Post War: Life in Canada

Development of Welfare state 50's

- 1940 Unemployment Insurance Act was passed - family allowances were also introduced in 1945 - Canadian government had begun to accept social security as a government responsibility - measures of government intervention and social security were a result of the Great Depression

Immigration Act 1952

- 1948 PM Louis St. Laurent set up the Department of Citizenship and Immigration - Immigration Act gave extensive powers to the Minister of Immigration - immigration laws prevented the immigration of people based on ethnic origin - however immigrant labour was needed and Canada accepted new immigrants

Louis St. Laurent

- 1948-57 - liberal party - oil industry boomed under his rule - was a part of St. Lawrence Seaway, Trans-Canada highway and pipeline - encouraged American investment in Canadian economy

Avro Arrow

- 1953 RCAF requested a new aircraft to meet growing defence needs from possible Soviet attack - Liberal government awarded the contract to a company called AV ROE production would cost about $2 dollars per jet for 600 jets - Canadians were excited to develop new technology employees put in over 2 years of work to design a plane - costs had reached almost $4 million per plane - 1959 Diefenbaker cut all production of the Arrows and to destroy the six completed planes - government bought the Bomarc Missile from USA instead because it was cheaper - 14000 people lost jobs and many sought employment at NASA - Many believed The US was responsible for the cancellation of the project

John Diefenbaker

- 1957-63 - Conservative party - known was the "Chief" because he was a powerful speaker - voiced his concerns about the growth of American Influence in Canada - gave financial aid to those who were less fortunate - raised pensions for the elderly and disabled - extended the vote to Aboriginals - cancelled Avro Arrow Project - introduced Bill of Rights

Lester. B. Pearson

- 1963-68 - liberal party - introduced universal medicare, Canadian pension plan, new flag, Bi and Bic commission, brought in minimum wage - won nobel prize for suez crisis - criticized Vietnam war

Flag Debate

- 1964 Prime Minister Pearson suggested replacing the Red Enseign with a new Canadian flag - After much debate, the present flag was adopted and became the official flag of Canada on February 15, 1965 - At the time, the issue was controversial, with organizations like the Royal Canadian Legion leading the opposition to the new flag

Economic Ties with USA 70's

- 1970's Canada had developed strong economic ties with USA - result of the Auto Pact: American car companies set up branch plants in Canada - over 70% of all Canadian produces were sold to USA - sale dependence caused concern of growing American influence

OPEC Crisis

- 1972 there was a sudden increase in price of oil when OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) saw that their was a greater demand for oil than supply - 1979: war between Iraq and Iran caused oil supply to run low and prices increased dramatically

FIRA

- 1973: Trudeau Established the FIRA to approve the establishment of any foreign companies in Canada - wanted to target American investment - Trudeau hoped to protect Canadian industries

Brian Mulroney

- 1984-1993 - conservative party - wanted to strengthen ties between Americans and Canada - Health Care, FTA, Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords

Quiet Revolution

- A period of intense social, political, and economic change in Quebec - 1960 to 1966, Quebecois began to assert their rights and affirm and promote their language and culture

Suburbia

- Because of growth in urbanization people people wanted to get away from industry and city life and raise a family - moved to the suburbs - was made possible because of the car

transCanada natural gas pipeline

- C.D. Howe, Canada's Minister of Energy argued that a natural gas transCanada pipeline should follow a all-Canadian route - this option would be expensive - debated the issue in the House of Commons - bill was eventually passed - pipeline provided many jobs but still a controversial issue and cost liberals the election

CANDU

- Canada Deuterium Uranium - nuclear reactor - safe and efficient production of electricity

La francophonie

- Canada with its strong French Identity - Quebec and New Brunswick are members too. - Goal was to emphasize the French language and culture and for the wealthier nations to help the poorer nations - Set up TV5: communication, co-operation and French language entertainment promoted throughout the Francophone community

American influence on Entertainment industries

- Canadians bombarded with American music, television and radio - Trudeau decided that Canadian TV and radio stations required to air a certain percentage of Canadian programs - Trudeau also promoted the Canadian film industry - introduced tax breaks for Canadian books and magazine industries

Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism

- Established in 1963 by Prime Minister Lester Pearson - recommended that federal government services across the country should be available in French and English - federal civil service should be open equally to English and French speakers and that French as a second language be promoted in English-speaking parts of Canada

NATO

- North Atlantic Treaty Organization established in 1949 - an alliance made to defend one another if they were attacked by any other country; US, England, France, Canada, Western European countries

Canadian Bill of Rights

- Passed by the federal government in 1960 - Recognized rights Canadians already had under the common law system - Since it was an act of Parliament, it could be changed by future parliaments

Canadian Economy 1970's

- Pierre Trudeau was beginning to lose popularity and managed to win 1974 election by opposing price and wage control but later changed his mind - Inflation hit double digits - rising unemployment - government was in debt

Women's Liberation Movement

- Represented the 'second wave' to the 'first wave' of the late 19th/early 20th century - wanted equal pay, maternity leave and removal of occupational barriers - right to divorce - birth control gives women independence

St. Lawrence Seaway

- Seaway would link the centre of NA via the great lakes - Ocean going vessels would be able to go as far as thunder bay to Duluth in US - would require cooperation between USA and Canada - for Canadians, project meant Canadian products could move to world markets - took five years to build, completed by 1959

Counterculture

- The Baby Boomers were coming of age and they were rejected the Status Quo: age of rebellions - Rock n' roll, protest, dropped out of schools, renounced the 'mainstream,' set out on the road to 'find themselves' - hippy generation - Vietnam and peace movements - Civil rights movement - More leniency towards divorce - More lax laws and attitudes towards abortion and birth control - Many anti-Homosexual laws were dissolved - Contributed to the end of the Vietnam War

The Commonwealth in 60's

- The Queen is the head of the Commonwealth - includes 25% of the World's Population - South Africa left the Commonwealth in 1961, after John Diefenbaker criticized its apartheid system - They boycotted the country until 1994 - Commonwealth Games - The Colombo Plan - After meeting in Sri Lanka in 1950, decided on the wealthier members providing a fund for the poorer members of the Commonwealth

Oil in Alberta

- black gold - 1947 first oil field was discovered in Alberta - because of the oil patch Alberta's provincial economy became the strongest in Canada - However Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent faced problems with getting the oil and gas from Alberta to Eastern Canada - resulted in economic prosperity

Cuban Missile Crisis

- created tensions between Canada and USA - Diefenbaker backed away from accepting nuclear weapons from Americans resented the fact that Government had not been informed of the American blockade - Canada's inaction caused resentment among Americans

Hippy Generation

- free love, flower power, peace - baby boomers rejected the status quo - back to the land and lived in communes - fashion: bell-bottoms, beads, long hair - drugs, seeking a psychedelic experience

Auto Pact

- growing popularity of cars caused sales to rise dramatically - fierce competition between car companies and small companies went out of business - 1965 created the Automotive Produces Agreement which allowed Canada and the US to import cars from each other without paying import taxes - led to increased specialization to focus on one aspect of the market lowered production costs and consumer prices

Human Rights Developments 80s

- implemented Human Rights Legislation - 1982: Charter of Rights and Freedoms allowed individuals from minority groups to overcome discrimination - 1987: Canadian Multiculturalism Act was passed to ensure equality

National Energy Program

- in response to OPEC crisis Trudeau implemented the National Energy Program - froze oil prices in Alberta to keep cost of oil down for Canadians - imposed tariffs on oil sold to USA - made people in Alberta angry - policy strengthened feelings of Western alienation and led some people to think about separating from the rest of Canada - Trudeau loses election

Pierre Eliott Trudeau

- leader of Liberal Party and PM when Pearson resigned - had a vision of a "just society" - implemented the Official Languages Act in 1969 to make Canada truly bilingual and bicultural - implemented income tax cuts and improved benefits for the poor and elderly - Constitution in 1982 which added the Charter of Rights and Freedoms - National Energy program

Mainstream vs. Radical Feminists

- mainstreams believed they could bring change through media - radicalists believed men would not give up their advantages freely and turned to aggressive protest tactics - "man-hating women's libbers"

Changing Values of Society

- much more liberal - Parliament passed laws regarding freedom of abortion, homosexuality and divorce - women began to have more life choices especially because of the birth control pill - people questioned old values and were concerned with the relationship with the USA - worried about environment

Western Separatism

Ideas of western provinces wanting to separate from the rest of Canada

Jean Chrétien

- prime minister after Mulroney from 1993-2003

Canadian American Relations 50's-60s

- relations were uncertain - Canadians supported American foreign policy by joining NATO and NORAD and by participating in UN Peacekeeping in Egypt and Lebanon - however, Canadians became more independent in their policy: recognizing communist china, cuban missile crisis - Diefenbaker was reluctant to accept nuclear warheads hesitated to back US during cuban missile crisis and questioned Vietnam - Canada asserted its independence as a Middle Power

Canada After WWII

- strong Canadian Economy provided financial services to war veterans - information, counselling, financial aid - 1948 Canada gave $2 billion to Western Europe through the marshall plan - Canada also experienced dramatic growth in the mining and oil industries - major boom in infrastructure

The Massey Commission

- was a way of protecting Canadian culture because of fear of American influence - Appointed on April 8th, 1949 - Federally funded and established projects: the National Library of Canada the Canadian Council of Arts, Universities received aid

NORAD

- was created between Canada and US in 1957 - included radar stations that were set up to detect soviet planes or missiles - radar lines were constructed in Canada's North to provide warning of an attack - Canada contributed $300 million dollars, mostly financed by US

Expo 67

- world fair held in Montreal to celebrate 100 years - kings, princesses, presidents and politicians came around the world - an island was built to hold the expo - Charles de Gaulle, the president of France, shouted "Vive le Québec, Vive le Québec libre" revealing his sentiments towards the separatists movement - Pearson insulted Gaulle in the media - increased the tension between english and french

Prime Ministers From 1948-2003

1. Louis St. Laurent 2. Diefenbaker 3. Pearson 4. Trudeau 5. Joe Clark 6. Trudeau 7. Mulroney 8. Kim Campbell 9. Jean Chrétien

Megaprojects 1950's

1. TransCanada Pipeline 2. St. Lawrence Seaway 3. TransCanada Highway

Canadian Entertainment

= people bought consumer goods, the most popular being the radio and TV - by 1960 watching TV became a family pastime - CBC was a government owned crow corporation and brought both American programs and Canadian shows like Hockey night in Canada - nationalism and pride was strengthened

Baby boom

A cohort of individuals born in the United States between 1946 and 1964 in a time of relative peace and prosperity which allowed for marriage and fertility

Kim Campbell

Canada's first female Prime Minister

DEW

Distant Early Warning Systems

Official Languages Act

French and English were made the official languages of the federal government in 1969

Alouette I

first satellite launched by Canada in 1962

The Colombo Plan

foreign aid program that built factories and infrastructure in commonwealth countries

Trudeaumania

a craze of support for Trudeau and his ideas because of his youthfulness, wit, and charisma