Review #3

Tim Hortons festive mug loses the maple leaf in Quebec

Tim Hortons has been a part of Canada for over 40 years now and only serving Canadians freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked donuts. The first Tim Hortons franchise opened in 1964 in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1967, with three stores in operation, Tim Horton (founder of the business) became full partners with former police officer and franchisee of Tim Hortons Store #1, Ron Joyce. Since then, Tim's signature has become a prominent fixture in the Canadian landscape. However, now in 2010, Tim Hortons has released its holiday mugs across Canada, but the Quebec version isn't like the rest. Where a maple leaf appears on mugs in all other provinces, a snowflake appears in Quebec. The Tim Hortons coffee and tim-bits are something that Canadians share and experience the spirit of unity, and by using a maple leaf it represents Canada and not a province. Tim Hortons made a very deliberate decision to cater to two different markets, one for Quebec and one for the rest of Canada.

In the non-Quebec version of the Tim Hortons festive mug, the Rocky Mountains, CN Tower and Maple Leaf can be seen.

In the Quebec version of the Tim Hortons mug, there are snowflakes instead of maple leaves.

This has stirred up a lot of angry customers from other provinces who might consider boycotting Tim Hortons. Questions that might come up are “why is Quebec so special that they get their own mug?” and “Why not make a special mug for every province then?” “Is Time Hortons still a Canadian company and isn’t Quebec a part of Canada?” Tim Horton's has decided to change its marketing strategy for the Quebec market to satisfy the separatist consumer base. This is something that segregates Quebec from the rest of the Canadian traditions. Every society has an ideology that forms the basis of the "public opinion" or common sense, a basis that usually remains invisible to most people within the society. This prevailing ideology appears as "neutral"; all others differ from the norm and are often seen as radical, no matter what the actual vision may be. Organizations that strive for power influence the ideology of a society to make it become what they want. In this situation, we have a marketing company, Tim Hortons, which is seen as a cultural part of Canadian society who strived to reach out for more power. The change in the mugs for a different province shows that the influence of Quebecers resistance against Canadian traditions has been accomplished. Having a sense of being a Canadian citizenship is often identified as sharing values, endorsing to the Canadian cultural codes, and promoting nation unity. Also by addressing historical things about Canada that become traditional. The Quebec citizenship is addressed in a sense that French is the common public language, democratic values and principles, recognition of the Quebec-Anglophone community, etc. This process of bringing sameness brings about conflict towards national identity and belonging. Citizenship in Quebec is known to be a “hard” form of citizenship while the Canadian citizenship is known to be a “soft” citizenship. Canada is politically progressive with a national community; on the other hand Quebec remains to struggle to gain recognition.

Canada & US - The Difference

Review #2

Bowling for Columbine

Do you ever think about how it would feel like to have someone point a gun to your head on a regular school day? Michael Moore takes us through the sad tragedy of the shooting that occurred at Columbine High school. During his movie he stated that the main problem behind this is America’s gun control problem. It was too easy for the two teen-aged boys to go out and buy guns and some bullets…wasn’t it? In this documentary, Michael Moore focused his theme on the need for gun control. Guns are the cause for most of the murdering crimes and acts of violence that occur in America. The National Rifle Association in America does not realize that their belief in owning a gun to protect them has gone too far. Michael Moore puts together the hegemonic structure of the American society. Hegemony can be defined as the interrelation between power structures that give society its shape and texture. Michael Moore chose to use the shooting that occurred at the Columbine high school to demonstrate his main point of the film, which is to find the reason for why this senseless act occurred. While watching Bowling for Columbine, I felt both sympathetic and thankful. The documentary made be stop and think about the state of America, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be for kids in America to go to school feeling paranoid about when the next shooting will be. I’ve had some related experiences myself; during my high school years in Canada, we’ve had several lock downs, and how I know I wouldn’t be able to go to school anymore if a real shooting occurred at my school. Children should be going to school for education with feeling unsafe or threatened. Michael Moore also spent quite a bit of time in the film discussing how fear is created in society.  However, in Canada we have many factors that are behind violence in our society.  Some examples are police violence, racism, sexual assaults and domestic violence. When it comes to comparing the safety of our society in Canada to the United States, Michael Moore makes it clear that Canada is no where as violent and corrupted as America. There are several scenes where Moore is in Canada interviewing several Canadians about whether they lock their doors or if they feel afraid or unsafe most of the times.However, to his surprise hardly anyone in Canada locks their doors or feels threatened towards gun violence. Generally speaking, there are less crime rates and gun violence in Canada than there is in America. Michael Moore’s suggested long term solution to the problem is to figure out who influences gun buying, questions the promoters of gun rights about their motives, and hold the media responsible for gun violence. His short term solution would be to ban all handguns.

Terry Fox Tribute

Review #1

The Terry Fox Run

Terry Fox was born in 1958 in Winnipeg, Man. When Terry was a child he enjoyed playing sports, and he joined the cross-country running team. In the year of 1977, a tragic occurred for Terry Fox and his family when a pain in his knee has been discovered and he could barely stand. He went to the hospital and his right leg was amputated six inches above his knee due to cancer. 

Terry Fox pushed himself to adjust to his artificial leg and walk again. He knew that he could do something to support cancer research and raise money and awareness. His mission was to run across the country to raise both awareness and money in his fight against cancer. Terry practiced hard for over a year and after that he was ready to announce his mission to Canada. He stated that his goal was to collect $1 for every person living in the country. Terry ran about 42 kilometers each day no matter what the weather, raining or even snowing he still ran. After Terry ran for 143 days, his cancer had spread to his lungs and that caused him to not continue the run. However, the money and donations kept coming and a total of $24.17 million was raised passing Terry’s initial goal. Terry Fox died on June 28, 1981, surrounded by his loved ones and becoming the youngest person ever to be awarded the order of Canada. On Sept. 13, 1981, the first Terry Fox Run was held. More than 300,000 Canadians took part in the event at 760 sites across the country. The run raised $3.5 million.  It is truly moving that the heroic, unselfish mission of one young man serves as such an inspiration to all of us no matter where we live in the world.

Fox's journey across Canada

The Terry Fox Run, named in honour of Canadian amputee runner Terry Fox who at 21, attempted to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research, has become a Canadian tradition. It has become a social norm in our everyday lives to remember this amazing moment by having a Terry Fox Run every year in the month of April. The Terry Fox Run is held in schools, hospitals and even at workplaces to keep the awareness rising for cancer research. Terry Fox became a part of us, and a part of our hearts. He is in our geography, in awards that honor outstanding young Canadians, as a role model for athletes and in cancer research funded as it had never been before. Canada has founding moments, founding heroic figures, and has the idea of the nation. Terry Fox realized that the nation was about to see what the disease did, and hoped that it could lead to greater generosity. A week after his run ended, the CTV Television Network organized a nationwide telethon in support of Fox and the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Critical Reflection Paper 4

Reflection on “Sexuality and Gender”

There are an infinite number of social elements in society; amongst them are gender and sexuality. Gender is your sense of being male or female and individuals playing masculine and feminine roles as defined to be appropriate by your culture and society. There are certain actions, reactions and behaviours which are specific to both the males and females. Gender is also used by sociologists to study both males and females. Sexuality is the condition of being characterized and distinguished by sex and can be defined as the quality or state of being sexual. As discussed in class sexuality, quite often it is an aspect of one's need for closeness, caring, touch and determines a person’s sexual likes or dislikes and interests (Leroux, 9 Nov 2010). Sexuality is defined biologically to determine the sex of an individual, whereas gender is associated with social roles and norms in a society. Both gender and sexuality are categories of people. It is very easy for us to think of gender as male or female, and of sexuality as sexual activity between man and women only, but there are many more binaries and conflicts to the terms. Strong social and cultural forces lead us to distinguish men from women and heterosexuals from homosexuals. We learn these distinctions throughout the socialization process, and we continuously construct them anew in our daily interactions. Most people use positive and negative sanctions to ensure that others conform to conventional heterosexual gender roles; some people resort to violence to enforce conformity and punish deviance. We do not yet understand well why some individuals develop homosexual orientations. Some scientists believe that the cause of homosexuality is mainly genetic, others think it is chiefly hormonal, while still others point to life experiences during early childhood as the most important factor. It is important to note in this connection though that homosexuality has become less of a stigma over the past century. Especially since the middle of the twentieth century, gays and lesbians have gone public with their lifestyles and built large communities. As discussed in class, same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada back in 2005 (Leroux, 9 Nov 2010). If we refer back to the term gender; how gender roles play off in society, and how the media has an impact on it. We can see that it is usually something that is done. Norms justify male domination and have much more social power than women do. When women and men are more equal socially, and norms justify gender equality, the rate of male aggression against women is lower. The media reinforces normality of traditional gender roles in many ways; a woman’s role in society is to become a housewife and mans role in society is to become the provider and authoritative role. Gender and sexuality exist in any and every society. Sociologically speaking, gender relates to how a person, a male or female, expect to behave and be treated by society. On the other hand, sexuality is more of a biological determination, or physical attributes of a male or a female with no specific expectations.

Critical Reflection Paper 3

Reflection on “Multiculturalism in Canada”

Canada is country that is built on the concept of multiculturalism; it recognizes ethnic and racial diversity within a society. There is a mixture of races, cultures and ethnicities residing in Canada. As more and more immigrants come to Canada searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more multicultural. A look at the 1991 Canadian census shows that the population has changed more noticeable in the last ten years than in any other time in the twentieth century, with one out of four Canadians identifying themselves as black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native(3). Canadians gain a lot of knowledge about cultures from different countries, the variety of foods, clothes, beliefs and so on. About ten years ago, I immigrated to Canada from Egypt and met people from all different kinds of ethnic backgrounds; this helped me learn and experience a lot of new cultures and try different types of food. One thing I recognized from my experience is that everyone is able to celebrate their own cultural beliefs and religion freely and at the same time Canadians and immigrants come together every year to celebrate Canada. Canada’s society is a mixture of different kinds of people from around the world which makes Canada a unique country and gives it more than one culture. In 2001, approximately 250,640 people immigrated to Canada. The newcomers settle mostly in the major urban areas of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal (1). Canada encourages newcomers to settle in Canada and integrate into Canadian society while maintaining and celebrating their own traditions and languages. However, there are also some challenges to multiculturalism in Canada. Werner Patels (2006) argues that if we are so concerned about the mentality of immigrants, we should start by requiring them all to learn English to a level where they are functionally fluent in it. As any linguist will confirm, when you learn a language, you not only learn its words and grammar rules, but you also absorb the mentality that goes with it, as every language, based on its structure, comes with a specific way of thinking, formulating thought and presenting arguments(3). I believe that for an immigrant to have commitment towards Canada, they should be able to learn and speak one of the official languages of the country. This helps release the tension of multiculturalism if immigrants were not to keep to themselves and share their cultural practices. The trouble with extreme cultural relativism is that some cultures oppose the most deeply held values of most Canadians; other cultures promote practices that most Canadians consider inhumane. Multiculturalism's emphasis on cultural relativism potentially leads to a clash of cultures in Canada. However, multiculturalism is widely accepted by many Canadians and overall seen as a good thing in Canada and it should not be taken for granted in today’s society.

Critical Reflection Paper 2

Reflecting on “Nationalism and Heritage Minutes”

During class we discussed what do the Canadian heritage minutes tell us about Canada? The Heritage Minutes were produced by the privately owned Historica Foundation, created by Charles R. Bronfman and the CRB Foundation to “enhance Canadianism”. The use of satire in these commercials portrays multiculturalism with no conflicts, they show Canada is politically progressive, and also show Canadian pride and the importance of our Military. The Canadian heritage minutes show important events and figures in Canadian history and inspire Canadians to learn more about their history and nationalism. There is also a use of “Canadian comedy” in some of the heritage minutes which are used to address historical things about the country that become traditional. The Canadian identity is often combined of ideological effects of Canada that are presented in the Canadian heritage minutes such as; that it is generous, that public health care and education are valued, and that it is a safe country to live in. This is how nationalism is presented in the Canadian heritage minutes and they present how the nation has been historically defined. There are also symbols which the heritage minutes presented that show elements of nationalism such as how the Canadian flag was brought about with the maple leaf and the color red. Canadian nationalism is also featured in the heritage minutes through our ability to communicate with one another despite the bilingual barrier; this is demonstrated in the heritage minute video about two politicians from Upper and Lower Canada who demonstrate French/English cooperation when LaFontaine seeks election in Toronto and goes on to help shape democratic reforms for all of Canada. Another factor is the survival of Canadian victims such as women struggling against female discrimination to practice medicine in Canada; this is demonstrated in the heritage minute video about Jennie Trout's struggle against prejudice to become the first woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada. In the heritage minutes series they present the role of important figures in Canada who have an impact on the development of the Canadian nation. Hockey is a huge sport in Canada that brought its citizen together and captured the heart of the nation. An example from the heritage minute’s video is about the legendary hockey star Maurice "Rocket" Richard, who scored 8 points after spending 8 hours moving his family from one end of Montreal to the other:
http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?id=10217
The heritage minutes succeeded to encourage the growth of one type of national interpretation by establishing a “community of discourse” for Canadians.

Critical Reflection Paper 1

Reflecting on ‘State Formation’

When we come to define a state we can say that a specific territory has a state that has authority over every resident of the area. ‘Authority of state’ means the ability to declare and enforce the law of the land. State has a monopoly over the legitimate means of power; they claim the right to apply coercive force. As Max Weber’s definition of the state is “an entity that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force in any given territory.” A state comes into being, through the use of force; it is applied by violence that is to be done by people who are authorized by the state. The question brought up in the lecture notes is “How did the Canadian state come-into-being through violence?” An obvious answer would be that the laws announced by the state determine the duties and the rights of the state subjects. For example, in today’s society one of these duties is the payment of taxes; giving away a part of our income to the state is law enforced on everyone. There are also the rights to express you opinions but that does not change most of the laws enforced. If we compare the nation with the state out of curiosity; we could ask ourselves ‘Is the nation an entity that has a monopoly over the legitimate means of power on any territory?’ Now the state is ‘real’ in the sense of having clearly drawn boundaries, both on the map and on the land. For example Canada is shown on the map separate from the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the same cannot be said about the nation; the nation is not a ‘reality’ because it does not exist. The nation only exists as an entity as long as its members mentally and emotionally ‘identify themselves’ with a collective body. Nations usually occupy a continuous territory, but hardly any nations have a monopoly of residence on any territory. Within any territory there is people living side-by-side who define themselves as belonging to different nations. The nation usually consists of a group of people who share a common culture and language. Nationalisms normally demand power, the right to use coercion, in order to preserve the nation. As stated in the lecture notes “What makes the use of force legitimate in state formation is that it is recognized in law as such.” It has come to my attention that the nation is what complies with the law. The state makes the law and the nation has its claim to the land. As much as the state needs nationalism for its legitimating, nationalism needs the state for its effectiveness. The national state is the product of this mutual attraction.