Furthermore, Lester B. Pearson integrated minorities into Canadian society. His creation of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCBB) is an example of how he did this. Pearson established a commission of ten people in the government whose job was to expand bilingualism in Canada, give Canadians more opportunities to learn French and strengthen relations between the English and French. The commission was successful as it made various changes in the country that reached these goals. For example, restrictions on the French language were repealed, French education at schools was improved and more provinces declared themselves as bilingual as a result of the commission's initiatives. The French comprised of a smaller population …show more content…
Thus, the interest that Pearson had taken into the French gave them a new sense of welcomeness in the country that replaced their feelings of isolation from when their culture was not as valued. Likewise, Quebec’s relationship with the rest of Canada became much stronger as more provinces showed their support for the people of Quebec by making their inhabitants resemble them. Citizens of Quebec felt that they were more widely represented by the growing amount of French-speaking people in neighboring provinces. The cultural exposure that these people had experienced did not only affect the French’s way of thinking but also that of the people themselves. More Canadians became aware of the French population of Canada and became more accepting of them as they learned more about them and their language. Therefore, Pearson changed the negative sentiments of the French towards the rest of Canadians and vice versa into more positive ones. In addition to this, Pearson also welcomed more minority groups into Canada by establishing the world’s first race-free immigration system, which was outlined in the White Paper on Immigration of …show more content…
Pearson significantly improved social and economic conditions in foreign countries. When Pearson was Canada’s Minister of External Affairs in 1956 (in the midst of the Cold War), the Suez Crisis began to stir. During the crisis, Egyptian President Nasser seized a prosperous oil company in the Suez Canal owned by Britain and France. As a result, these two countries sided with Israel and planned a military offense against Egypt in order to retaliate for what Nasser had done. Luckily before these highly-destructive bombings began, Pearson had found a peaceful solution to the crisis. He developed the idea of sending a peaceful military force (peacekeeping force) called the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) into the area. The force would allow Britain, France and Israel to withdraw from Egypt, without giving away the appearance of defeat. Pearson’s plan worked and the withdrawal that resulted from it prompted an agreement between France, Britain and Egypt on oil that allowed all of these countries to be able to obtain this resource from the Canal. Pearson’s idea of a peacekeeping force revolutionized how countries dealt with external conflicts that they were not involved in. Instead of using brute force, peacekeepers reconciled two groups of people or countries without violence or the death of citizens. This ensured the social well-being of the country as citizens would not be hurt due to what their government had done. In this case, Pearson protected
He pushed an ambitious agenda promoting industries, building railways and opening the west to immigrants from Europe. With that Canada started its way to multiculturalism. However, this plan didn’t present equal opportunities for immigrants. British people got jobs before others, and immigration threatened the survival of the natives.
However, with the government of Mackenzie King’s decision to undergo these interments between 1941 and 1949, it is exceptionally clear that this reputation had been shattered, especially with his decision to deport many citizens to occupied Japan starting in 1946. Rao also notes, “The novel in fact problematizes the discourses of ‘official multiculturalism’ which sanctioned Canada as a 'cultural mosaic,' and underscores how in actual fact such policy glossed over the centrality of race in multicultural Canada. Multiculturalism simply ignored ethnicity and it was used to strengthen the dominance of Canada's two major cultures.” (Rao 2004) Basically, Canada’s multicultural society
Determination means that one has a “firmness of purpose; resoluteness” in themselves. This was one of Trudeau’s greatest skills that reflected his leadership qualities to the world. The October Crisis of 1970 was when the FLQ (Front de libération du Québec) kidnapped Quebec Labor Minister, Pierre Laporte and British Trade Consul, James Cross. This was because many citizens of Quebec no longer wanted to be a part of Canada. Trudeau responded to this act by bringing back the War Measures Act.
Bosnia was a multi-ethnic country and because of this conflicts in the country arose, it involved the Serbians, Croatians and Bosniaks. (Granatstein, 2006) The UN saw how dangerous this war would become and sent a group of peacemakers to resolve the war. Canada was one of the countries chosen to help in peacekeeping and they not only resolved the crisis but they also helped the civilians in Bosnia by building roads, schools and buildings.(Granatstein, 2006) Canadian peacemakers also helped create ‘safe zone’ areas where people were guaranteed safety and the wounded were also treated in these areas.
To his hypocritical actions in the nuclear weapons debate. While revered by the masses, Pearson 's political actions did not reflect his peacekeeping past. While also causing strife between Canada/U.S relations. Pearson’s first and biggest blunder was allowing the sale of dangerous chemicals to the U.S and allowing the testing of chemical weapons
Literally, peacekeeping means to keep peace. Peacekeeping differs from peacemaking. Peacemaking involves troops directly in armed combat. Its purpose it to bring the warring sides to peace by the use of force.
How was Lester B. Pearson a force for positive change in Canada? Lester B. Pearson; his last name sounds very familiar. If you have ever left the country for a vacation with the family or to attend some business, you most likely went through Toronto Pearson International Airport. Today, Pearson International is one of the most well-known airports out there. Toronto Pearson Airport began construction in 1957–1964 and was officially opened for service on February 28th, 1964, by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.
Significance of Constitution Act of 1982 Canada has earned the title of being a peacemaking nation which is well deserved and known in the international community. It supports equality among everyone, protects and guarantees the rights of its citizens, and is considered a role model for protection of human rights around the world. However in Canada’s history, it’s society was once filled with prejudice and there were many discriminatory laws. This was evident in many historical events such as the mistreatment of the First Nations people, and the unfair Chinese Immigration Acts. Those laws had a very negative significant impact on the people.
During the time period of 1867 to 1945 the immigrant experience in Canada was different from today. There were many groups such as the Chinese and Jews that were no accepted by the Canadian people by 1945 the rules had changed and there was acceptance towards immigrants. In 1900 there were only 23,000 Chinese people in Canada today there are 1,487,000 which makes up for 3.9% of the Canadian population. This was because before 1923 Chinese immigrants were not welcome in Canada for a Chinese Immigrant to live in Canada they would need to pay a fifty dollar head tax.
The result of the Loyalists’ impact on Canada is the creation of a bilingual society in which cultural diversity, religious freedom, educational opportunity and social equity are valued and necessary for social cohesion and the common
In many countries, conflict between different groups of people is inevitable. In Canada, the divide between English-speaking and French-speaking regions has been a prominent political and cultural topic since the birth of the nation. The most well known of these conflicts goes to Quebec. The province has sprouted several movements and parties supporting the autonomy and independence of Quebec. One of those parties is the Bloc Quebecois.
Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.
The improvement of the rights of the Canadian Immigrants Canada, as one of the biggest immigration countries, welcomes people from all over the the world and forms a representative multicultural atmosphere in today’s society. Over these few decays, the country has always been consummating the laws to provide immigrants equal rights and freedoms, and better treatments they could receive. However, Canadian immigration laws were not unprejudiced and it eventually caused a “legal discrimination” before 1976. The legal rights of the immigrant groups have improved significantly because of the demands of developing the country, the influences of the wars, and the globalization of the world. Since 1880s, more immigrants and foreigners came to Canada because of the railway construction project.
Peacekeeping is a part of Canadian identity because Canadians are credited with inventing UN Peacekeepers, with this reputation Canadians are also viewed as prime candidates for peacekeeping missions due to being a skilled, neutral group. Canadians are “credited with having "invented" interpositionary peacekeeping” to resolve the Suez Crisis, because of this “the UN looked at Canada as a candidate for every peacekeeping mission” because “who better to try to keep the peace?” After this the UN viewed Canada as peacekeeping leaders because they invented peacekeeping and knew how to peacefully resolve a conflict in a time where many others would try to solve it through combat. When looking into peacekeeping and the Suez Crisis there is one man who stands out, Lester B Pearson, the Canadian external affairs minister who ended a crisis as well as a true Canadian who came up with the idea for UN Peacekeeping. “Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize, the only Canadian ever to do so” and is credited to have “saved the world with his proposal to defuse the Suez crisis.”
To start with, Pearson is undoubtedly a symbol of Canadian excellence, seeing as his efforts and impact were exceptional. At that time, the world was undergoing war, crisis and prejudice so it is impressive that Pearson was “one of the 20th century’s most untiring and effective workers in the cause of world peace.” (Baldwin 39). This impressiveness may also be due to the similar traits Pearson holds to Mackenzie King whom is a previous great leader. Though, Pearson had his tragic flaws such as ________ _________, which did lead to his resignation from office and defeat by Diefenbaker.