Contemporary Issues in Canadian Politics Exam Review
Course Introduction
This course examines pressing and evolving issues within the Canadian political landscape, focusing on topics such as federalism, Indigenous relations, multiculturalism, electoral reform, and the dynamics of party politics. Students will engage in critical analysis of policy debates and the roles of institutions, actors, and the media in shaping public discourse. Through case studies and current events, the course emphasizes understanding the complexities of governance and democracy in Canada, as well as the social, economic, and cultural factors influencing political decision-making and identity in the 21st century.
Recommended Textbook
Canadian Politics Critical Approaches 8th Edition by Christopher Cochrane
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Approaching the Study of Politics
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Q1) How are demands transmitted to the authorities? Which method do you think is most effective, and why?
Answer: Demands can be transmitted to the authorities in several different manners. First, demands can be transmitted on a personal basis, by means of a letter, fax, telephone call, e-mail, or face-to-face encounter. Second, demands can be transmitted via group action, from interest groups, pressure groups or advocacy groups. Groups may also come in the form of corporations or institutions. By joining a political party, people can attempt to get it to recognize their concerns in its platform or policies. If the party forms a government, it can incorporate the demand into its decisions and government policy; in opposition, the party can bring the problem to national attention. Media can have enormous political influence, as they provide the electorate with most of its information about politics and government.
Q2) According to political science, what are the three different types of power?
A)coercion, authority, and legitimacy
B)authority, influence, and coercion
C)influence, legitimacy, and respect
D)authority, coercion, and influence
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Institutional Foundations and the Evolution of the State
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Q1) Newfoundland and Labrador was the last province to be added to Canada. A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The Act of Union united Ontario and Quebec. A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Compare and contrast the principles of representative government and responsible government.
Answer: Representative government describes a set of political institutions that include an elected legislative assembly. In early 19th-century Canada, the elected assembly represented and articulated the views of the people, but had no real power over the appointed councils. As a result, reformers campaigned for responsible government in which advisers to the governor would reflect the views of the elected assembly. That would mean that the members of the executive council came from the assembly and had its support.
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Regionalism
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Q1) State-centred theorists emphasize the predominance of Ontarians in decision-making positions in Ottawa.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) How has Canada has tried to combat regional economic disparities?
A)by encouraging interprovincial trading partnerships
B)by encouraging international ownership of natural resources
C)through regional economic development programs
D)through national economic development programs
Answer: C
Q3) Which approach does the staples theory best overlap with?
A)pluralism
B)political psychology
C)class analysis
D)rational choice theory
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Aboriginal Peoples
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Q1) Compare and contrast the three main governance options that address the condition of Aboriginal life in Canada. Which of these options best benefits the Aboriginal people in Canada?
Q2) Aboriginal title means a claim to land based on treaty.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to the Indian Act, which term refers to those Aboriginal Canadians registered with the federal government?
A)status Indians
B)non-status Indians
C)enfranchised Indians
D)North American Indians
Q4) The Calder case gave off-reserve Indians the right to vote in band elections.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Compare and contrast the 1995 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples and the 1997 response of the Chrétien government.
Q6) What is meant by the term "Aboriginal self-government"?
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Chapter 5: French Canada and the Quebec Question
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Q1) The sponsorship scandal of the federal Liberal party led to an increase in support for sovereignty within Quebec.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following was NOT a provision of the Meech Lake Accord?
A)recognition of Quebec as distinct society
B)provincial nominations of senators
C)Aboriginal self-government initiatives
D)constitutionalization of Quebec's rights in immigration
Q3) Whose government established the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism?
A)Pearson
B)Trudeau
C)Duplessis
D)King
Q4) Outline French-English relations within two of the following provinces: New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba.
Q5) Explain the evolution of linguistic conflicts in Canada. How did these conflicts progress?
Page 7
Q6) What are some of the characteristics that make Quebec distinct?
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Chapter 6: Ethnocultural Minorities
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Q1) What are some of the key changes in immigration policy since the early 1900s? Is the current immigration policy assisting or hindering the wellbeing of current and future immigrants into Canada?
Q2) One of the basic objectives of the multiculturalism policy was to assist immigrants in acquiring at least one official language.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is considered to be the fastest growing religious group in Canada?
A)Muslims
B)Roman Catholics
C)Protestants
D)Jews
Q4) Which clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does NOT address the concerns of ethnocultural minorities?
A)the non-discrimination clause: 15 (1)
B)the affirmative action clause: 15 (2)
C)the multiculturalism clause: 27
D)the Minority Language Education Clause: 23
Q5) Why was there a backlash toward immigrants and visible minorities in the 1990s?
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Chapter 7: Gender
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Q1) What is the significance of Section 28 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
A)It provides equality for all people, regardless of age, race, or religion.
B)It protects women's rights from use of the notwithstanding clause.
C)It allows provincial governments to infringe on equality rights of minorities.
D)It protects the French language and culture outside Quebec.
Q2) The National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC) was the foremost women's pressure group in the 1970s and 1980s, but has now virtually collapsed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In which political venue were women unable to sit until 1929?
A)Senate
B)House of Commons
C)Alberta legislature
D)British Columbia legislature
Q4) The ruling in the Persons case was that women could sit in the House of Commons. A)True
B)False
Q5) Pay equity represents "equal pay for work of equal value".
A)True
B)False
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Class
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Q1) Which statement best describes the position of state-centred theorists with regard to class-consciousness in Canada?
A)The corporate elite is the most powerful force in the political system.
B)Market forces should determine the distribution of income.
C)Due to a low level of class consciousness, politicians can ignore the demands of the working class.
D)The Canadian Labour Congress is an important working-class pressure group.
Q2) The Social Credit Party pioneered hospital and medical insurance at the provincial level in Saskatchewan.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which category best describes the "working class"?
A)petit bourgeoisie
B)proletariat
C)new middle class
D)economic elite
Q4) There are currently almost one million Canadians living in poverty.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Urbanrural Location, Religion, and Age
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Q1) What are the key characteristics of rural Canada today?
Q2) Which of the following was protected by the Constitution Act, 1867?
A)separate protestant school minority rights in Quebec
B)separate school minority rights in both Quebec and Ontario
C)separate Catholic school minority rights in Ontario
D)separate school minority rights in Manitoba
Q3) The current fertility rate should continue to increase the population indefinitely.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How did the Mulroney government try to reduce governmental support of seniors?
A)by decreasing the age of mandatory retirement
B)by partially de-indexing the Old Age Security from cost-of-living increases
C)by eliminating the Guaranteed Income Supplement
D)by reducing eligibility for the spouse's allowance
Q5) After the Quebec Revolution, language superseded religion as the key to the identity of the great majority of Quebeckers.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How is party preference split between urban and rural areas?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Canadas External Environment: The United
States and the World
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Q1) What are some of the benefits for Canada to establish a free trade agreement with the U.S.?
Q2) Which statement is a criticism of foreign investment?
A)Less capital may leave the country than was initially invested.
B)Research and development occurs outside the parent plant.
C)It lowers the standard of living for Canadians.
D)It increases the number of jobs in sciences in Canada.
Q3) The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was not supposed to affect existing cultural programs.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which international organization ordered Canada to discontinue a federal excise tax and postal subsidies following a complaint by the American government?
A)World Trade Organization
B)International Monetary Fund
C)G8
D)G20
Q5) How have international terrorism events, such as 9/11, affected Canadian domestic and foreign policy?
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Chapter 11: The Canadian Political Culture
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Q1) In traditional Canadian terms, popular sovereignty means frequent referenda.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What are some of the main differences between fragment and formative event theories?
Q3) Explain the concept of limited identities and their importance for Canadian political values.
Q4) What is NOT considered a fundamental freedom?
A)freedom to vote
B)freedom of religion
C)freedom of peaceful assembly
D)freedom of thought
Q5) Canadian demonstration of respect toward the law, judges, and police is called political efficacy.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Seymour Martin Lipset coined the "fragment theory."
A)True
B)False
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Q7) How can Canadians achieve a balance between individualism and collectivism?
Chapter 12: Political Socialization, The Mass Media, and Public Opinion Polls
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Q1) During the 1988 election campaign, many groups and companies attempted to influence public opinion about the Free Trade Agreement.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How is public opinion in Canada measured?
Q3) Which of the following is NOT a technique of news management?
A)the free flow of information on government operations
B)news leaks and trial balloons
C)government secrecy
D)strategic timing and distribution of information
Q4) Agenda setting deals with the manner in which information about an issue is presented.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How is the media involved in political agenda-setting?
Q6) What is believed to counter the bandwagon effect?
A)the ancillary effect
B)the rebound effect
C)the underdog effect
D)the anathema effect
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Elections and the Electoral System
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Q1) How does the discrepancy between seats won and popular vote affect political parties?
A)It results in party policies being directed only to areas where seats were won.
B)It results in distorted party leader selection.
C)It results in a broad representation of women and minorities.
D)It results in parties catering to areas where seats were lost.
Q2) The first-past-the-post system has been criticized for promoting the overrepresentation of white males.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Who is in charge of the election process?
A)the governor general
B)the prime minister
C)the chief electoral officer
D)the elections commissioner
Q4) What are the primary functions of an election in the Canadian political system?
Q5) The three territories are each given one seat automatically.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Political Parties and the Party System
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Q1) Which ideology is NOT a characteristic of conservatism?
A)individualism
B)elitism
C)tradition
D)equality
Q2) Which Prime Minister was disgraced by the Pacific Scandal?
A)McKenzie
B)Borden
C)MacDonald
D)Meighen
Q3) Which term refers to an organized group that makes nominations and contests elections in the hope of influencing the policies and personnel of government?
A)pressure group
B)interest group
C)political party
D)public opinion polls
Q4) Explain the term "the iron law of oligarchy" as it relates to political parties.
Q5) The CCF party was less socialistic than the current NDP party.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: The Election Campaign, Voting, and Political Participation
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Q1) One of the Liberals greatest campaign assets in 1993 was their Red Book.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why was Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, not allowed to participate in the 2011 leaders debate?
A)Her party had no seats in the House of Commons before the election.
B)Her party did not have the minimum required seats needed to establish itself as a national party.
C)Her party was relatively new.
D)Elizabeth May did not hold a seat in the previous elections.
Q3) In most parties, how are candidates selected?
A)appointed by the party leader
B)elected by the local constituency association
C)chosen by party headquarters
D)chosen by the local riding association president
Q4) Explain the sociodemographic bases of political party support in Canada.
Q5) Describe how an individual candidate competes for office at the local level?
Q6) Younger voters in Quebec prefer the Bloc Québécois than any other party.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
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Chapter 16: Advocacy Groups, Social Movements, and Lobbying
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Q1) Under the Federal Accountability Act, what reform was made to lobbying practices?
A)It allowed contingency fees.
B)It placed a prohibition on ministerial staffers, ministers, and senior public servants from registering as lobbyists for five years after leaving office.
C)It extended the period during which infractions could be investigated to five years.
D)It required lobbyists to record e-mails with senior public servants.
Q2) What group produces the annual Alternative Federal Budget document?
A)Canadian Chamber of Commerce
B)Canadian Labour Congress
C)Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
D)Canadian Bar Association
Q3) The Gomery Report on the Quebec sponsorship scandal under Chrétien supported further revisions to the lobbying registration scheme.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are some of the differences and similarities between business and non-business interest groups?
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Chapter 17: The Canadian Constitution and Constitutional Change
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Q1) What was the 1982 British statute that officially terminated all British authority over Canada?
A)British North America Act, 1982
B)Statute of Westminster
C)Canada Act
D)Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Q2) Which of the following contained guaranteed equalization payments, constitutionalized bill of rights, and provincial consultations on Supreme Court appointments?
A)the Fulton-Favreau formula
B)the Victoria Charter
C)the Meech Lake Accord
D)the Charlottetown Accord
Q3) The 1982 constitutional amending formula requires that Parliament and provincial voters approve amendments.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What were the major reforms proposed by the Charlottetown Accord, 1992?
Q5) Explain the significance of the Clarity Act.
Q6) How have the constitutional changes affected Aboriginal Canadians? Page 21
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Chapter 18: The Federal System
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Q1) How has Canadian federalism evolved since 1867? Has the government become more or less centralized over time?
Q2) The depression qualified as an emergency in terms of the emergency doctrine interpretation of the Peace, Order, and Good Government clause.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What has been the result of judicial interpretations of the Peace, Order, and Good Government clause?
A)a decrease in provincial powers
B)an increase in federal powers
C)an increase in provincial powers
D)an increase in POGG's prominence and importance
Q4) What is NOT a concurrently shared power between the federal and provincial governments?
A)agriculture
B)immigration
C)trade and commerce
D)old age pensions
Q5) Explain the federal-provincial financial relationship since 1940.
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Chapter 19: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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Q1) What is the reasonable limits clause also known as?
A)Section 33
B)the notwithstanding clause
C)the Oakes test
D)the reverse onus clause
Q2) Property rights are not generally considered part of civil liberties in Canada.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What rights are covered under Sections 3-5 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
A)democratic
B)legal
C)equality
D)fundamental
Q4) Discrimination in the private sector is normally addressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How are rights and freedoms classified? How have they historically been protected?
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Chapter 20: The Policy-Making Process and Policy
Instruments
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Q1) The government loses revenue because of tax credits and tax exemptions as in the example of RRSPs.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which group is typically NOT involved in the initiation stage of the policymaking process?
A)election platform
B)caucus
C)the judiciary
D)royal commission
Q3) The War Measures Act was invoked during a severe flooding in Manitoba.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which economic theory suggests that the government should intervene with increased spending, even to the extent of borrowing, in order to transfer to individuals?
A)Keynesian economics
B)laissez-faire
C)neo-conservatism
D)neo-liberalism
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Chapter 21: The Executive: Crown, Prime Minister, and Cabinet
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Q1) The Canadian head of state is the prime minister.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Differentiate between the different central agencies. How significant are their functions and roles in Canadian politics?
Q3) The speech from the throne is written and delivered by the governor general.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Who are typically referred to as "ministers without portfolio"?
A)Cabinet ministers
B)deputy prime ministers
C)shadow Cabinet ministers
D)junior ministers
Q5) Who is regarded as the highest-ranking public servant?
A)governor of the Bank of Canada
B)Chief of Staff
C)clerk of the Privy Council and secretary to the Cabinet
D)auditor general
Q6) Compare and contrast the concepts of individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility. Page 26
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Chapter 22: The Bureaucracy
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Q1) What has helped to penetrate "the cloak of secrecy" within the Canadian bureaucracy?
A)the Access to Information Act and Information Commissioner
B)the Freedom of Information Act and Privacy Commissioner
C)the Sunshine doctrine and the Sunset clause
D)the Ombudsman
Q2) What are the Estimates?
A)the spending proposals of each government department and agency
B)Statistics Canada projections of the population growth
C)Statistics Canada projections of the unemployment rate
D)Bank of Canada predictions of the growth of the national debt
Q3) Every province except Nova Scotia has supplemented other means of controlling the bureaucracy with the appointment of an ombudsman.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What reforms to the bureaucracy were proposed by the Gomery Inquiry?
Q5) The Official Languages Act of 1969 made the executive branch of government bilingual.
A)True
B)False
28
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Chapter 23: Parliament
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Q1) What term refers to MPs who are NOT Cabinet ministers or holders of other important positions in their parliamentary party?
A)members
B)backbenchers
C)drones
D)party whips
Q2) Explain the relevance and significance of the Canadian senate.
Q3) What are the stages of a bill becoming a law?
Q4) What does either side of the House request when they want a formal recorded vote?
A)a closure
B)a division
C)a count
D)a debate
Q5) Legislative committees usually have an investigative function, to examine an issue before the government has made up its mind on how to deal with it.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What are the functions and powers of the House of Commons?
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Chapter 24: The Judiciary
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Q1) Until 1949, all decisions made by the Supreme Court of Canada could be appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What are some of the main similarities and differences between civil and criminal law?
Q3) Ontario is the only province that requires legislation in order to remove a provincial court judge.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The basic function of an appeal court is to correct errors in the interpretation of the law.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Private law is essentially the same as civil law.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What are the powers of the Supreme Court of Canada?
Q7) What is the function of the judiciary?
Page 30
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