Contemporary Issues in Canadian Politics
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Course Introduction
This course examines the key contemporary issues shaping Canadian politics, exploring the dynamics of federalism, Indigenous governance, multiculturalism, and the ongoing evolution of Canadian identity. Students will analyze current debates surrounding electoral reform, climate policy, immigration, and the politics of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Through critical readings, case studies, and class discussions, the course fosters an understanding of how political institutions, public opinion, and global forces interact to influence policy outcomes and democratic governance in Canada today.
Recommended Textbook
Canadian Politics Critical Approaches 7th Edition by Rand Dyck
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The study of politics
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Q1) Issues include only those demands that the authorities have taken under serious consideration.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Which of the following form the four branches of government?
A)the executive, the bureaucracy, the legislature, and the judiciary
B)the authorities, the legislature, the executive, and the administration
C)the executive, the courts, the management, and Parliament
D)the Parliament, the Senate, the courts, and the executive
Answer: A
Q3) Which statement best describes the notion of the embedded state?
A)Elites cannot operate with total autonomy because of the fusion of state and society.
B)The state wields an enormous amount of power, unchecked by societal norms.
C)Individuals view the powers of the state to be entrenched within all aspects of society.
D)Politicians are unable to operate without the bureaucratic functions of the state.
Answer: A
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3
Chapter 2: Institutional foundations and the evolution of the state
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Q1) What province was NOT part of the Maritime union consideration in the 1860s?
A)Prince Edward Island
B)Newfoundland and Labrador
C)Nova Scotia
D)New Brunswick
Answer: B
Q2) How is the British parliamentary system distinct from the U.S.presidential-congressional system?
A)Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate have much more legislative power than their British system counterparts.
B)Party discipline is much more rigid in the United States than in the British system.
C)The U.S.presidential-congressional system lacks the power of judicial review.
D)The British system does not permit members to sit in more than one branch of government.
Answer: A
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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) Which of the following best exemplifies a public-private partnership (P3)?
A)the creation of Trans-Canada Airlines
B)the Construction of the Confederation Bridge
C)the National Energy Program
D)the Creation of the Trans-Canada highway Answer: B
Q3) Which province leads the forestry industry?
A)Ontario
B)Quebec
C)New Brunswick
D)British Columbia Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Aboriginal peoples
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Q1) Aboriginal people now control over 80 percent of Aboriginal Affairs' departmental funding
A)True
B)False
Q2) The first provincial comprehensive land claim settlement was the Nisga'a treaty.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What was the significance of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and the Indian Act, 1876 for Aboriginal inhabitants?
Q4) Who is represented by the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples advocacy group?
A)status Indians
B)non-status Indias
C)Métis
D)Inuit
Q5) What are some of the challenges that contemporary Aboriginal people in Canada are currently facing?
Q6) Europeans were originally attracted to Canada by its military significance. A)True
B)False
Q7) 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) Which statement does NOT describe the Quebec new middle class?
A)It suddenly appeared in the early 1960s.
B)It promoted the growth of the public sector.
C)It promoted the autonomy of the province.
D)It had close ties to the Roman Catholic Church.
Q2) Which of the following were NOT provisions 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) The limit on Bill 178 was 5 years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which statement best describes Quebec nationalism before 1960?
A)French nationalism was largely subconscious.
B)French nationalism was inward looking and defensive.
C)French nationalism was loosely connected with the Roman Catholic Church.
D)French nationalism had strong ties to France.
Q5) What are some of the characteristics that make Quebec distinct?
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Chapter 6: Ethnocultural minorities
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Q1) The Conservative party recently found itself with the largest representation of visible minority MPs in its caucus.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which urban area has the largest composition of non-Caucasians?
A)Toronto
B)Vancouver
C)Montreal
D)Calgary
Q3) 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?
Q4) Why was there a backlash toward immigrants and visible minorities in the 1990s?
Q5) The term "allophone" refers to those whose mother tongue is either English of French.
A)True
B)False
Q6) In recent years, the bulk of immigrants to Canada have come from the Caribbean.
A)True
B)False
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Gender
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Q1) How was sexual orientation added to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
A)through the Parliament of Canada
B)through the Supreme Court of Canada
C)through the constitutional amending formula
D)sexual orientation was not added to the Charter
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) What were the major concerns of second-wave feminists?
Q4) How has representation of women in politics and government progressed in the last century?
Q5) 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.
Q6) What is meant by the term "feminization of poverty"?
Q7) What are some of the major challenges that women face regarding employment?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Class
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Q1) Even though the House of Commons passed a resolution in 1989 to eliminate child poverty in Canada by 2000, the number of children living in poverty increased by 50 percent during the 1990s.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What field is NOT included in the main principal of federal measures?
A)foreign workers
B)seniors
C)people with disabilities
D)unemployed
Q3) What are some of the significant differences between the "old" and the "new" middle class?
Q4) The Social Credit Party pioneered hospital and medical insurance at the provincial level in Saskatchewan.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The new middle class includes salaried professionals.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Explain the term "corporate welfare."
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Chapter 9: Other cleavages and identities: urban/rural location,
religion, and age
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Q1) After the Quebec Revolution, language superseded religion as the key to the identity of the great majority of Quebeckers.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following were 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) What was the first main religious demand in Canada?
A)establishing the Roman Catholic religion as the main dominant religion in Canada
B)establishing separate school systems for Roman Catholics and Protestants
C)establishing the Protestant religion as the main dominant religion in Canada
D)establishing a Roman Catholic-based constitution
Q4) Rural Canada is overrepresented in the House of Commons.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What are the key characteristics of rural Canada today?
Q6) Explain the historical basis for a separate school system in Canada.
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Chapter 10: CanadaS external environment: the united states and the world
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of globalization?
A)comprehensive free trade agreements
B)mega-mergers of large transnational corporations
C)removal of state controls on corporate behaviour
D)decreasing the mobility of capital
Q2) The Canadian Auto Workers union was originally part of the United Auto Workers Union.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The principle government response to the Gray Report was the creation of The National Energy Board
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following International Organizations 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
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Chapter 11: The Canadian Political Culture
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Q1) What are thought to be the distinguishing features between Canadian and U.S.values?
Q2) Three of the most significant cases involving a serious infringement of political freedom occurred at the federal level.
A)True
B)False
Q3) According to Horowitz, which ideology dominates Canadian political culture?
A)conservatism
B)liberalism
C)socialism
D)communism
Q4) Which statement does NOT describe political freedom?
A)It is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
B)It is a component of the definition of democracy.
C)It includes freedom of speech, press, and assembly.
D)It is rarely infringed on by provincial governments.
Q5) In traditional Canadian terms, popular sovereignty means frequent referenda.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How can Canadians achieve a balance between Individualism and Collectivism?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Political socialization, the mass media, and Public opinion polls
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Q1) Spin doctors are lobbyists who work for the government.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The classic case of a church influencing the political values, attitudes, and opinions of its members was the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Harper government has been maintaining strict control over the flow of information and therefore, has been less accessible to reporters.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the Official Secrets Acts now called?
A)Security of Information Act
B)Emergencies Act
C)Access to Information Act
D)Accountability Act
Q5) The Toronto Star is read by more than 90 percent of media executives.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Elections and the electoral system
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Q1) The first-past-the-post system has been criticized for promoting the overrepresentation of white males.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Conservatives had virtually no members from Quebec before 1984.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What type of government is most often produced by the first-past-the-post electoral system?
A)minority
B)dual party
C)popular
D)majority
Q4) What is the typical time frame between elections in Canada?
A)3 years
B)4 years
C)5 years
D)10 years
Q5) What remedies to Canada's electoral system have been proposed to better reflect the distribution of the popular vote?
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Chapter 14: Political parties and the party system
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Q1) Canada moved from a Conservative-dominant party system to a classic two-party system with the Liberal victory in 1896 under Mackenzie King.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is an organized group that makes nominations and contests elections in the hope of influencing the policies and personnel of government?
A)a pressure group
B)an interest group
C)a political party
D)public opinion polls
Q3) What is NOT a factor contributing to the formation of minor parties in Canada?
A)regional cleavages
B)ethnic cleavages
C)class cleavages
D)religious cleavages
Q4) The CCF party was less socialistic than the current NDP party.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How does party ideology in Canada apply to the major Canadian political parties?
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Chapter 15: Parties, voting, and The election campaign
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Q1) The leader's tour is primarily designed to boost the chances of local candidates.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In 2000, there was little evidence of class-based voting, but the government's performance was a significant factor.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Roman Catholic support for the Liberal party has exponentially increased over the past decade.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How do core values and beliefs influence how Canadians vote?
Q5) What role do the media play in a party's election campaign?
Q6) Party advertising has recently become more synonymous with the concept of political marketing.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Describe how an individual candidate competes for office at the local level?
Q8) Why are leadership debates felt to be important in a national campaign?
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Chapter 16: Advocacy groups, social movements, and lobbying
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Q1) Discuss three explanations for why advocacy groups are sometimes successful and sometimes not.
Q2) What is meant by the term "functional representation"?
A)representation of citizen concerns by an elected official
B)representation of citizen concerns by an advocacy group
C)representation of citizen concerns by the bureaucracy
D)representation of citizen concerns by the courts
Q3) What lobbying technique are institutionalized advocacy groups most likely to use?
A)demonstrations and blockades
B)lobbying judges and court officials
C)lobbying the bureaucracy
D)lobbying members of Parliament
Q4) Advocacy groups begin at the margins of the political system, possessing an alternative vision of "the good life," and usually consist of small local groups.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How do interest groups try to influence the bureaucracy and the executive branch of the government?
18
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Chapter 17: The Canadian constitution and constitutional change
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Q1) Which of the following declared Canada to be totally independent of Britain?
A)Constitution Act 1907
B)The Parliament of Canada Act
C)The British Parliament Act
D)Statute of Westminster
Q2) Explain the significance of the Clarity Act.
Q3) What were the major reforms proposed by the Charlottetown Accord, 1992?
Q4) How does a written constitution differ from an unwritten one?
Q5) What province was NOT part of the new Dominion of Canada that was formed through the Constitution Act of 1867?
A)Nova Scotia
B)Prince Edward Island
C)New Brunswick
D)Ontario
Q6) The JCPC was Canada's final court of appeal until 1949.
A)True
B)False
Page 19
Q7) The Canada clause was part of the Charlottetown Accord.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: The provinces and the federal system
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Q1) 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
Q2) What is NOT a characteristic of cooperative federalism?
A)federal-provincial taxation agreements
B)federal-provincial grant programs
C)federal-provincial conferences
D)federal-provincial conflicts are referred to the courts
Q3) Since 1867, how many formal constitutional amendments have been adopted that directly affect the federal-provincial division of powers?
A)2
B)3
C)4
D)5
Q4) How do federal-provincial relations affect the environment and Aboriginals in Canada?
Q5) Explain the federal-provincial financial relationship since 1940.
Page 21
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Chapter 19: The charter of rights and freedoms
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Q1) The Supreme Court overturned the 1978 Bill of Rights decision that allowed the Unemployment Insurance Commission to discriminate against pregnant women.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discrimination in the private sector is normally addressed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) How are language rights protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedom?
Q4) Property rights are not generally considered part of civil liberties in Canada.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Greg Hein shows that New Left advocates have been the single biggest interest in taking Charter cases to the courts.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the notwithstanding clause? Explain the controversy that surrounds this section of the charter.
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Chapter 20: Governing: the policymaking 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) Explain the advantages and disadvantages for citizens of governments' use of tax expenditures.
Q3) Since the mid-1980s, governments have increasingly been engaged in nationalization.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are minimum wage laws, highway speed limits, building codes, rent controls, and bilingual labelling examples of?
A)exhortation
B)regulation
C)neoconservatism
D)public expenditures
Q5) In terms of government intervention, explain how the role of the state has evolved over the last 100 years.
Q6) What are stakeholders and what is their role in determining public policy?
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Q1) The Canadian head of state is the prime minister.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A Canadian constitutional convention requires that each province be represented in the Cabinet.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What title is given to an MP who is appointed to assist a Cabinet minister?
A)parliamentary secretary
B)parliamentary assistant
C)executive assistant
D)chief of staff
Q4) Compare and contrast the concepts of individual ministerial responsibility and collective ministerial responsibility.
Q5) Differentiate between the different central agencies.How significant are their functions and roles in Canadian politics?
Q6) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the monarchy?
Page 24
Q7) What were the recommendations of the Gomery Inquiry with regard to the prime minister and the public service?
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Chapter 22: The bureaucracy
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Q1) The Official Languages Act of 1969 made the executive branch of government bilingual.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An elaborate, expensive investigation set up by the Cabinet to make recommendations on a significant policy problem is called a task force.
A)True
B)False
Q3) How are government departments created?
A)through policies initiated by the Cabinet
B)through acts of Parliament
C)through constitutional amendments
D)through orders-in-council
Q4) What is the purpose of Crown corporations?
Q5) The principle of individual ministerial responsibility means that ministers must resign for mistakes made by their officials.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What reforms to the bureaucracy were proposed by the Gomery Inquiry?
Page 25
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Chapter 22: The bureaucracy
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Q1) How many days are allotted as opposition days?
A)19
B)20
C)21
D)22
Q2) There were 12 minority governments between 1867 and 2011.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is a private member's bill?
A)a bill dealing with a specific individual, corporation, or institution
B)a bill introduced by an MP who is not in the Cabinet
C)a private bill
D)a bill introduced by an opposition MP
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) Describe a typical week in the House of Commons.
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Chapter 24: The judiciary
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Q1) Private law is essential the same as civil law.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What term describes the power of the courts to declare laws invalid?
A)habeas corpus
B)judicial review
C)stare decisis
D)judicial discretion
Q3) The principal legal basis of the Supreme Court of Canada is the Supreme Court Act.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which method is NOT currently used to reduce the costs of the administration of justice in Canada?
A)pre-trial conferences
B)plea bargaining
C)court challenges program
D)legal aid
Q5) What are some of the main similarities and differences between civil and criminal law?
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