Canada

Wildlife is a barometer of the health our environment. Meager diversity of wildlife, or relatively smaller wildlife populations in any geographical region, is usually an indication of something seriously wrong in the environment. In the United States and Canada, early settlers indulged in unrestricted hunting for food and sport. As these territories were settled, the game species gradually dwindled.

The westward movement of people took its toll in terms of loss of habitat for diverse animal species. In the latter half of the twentieth century, it began to be widely realized how important it was to manage, preserve and conserve wildlife prudently.

Over the decades, more and more conscious efforts have been directed towards wildlife conservation, though they do not seem to be adequate yet. Today, almost every national government across the globe has laws to maintain wildlife. North American governments, especially, perceive the urgency of the need of intense efforts to conserve and protect game and non-game species.

Federal agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and their counterparts in Canada share in the management of wildlife. In almost every state and county of the U.S. and Canada there are wildlife agencies responsible for the protection of fish and animal species.

Oregon’s varied geology, soil, and climate support a vast collection of species and habitats, which also influence the state’s culture and economy. In 2001, for example, wildlife-related activities such as fishing, hunting, and wildlife watching generated a revenue of $2.1 billion for the state’s economy.

However, the expanding impact of human development has left much of Oregon’s wildlife at different levels of risk. Nearly all native grasslands and prairies have been lost since European settlement. Ninety-six percent of the original coastal temperate rainforests have been logged. Oregon has 32 federally listed threatened and endangered species.

Oregonians still feel much closer to nature than people in most other parts of the United States. They deeply appreciate and are proud of Oregon’s rich natural and wildlife heritage, the state’s strong ties to fish, birds and animals. However, it is common knowledge that the wildlife scenario is not so upbeat within the state’s territory. Oregon’s state bird, the western meadowlark, for example, has become a rare sight in Willamette Valley, though it is not yet placed in the endangered species list yet.

The meadowlark needs some conservation attention, as do dozens of other bird and animal species in this land of nature’s bounty. Habitat conditions have to be improved significantly to let Oregon’s wildlife assert its natural resilience and thrive in abundant numbers.

There are major challenges in maintaining Oregon’s many fragmented or degraded wildlife habitats. The construction of towns and roads, alteration of river systems, or intensive land management practices have all contributed, in the natural course of things, to the loss of habitat. Land conversion often results in diminution or total disappearance of habitats. At the very least, it impacts the quality of habitats and adversely affects the ecosystems.

However, in the more recent decades, environmental awareness has led to improvements in land management practices. Better concerted efforts by Oregonians to sustain the state’s fish and wildlife are showing promising results.

Historically, Canada has been subjected to various cultures such as that of the British and the French. From as early the 1500s, European explorers, traders, and fishermen from England, Ireland and France helped form the basis of Canadian culture. Now in the modern era, there is another addition in the list of cultural influences affecting the Canadian society. This cultural treat comes in the form of the contemporary American culture.

American influence is clearly visible but not fully acknowledge by most Canadians. Several people think that this is an implied disposition but there is also a great number who believe that this is explicitly manifested in the Canadian culture. Proximity and the migration of people, ideas, and capital were deemed to be the cause of America’s immense influence on Canadians (Canada culture).

This study aims to uncover the predicament of the Canadian culture in relation to being associated to the American Culture. Public perception of the United States as a global powerhouse in politics, economics and culture has produced a very potent American culture wherein in this case, Canadians have unconsciously embraced it as demonstrated in their fondness for Hollywood, U. S. landscapes and American vernacular (Kellogg, 2004).

Determining the starting point, extent and effect of the American influence on Canadian culture will provide an ample amount of information that would explore the ways in which American influences have challenged Canada’s cultural values and asks whether Canada is able to maintain its own identity. The period covered would start from post-modern era to present. The time frame relatively represents the age of globalization when culture is intensified and amplified to meet the clamor for innovations.

Generally, Post modernism is a movement of ideas arising from, but also critical of elements of modernism. This definition embodies the present state of the American culture. Understanding Culture It is important to understand and identify aspects of culture that leads to its pervasion across geographical and political boundaries. It is equally important to understand the roots of cultural disparity and differences that often places two civilizations, though geographically contiguous, at subtle levels of conflict and confrontation.

The cultural spectrum holds different shades for a person, a society and a nation, accordingly helping each of them to assimilate and adapt to a common identity that is defined and shaped by culture. In the process of evolving this collective identity, culture transcends its traditional role of providing an aggregate set of beliefs, customs, norms, values, ethics, traditions, moral, social and legal codes, perceptions, and philosophy, to become the overall physical framework for the society to function.

Culture attains a real form, rendering a three dimensional living space for people to experience its living force (Mahant and Mount, 2002). Culture is strongly related with geographical setting of a place, religion, ethnicity, and race, explaining why different countries have different cultures, and also why places on seashore share common elements of culture that is quite different from culture of mountainous places.

The imprinting of culture on ways a person thinks, acts, perceives the environment and models his/her reaction is very strong and virtually indelible, determining every aspect of human behavior and giving rise to cultural identity in addition to individual and national identity. Although the classic rational choice framework says that people are independent in choice of their behavior and approach towards events, its seen that at subtle levels the structural model provided by culture acts as final determinant in predicting a person, a society and a nation.

Although culture is dynamic, evolving and continuously upgrading itself, in essence, these changes occur within the context of culture’s own timeframe (Mahant and Mount, 2002). One of the most important contribution of culture to human civilization is the orientation provided towards other cultures, making the culture in question receptive, tolerant, indifferent or outright hostile towards different cultures. Societies are seldom mono-cultural, displaying a range of cultural traits, achieved through generations of trades, contact, and cross cultural mixing.

However, although for people belonging to a particular culture, their culture would hardly seem complex, the cultural realities are hidden beneath the surface, difficult to observe and discern from outside. These improper understanding and imperfect perceptions of culture often give rise to conflict when different cultures are required to meet or come across. Cultural Dialogue and Imprinting between USA and Canada In recent times, the Canadian cultural policy has taken an inward looking approach in order to minimize influence of United State Culture while supporting Canadian cultural elements.

The rhetoric of cultural protectionism is familiar-aimed towards protecting Canadian cultural, its sovereignty and identity; assuring shelf space for Canada in a world completely occupied by Americanism; assuring a zone of creative independence to Canadians where their tales would be theirs’ alone. This introvert attitude is also promoted with an aim to counter the market dominance of American products, their selling strategies, , their discriminatory policies against Canadian goods and their challenge to Canadian sense of independence, unity, and identity (Mahant and Mount, 2002).

It is no wonder that this logic is also forwarded as an argument for protecting and promoting cultural diversity. Such rhetoric have come repeatedly off Canadian politicians, cultural leaders and taken up fervently a large section of Canadian media. (Acheson and Maule, 1999, 329-48). However, these maneuvers lack a historical perspective of US and Canada relation that dates back to the earliest days of colonial settlements. At the time when United States of America achieved its independence in 1783, it comprised of thirteen principle colonies, comprising most of people, and habitable parts of the region at the time.

What was left of British North America contained a large territory with scant but primarily English speaking population as a direct result of the American Revolution when most of the loyalist fled there (Maule, 2003). This predominantly English culture implied that this region, which would be later, organized as Canada would bear a close relationship with its politically and economically advanced neighbor. The binding thread of English language and same English culture provided both Canada and USA a common cultural platform, especially in a huge and isolated landscape.

The cultural interaction between two countries took place at same frequency and within the same context, and it filled Canadians with a sense of creation and recognition of a joint cultural space where events in United States did not take place across the border, rather across the boundary wall (MacKinnon, 1973). The feeling of continuous cultural space permeated through most of 19th century, as people across border established close links and immigration between the two nations took place with a greater ease than intra-state travel in many countries.

Naturally, owing to its superior size, population, vastly greater economy and industrial prowess, USA took the role of big-brother between two nations and for the initial days, Canadians were perfectly content in following USA as a role model for practically all aspects of their life (Maule, 2003). Hence it is no surprise that education, political system and social structure of Canada closely toed on US lines (MacKinnon, 1973). By the beginning of 20th century, US media, press and broadcast were largely dominating their Canadian counterparts.

Reports citing surveys conducted in the period 1920-26 state that Canadian readership for US magazines, books and newspapers had gone on all time high, leaving behind British and even their own publications by several degrees (Acheson and Maule, 1999, 329-48). Meanwhile, with emergence of motion picture and wireless broadcast, Americanism, its ethics and its values found a much quicker and shorter route to penetrate Canadian horizons. The cultural extension of USA in Canada was of sufficient strength to mould its business interests to the interest of United States commercial enterprises (Maule, 2003).

However, Canadian identity received a major boost post the Second World War, where their armed legions had distinguished themselves. Cultural issues now took centerstage and several commissions instituted by Canadian government were unanimous in their recommendations for establishing councils that would oversee development of Canadian art, literature, music, and aesthetics, independent of the drug laden bohemian US pop culture. By 1957, Canadian government had established the council for art and music and opened Canadian public library.

The government even took several relatively draconian measures, such as levying tax on popular American magazines in order to divert the readership as well advertisers to Canadian publications. The government also invested in establishing a network of universities and colleges with independent curriculum than their US counterparts (Peers, 1969). Protecting Canadian Culture Canadian culture has always been protective towards its earlier British root, and although there is a continuous influx of people from around the world in Canada, the essential Canadian values hung close to colonial memories for a considerable time(Dean and Dehejia, 2006).

Naturally the completely un-conventional and un-orthodox American value system and cultural symbols had always posed a threat to traditional values and cultural system of Canada. Further, the inner progress towards nationhood since 1960 has permeated a feeling of nationalism in Canada, where, coming out of British cultural dominion, they attempted to assert themselves as a national group (Fulford. 1990). Under these circumstances an assault of US cultural values was seen as a threat to the nascent Cultural nationalism and Canadian cultural-value system.

Despite instituting these measures, Canadian government could not claim complete immunity by ever growing American influence through its beaming pop culture, movie world and non-conservative attitude towards system of values and ethics. The presence of an active, forward, and rather intruding American culture let Canada to retain at least five different types of measures to protect its culture were still in place. The first of these measures known as ‘Cancon’ regulations have been extant since 1930s and by 1990s they formed a essential if somewhat erratic part of the principle measures in place to check American Culture.

Under the provisions of Cancon regulations, its compulsory for Canadian private broadcasters to show at least 60 percent Canadian content during evening “prime time,”. Although in practice, the duration is considerably lower than what is stipulated, yet it has ensured that at the least some Canadian content is broadcasted. but most show considerably less than these figures would suggest (Kellog, 2004). As a direct consequence of cancon regulation surveys conducted in May 2000 reveal that 35 percent of all music played on Canadian radio stations is Canadian with some quota also for primarily instrumental music.

To ensure Canadian presence in television programs, the government has introduced a a point system that measures Canadian-ness of programs in terms of the proportion of Canadians involved (Mahant and Mount, 2002). Although these measures did not necessarily reflect the accurate picture, neither assured Canadian-ness of content, they have remained effective from a general point of view in keeping Canadian culture afloat (Kellog, 2004). The second category of measures have consisted trade protection to Canadian broadcasters and media.

Although, with introduction of WTO rules and regulations, many of these regulations have disappeared, yet the remnants continue to provide a structural security to Canadian broadcasters (Dean and Dehejia, 2006). In the third set of measurements, Canadian government took steps to increase investment in Canadian media and broadcast industry. The government recognized that cultural performance in Canada is linked with ownership and control. These investment policies have allowed the prevention of American bookstore chains and media industries from comprehensive takeover of their Canadian counterparts.

Though the government has allowed limited foreign investment in the cultural industries, the center of its focus has remained on promoting and nurturing Canada based cultural entities (Mahant and Mount, 2002. Under the fourth set of measurement, government decided to directly subsidize Canadian Cultural entities. The subsidies have become central to Canadian policies to protect, and encourage Canadian cultural values, entities, art and music, especially after NAFTA and WTO have led to elimination of a number of other protective measures (Mahant and Mount, 2002).

For example, according to a 1997 ruling, WTO stipulated that the postal subsidies enjoyed by Canadian magazines would be regarded as an illegal subsidy. Therefore, government has provisioned systems of direct grants and subsidies as a result of which nearly all the forms of Canadian cultural entities, ranging from from book publishing to films to readings by writers and art exhibits enjoys measures of government subsidy and supported (Mahant and Mount, 2002). The serious intents of Canadian government can be estimated from the fact that in 1996-97 government spent more than $5.

6 billion dollars in cultural subsidies and grants; Apart from these measures, the Canadian government has also established a number of ad hoc measures, rules and regulations to protect its heritage and Culture. This ad hoc approach has been necessary especially since WTO and NAFTA have continued to pressurize and impeded government’s efforts to protect Canadian cultural industries and sectors (Mahant and Mount, 2002. Certainly these measures diluted, if not ended, US cultural dominance on Canadian social space.

However, US media, riding upon its buoyant economy and its technological enterprise continued to dazzle the world, and it was little surprise that, its culturally closest neighbor, Canada could hardly escape their affect. As the era of globalization, Internet and social networking has dawned upon the world, it is inevitable that Canadian cultural distinctions would at some point of time reflect the values and ethics promoted by a US dominated world (Mahant and Mount, 2002). References Blackwell, J. D. and Blackwell-Stanley, L. C.. Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources.

Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www. iccs-ciec. ca/blackwell. html#culture Canada culture. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www. university- world. com/canada/canada_culture. html Kellog, A. (2004). Despite American culture creep, Canadian values remain. Edmonton Journal. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www. gaiecoute. com/default. aspx? scheme=2150. Large Canada Urban Areas Population and Density: 2001. Statistics Canada:2001 McGregor, G. The Beaver Bites Back: American Popular Culture in Canada David H.

Flaherty and Frank E. Manning (eds. ). Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1993. 356 pp. CJS Online. Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://www. cjsonline. ca/articles/mcgregor. html O’Neil, D. Overview. (2006). Retrieved February 12, 2008, from http://anthro. palomar. edu/change/change_1. htm Mahant. E. E. , Mount, G. S. 2001. The U. S. Cultural Impact upon Canada; American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 31. Maule, C. 2003. State of the Canada-U. S. Relationship: Culture. American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 33, 2003.

Neil MacKinnon, “The Changing Attitudes of the Nova Scotian Loyalists towards the United States, 1783-1791,” Acadiensis 2 (Spring 1973). Acheson, Keith and Christopher Maule, Much Ado about Culture: North American Trade Disputes. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1999. Frank W. Peers, The Politics of Canadian Broadcasting, 1920-1951 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969) W James W Dean, and Vivek H Dehejia. 2006. Would a Borderless North America Kill Canadian Culture? , American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 36. Robert Fulford. 1990. Canada: A Great Northern Paradox? Americas (English Edition), Vol 42.

During the years of 1918-1920 Canada had a brief moment of prohibition. During this period in time drinking alcohol was considered illegal. As a result many negative and positive side effects had taken place in the country. Although the ban of alcohol may have been able to do great good on Canada, the people’s reaction to it completely flipped it around. Although it may have been overall a disastrous idea; Canada still managed to benefit from prohibition just like the United States (maybe even more). Although our Country may have benefitted greatly from the illegalization of alcohol, Canada still became a lot darker.

Organized crime and bootlegging became a lot bigger since people wanted to keep drinking regardless of what the law said. Thanks to this many police became overburdened and stressed out since they had to keep going out of their way to arrest these people going against the law. It does not end there though; many people also lost their jobs since alcohol became illegal and had to resort to crime. It still gets worse. Alcohol was sold in the same manner as many illegal drugs such as Cocaine, LSD, Meth, etc.

Because of this the people buying didn’t know if the drinks they got were reliable / safe to drink (most of them weren’t). Because alcohol was made illegal, the people who were poisoned by these drinks weren’t able to report them so they can get treated (treatment also happens to be very expensive). Now the root of all these problems is the fact that many people happen to have drinking problems. Unfortunately for these people the treatment of these drinking problems were also prevented so they couldn’t fix their problems that may result in their deaths later on thanks to the unreliability of the alcohol they buy.

Thanks to prohibition the law enforcement, the court systems, and politics became permanently corrupted. Because organized crime became so powerful, they were able to bribe, blackmail, or even murder anyone who tried to stop them. They were even able to get one of their men into a high position of power by cheating in elections. Now you may be wondering what would be one of the causes for something this horrible. If you must know it is religion. Thanks to what the religious jerks kept preaching, many people couldn’t find a job and had to resort to crime to support their families.

They couldn’t find a job because the influential groups kept telling others that they were coming from the “devil’s work”. Many religious figures preached that if alcohol would be made illegal then god would “bless” America and usher in a great paradise. Ironically the exact opposite happened. Because of these false promises that ushered in far more harm than good, many people lost their respect towards religion and stopped listening to what they preached… Wait why this is listed on under a negative effect of prohibition, that has got to be one of the greatest things that have ever happened in North American history.

Long story short, prohibition was just one failure after another Although many negative impacts came out of prohibition; it wasn’t exactly an all-out failure. Canada still benefitted in many positive ways through prohibition. Although many people resorted to crimes and felony, other people decided to make themselves useful and help benefit society by finding another job. It also ended the great sausage parties (this means women were finally allowed to join in on parties and other places such as bars, clubs, etc).

Unfortunately that is just about it for the non-alcohol related positive effects of prohibition. Some people were very stubborn and still wanted to keep doing what they did before even with prohibition taking place. So instead of resorting to crime or finding another job they decided to travel to a different country and continue what they were doing before without a care in the world. Thanks to these people, many drinks exclusive to only North America were shared with other countries and their drinks were shared with North America when the Bartenders came back after prohibition.

In a way these people helped unify many Countries and help build a healthy relationship between them. Also during prohibition car racing became famous since many people had to upgrade their cars to evade the police as they went about selling illegal narcotics. Not many people know how this evolved into the great sport of car racing but it just did. Prohibition although disastrous and unpredictable did do North America one great favor. Because of all the failures and disasters caused by prohibition many people lost respect towards the religions that enforced prohibition.

Thanks to that the people of North America were able to become more self-aware and not act as some mindless puppet of their religion. Unfortunately although Canada may have experienced numerous positive impacts thanks to prohibition; it was still not enough to remove the amount of negative (and beautifully positive) impacts that continued to plague the country even after it was removed for good. Law enforcement, the court system, and politics became permanently corrupted and have remained corrupted even to this day.

Many people were financially, emotionally, and morally broken and suffered greatly during the twenties and thirties. Due to a great many people losing their jobs because of Prohibition they had to either find lower paying jobs, or become criminals. This really tore people apart. It also permanently created and maintained an uncanny amount of disrespect for the law. The reason for this is because everyone broke the law of prohibition, which technically made them criminals. Prohibition made people view the law as something stupid and unimportant instead of what it was meant to do (good and protecting).

Prohibition did nothing to encourage respect and obedience towards the law, it did the opposite. Although the illegalization of alcohol can indeed benefit society greatly, it cannot be done because of the huge role alcohol plays in society nowadays. In Conclusion, prohibition resulted in many positive and negative effects to take place in Canada. Although the ban of alcohol may have been able to do great good on Canada, the people’s reaction to it completely flipped it around. Although it may have been overall a disastrous idea; Canada still managed to benefit greatly from prohibition.

Society is constantly changing, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse, and different country’s society’s change at different paces, and some don’t change at all. For some countries, their society will change entirely, for everyone, and for some, their society will change for only one race, or one gender. In Canada, specifically, society and the way the country operated changed for women drastically between 1914 and 2004.

Canadians had learned to accept women for their gender, and accept that they had the ability to perform tasks that men could. In Canada’s society, people viewed women different politically, socially, and environmentally when the 20th century began. Some things, however, didn’t change at all for women, and these things are what they still struggle with today. The status and value of women has changed significantly due to the catastrophic events of the Great Wars. During the war, women became the primary bread winners of the family while the men went out to war.

It was the first time in Canadian history that women were eligible to work in factories to support the war effort. Women were able to vote on behalf of their fathers and husbands that fought in the Great War. Judge Emily Murphy became the first female judge of Canada in 1916, appointed by the British Government. The role of a judge was predominantly a male job that held a high status in society. Women were starting to get political job opportunities as women fought for gender equality.

Emily Murphy became a beacon of hope for gender equality as she was one of the Famous Five. It wasn’t until the end of the century that a female earned the role of prime minister. Kim Campbell became the first female Canadian prime minister in 1993. During her time served as prime minister, she amended the criminal code to better suit laws regarding firearms and sexual assault. Since the beginning to the First World War to present day, women have earned a position as equals in the political scope.

Socially, women began to be more accepted by their families at home, as well as when working, and when outside of their homes. At home, instead of women only cooking and cleaning, they began to do jobs that required more effort and skill. Women were allowed to be educated and receive an education, meaning that they were able to work, and replace a man’s role in a workplace environment. For example, during the Second World War, when men had to enlist in the war, women replaced their jobs in the workplace in the meantime.

While at war, women worked in factories to sew and provide for the war, as supplies from Canada were sent to where the war was taking place. Environmentally, women began to be more widely accepted, especially as the 21st century rolled around. During the 21st century, women were still faced with gender discrimination in the workplace. Women in the 21st century are still faced with a glass ceiling, and are not offered the same positions as men are, and are also not paid as much as men are for doing the same positions as them.

Furthermore, environmentally, women were faced with a lack of rights to their gender entirely. In the late 1900s, women finally began to fight for equality in Canada, and created many organizations in order to do so. As a whole, women began to be recognized around the world and in Canada especially for their movements to become known, and treated equally. As you can see, people in the 20th century, many people believed that women couldn’t perform the same way that men could, nor qualify for the jobs that men could.

Furthermore, many believed that women shouldn’t have been allowed to get an education, and that women wouldn’t be nearly as close as they are today. Specifically, now women can run to be president or prime minister of any country, they also qualify to be lawyers and judges in the supreme court of Canada. Also, women proved them wrong. Throughout the years, women proved that with hard work and dedication, that anything could be possible. Now, women are recognized politically, socially, and environmentally all around the world, and are widely accepted as individuals.

Bilingualism and biculturalism are intertwined terms that have influenced the social model of modern society. As everyday passes by, the world keeps getting smaller and we continue conforming to the cultural norms of the global society. While bilingualism helps us to keep our native language intact, biculturalism reminds of our true roots. In a world with diminishing cultural boundary lines, bilingualism and biculturalism are critical factors that help preserve one’s cultural identity. Bilingualism Bilingualism is basically the ability to comprehend and effectively communicate in two languages.

However, various experts have their own definition of bilingualism with certain nuances. For instance, a bilingual is one who is recognized as a native speaker by natives of both languages, according to a French linguist named Thiery (Chan 2). In recent times, the ability to construct and express complete, meaningful sentences is considered adequate for one to achieve bilingualism. B. Ways to measure bilingualism Bilingualism can be measured by evaluating the level of mastery of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills in both languages.

Most bilinguals have superior command over one language compared to the other, as it is not very common for an individual to have equal mastery of both languages. Likewise, some bilinguals can understand a language better than they speak it; they are commonly referred to as receiving bilinguals. It is generally accepted among the linguist community that knowing a minimum of five thousand words in a language is necessary to carry out effective communication. C. Types of bilingualism

Various types of bilingualism have been found to exist as linguists continue to study the reasons and methods governing the existence of bilingualism. Sometimes, learning a second language might lead to the deterioration of ones native language. This negative impact over a person’s native language is called as subtractive bilingualism. However, if second language proficiency is achieved without causing any negative impact one’s mother tongue, then it is known as additive bilingualism. When an individual’s communication skills improve in general from the mastery of a second language, it is known as ascendant bilingualism.

In countries where people speaking a certain language are frowned upon, there is a tendency to conceal one’s native language owing to the fear of being stigmatized. This phenomenon is known as covert bilingualism. On the other hand, some nations in the world have two official languages, as a result of having people from different cultural backgrounds speaking two different languages. Although not all people in the country speak or understand both the languages, such a country is known to exhibit societal bilingualism.

Bilingualism can be classified into infant bilingualism and artificial bilingualism, based on the nature of acquiring bilingualism. Infant bilingualism is a native way of acquiring both languages simultaneously, right from a very early age when a child begins to talk. This way of acquiring bilingualism would most probably result in one attaining almost equal proficiency in both languages. This is possible when both languages are natural part of the child’s environment. This usually happens when each parent is a native speaker of one language or if the parents are proficient in both languages.

This way, the child finds both languages natural since he/she is exposed to it since birth. Artificial bilingualism is a phenomenon according to which parents consciously try to pass on a language that is not either of their mother tongues, to the children. This could be a result of societal or cultural pressure to speak the language like a native speaker. Artificial bilingualism can have a negative impact if the parents try to force a language that they are not proficient at it, since this could lead the children to form an improper language model.

D. Biculturalism Biculturalism enables an individual to possess native-like knowledge of two cultures present in his/her country. Hence, a bicultural person would have the ability to relate to members of both cultures as well as act according to the demands of both cultures. True biculturalism is said to have been achieved if a person inherently feels like a part of both cultures. E. Biculturalism in society Biculturalism usually exists in a country where two different cultures or cultural identities are allowed to freely flourish within the society.

It is characterized by widespread occupation of people belonging to two diverse cultures. However, true biculturalism cannot exist in a country where one culture is suppressed or discriminated. Bicultural countries have official policies to protect the interest of both cultures. It also facilitates equitable status and rights to people belonging to both cultures without any prejudice. These countries also celebrate festivals pertaining to both cultures to preserve integrity of both cultures and foster the spirit of togetherness. E. 1 Biculturalism in Canada

Canada follows a policy of official bilingualism as its gives equal status to both English and French in its parliament and courts. This was done to preserve the cultural identity of French communities in Canada, as support for the French language in Canada had weakened and English had become the preferred language in business and politics, by the end of the nineteenth century. As the years passed by, Francophone communities outside of Quebec begun to realize the extinction of their culture was inevitable, unless French-based education was made a top priority.

Certain political forces in Quebec had also wanted a separate state during the 1960s. Franco-Albertans living in Quebec called for bilingualism and biculturalism to ensure that Canada stayed united. This led to the proclamation of the Official Languages Act of 1969 announcing Canada as a bilingual nation (Alberta’s Francophone Heritage 3). Today, Franco-Albertans are entitled to exclusive French-only education according to rights guaranteed by Bilingualism and Biculturalism Commission, while French is also now used in government offices and hospitals in Alberta.

All these developments with respect to biculturalism have kept Canada together as one nation and led to the revival of the French culture. E. 2 Biculturalism in Australia Australia was originally inhabited only by several indigenous tribes, until the Europeans settlers started to immigrate there. These relatively new settlers started to control the ethnicity of the immigrants settling down to ensure that Australia had a cultural identity of a British Colony. Until 1973, the governments empowered by the Immigration Restriction Act followed the White Australia policy to keep a check on non-European immigration.

The racial injustice perpetrated by the White Australia policy official came to end by passing of the Racial Discrimination Act in 1975. Australia started to rigorously follow a bicultural policy similar to Canada, opening its doors to several thousands of immigrants from all over the world. The extent of Australia’s multicultural policy can be better understood from a 2005 Department of Immigration statistic which reports that forty percent of the contributing workforce in Australia had at least one parent born outside of Australia, while twenty-five percent of them were not originally born in Australia (Wikiepedia 9).

Australian values of ‘mateship’ centered on equality, loyalty and friendship, have enshrined in its biculturalism policy and given equal rights to all Australian citizens irrespective of their ethnicity. Multiculturalism was initially perceived as the acceptance of people coming from different cultural backgrounds as members of Australian society. However, the significance of biculturalism has now deepened and empowered immigrants in Australia to express their cultural identity, thereby enabling them to experience both Australian culture as well as their native culture. E.

3 Biculturalism in the United States America, in spite of being one of most culturally diverse nations in the world and built on values of equality, does not officially have a federal multiculturalism policy. That being said, America does practices biculturalism on a social level as immigrants from various countries are freely allowed to practice their religion and exhibit their cultural identity. The Hart-Cellar Act of 1965 nullified quotas based on one’s national origin. Since then, more twenty twenty-eight million people immigrants have legally been accepted by the United States of America.

Bilingualism is also prevalent is certain Southern states that are heavily populated with Spanish-speaking immigrants. F. The relationship of bilingualism to biculturalism Bilingualism and biculturalism are concepts that are very closely tied together. Bilingualism not only helps one to connect and effectively communicate with the society around him/her, but also enables a person to maintain command over his/her native language. Since language is the key to stay in touch with one’s ethic or national culture, bilingualism helps foster biculturalism as well.

F. 1. Origin of bilingualism in bicultural societies Canada was one of the pioneers of the New World to officially adopt the policy of bilingualism. In 1867, British North America Act was passed to legalize to conversing in English as well as French in Canadian Parliament as well as Courts of Law, thereby paving the way for a bicultural state. As the world’s political climate began to change during the beginning of the twentieth century, the idea of cultural pluralism started to gain momentum.

Biculturalism began in western world and paved the way for biculturalism to be adopted as a political policy in many other parts of the world. F. 2. Bilingual education Bilingual education is a method of teaching all subjects to students through a country’s primary language as well as the student’s native language. There are several types of approaches and programs available to carry out bilingual education. Transitional programs teach all subjects in the students’ native language and English is taught as a separate subject until bilingual students can study along with other native students in normal classrooms.

Dual Language programs consist of an equal combination of students who are native English speakers as well students who have another common native language. These methods enable all students in the class to be bilingual and understand subject matter in both languages. Late-exit program is yet another method that is quite similar to transitional programs, but it also teaches all the subjects in English again to reinforce the subject content and achieve effective bilingualism. It is hard to generalize and develop a common plan to educate bilingual students.

For instance, in the US, young immigrants are either more educated or less educated native-born American students since immigrants from Asian countries are relatively well-educated compared to their South American counterparts, as a result of to social and economic differences. Language maintenance and Language shift Language maintenance is an effort to preserve the linguistic ability of child in his/her native language, while not compromising on learning the popular secondary language at school. It is can result from a passion for one’s culture or a necessity to communicate with elder members in the family.

Career prospects due to international acclaim or the availability of media services such as television programs or books in one’s native could also cause language maintenance. The avoidance of one’s native language is known as language shift. For instance, bilingual children may stop using their mother tongue owing to a higher degree of English exposure in school. Other factors that influence language shift are fear of one’s native language negatively influencing their English language skills or learning abilities.

Lack of parental encouragement to maintain one’s native language can also lead to language shift. G. Transference Transference occurs when a person’s native language negatively influences the way he/she uses another language or vice-versa. This influence can occur in the form of distinctive oral expressions i. e. accent or odd sentence compositions. It is classified into lexical, phonological, semantic, prosodic, tonemic, syntactic and pragmatic transferences.

CONCLUSION

The concepts of bilingualism and biculturalism are two critical aspects that have held together societies comprising of several cultures, languages, races and ethnic backgrounds. Since transference or the deviation from the norms of a language could lead to language shift, proper bilingual education has to be provided to ensure that one is comfortable using both languages. Bilingualism, the preservation of one’s native language accompanied by command over a country’s primary language, is necessary to achieve biculturalism in a society as well retaining one’s true cultural identity.

References A Research Guide for Students. (1998-2006). Retrieved March 20, 2008. http://www. aresearchguide. com/1steps. html Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from Alberta’s Francophone Heritage. http://www. edukits. ca/francophone/en/secondary/infomatics_text_bilingualism. html Chan, K. (1998). Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from Academia. http://www. geocities. com/goktimus/bilingualism. html Multiculturalism. Retrieved March 20, 2008, from Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Multiculturalism

To fully understand why Canada is one the wealthiest nations in the world, we need to pay particular attention to Canada’s economic history. The economic history of our country has been marked by many important events that have paved the way for a successful economic future. A brief economic history of Canada would pay particular attention to important events such as the economic boom of the 1920s, the dark times of the 1930s; the Second World War during the 1940s and to also not forget the important trade agreements such as the auto pact and the NAFTA.Despite the above mentioned important events, Canadian economy has also been greatly influenced by its own economic sectors.

Our economy has undergone through major changes during the past 3 decades. One of the factors that had an enormous impact on the economy of Canada has been that of the automotive industry. The automotive industry was born in the early years of the 20th century and it has since then, expanded very quickly. (White, 2007, p. 3) The expansion has proved to be economically profitable and also unsuccessful at times.This essay will examine the economical and political impacts of the auto industry in Canada during the past years, by paying special attention to the economic regional imbalance, the auto pact, the North American Free Trade Agreement and also the shift in the Canadian auto market, from American automakers to the Japanese automakers during the past three decades. The automotive industry expanded Canada’s economy by increasing the employment levels, the improvement of roads and contributed to an increase in revenues due to licences and gasoline fees.

It also strengthened the economical relationship with our neighbours to the south and has also improved the economy of the southern provinces as it is heavily concentrated in the province of Ontario with major assembly plants in Windsor and Oshawa. The first car was produced in 1888 by Karl Benz in Germany, where as in Canada “commercial production did not being until after 1900” (White,2007, p. 5) Many Canadian automakers tried their luck but only some succeeded, as the automobile market in Canada was overtaken by the United States in the early stages of its production.It is very important to understand that the beginning of the automobile industry is closely connected to that of the United States. Many people link the creation of the automobile industry in Canada with the American automaker Ford. The design of the American automakers is entirely different from that of the Europeans and this was set early in the history of the car production. The Germans and the French build quality and modern cars which could only be afforded by the rich, where as the Americans were faced by an economic dilemma therefore they build cars that the public at large could afford, at a cheaper quality than the Europeans.

As White states in the 1920s the industry hit its stride, expanding such that Canada became the second-largest producer of automobiles in the world. ” (2007, p. v) The automobile changed many aspects of the lives of Canadians. The car gave Canadians the leisure they didn’t have before the 1920s. Now they were able to travel long distances comfortably, to find jobs far away from home as now it was easier to get to work. The automobile also allowed for the construction of the hard surface roads. Norrie at al states that by the 1928, there were 8600 km of concrete or macadamized roads in the province (2008, pg.

89) As the number of cars per person increased so did the number of licensed vehicles in Canada. Norrie et al states that by 1923 the number of automobiles in Canada had risen to nearly 1. 2 million (2008, p. 288) Employment rates were steadily rising with the rise in the number of manufactured cars in Canada. The opening of big plants throughout Canada in cities such as Windsor and Oshawa closely contributed to higher employment rates. In 1920 the average number of employees in the automobile manufacturing industry was 8,281 where as 6 years later it increased to 11,905. The sun life assurance company, 1956, p.

3 table 1) Even to this day almost 90 years later, these cities are heavily depended on the employment by the automakers. The increase in employment contributed to an increase in the lifestyles of Canadians. Also government revenues increased with the expansion of the automobile industry. They had to find a way to maintain the roads therefore licensing and gas fees were introduced. The automakers did not only increase the lifestyle of the people in the southern provinces but they had a big impact on the western provinces also.Agriculture was one of the many industrial sectors that benefited from the automakers. With cars being built it was now easier for the farmers to sell their products in the market.

They now had a more comfortable way to travel and this made their jobs easier. Also the introduction of the farm tractors was a big help in the agriculture industry. The farm tractors increased crop quantities and livestock volume. The tractor was a great invention as it was more efficient and less time consuming. One of the negative impacts of the automobile industry in Canada is that of the regional economic imbalances between the provinces.With the manufacturing being heavily concentrated in Ontario, the other provinces of Canada do not get the same economic output as Ontario does. “Ontario is considered by far the wealthiest province.

The province generates almost 50 percent of Canada’s GDP which translates into a staggering 675 billion dollars. Many analysts describe Ontario as the powerhouse of Canada and a serious contender in North America as well as globally” (Ohmae, 73) The manufacturing plants are situated in the southern province so they could be closer to their parent American companies. The export of the manufactured cars has also increased the GDP of the country.This also shows that with the most jobs being in Ontario, Canada’s population is heavily concentrated in Ontario as the province offers more employment opportunities. “Between the years of 1981 to 1995, Ontario’s exports, primarily in the United States, almost quadrupled from $38 billion to $140 billion. Exports to the other provinces doubled but when we compare exports to the rest of the world in contrast to the rest of Canada the exports dropped from 28 per cent to less than 20 per cent “(Courchene, 278). The above figures show that Ontario is exporting more to the rest of the world than the other provinces.

When it comes to exporting to other countries, Ontario exports more to the United States than any other country in the world. Ontario is better off economically because other important industries are located in the provinces. Industries such as the telecommunication industry are also located in Ontario. Therefore with this being said, Ontario is mostly depended on the United States rather than on the other provinces. The auto industry expanded during the 1920s as already mentioned in this essay. A good reason for this was the fact that Canadians themselves were buying cars, since they were a hot commodity during those years.The auto industry was always dominated by the United States and never by the Canadians and this is why many people wonder if the auto industry in Canada is actually Canadian.

The second economic boom for the auto makers were the years after the Second World War. After the war production increased as demand was able to meet supply. The industry moved into a period of growth and prosperity after the war. White states: the number of passenger cars produced rose from almost none at the end of the war to 193, 000 in 1949. (2007, p. 71) However during the 1950s the European auto makers ook the upper hand as they had established good production technology. With this technology they were able to produce cheaper and smaller cars, therefore demand for the American auto market started going down.

Anything that affected the United States, affected Canada as we were their biggest car manufacture. If the American auto market was to go down, the Canadian economy would crash with them. To better the economic situation and to help the auto industry at home and to save jobs and the live hood of many Canadians, Canada and the United States signed the auto pact in 1968.The Automotive Products Trade Agreement was not based on free trade but it did however remove tariffs on cars and automotive parts between Canada and the United States. It made exports between the two countries cheaper, therefore by raising Canadian exports into the United States. The auto pact helped both countries in dealing with the economic situation at the time. Analysts say that Canada reaped the most benefits from the auto pact as the big 3 ford, general motors and Chrysler ensured that auto production remained and expanded in Canada.

Employment increased in Canada during the years that the auto pact was still in power. Wallace states that the auto pact was phased out in 2001 as its provision were ruled to contravene WTO regulations by favouring particular corporations (2002, p. 114) The auto pact is also one of the best examples that shows the government’s intervention in the market place. The auto pact shows that it was necessary for the government to intervene in helping the economy out and making sure that employment levels did not go down.The economy also expanded because of the North American Free Trade Agreement signed in 1994 between USA Canada and Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement opened the doors to free trade between the 3 countries to ensure economic prosperity for North America. Considering that the United States is our biggest exporter and we export 80 % of our goods to our neighbours in the south, it was economically wise to make such an important step.

The country’s GDP has steadily grown wince the implementation of the trade agreement.According to the organization for economic co-operation and development Canada’s Gross domestic product has steadily increased at a rate of 3. 42 percent annually. (OECD, 2010) Since Canada has joined the North American Free Trade Agreement and has eliminated tariffs on auto parts used for manufacturing purposes in Canada, our automotive surplus and sales have increased and so have the employment rates. According to Industry Canada employment growth has been highest in the auto parts manufacturing sector, as output rose to supply North American vehicle production.Also Canada is integrated in the North American Market with annual sales of 20 million vehicles and has an overall automotive trade surplus of $ 4. 6 billion on flows totalling % 159.

1 billion. (Industry Canada, 2009). As we can see Canada has economically benefited from free trade with the United States, this however does not go without saying that throughout the years, the North American Free Trade agreement has intervened on our political matters and disputes between Canada and the United States have increased throughout the years.A good example of one of the biggest disputes would be that of the Softwood lumber. However, despite all the negative impacts of the North American Free Trade agreement we can generally say that Canada has greatly benefited from this agreement. The auto industry has gone through major changes since the auto pact in 1965 and the implementation of the North American Free Trade agreement in 1994. The American auto makers had a financial downturn in 2009 and the big 3 was very close to filing for bankruptcy if the Canadian and American government would have not bailed them out.

Many blame the American financial crisis for the financial meltdown of the automotive industry, where as others blame their profit driven practices. The automakers asked the government for loans and also went through restructuring plans and downsized their plants. They let go a lot of employees and shut down many plants across North America but not in Canada. They went through a process of restructuring as it was necessary for their survival. The Bush government implemented a set of conditions for the automakers, if they were to receive loans from the United States government.These conditions were geared towards the employees as they would be the ones to suffer the most. The global financial meltdown crisis did not only affect the American automakers but also European and Asian automakers.

It is generally known that the only way to get out of the recession is to spend, but people cannot afford to spend in times of crisis. Many were laid off and had a hard time surviving the economy as they had no means of support. Once again government intervention was necessary from the Canadians.Considering that the economy in the southern Canadian provinces would go down in ruins, if they American plants decided to show down, the Harper government announced that they would offer $3. 5 billion to the automakers. With the help from the Canadian and American government, the big 3 seem to have recuperated from the melt down as they want to rehire their employees in Canada. General Motors announced that they will be rehiring people in Oshawa for the production of cars in 2011.

Jones states that Friday’s recall announcement is in addition to another 600 workers GM said will be back at work to produce the Buick Regal. Approximately 1200 GM workers are now on lay off” (2010, p. 1). Many were against the bail out of the American automakers from the Canadian government as they said it would be a waste, where as others were concerned about the live hood of thousands of Canadians. The above quote clearly shows that the Canadian government took the right economic decision to benefit its people in the future. As we can see the big American auto makers are recuperating from the financial meltdown.What they have to worry about now is competition from the Asian automakers, as they have been taking the lead in the automotive industry since the 1980s.

There has been a shift in the Canadian auto market from the Americans to the Japanese auto makers. The Americans still manufacture cars in Canada but the Japanese automakers seem to be dominating the automotive market in the recent years. The Japanese made vehicles are leading the automotive market because of various reasons. The first reason is attributed to the increase in oil prices in the begging of the 1980s.With oil prices going up, people could not afford American made cars anymore as they are known to spend a lot of gas, thus making them economically inefficient. That being one of the main reasons, people turned to Japanese made cars as they are smaller and have fuel efficient engines. White states that the share of the Canadian market supplied by Japanese imports jumped from 6.

6 percent in 1979, the lowest it had been in a decade, to 22. 9 percent in 1982. (2007, p. 89) As we can see the Japanese auto makers were taking big steps in the automotive industry.The recession of the 1980s and the increase in oil prices is what mainly contributed for the turn of events in the favour of the Japanese auto makers. The Canadian government ready to protect the country from the recession of the 1980s put in place policies that required “motor vehicle manufactures selling significant numbers of vehicles in Canada to invest in Canadian production facilities. ” (White, 2007, p.

90). The Japanese auto makers responded to the call of the Canadian government and invested in creating auto plants in Canada.Once again the southern part of Canada profited from this as the plants were located around south central Ontario. The Japanese auto makers had other advantages that the American auto makers did not have at the time. The Japanese had a non unionized work force which worked for lower wages and tougher conditions. More than half of the workforce was made up of young people therefore they did not ask for much other than to be able to support their families. With the share of the Japanese auto makers rising, the American automakers market started dropping rapidly.

Another good reason for the Japanese to invest in Canada was the desire to gain free access to the American auto market through the creation of the FTA. Another very important reason why the Japanese cars have a high market share in Canada is because they are responding to the concerns of the general public and especially those of environmental issues. The Japanese auto makers pay attention to the new trends and the problems that face the public at large. They are very flexible and are able to respond to public concerns quickly. They have shown this by producing eco friendly cars such as the Toyota pirus and the hybrid camrys.Lately environmental concerns have become a major issue and these concerns are related to the use of cars as the toxins that they release pollute the air that we breathe. Most environmental damage is caused by driving, therefore big auto makers are asked to change their production practices and produce environmentally friendly cars.

Japanese auto makers such as Toyota have answered this call and they have come out with the Toyota hybrid car. A good example of an environmentally friendly car that has swept the market is the Toyota prius that is gasoline electric hybrid.These types of cars use two types of energy sources, gasoline and electricity. The hybrid is a dream come true for the environmentalists as it is as fast as any other car out there and it does not pollute the environment. The automobile technology has changed and as we are shifting towards eco friendly cars the American auto makers are trying to keep up. “GM cancelled production on its Hummer H1 and ford cancelled production on its Excursion SUV” (Automobile Industry Introduction, 2010) They are also trying to outperform the Japanese auto makers and move towards newer trends such as the plug in rechargeable cars. GM is working towards a gasoline- powered generator capable of charging up the batteries for those occasions when it is not convenient to plug in”.

(Automobile Industry Introduction, 2010) As we can see the auto industry has come a long way since the 1920s and it is moving towards newer better trends. It is my personal opinion that the leading auto makers will be those companies that are able to understand and respond to the public’s needs and concerns.In conclusion to this essay it is important to note that the automotive industry in has had an enormous economic impact in Canada and especially on the southern provinces. Created by the big American auto makers, the assembly plants in Canada have raised employment levels and have kept a steady lively hood for Canadians. They have also contributed to a change in Canadian industries such as the agriculture industry, by making farming easier and more efficient. The auto industry in Canada did however create a regional economic imbalance between the provinces in Canada.Ontario is the southern province that has enormously benefited from the auto industry as it is located closer to the parent companies.

The location makes manufacturing and exporting of the auto parts easier for both countries. Trade agreements such as the auto pact and the North American Free Trade agreement implemented in 1994 between the United States, Mexico and Canada have also increased employment levels in Canada and maintained a steady economic balance by removing tariffs on importing and exporting goods between the three countries.During the 1980s we saw a major shift from the American auto makers to the Japanese producers of cars. This shift was mainly due to increasing oil prices and the ability of the Japanese to provide more affordable and fuel efficient cars. The global economic meltdown also contributed to the downturn of the American auto makers. With the Americans not being able to meet consumer needs, the general public turned towards the Asian auto makers. The Japanese saw a great opportunity and benefited from this shift.

They were able to respond to public concerns regarding eco friendly cars and put in place the production of hybrid cars. These cars have swept the general North American market as they seem to be the perfect solutions for people that cannot afford to spend a lot on fuel and also at the same time want to be environmentally friendly. The Canadian auto industry has had its ups and downs but in general it can be said that it has been a great contribution to the Canadian economy by changing the lives of Canadians and by keeping a steady employment rate.

Immigration has had a strong effect on Canada’s historical development, from countryside in the early part of the 20th century to the building of Canada’s largest cities. Immigration itself has changed greatly during the 19th and 20th centuries and continues to do so. During the first sixty years of the 20th century, the majority of immigrants to Canada came either from Europe or the United States.This has since changed much with entry based on a points system and the introduction of human’s benefit. At present Canada is known as a country with a wide immigration policy which is reflected in Canada’s variety of races of mankind.

According to the 2001 survey by Statistics Canada, Canada has 34 national groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, of which 10 have over 1,000,000 people and numerous others represented in smaller amounts. 13. % of the population belonged to visible minorities: most numerous among these are Chinese (3. 5% of the population), South Asian (3. 1%), Black (2. 2%), and Filipino (1. 0%).

In 2004, Canada received 235,824 immigrants. The top ten sending countries, by state of origin, were Peoples Republic of China (37,280), India (28,183), Philippines (13,900), Pakistan (13,011), Iran (6,491), United States (6,470), Romania (5,816), United Kingdom (5,353), South Korea (5,351), and Colombia (4,600).By 2006, the most numbered of immigrants coming to Canada originated in Asia, most especially in China and India. Immigration has been, and continues to be, a very important source of population growth in Canada. Given the ageing of the Canadian population and the gradual lessening birth rate, research shows that immigration could be the largest provider to population growth in the future.Therefore, it would not be amazing if Canada one day is the best country in the world economically, socially and culturally if immigration keeps on happening regularly. Combining different cultures in the world is a very big achievement because not many countries are successful in maintaining their cultural mixture and keeping peace at the same time is a tough challenge for any country.

1. http://www. worldlingo. com/ma/enwiki/en/Immigration_to_Canada http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Immigration_to_Canada