...Indian School Days Book Review Justin Delorme Introduction The book, “Indian School Days” is an autobiography of the author Basil Johnston, an Ojibwe native from Wasauksing First Nation, in Ontario. This piece by Author, “Basil Johnston”, gives the reader more and more evidence of the structural lifestyle of the Spanish Indian residential school. From the very beginning his writing style links the reader to never put down the book, it is full of action and true events that took place during his lifetime. The book starts off with Mr. Johnston as a young child of ten years, skipping school with another student, an act that they didn’t think would get them both shipped off to a residential school. But as fortunes and his unfortunate luck would have it, the feared Indian agent showed up to Basils door and took himself, along with his 4 year old sister to St. Peter Clavers School, a boarding school run by Jesuit priests at Spanish, which was close to Sudbury, Ontario. With the fear of police and punishment his mother and grandmother got both children ready and there was nothing nobody could say or do to change the mind of the Indian agent. In the pages that were to follow, Basil creates many portraits of the young Indian boys who struggle to adapt to the harsh and inhumane environment of this institution. By looking at some key examples from the book that Basil Johnston wrote, it will show the reader why this would be a good book to read as his writing style is from his own...
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...The Residential school system in Canada was a system devoted to providing a disciplined based ideal that promoted the rejection of the aboriginal culture in favor of the then dominant white European population. The teaching strategies that were encouraged ranged from pulling children as young as six away from their parents to mental, physical and sexual abuse. The Residential schools were run by a variety of participating church organizations, which received funding from the Canadian government. The funding was based on a per aboriginal basis therefore it was in the best interests of the churches to enroll as many aboriginal students as possible. The schools were run in almost every province in Canada from 1860-1884 and claimed to be promoting religious and cultural assimilation. However, the cruelty that was experienced by many young aboriginals in the residential schools emphasizes the differences between the aboriginal societies and the European dominant society making complete assimilation impossible. The imposition of residential schools on First Nations children has led to significant loss of indigenous languages, and this language loss has led to further cultural losses for traditional First Nations cultures in Canada. The earliest known date opening of a Residential school was in 1840, located in Manitowaning, Ontario. The school was the Wikemikong Indian Residential School, it closed in 1879. The last Residential school to close was La Tuque Indian...
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...The Unfairness and Vagueness of the MPAA Rating System Many people take notice of a film rating, whether in the theater or on the DVD case. The American culture, especially, relies very heavily on these ratings. Oftentimes, there is almost an incredible amount of trust put in them. But where did this trust come from, and is it really deserved? The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) determines the ratings on almost every film that is produced today. Although filmmakers are not required to have a rating attached to their films, the MPAA has great power in its ratings. After a close examination of the MPAA movie rating system, it is clear that there are many flaws both because of its unfair rating of different films and also because of its vague guidelines. Before the MPAA's rating system can be critiqued, it is important to understand society's need for censorship, the difficulty in rating, and the history and past critiques of not only the MPAA's rating system, but the other systems that came before it. It is impossible to look at the rating system without questioning the need for it in the first place. Media censorship is tricky, because it must “protect both free speech and children” (Jordan 235). There is a very tricky balance between these two sides. The American government recognizes the right to free speech. This means that, technically speaking, filmmakers are allowed to be able to express what they want to express in the way that they...
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...As an Aboriginal of the age of four to sixteen living in the 1800’s until the 1990’s, life was not diverting due to the Residential School systems. Canada has been struggling to gain the forgiveness of the Residential School attendants and gladly, they had finally accepted our apologies, but will they ever forgive themselves for not being one of us? During the twentieth century, Residential Schools became widespread in all Canadian provinces and territories except Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland. Aboriginal children had been seized from their homes and had been placed into these ‘boarding schools’. They had to do labour work, live with complete strangers, and also study the Canadian culture just to kill the Indian in the Child. The young children had to do all of this for the government while being abused. Sexually, physically and mentally. About one hundred and fifty thousand children were placed into this horrid living and only eighty thousand made it out alive as in two thousand and eight. In order for us to be forgiven, we did two acts that will never make up for what our country had done to them. We wrote a state of apology that was read in front of a crowd of survivors. We had also given each of them a generous amount of money as a materialistic apology. But how did the aboriginal community act upon the materialistic goods and apology? Has Canada as a whole done enough to heal the wounds of aboriginal students that had attended the Residential...
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...The Logical Next Step: Reconciliation Payments for All Indian Residential School Survivors CANADIAN BAR ASSOCIATION February 2005 PREFACE The Canadian Bar Association is a national association representing 38,000 jurists, including lawyers, notaries, law teachers and students across Canada. The Association’s primary objectives include improvement in the law and in the administration of justice. This submission was prepared by the National Aboriginal Law and the National Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the Canadian Bar Association, with assistance from the Legislation and Law Reform Directorate at the National Office. The submission has been reviewed by the Legislation and Law Reform Committee and approved as a public statement of the Canadian Bar Association. The Logical Next Step: Reconciliation Payments for All Indian Residential School Survivors Executive Summary At its Annual Meeting in August 2004, the Canadian Bar Association adopted a resolution1 calling for the government to go beyond the existing Indian Residential Schools Dispute Resolution process to provide a base payment to all survivors of Indian Residential Schools. The CBA recognizes the tragic legacy of Indian Residential Schools and the failure of the current options of either litigatio n or the dispute resolution process to resolve the situation. The harms caused by Indian Residential Schools are still profoundly felt by the individual students who attended the schools, as well as...
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...170 schools were closed, an estimated 150,000 indigenous youth were forced to attend. In an attempt to blend indigenous youth into Canadian society, both the Canadian government and Christian churches believed educating and converting the youth would achieve their goal of integrating them into Canadian society (Miller, 2014). The infliction of economic self sufficiency and religious conversion caused the loss of languages which further resulted in the loss of culture among traditional indigenous peoples. The death of a language is more complex than simply a loss of communication, it is a loss of knowledge. "The wisdom of humanity is summarized in...
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...believe the social value define our society. The ideology of political parties is largely conservative, liberal and social democratic. The ideology is generated from social movements, for instance, women movement in the country. There are also stereotypes fueled by the anti-globalization movement, which encourages social justice for less developed nations that encourages democratic decisions making. In my country, there also exists humanism and egalitarianism that have far-reaching political and social welfare beliefs. In my country, there are multiple values that enhance the quality of ideologies, which ends up treating people with respect to each other. The quality specifically enhances the integrity, dignity and facilitates self-determination and self-realization through helping Canadian accepting and advocating for social justice principle. Finkel et al. (2006, p. 54) believes that the social policy reinforces the country ethics by helping people to have a sounding political system. Social conservatives value traditional gender roles with women working equally as men. The country also pursues social liberalism and reform...
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...According to INAC, the term for Aboriginal peoples is defined as: “a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. The Canadian constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people: Indians (commonly referred to as First Nations), Métis and Inuit. These are three distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. More than one million people in Canada identify themselves as an Aboriginal person, according to the 2006 Census.” (Indigenous Nationhood) Although many Aboriginal peoples in Canada identify as being Aboriginal, many Aboriginal peoples struggle to maintain or gain a sense of cultural identity due to the Canadian Governments assimilation policies. Throughout this paper I will discuss how the Indian Act, the Canadian Residential School System, and the Sixties Scoop assimilated Aboriginal peoples into a European way of life, by attempting to integrate them into society by abolishing their Aboriginal identities. This assimilation process impacted Aboriginal peoples in negative ways throughout the generations socially, culturally, and economically. The negative impacts within child welfare system, educational institutions, and the socio-economic status of Aboriginal peoples today, prove assimilation and the total integration of Aboriginal peoples within mainstream society is unacceptable. Decolonization techniques should be applied within those areas in order combat the long lasting effects of...
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...discrimination and their rights and privileges are valued equally to those of the majority. Through political, human and cilvil rights, social well-fare systems, and international relations, Canada has formed a strong governmental institution that fosters an inclusive democracy. Between 1945-2014, the Canadian identity transitioned to an inclusive democratic society defined by domestic social reforms and international commitments to the global community In the last seventy years, Canada developed lawful political, human and civil rights within the nation and in the global community. In May of 1945, representatives of 50 countries met in San Francisco at the United Nations Conference on International Organizations, to draw up the United Nations Charter. Canada participated in the San Francisco conferences as a founding member of the Unite Nations. The Charter strived for collective security to avoid war, to develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international co-operation in solving international problems and promoting and encouraging respect for human and civil rights. Canada’s participation in the United Nations was instrumental in a global reputation of humanitarian contributions. Canada’s dedication to fundamental human rights internationally, upheld Canadian core democratic values. Canada’s federal government crafted a new Canadian Constitution that domestically improved the civil rights of every citizen. Authorized in 1982, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed...
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...and business practices. Americanization refers to a process of acculturation by populations to American values and cultures. Canada and the United States are allies and trading partners (Gravelle 135). The two countries share a rich history of cooperation with each other. Cooperation between the two nation has been promoted by the fact that the two countries are neighbors. Canada began developing relationships with the United States after the Canadian confederation. The nation began their reliance on the United States for their national defense. Many Canadians believe that the country’s economic, political and military dependence on the United States would not make a difference in their day to day life activities. The Americans have influence more than the Canadian culture. Aspects in relation to media, economic dependence, American propaganda, artists and political pressure from the United States have made Canada too Americanized. The factors that make Canada too Americanized reflect mainly on the social life witnessed among many Canadians. They are viewed as risk hazards because they threaten the traditions and heritage that define the nation as an independent country. The US and Canada have close cultural ties that are advanced by similarities of language as both nations speak English as the national language. Canada gained self-domination of its internal affairs in the year 1867. However, during this time, Britain continued to control defense and diplomacy policies. The United...
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...Canada’s Welfare State The role of a nations government branches into many facets. From economic prosperity, the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms, as well as law making and administration, the government’s role in a nation is undeniably pivotal. However, what many people regard as the most essential aspect of a governments responsibility, is the influence it has in terms of upholding and monitoring the welfare state. The welfare state is defined as: “A system whereby the government undertakes to protect the health and well-being of its citizens, especially those in financial or social need, by means of grants, pensions, and other benefits.” This system is imperative to the social progress of a nation and the wellbeing of a society. The Maintenance of a good quality of life for Canadians reflects positively on all branches of a government, including economic growth, the utmost important aspect of a successful nation; thus, it is a necessity and advantageous to the Canadian economy. Economic growth refers to: “An increase in the amounts of goods and services produced per head of the population at one time.” The main causes of economic growth are better-educated and more skilled workers, as well as higher rates of investments and consumer spending, both of which can be enhanced by the use of different social programs. However, the issue with various social programs is its creation of a society run on long-term government dependency. Programs such as welfare as well...
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...Tommy Douglas was born on October 20, 1904. He was born in Falkirk, Scotland. He died when he was 82 on February 24, 1986. Tommy Douglas is responsible for many of the great benefits we have today. He introduced paved roads, sewage systems and power to most farmers. He somehow managed to reduce the provincial debt by $20 million. He later introduced Saskatchewan residents to car insurance and labour improvement. He is most famous for his long-standing dream of universal Medicare. He supported many and provided hope for the people of Saskatchewan. He won the respect of millions of Canadians due to his excellent debating and speaking skills. It was only after his death when he was voted "The Greatest Canadian" in a national CBC Television contest by his advocate George Stromboulopoulos. The Douglas family emigrated to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1910. The family then returned to Glasgow, Scotland, during World War I, but came back to settle in Winnipeg in 1919. He was the child of Scottish immigrants. As a youth, Tommy experienced a bone infection in his leg. The doctors recommended he had his leg amputated. His parents had no money for a specialist. This happened not long before a specialist offered to perform a surgery on his leg, as long as his students were able to witness it. This surgery saved his life, and was his inspiration for universally accessible medical care. As a child Tommy Douglas' behavior and characteristics revealed the personality traits that he would be greatly...
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...relationship between the government and its social construction. It is apparent that in this study, researchers have discovered that the political system is not managing its resources as well as its labour potential to the best of its ability. For the most part, the state has inadequately regulated the power of private corporations and the United States thus creating a national economic inefficiency. The article written by Angela Y. Davis examines the inadequate penitentiary system where it appear s that the private corporations are profiting from inmates which fuels are constant need for criminals entering these penitentiary facilities. Deborah Cowen's article explores social citizenship and the welfare state characterized by a workfare system resembling a basic model of military citizenship. Together, these articles force us to think critically of social construction and government regulation of power within private corporations. The article written by Angela Y. Davis was especially intriguing because she explores what I believe is not discussed in contemporary politics. After reading the article, I can able to criticize the inefficient regulation strategies that limit the spending that could be put into our education, welfare or healthcare system. It is especially frustrating to see that corporations are exploiting the penitentiary system for profit and fuelling a cycle of inhumane treatment and supply of prison inmates. In a sense, both articles evaluate and criticize the social...
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...Working Income Tax Benefit Paper for TAXX 344 Executive Summary Since 2008 most Canadians have heard about the Working Income Tax Benefit. It was introduced in 2007 by the Canadian Government as an incentive for those living on social assistance to enter the job market and those in the job market to continue working. The underlying principle is to give a reduction in income taxes to those who earn income from employment or self business to help offset the costs of entering the job market as opposed to living on social assistance. Offsetting costs such as medical and dental costs, work supplies etc. The cost of leaving social assistance and working is referred to as the welfare wall. The working income tax benefit was introduced at a low rate of $500 for individuals and $1,000 for families which considering the maximum net income cut-off amounts did not include the target audience of those who are on social assistance. Thanks to Canada's Economic Action Plan to help stimulate the economy during the Late 2000's Recession the Government provided what they called and enhancement and increased the benefit to $925 for individuals and $1,680 for families and increased the maximum net income levels to include more Canadians. The working income tax benefit is discussed in section 122.7 of the Canadian Tax Act and tax payers use Schedule 6 of the T1 tax return to calculate the benefit based on their earned income and calculates on a sliding phase in rate of 25% and phase...
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...materials, and offers Canadians a wider choice in products and services. People spend, save, or pay taxes with the money they earn in their jobs. The government uses taxes to provide services, which creates more jobs. When people save, the capital markets lend money to others, who will spend it on consumer goods, or open or expand a business, therefore creating new jobs. When people spend money, it creates demand, which creates new jobs. If something occurs to slow this expansion, the cycle reverses. Ex. higher taxes, higher interest rates. Meeting our needs Trade is always balanced if it is fair. If 2 people trade baseball cards and one gives another 6 cards, they should get 6 back. Many businesses can create a surplus inventory of goods and services. Canadian farms produce more food than Canadians can eat, Canadian manufacturers make more products than Canadians use, and Canadian service providers can provide service to other countries. Canadians cannot produce fruits like bananas and oranges, and some products we cannot make. These products are imported. Both trading partners get something they need by trading something they don’t need. Job Creation Unlike the battering that used to go on between trading partners, now businesses receive money from selling their products or services to foreign businesses. When foreign businesses buy Canadian products it creates jobs for Canadians. Exports are very important to Canadians they create one out of three Canadian jobs. 40 percent...
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