Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Last Hooray with the Axworthian One

For our final tutorial session please be sure to read Chapter 23 from The Peoples of Canada and most importantly, Lloyd Axworthy's article, "Canada and Human Security: The Need for Leadership" and Fen Osler Hampson's and Dean F. Oliver's "Pulpit Democracy: A Critical Assessment of the Axworthy Doctrine." See you all on Wednesday!


Think on these:

1. Discuss Axworthy's article. Explain the basic tenets of the Axworthy doctrine?

2. What are some of Hampson's and Oliver's critiques of the Axworthy doctrine?

3. What are some of the tangible advancements of the Axworthy doctrine?

4. Can you think of any instances where Canada has employed the notion of 'soft power' diplomacy?

5. Is Canada's Peacekeeping tradition a myth?

6. What should Mike give up first, playing Roll up the Rim or cheering for the Maple Leafs? (I should note that I finally won last week on my 55th purchased cup and I should also note that the Buds are 7 points out of 8th place)

Monday, March 21, 2011

The Penultimate Tutorials

For the second last tutorial of 2TT3 we are going to be discussing the material from The Peoples of Canada and the items that can be found online. When exploring Brian Mulroney's links please be sure to glean all the material but pay close attention (i.e., READ) his Meech Lake Accord speech.

Also, before we have a general discussion on all the items I want to take 15-20 minutes to go over the assignment. I want to ensure everyone understands what they need to do, review formatting and stylistic issues, and open the floor to any questions anyone may have.

Here are some questions that may be worth discussing:

1. If you were vacationing in Rome and a local asked you about the Constitution Act of 1982 how would you explain its importance to this person who is unfamiliar with Canadian political and legal history?

2. How would you rank the following in order of importance to Canada's history? BNA Act 1867, Statute of Westminster 1931, and Constitution Act 1982. How important are legislative milestones? What other formative events might you include?

3. Discuss Mulroney's Meech Lake Accord Speech. What are some of the issues with conferring the status of "distinct society" upon Quebec?

4. Does the province of Quebec qualify as a distinct society? If Quebec qualifies, how do we reconcile the position of other groups in Canada such as First Nations?

5. How would you define 'suburbia'?

6. Discuss the difference between culture in Canada and Canadian culture.

7. How did sport become part of overall cultural policy in Canada? Where does hockey rank?

8. What happened to Canadian history in the 1960s?

Marshall McLuhan, Heritage Minute

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Afternoon Tutorial

Hi all,

The TA that was supposed to take up today's readings ran into some car issues today so she and I apologize for her absence. In an effort to reward those that did the readings, please come to tutorial next week with two questions about the readings. I want you to come up with two questions you would ask about the readings and then provide a 50 word explanation for why you chose the questions. They will be graded out of 10 and will be your mark for this week's tutorials. Those that didn't do the readings, here is your chance to read and collect some marks. So it will look like this

Question 1
50 word explanation as to why you chose the question

Question 2
50 word explanation

Sunday, March 6, 2011

2TT3 Experiment-Court is in Session!

Before diving into our plethora of questions we will begin Wednesday's sessions with a different approach. For each article I want you to pretend that I am a judge on the Canadian Supreme Court. For both articles there will be two groups; prosecutors and defense attorneys.

For Loo's article, the prosecutors will each present ONE reason why development should proceed on the Peace River. The defenders will provide ONE reason each why hydroelectric development should not proceed.

After this, we will switch roles for Schaba's articles. The prosecutors for will present ONE reason each why Canada should adopt the Universal Human Rights Declarations and the defenders will provide ONE reason why not. This means you need to come up with one reason per article. You do not need to hand this in but I recommend you write it down so this process goes smoothly.

Please use information from the article's and your own personal insights to form your response. You do not necessarily have to agree with the point you are arguing as there were some controversial arguments against Canada's adoption of the UHRD. This is just meant to be a fun exercise and will give you each an opportunity to play Devil's Advocate. I imagine you will all do a better job than Keanu Reeves.

Please email me before tutorial if this information is unclear

MORNING TUTORIAL

Tina Loo Article
Prosecutors: Robert, Sarah, Marcel, Ricardo, Dylan B., Scott, John, Nathan
Defenders: Chris, Mike, Dylan H., Spencer, Stephanie, Michelle

William Schabas Article
Prosecutors: Chris, Mike, Dylan H., Spencer, Stephanie, Michelle
Defenders: Robert, Sarah, Marcel, Ricardo, Dylan B., Scott, John, Nathan

AFTERNOON TUTORIAL

Tina Loo Article
Prosecutors: Aaron, Andrew, Cara, Emily, Guilia, Juliano, Laura, Leah, Tony
Defenders: Mark N., Mark P., Ameer, Melissa, Paula, Rebecca, Samantha, Svjetlana

William Schabas Article
Prosecutors: Mark N., Mark P., Ameer, Melissa, Paula, Rebecca, Samantha, Svjetlana
Defenders:  Aaron, Andrew, Cara, Emily, Guilia, Juliano, Laura, Leah, Tony

Questions Arising from Loo and Schabas

 As usual, questions on both articles will begin with the standard's:

1. What is the theme of the article?

2. What is the author's argument?

3. How do they set out to prove their case?

4. Was their endeavour successful, why or why not?

Specific questions from Tina Loo's article may include the following:

5. What was W.A.C. Bennett's vision for BC's natural resources?

6. What is the idea of "high modernity"?

7. How did the government and industry view the people of Arrow Lakes?

8. Loo argues that "Columbia development would destroy more than a physical place" what else was at stake?

 

9. Would you consider the pictures above as natural landscapes? Can industry become an extension of nature or is it impossible to reconcile the 'middle landscape' created by the intrusion of industry? This is merely an opinion question. Think about some of the industrial landscapes that you are most familiar with. What were you perceptions of these as a child? Have they changed over time? Having spent twelve years in three northern Ontario towns (Thunder Bay, Timmins, and Sudbury) the sight of pulp and paper plants, mines, and smelters were an ingrained part of my life. However, that does not mean I have totally accepted them as 'natural'. 

Keep some of these thoughts in mind as you are reading MacEachern's, Natural Selections.

Canada and the Human Rights Question-"Not too Schabas"

1. What is this article about?

2. Why would Canada's support or opposition of Human Rights have been so important in the post-war period?

3. What evidence does Schabas use to suggest that Canada was a repressive society during and following the Second World War?

4. How did the Cold War influence or impact the passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

5. Is it fair to say that Canada's Department of External Affairs lacked a "human rights culture"?

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Loo and Schabas Article's

Hi all,

Here is a link to Tina Loo's and William Schabas' webpage's respectively:
http://www3.telus.net/tinaloo/Welcome.html

http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/Staff/william_schabas.html

It is always a good idea to do a quick background check on the scholars we are reading. It may help you gain some insight on their perspectives and will give you an idea of some of their previous works.

Below is a link that will direct you to the Tina Loo article that we will be discussing this week.

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.citizensforpublicpo

Here is the link to the William Schabas article on Human Rights:

lawjournal.mcgill.ca/documents/43.Schabas.pdf