saturated with Canada’s culture through the educational system and the media. ‘[N]either the state nor the public school can be neutral about patriotism.” Starting in elementary school, kids sing the national anthem, they learn about how glorious the Canadian flawless the history and the leaders of our country were. The job of a school is to teach children how to be good citizens – how to be good Canadian citizens. Generation after generation the foreign language will transforms into English and people’s foreign culture into Canadian. The end-result will not be a cultural mosaic but rather a melting pot, just as in the US. And, in the end the children will chant ‘I am Canadian’ and drink their Molson Canadians with their Canadian flag on their porch.
What Canada is already starting to see and will see more of, is patriotism such as in the US. Already when people from Central Europe come to see Canada, they tend to ask what holiday Canada is celebrating because of all the flags visible everywhere. Patriotism is a new phenomenon and clearly something brought over from the US.
The media is having an immense effect on our political culture. Media allows the average citizen to access information about the government and form an educated opinion about it. Toryism “seeks to resist increased cultural and media influence by Americans, and its weapon for doing is the traditional Canadian remedy of state intervention.”
An important aspect for Canadian poltical culture is the excessively centralized system that Canada harbours. The power in Canada is concentrated on the Prime Minister, it is
TOO MUCH POWER
This essay will now asses
CHANGING POL CULTURE:
Party affiliation has decreased – the centre has taken the stage.
Canada’s political culture has modernized. There is no doubt that Canada has within it a touch of toryism because
-patriotic
-Malaise may diminish if
-No longer accepts rule by elite
-Free Trade
-still a good welfare state
-If Stephen Harper were an American, he would be a Republican
Peter J. Smith bluntly states the following in his dialogue with Janet Ajzenstat on contemporary Canadian culture; “Canadians would sell their souls for an academic theory that says that Canada is not like the U.S.”
Presently Canadians…(MyThought: have been more American)
Both born as a liberal constitutionalist country just as the United States, meaning that the fundamental goals are to redistribute income and to regulate private enterprises for both of the countries.
The Tory Fragment in Canada: Endangered Species? Pg. 1
How will I prove my essay?
1. Fraction in Canada (immigration, aboriginals, Quebecers, Equalization payments)
2. US (the only thing we seem to know – we are not Americans (arrogance – something we seem to enjoy more and more of in Canada, love of guns, medical system, Religion)
3. Decentralized system
Thesis: Toryism has declined with the decentralization of its governmental institutions.
1st BODY PARAGRAPH
-What is political culture to Canadians
-Canada as a liberal democracy
-
“Redistribution of wealth, protecting the environment, addressing the demands of historically underpriviledgeg groups – all [are] typical of liberal democracies.”
-Need to define what Tory really is! ☹ (HISTORY)
-Introduce major theorists on this topic (stop using ‘this’)
-What is the US pol culture?
-What is Toryism? Acceptance, hierarchy, …
-acceptance: not really: Spadina – are the Chinese people on Spadina really Canadian (literally – do they actually have citizenship?), do they feel Canadian and if so, are they accepting of people just as we proclaim tolerance? If the second answer is no, then they must still have the same traditions as in China, not in Canada. Assimilation is a big problem in Canada because people do not do it. If you have ever been up north, multiculturalism is not something that is apparent at all. The ‘I am Canadian’ commercial was a good way to rally the people of Canada to join together.
‘neither the state nor the public school can be neutral about patriotism’
Singing the national anthem in an elementary school – never done before except during communism in PL
]
“prevailing interpretation of Canadian
history and political culture has argued that it is toryism or socialism, and not constitutional liberalism, that lies at the heart of the Canadian way of life”
-Why study it
-How is it important to the Candian Pol Culture.
2nd BODY PARAGRAPH
-Governmental Institutions
-How have they affected pol culture
-Tory
3rd BODY PARAGRAPH
-Multiculturalism makes it difficult to maintain a unified pol culture
-accepting? Not really, I do not see acceptance.
-Especially in a city such as TO, most immigrants stay within their own clique and are not even exposed to the ‘Canadian culture’: fragment theory
-Is/was Canada a tory?
-what is it?
-what do we hope to see in the future?
-Relate US, decentralized system into the Tory idea
CONCLUSION
“Canada and the United States are becoming more similar”
In the end, Joe Canadian was scouted by Hollywood and moved to Los Angeles in 2001, even though there was a protest from Canadians. ☺
In the end (2) we keep on creating and recreating these oblivious terms… that really do not mean much because party politics is really dissinegrating and people
The place for toryism is in Canadian history.
HOW THE INTRO WILL TIE IN:This is why it is important to mention this movement of nationalism because our political culture appears to be conservative but is really
To begin, we must discuss the fracture theory in Canadian politics. The fragmentation of any society is not a benefit but to their country in any way besides being a tool to drive their nation apart. However, Canada is unique in this respect; it thrives on multiculturalism as the core principle of the Canadian culture. The fragments present in our society are as follows; Immigrants, Aboriginals, and Quebeckers. Immigrants can be further divided into their ethnic origins. These divisions within the Canadian system make it difficult to say that Canada has one type of political culture
It is not reasonable to say that just because Canada has a lot of fragmentation enmeshed deep in its core, that it is accepting.
Lecture notes: Sept. 29/04
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/douglas-tommy.html
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/top_ten/nominee/douglas-tommy.html
The Origins of Canadian Poltics
Conservatism: The Tory Tradition
???ESCAPING FRENCH REVOLUTION
PJS, JA, Political Culture Today.270
http://reason.com/0205/cr.jl.maple.shtml
