Country Analysis: Canada - Article Example

Canada- An analysis The Culture The Canadian community is quite well known globally for the multicultural adaptation. The Canadian culture has all through the years formulated its own unique features with reference to all the allied components specific to the country. The Canadian culture has had high dependence on the artistic, musical, literary, culinary, political and social elements (Manning, Erin, 2003). These have turned to be real representative characteristics of the Canadian community identifying Canada and its people all across the world. The culture of the nation was hugely influenced by the historic events that were associated with the country and the nationalistic elements. The formulation of Culture The political and the historical happenings in the country have served as a benchmark in the formulation of Canadian culture. The most important among them had been the historic influence of European culture (Manning, Erin, 2003). This should be read together with the fact that Canada was for long years colonized and inhabited by the Europeans. In addition to this the European influence in the American culture also influenced the Canadian culture formulation as being a neighboring nation. The key events and personalities which made substantial influence in the colonization process gradually turned to be symbols and icons of Canadian culture (Manning, Erin, 2003). The establishment of power by James Wolfe, the then British Major General in Quebec in the year 1759, led to a peace treaty through which England colonized most of the land previously occupied by the Frenchmen (Manning, Erin, 2003). This historic event in alignment with the migration of United Empire Loyalists from the thirteen colonies of the British in America namely Massachusetts , New Hampshire ,Rhode Island , New York , Connecticut , New Jersey , Pennsylvania , Delaware , Maryland , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina and Georgia initiated the creation of the multicultural community in Canada (Manning, Erin, 2003) Other historic and sociological factors which influenced the Canadian culture are the influences of the aboriginal culture and the economic interaction of the native resources with the international traders (Manning, Erin, 2003) The exploitation of these natural resources internationally made the culturally rich and diverse aboriginal culture to influence the national culture in totality. The administrative promotion and preservation of Culture The administrative system of Canada has always ensured to protect and promote the multicultural nature of its nationally relevant cultural indicators. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has paid special emphasis on this aspect. On the other side this regulatory measures of the government has actively influenced the formulation of the culture and the people’s approach towards cultural assimilation and adaptation to multicultural environment. Canada is considered as a migratory paradise by people all around the world. Apart from the consideration of undesirable conditions in the home land of the immigrants, a number of factors individually and in combination with each other have made Canada an ideal place to migrate and get settled. The policies of the Canadian government in favor of immigration have however catalyzed the process of immigration. This scenario should be read with the fact that immigration is becoming increasingly important to Canadas economic well-being. Presently the immigrants constitute more than half of Canada’s population. Further adding to the present factual, it has been envisaged that by the year 2030, the only source of population development for Canada will be by attracting more international citizens to permanently settle in Canada. Thus the federal government has made substantial efforts in influencing the Canadian culture through tailor made programs, rules and regulations (Manning, Erin, 2003) Canadian Political system Basically a constitutional monarchy along with a federal parliamentary government constitutes the functional framework of Canadian politics (Canadian Politics, 2009). The political system is highly based on a democratic system. Canada has been ranked the third biggest democratic nation in the Democracy Index of The Economist in the year 2006 (Canadian Politics, 2009). This system is well friendly with the international political system as the Canadian system has been based as per the foundation setup by the United Kingdoms Westminster parliament (Canadian Politics, 2009). However, the politics and the associated elements in Canada has successfully developed into a more flexible and disciplined system exemplary to the whole world. The dependence of the political power of each of the Member of Parliament in accordance with the number of parliamentary votes makes the real power vest upon the citizens of Canada (Canadian Politics, 2009). The Provincial and federal politics When the Canadian federal politics is completely dependent on the parliamentary system, the political system existing in the provinces is a co-sovereign system (Canadian Politics, 2009). The monarchy has eleven legal jurisdictions involving one federal jurisdiction and ten provisional ones. The biggest challenge which always existed in the Canadian political system is the fluency in the federal-state political relationship. The determining factor of success in many of the nationally relevant issues is the inter-governmental coordination in planning, distribution, utilization and conservation of natural resources among the provinces. Legal structure The legal system in Canada comprises of two legal regimes including; the common law and the civil law (Gall, G L, 1977). While the civil law applies in all provinces and territories excluding Quebec, the civil law is applicable exclusively for the province of Quebec. The civil law has specific civil code which has had timely amendments since its inception in 1866 (Gall, G L, 1977). The common law is gradually getting amended in reference to the varied legal challenges that occur time to time. In addition to these legal setups the Aboriginal Justice Strategy was introduced in 1996 so as for the aboriginals to have more representation in the criminal justice system. This also ensures the protection of the values of the aborigines in liaison with the legal system. The Canadian economy Canada had been home to the vital technological innovations which has changes the face of the world. These innovations had been an important driving force of the Canadian economy. The production sector contributes to 33% of the Canadian economy (CANSIM, 2009) However, on the other side two third of the GDP of Canadian economy is contributed by the service sector. Three out of every four Canadians are employed in the service industry as well (CANSIM, 2009). Agriculture, Mining, Forestry and construction industries are the major contributors to the Canadian economy (CANSIM, 2009). The statistics on the Canadian economy indicates the following facts. Economic indicator Performance Unemployment rate (March 2009 ) 8.0 % Inflation rate (March 2009 ) 1.2 % Real GDP (January 2009, % change -0.7 % Exports (4th quarter 2008, % change) -4.7 % Imports (4th quarter 2008, % change ) -6.4 % Federal debt (2008 - $ millions ) 457,637.0 Source:(CANSIM, 2009) The role of provinces in Canadian economy As far as the income from different provinces are concerned, Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia contributes the most in terms of average income and lowest average income is contributed by Newfoundland. The unemployment rate is comparatively higher in the eastern provinces (CANSIM, 2009) Geo-strategic Issue The Canadian arctic had been the symbol of Canada’s geography. It covers almost 3.4 million square kilometers and close to half of the national territory (Anisimova; Shiklomanovb;& Frederick E, 1997). Though deprived of inhabitancy, this area is being pointed out as an area getting most affected by global warming. The iceberg is melting and eventually Canada is loosing thousands of geographic area per yea (Anisimova; Shiklomanovb;& Frederick E, 1997). As far as the protection of this area is concerned it refers much to the sovereignty of the nation. It has become much important for the country to protect one of the most important and unique symbol of its geography. This would in turn mean the regulation over the maritime traffic and allied activities in the sea in proximity of the region. (Anisimova; Shiklomanovb;& Frederick E, 1997) The complexity in this regulation is that it can affect the international trade links and the oil business as well as this is an important trade route. The exploitation of natural resources including oil and gas will have to be regulated so as for Canada to deal with this critical geo-strategic issue. Works Cited Manning, Erin, Ephemeral territories: representing nation, home, and identity in Canada. Minnesota :University of Minnesota Press, 2003 Gall, G L, Canadian Legal System, Toronto: Carswell, 1977 CANSIM, “National Economic accounts,” Statistics Canada, 2009, CANSIM database, 27 Apr 2009, Read More