The Fate of Canada
The Fate of Canada

Author: Graham Fraser

Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP

Published: 2021-09-03

Total Pages: 302

ISBN-13: 0228009421

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From 1963 until 1971, a group of distinguished Canadians wrestled with the language conflict that ran the risk of tearing the country apart. Among their ranks, F.R. Scott – a poet, intellectual, constitutional expert, human rights activist, and law professor – kept diaries that recounted the meetings of one of Canada’s most significant royal commissions. The Fate of Canada introduces readers to Scott’s biography, puts his diary entries into the political context of the time, and identifies the people he met and the places he visited during the hearings of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. Scott’s journal entries recording the earliest meetings convey optimism for a bilingual Canada. As the years pass, however, he becomes increasingly concerned that bilingualism is in danger, and Quebec’s English community threatened. His remarks convey a sense of humour and mutual respect amongst the commissioners despite the tensions over language within the group – and across the country. Scott was a champion of English-language rights in Quebec. Never before published, these diaries provide remarkable insight into the inner life of one of twentieth-century Canada’s most significant intellectuals, and a royal commission that shaped the nation’s language policy for decades to come.

As I Recall
As I Recall

Author: John Meisel

Publisher: IRPP

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9780886451738

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This collection of papers seeks to bridge the divide between English and French Canada by bringing to light the distinctive viewpoints of those two sides regarding historical events. It chronicles 34 events that have marked political relations between the two linguistic communities from the arrival of the British in 1759 through to the 1995 Quebec referendum. Each event is summarized from the viewpoint of both Anglophones and Francophones. Chapter 1 covers early events including the British conquest, the 1830s rebellions, Confederation, and the hanging of Louis Riel. Chapter 2 covers the making of the welfare state, including unemployment insurance, tax rental agreements, pension plans, and health insurance. Chapter 3 covers Canadian identity events such as creation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, adoption of a new flag, and bilingualism & multiculturalism policies. Chapter 4 covers events in Quebec since the Quiet Revolution, including the DeGaulle visit in 1967, the October 1970 crisis, Quebec language laws, and the 1982 patriation of the Constitution. Chapter 5 covers economic debates, including the Churchill Falls power contract and the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement. The final chapter is entitled "Failed reconciliation" and includes papers on the Meech Lake Accord, the 1990 crisis at Oka, and the Charlottetown accord of 1992. Includes index.

Transforming Rights
Transforming Rights

Author: Maxwell Yalden

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2009-08-15

Total Pages: 410

ISBN-13: 1442697334

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Maxwell Yalden began his career in the Department of External Affairs; he was posted to /aMoscow and Paris, and later as ambassador to Belguim. As Canada's Language Commissioner from 1977-1984, he worked to reinforce the Official Languages Act, and language equality, encouraging Canadians to become more inclusive in their attitudes towards both official languages. Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission from 1987-1996, he also served for eight years as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. Transforming Rights draws on Yalden's extensive experience in rights work to provide a personal assessment of how issues of human rights and language rights have evolved over the past forty years, both within Canada and internationally. Transforming Rights contends that Canadian rights principles reflect a unique history and character and examines the interplay of historical and contemporary Canadian standards with comparable international norms. Yalden argues that Canada's rights achievements demonstrate that though it may not be possible to change beliefs and attitudes through policy and legislation, it is certainly possible to change behaviour - facilitating the expansion of rights. Authoritative and anecdotal, Yalden offers an informed insider's opinion on continuously evolving human rights norms and the impact they have had on the way that people live their lives.