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Message Issues for Canadians Introduction4economic system: how asociety organizes theproduction, distributionand consumption of goodsand services How does economics connect to citizenshipand identity?Economics involves using resources to create goods and services, anddistributing and consuming goods and services. Many decisionsaffect economics — decisions we make as individuals and decisionsgovernments make on our behalf. These decisions affect theopportunities people have — including you — to work and earn anincome. They involve topics such as:• How your economic decisions and the structure of Canada’seconomic system affect your quality of life and the quality oflife of Canadians.• How your economic decisions reflect your values, and howdifferent values shape economic decision making in Canadaand the United States.• How government decisions about important economic issuesaffect you — your quality of life, and what you value andbelieve in.This is Tyrone Brass, anelectrician who started hisown business after attendingthe Aboriginal EntrepreneurProgram at Keyano Collegein Fort McMurray. Attendingthe entrepreneur programand starting his ownbusiness may affect howTyrone Brass makeseconomic decisions andwhat he values as a citizen.

What are the big ideas of this book?5What factors are important to your qualityof life, citizenship and identity?Try this. What do you believe are the most important factors thataffect your quality of life? Make a list of things that reflect who youare and what’s important to you — for example, the languages youspeak, your traditions, and the things you require to meet your basicneeds such as food and security. Rank your ideas from mostimportant to least important. • Why are some factors more important than others?• How do these factors affect your sense of individual andcollective identity? • How do they affect your actions and responsibilities as acitizen?Quality of life is about your values and what’s important to you.Your quality of life connects to political and economic issues, andthe decisions that government and citizens make in respondingto issues.To what extent dothese photographsillustrate factorsthat affect your qualityof life, citizenship andidentity? Submit

Issues for Canadians Introduction6Elder AlbertYellowknee is amember of theBigstone Cree Nationin Alberta.What factors are important to the qualityof life, citizenship and identity of peoplein Canada?This section presents comments about quality of life from threeCanadians. Consider what shapes each person’s point of view orperspective. How does this connect to factors that affect theirquality of life? To what extent do these factors affect youridentity and your responsibilities as a citizen?In my family, we were brought up learning our traditional ways,morals, virtues, and most importantly speaking our language. I wastaught by the Elders — by my parents, who taught from the heart.We were always taught to respect our traditional ways. Spirituality is a must to our quality of life. We must not gohungry — not only physically, but also mentally, spiritually andemotionally. We need to achieve balance to be whole. Today life may be different, but the goals are the same. We stillhave to learn our traditional ways. But we also need formaleducation. Our Elders have said this for many decades: that we alsohave to learn the ways of our brothers and sisters from othercultures.In the past, all was passed down orally and this is still important tous, especially for sacred ceremonies. Ceremonies are always spoken,not written down. This is our protection. This is our way to survive.We teach each other from the heart, in our own language.We have to remain distinct. This sense of pride and dignity is a mustfor the future.We Elders must ensure that the generations to come learn ourtraditions, values and of course our language. Our language is theroot, the base, the stem of all connection to Mother Earth and theGreat Spirit.Which statements by the following speakerscommunicate an individual point of view andwhich seem to state a larger group perspective onfactors affecting quality of life?Whatfactors areimportantto Elder AlbertYellowknee’squality of life? Inwhat ways do hiscomments reflectcollective identity?

What are the big ideas of this book?7Sandra Vidakovic cameto Canada from Bosniain 1995 as a refugee.During the 1990s, a warbetween different ethnicgroups tore Bosnia apart.Dolorèse Nolette is directricegénérale (superintendent) ofthe Conseil scolaire du Nord-Ouest, one of Alberta’s fiveFrancophone school boards.The most important factor in my quality of life is to feel safe. InCanada, you don’t have to live in fear all the time. Canadians’ rightsare respected. If you have something on your mind, you can speakabout it and not worry that somebody will try to harm you becausethey disagree. Everybody is pretty accepting of everybody else.The second most important factor is public health care. Everybodyis treated equally, whether you have money or not. The third thing is to have time for your family. I know some peoplewho have to work two jobs, and they struggle to have quality timewith their families.Education is also very important. I really appreciate that somebodylike me, a refugee from a foreign country, could go to universityand make something of my life. In many places in the world, youwouldn’t have a chance of ever going to university.I can’t think of any country that I would rather live in than Canada.I think some of my priorities are similar to other people’s. I want tofeel that I’m contributing to society — participating and making adifference. I want to be close to my family, and I want my family tobe healthy and well.I’m also Francophone. Being able to speak French — to expressmyself in my language — is vitally important to my quality oflife. It’s important to me to be able to work in French and tolive in French with my family. I want my children to carry onspeaking French.I don’t expect to be able to speak French everywhere. That’s notimportant. What is important is recognition. I went on a trip toYellowknife recently, and in almost every restaurant, we wereserved in French. People heard us speaking French, and so theyserved us in French. It’s good to feel an openness in society to French language andculture, a willingness to try. That’s marvellous.What beliefs and values are importantto Sandra Vidakovic’s quality of life? What link does Dolorèse Nolette make betweenspeaking the French language and her collectiveidentity? How does the right to speak French affecther quality of life?

Issues for Canadians Introduction8How do issues affect the quality of life,citizenship and identity of Canadians?This year, you will think critically about issues. You will investigateexamples of decision making in Canada and in the United States todevelop your own informed and active responses to issues. Yourresponses can affect your quality of life, and help you make meaningof people’s actions and values in the world around you. As you explore issues, keep this in mind: issues exist becausepeople value and believe different things. People have different waysof seeing the world — different personal opinions, individual pointsof view, and collective perspectives. These can affect what issues areimportant to them and how they respond to issues.Think about your school, familyand community. What issues arepeople talking about? What issuesare making headlines in the news?Political and economic decisions affect the developmentof energy resources, such as wind energy. Thinkcritically: How do they connect to decisions aboutthe environment and quality of life?opinion: personal reaction toan issuePassengers at an airportline up for securityscreening. Thinkcritically: How doCanadians’ individualrights affect securitysearches and policing?In 2007, some of the people who lived inthis tent city in Edmonton had no otherplace to go. Think critically: What optionsdo people in Canadian society have ifthey can’t meet their basic needs?What issues could these photographs communicate?

What are the big ideas of this book?9What makes something an issue?Considering the impact that issues can have on our lives, it isimportant to be able to both identify and respond to issues. Tohelp you do this, consider the following criteria for what makessomething an issue.criteria: standards forevaluating somethingunbiased: withoutpreconceived ideasThese students are wearingdecals from one of Canada’spolitical parties. Canada’spolitical system createsopportunities and challengesfor people of different viewsand perspectives — includingGrade 9 students — toparticipate as active citizens.Each car makes some exhaust,and a lot of cars make a lot ofexhaust — a demonstration ofhow the individual choices topurchase and drive a car canaffect the quality of life ofeveryone. Governmentssometimes make decisions toinfluence consumer behaviour.What issues could thesephotographs communicate?An issue:• Involves a topic that receives a wide range of responses fromdifferent people and that generally has an important impact ontheir quality of life, citizenship or identity.• Is framed as an open-ended, unbiased question. This question isabout a complex problem regarding a particular topic thatcannot be easily “solved” with one clear right or wrong answer. • Requires an informed response, supported by clear and relevantreasons and appropriate examples.• Requires critical thinking, and personal reflection about identityand worldview, to create an informed response.• Requires understanding and appreciation of multiple perspectivesand responses to create an informed response.• Requires background knowledge and research to create aninformed response.Elder Marion LeRat leadsdancer Seth Cardinal,graduates and educationofficials in the grandentry for the AboriginalGraduation Celebrationat Calgary’s FatherLacombe High School in2007. Asserting yourcollective identity can bean act of citizenship inCanada, and can involvecollective rights thatmake Canada unique.

Issues for Canadians Introduction10In October 2007, at a pressconference in Edmonton, RonJones asserts the right of theMétis to hunt and fish, as oneof Canada’s Aboriginal peoplesunder Canada’s constitution.The right affirms the historyand identity of the Métis inCanada. The issue of gun con-trol affects the Métis becauseof their Aboriginal rights.Let’s look at an example.Why does the topic of gun control raise issues?The topic of gun control is about whether Canada should have lawsthat require individuals to get permits for guns. Why might thistopic provoke a wide range of responses? Begin by considering how the topic might connect to people’sindividual and collective identities — what they value and believe,the experiences they’ve had, the culture they are a part of, thelanguage they speak, and how they see the world. In the case of gun control, try to identify what aspects of people’sindividual and collective identities could affect their level of supportfor gun control. Start to research points of view and perspectives tohelp you identify questions to explore. For example, some preliminary research and critical thinkingabout gun control could lead you to identify questions such as:• As a citizen living in Canada, should a person have the right toown a gun? • Should gun ownership be restricted in Canada? • How effectively do gun permit laws protect Canadians from gunviolence?To decide which of these questions to explore further, think of thecriteria for what makes something an issue. Then, develop aninformed response. In this book, we call this process “Spot andRespond to the Issue” and you will see opportunities to use it ineach chapter.

What are the big ideas of this book?11One Question, Many ResponsesThe diagram on this page illustrates responses to one possibleissue about gun control. A federal law passed in 1995 requiresall Canadians to register their guns with the government. Thelaw continues to spark questions about individual rights, safetyand security, and economic costs.SHOULD GUNOWNERSHIP BERESTRICTEDIN CANADA?ResponseSociety is worried about the waycriminals use guns, not the waylaw-abiding citizens use guns.Gun control will just makecriminals out of law-abidingcitizens who fail to get permits.— Peter Worthington, columnist,The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario: September 28, 2000, p. A6.ResponseHunting is a right of First Nations, Métis and Inuitpeoples. Guns are part of theway they exercise their right— something gun controlshould not interfere with.source: Windigo First Nations Council; B.C. Assembly of First NationsResponseSo much tragedy in our societycould be prevented by gun control.In Alberta, statistics show that amurder is three times more likely ina home with guns than in a homewithout guns.— Stephen Hume, columnist,The Vancouver Sun, Vancouver, B.C.:June 2, 2006, p. A13.ResponseGun control would make societyless safe than it is now. It woulddiscourage citizens from owningguns, but it would make nodifference to criminals. So,citizens would lose an effectiveway to defend themselves.source:National FirearmsAssociationResponseGun control will make it easier for police to prevent and solve crimes by makingguns easier to track.source: Coalitionfor Gun Control