Approaching the Maple Leaf Land 1. A bird’s-eye View of Canada A. figures and facts B. Geography and economy C. Natural Wonders D. Traveling by Express from the East to the West 2. The History of Canada -From Dominion to Independence A. Important Historical Events B. The Quebec Issue C. Relation with UK and USA 3. Canadian Government A. Government Infrastructure B. Major Political parties The Liberal and the Conservative C. Canadian Honored Premiers 4. Social Services and Social Problems A. Social Welfare Compulsory Education and Health Care B. Immigration Policies and Multiculturalism C. Taxation Policies D. Social Problems Lecture One A Bird’s-eye View of Canada 1.1 Brief Introduction of Canada Canada, sometimes called the Maple Leaf Land with the maple leaf as the symbol of the country, is the second largest country in the world in terms of size (9,970,610 sq km). It is a member of The Group of Eight of leading economic powers, ranking along the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia. Canada plays an active role in international affairs, often taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions as well as development programs. Its scenery of mountains, oceans, forests, lakes and prairies is spectacular. In annual quality-of-life surveys conducted by the United Nations each year, Canada has been rated for six times as having the best standard of living in the world due to its health care, education, clean environment, social welfare, social services, and so on. It is sometimes vividly described as the paradise for the senior, the amusement park for the young, but the battle field for those who work. In contrast to its large physical size, strong economic potential and internationally recognized prestige, Canada’s population is considerably small. Its current population is about 31.6 million, almost the same as that of Chongqing. As an independent political entity, Canada is rather young, only 137 years old. IT was first given such a political status in 1867, when it was granted the title of the Dominion of Canada by the British North American Act ratified by the British parliament. Although Canada has been a member of the British Commonwealth, it has been inevitably influenced by American values and policies. For example, freedom of speech and freedom of information are much more valued in contemporary Canada than they are in Britain. These values owe much to the American protection of such rights. However, Canada has never stopped trying to create something of its own and keep it for Canadian identity. For example, the United States was founded on the idea of individualism, with Americans aspiring to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, while Canadians chose to found a nation based on “peace, order and good government”, indicating that for Canadians the well-being and liberty of individuals must be sacrificed for the greater good of the community. Additionally, American society is described as a “melting pot”, whereas Canadians tend to describe their society as “mosaic”. 1.2 Geography Canada consists of 10 provinces and three territories. The provinces are(from west to east) British Columbia(BC), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba(called the breadbasket), Ontario, Quebec(rated as the industrial heartland), New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland(called the Marinetimes). The three territories are The Yukon, the Northwest, and Nunavut, which are sparsely populated and administered mainly by the federal government. Provincial governments operate on the same model as the federal government at a lower level. Each province is led by a premier, who is head of provincial house, called the legislative assembly. Provincial governments have a great deal of power over the local economy, education and health systems. Located on the North American continent, Canada stretches from sea to sea, bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west coast and the Atlantic on the east coast, with the United States lying to the south. Whereas many national borders are fenced off and patrolled in order to control people entering and leaving, Canada and the US share the longest undefended national border in the world, a symbol of their friendly relations. About 90 per cent of Canadians live within a few hundred kilometres of the Canadian-American border. Canadians frequently visit the US to buy such things as cigarettes, drinks or gas, because these kinds of things are less expensive with lower government taxes. Like Americans, Canadians eat hamburgers, wear jeans, play baseball and enjoy American television shows. Nowadays many American TV shows and movies are shown in Canadian cities and towns, which look just like the US. It is often assumed that Canadians are just like Americans. AS they have much in common in cultural, economic, and physical terms, it is an uneasy process to define or present “the Canadian identity”. Canada lies between the two superpowers, and its unique geographical location brought a lot of concern about its security, especially during the Cold War. Canadians were acutely aware that if a nuclear war between the two superpowers occurred, Canada would inevitably become a battleground, whether it wanted to be involved or not. As a result, Canadian policy-makers have had a great interest in promoting peace and cooperation among nations. For this reason, Canada has always played an active role in international organizations like the United Nations, the Commonwealth and has made active contributions to UN peacekeeping missions. 1.3 Economy Canada is a leading industrial nation with a highly developed economy, which is greatly influenced by Canada’s physical geography that is rich in natural resources. Its huge size and small population has made extracting and transporting goods to markets difficult. The second major influence is from the United States, which has a much more powerful economy and a larger market. As most Canadians live in the southern areas, trade has naturally developed from north to south, across the Can-Am border, rather than from east to west, between provinces and regions. This accounts for the third influence imposed by the federal government’s intervention in the development of the country’s resources and economy, rather than allowing market forces to play the major role. But the days of such government intervention are drawing to a close, as Canada has begun to embrace the principles of free trade and allowing the market-place to manage the economy rather than the government. The Canadian government was once reputed for being rather socialist because of its interventionist practice. With small population, the Canadian market for goods such as cars was small and difficult to access. Manufacturers had difficulty competing with the much larger production capacity of the US, where economies of scale made per unit prices significantly lower. To help stimulate the development of “value-added” industries, Canada engaged in protectionist practices. To protect the Canadian car industry, for example, the government erected heavy tariffs on the import of US cars. In the 1960, The Canadian and American governments made a deal on car production. Both sides decide they could benefit if they had freer trade in cars, and so an agreement called Auto Pact was drawn up for the benefit of both sides. The success of the assignment of this Auto Pact was significant, because it paved the way for the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Canada and the US in the 1980s. Today free trade seems to be prevailing all over the globe in spite of the voice of cursing. The idea of a free trade agreement made good economic sense. Canadian industries had been hurt by the American use of non-tariff barriers to trade and a refusal to regard Canada as a “special case” and waive such measures. As a result, businesses were increasingly relocating to the US to get around the barriers, and to protect Canadian industry, a deal had to be made. For the Americans, the Free trade Agreement (FTA) was a small expression of a big idea: it wanted more international support for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT),which is now replaced by more comprehensive WTO. For Canada, entering into the FTA meant a new reduced role in the economy for the government that has been by tradition very interventionist, and this has been difficult to accept. This deal has benefited some regions more than others: resource-rich western provinces have done well, selling their products to their southern neighbours, while the heavily-manufacturing based eastern provinces have seen job losses, finding it difficult to compete with large American firms. It remains uncertain as to whether, in the long run, embracing close economic relations with the US will lead to a serious diminishing of Canada’s economic and therefore political and cultural sovereignty. Optimists say that Canada, by embracing free trade not just with the US, but with others, will benefit in the long run as the world becomes more economically interdependent and more tolerant of the trade principles envisioned by the WTO. In fact, not only Canada, but many other countries are making joint efforts to carry the principles of free international trade forward. Industry in Canada can be divided into three main groups: natural resources(primary industries); manufacturing(second industries);and service(tertiary) industries. In 1999, the primary sector, including agriculture, fishing, forestry and mining, accounted for 2.2 per cent of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP)(labour force 4%). Second industries, including manufacturing, construction, transport and communications, made up 30.3 per cent of GDP (labour force 22%); and tertiary sector of trade, finance, services and public administration, accounted for nearly 67.5 per cent of GDP (labour force 74%). The service sector of Canadian economy includes things like baking, health care, construction, communications, education, tourism, and government. As is the case in other industrialised countries, more Canadians have jobs in the service sector. Even in Ontario, the manufacturing heartland of the country, more workers are employed in hospitals than in the automobile industry; and more people work in universities and colleges than in iron and steel mills Canada has seen the export of services as being important to the world economy, and has actively pursued the liberalization of trade in services through forums like WTO and the Free Trade Agreement. However, the potential for Canada to export services is not very strong and the sector continues to be dominated by US firms One area of Canadian influence is the world economy. By actively building a strong domestic economy, Canadian policy-makers succeeded in creating a wealthy country which wields an amount of economic power in the international arena that is surprising for a country so small in terms of population. ] Questions for Thought Why is Canada rated as a best place for living? How will Canada be affected by free trade? What can be the best strategy for Canada to ensure its security? Recommended Readings: Experience in Canada by Xi Minwang (o6/2001) The Culture of Canada by Dai Rong and Wang Xiaoshan (08/2001) http://whysbook.yeah.net