Social Studies 11

Index

Keeping an Issues Log

- Directions and Marking Criteria for Issues Log Projects

- What to Look for in the Issues Log Examples

- 12 Examples of Issues Log Entries

Participating in Issues Discussions

12 Examples of Issues Log Entries

Note to my instructor:
I did more than the required eight Issues Log entries for Project 1.0.
I have used an asterisk* before the date (*Date) to indicate the 3 entries I chose for thorough evaluation.

Date: July 2, 1999

Source: O'Malley, Martin. "Gonna Be a Party." CBC News Online. Available: http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/news/indepth/nunavut/index.html

Course connection(s): "Two New Provinces." Canadian Issues. 20-21.
Lesson 1.1H "Taking It Further."

Issue/event: The broadcast of the ceremonies for the formal introduction of Nunavut as a Canadian province.

Main points: On April 1, Nunavut was introduced to Canada through a big party, probably aired on CBC. There was a play, an Inuit singer performing, dancing, and other entertainment. The big moment was when the "Statement of Welcome" was signed. It is Canada's formal recognition of the new territory. What everyone wanted to know was, "What will the flag look like?"

Response: I didn't know anything about this before. I think that they should change the curriculum in schools so that more can be learned about our country. Knowing what the Nunavut flag looks like doesn't interest me, however, since the only two provincial flags I ever saw in school were those of B.C. and Quebec.

Date: July 6, 1999

Source: Wright, Sarah. "Le Village Planétaire: McDonald's." Report for Hugh McRoberts Secondary School Science Humaines 11 course, 16 May 1999.

Course connections: "Mass Society." Canadian Issues. 4. Lesson 1.1 A.
"The Canadian Identity." Canadian Issues. 86. Lesson 1.3 C.

Issue/event: McDonald's is a global example of mass media and mass production influencing cultures.

Main points: McDonald's is an example of global Americanization. All around the world, McDonald's can be found, and this has brought cultural changes. There are changes such as a new generation in Hong Kong not wanting to go with their grandparents to the traditional dim sum tea houses and the Japanese now finding it acceptable to eat with your hands. McDonald's has also brought American business ideas about cleanliness and customer service.

Response: I don't think that Americanization is a bad thing—or that the importing of any other culture into Canada or other countries is bad, for that matter. Canada should try to develop an identity, not by censuring American media, arts, or production, but by developing its own.

*Date: July 12, 1999

Source: Fenell, Don. "Energetic Teen Keen on Kayaking." The Review. 11 July 1999: 16.

Course connection(s): "Canadian Youth." Canadian Issues. 26-27. Lesson 1.1K.

Issue/event: Kari-Jean McKenzie is a well-rounded teen who is headed to compete in kayaking at the Western Canada Games.

Main points: Kari-Jean McKenzie is an all-round achiever. She is a straight-A French Immersion student and president of her student council. She excels at track and field and at kayaking. She left this weekend for Prince Albert to compete in the Western Canada Games as one of the four women representatives from B.C.

Response: Kari-Jean McKenzie is one kind of youth that has emerged today, the kind that sets goals in different areas of her life and sees them through with hard work and dedication. I feel that teens are often misrepresented in the media. There are stereotypes that teens today are slackers without any direction who spend their days watching TV, smoking, shoplifting, and indulging in other sorts of crime. There are also teens like Kari-Jean, good students who lead active lifestyles and give back to the community. There should be more articles like this one showing just how good some of today's youth have turned out to be.

Date: July 17, 1999

Source: "The Election of 1911—Reciprocity." Canadian Issues. 46-47.

Course connection: Lesson 1.2D: The Election of 1911-Reciprocity.

Issue/event: The 1911 election and free trade.

Main points: When President William Taft offered Canada a reciprocal trade agreement in raw materials and natural products, Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier saw it as a way to win votes, especially among prairie farmers. Conservative leader Sir Robert Borden used the agreement as "proof" of Laurier's lack of loyalty to Britain. In the 1911 election, Borden defeated Laurier on the issue.

Response: This reminds me of the issue today with people opposed to the North America Free Trade Agreement. I found a group on the Web that calls itself Citizens Concerned About Free Trade. It doesn't seem to matter much now that Canadians rejected reciprocity in 1911 because free trade is going on today anyhow. I think the reason that Canadians back then rejected reciprocity is that they were afraid of change. They wanted to stick to their British roots because that was what felt secure. We need to be more accepting of change.

Date: July 21, 1999

Source: "Labour Unrest—The Winnipeg General Strike" Canadian Issues. 74-75.

Course Connection: Lesson 1.2 Q.

Issue/Event: The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919.

Main Points: In Winnipeg in 1919, about 30 000 people walked off their jobs. Canada's first general strike paralyzed the city, and many services went undone. On 17 June, eight strike leaders were arrested. On 21 June, or Bloody Saturday, a force of North-West Mounted Police attacked a pro-strike demonstration.

Response: I think that it's hard to know where to draw the line in labour disputes. Are the workers really being mistreated or just pushing for benefits that they don't deserve? I heard that Vancouver city hall workers were going to lose their four-day week and have to work five like most people. They could probably call a strike over this, but are the employees truly being mistreated? Still, I'm glad that there are unions, because I'd rather that employees push for a bit too much from their employers than be poor and mistreated like the child labourers in some Third World countries.

Date: July 28, 1999

Sources: Beatty, Jim, and Skelton, Chad. "11 Chinese boat people ordered freed." The Vancouver Sun. 28 July 1999: A1.

Course connection(s): "Opposing Immigration," Canadian Issues. 24-25. "Battle in the Inlet," Canadian Issues. 54. Lesson 1.2 G.

Issue/Event: Eleven newly-arrived Chinese "boat people" migrants have been released from detention.

Main points: A group of 123 Chinese migrants arrived in B.C. on an old ship last week seeking refugee status. Hearings have been held to determine if they should be released or kept in detention at CFB Esquimalt. Eleven have been turned over to the province since they have all claimed to be under the legal age in Canada. They are to be placed in group homes or foster homes until their legal age can be determined. Since they carried no documentation, the sole way their age could be determined was by asking them.

Response: The fact that the "youths" were released without documentation is a flaw in the judiciary system. Migrants should be required to bring some kind of proper documentation if they wish to be released into Canada. I admit that this is a complicated situation, and I'm not sure whether it is always possible to acquire access to documentation. I do, however, believe we should always be careful about the people that we let become residents in our country.

*Date: July 29, 1999

Source: "Fishing protest not a native rights issue." Editorial. Vancouver Sun. 28 July 1999: A12.

Course connection(s): "Staking a Claim," Canadian Issues. 108. Lesson 1.3M.

Issue/event: The Cheam band is defending its "right to fish" in court.

Main points: The Cheam band has defended its recent "illegal" fishing in court. They say that to fish for sockeye in the Fraser River is their constitutional right, and they also mention the band's needs. The DFO's early Stuart run ban is based on conservation of the scarce fish stocks.

Response: Without conservation there would be few fish for anyone. Conserving the scarce fish stocks at this time is likely to help the Native fishers later when far more fish can be caught in another year. I agree with the editorial writer, who shows that fighting for Native rights does not justify the fishing on this occasion and that DFO conservation measures should take precedence.

Date: July 30, 1999.

Source: "Ethiopia: Country Gender Profile." Gender Net Online. The World Bank Group. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/gender/#info.

Course connections: "A New Era." Canadian Issues. 4-5. Lesson 1.1A "Taking It Further."

Issue/event: Women's rights in Ethiopia — how they have developed and their current state.

Main points: In Ethiopia, women's status is not as developed as in North America. Women there only received the right to vote in 1955. The constitution assures equal rights to men and women, but because of traditional values, such as the man being the breadwinner and figure of status, women do not often get equal treatment in reality. The Ethiopian children in secondary school include only 9% of the girls (but the boys are not much better off — 14%). Women who do not have independent collateral like land must secure their husband's approval on a credit application.

Response: I think that it is to be expected that the conditions of women are not as great in less developed countries as in North America because the progress is not as great. I also think, however, that things will change as is evident in the chronological timeline provided at the Website. The world is becoming a global village, and soon North American progress will touch all corners of the world.

Date: July 30, 1999

Source: Ms. B. Ratliff. "Picasso and Portraiture." CNN Online. Cable News Network. Available: http://www.cnn.com/us/9604/28/picasso

Course connection: Lesson 1.1N "Taking It Further."

Issue/event: Picasso's cubism.

Main points: One of Pablo Picasso's painting styles was cubism. He would rearrange people's feature so that they looked disproportionate, such as the eyes not being aligned and the nose not being above the mouth.

Response: I think that Picasso made an important step to modern art by rejecting traditional methods of representation. For me this shows that what we see is not what is truly there but the way we interpret what is there.

Date: August 2, 1999

Source: "Ethnic and Racial Diversity." Terra Nova Online. Mount Allison University. Available: http://www.pch.gc.ca/csp-pec/english/about/multi/index.htm#ethnic

Course connection(s): Lesson 1.1J "Taking It Further."

Issue/event: Canada's ethnic diversity.

Main points: One of the principal things that make Canada so distinct from other countries is that it is so ethnically diverse. In 1991, 31% of the population claimed ethnic background other than British or French.

Response: I expect that the figure has only increased in the last few years. I agree that Vancouver is an ethnically diverse city. I can see this in school and through visiting various parts of the city. There are many types of restaurants, shops, etc. Integration is a way of eliminating prejudice and developing tolerance for different types of people.

Date: Aug 3, 1999

Source: Underwood, Mark. "The New York Times, Thursday, October 24,1929." Available: http://sac.uky.edu/~msunde00/hon202/p4/nyt.html. 1 May 1996.

Course connections: "Stock Market Mania—The Crash of 1929." Canadian Issues. 104-105. Lesson 1.3K "Taking It Further."

Issue/event: The stock market crash of 1929.

Main points: During the 1920s, because of consumer demand, the stock market prices began to rise. The economy was thriving. Many investors put a lot on the line because of their faith in the stock market. As too many products were created without enough consumers, the stock prices began to drop. Thursday, October 24, 1929, was the day of the stock market crash. Panic selling ensued. By the year's end, stock values had dropped by fifteen billion dollars. This was the beginning of the Great Depression.

Response: It is frightening to realize that the market we usually consider fairly safe could suffer such a downfall. The fact that it has happened once means that it could happen again. We must ensure that it does not.

*Date: Aug. 4, 1999

Source: Denis Mack Smith, "Benito Mussolini." Grolier Online. Oxford University. Available: http://gi.grolier.com/wwii/wwii_mussolini.html.

Course connection: "Totalitarianism—Setting the Stage for War." Canadian Issues. 112-113. Lesson 1.3 O.

Issue/event: The influence of Benito Mussolini.

Main points: Benito Mussolini was the fascist dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. In his youth he was a fervent socialist like his father and became the editor of a socialist newspaper, La Lotta di Classe (The Class Struggle). In 1910, Mussolini became secretary of the local socialist newspaper, Avanti. He moved to Milan, where he established himself as the most forceful of all labor leaders of Italian socialism. Mussolini established the Fasci de Combattiments in March 1919. The members were fascists who formed armed squads to terrorize Mussolini's former Socialist colleagues. The king then invited Mussolini in October 1922 to form a government. In 1925-26, he assumed dictatorial powers. At the beginning of World War II, he was reluctant to enter the war, although he did finally in 1940. At a meeting of the Fascist Grand Council on July 25, 1943, most of Benito Mussolini's colleagues had turned against him after military defeat. The King then subsequently dismissed and arrested him. Mussolini was executed in April 1945 when he was caught by Italian partisans as he was fleeing to Switzerland. This marked the end of the fascist era.

Response: I find it amazing that so many people would listen to such a man whose object of desire was destruction. Perhaps they were caught up in the way that he emotionalized everything with his voice and gestures. He also controlled the media and used propaganda. Think of the kinds of products we buy and our current system of values and I'm sure you'll agree that media play a big role.

A girl I know spoke at the "Concours d'Art Oratoire" competition about how in World War II mind control was at work and how we all needed to develop "l'esprit critique," or the critical spirit. This means that we would have to learn how to evaluate messages critically and logically instead of just absorbing everything we hear. I feel that we all need to remember that not all the messages we receive are reliable. We should evaluate everything before taking action.

Issues Log entries published courtesy of the student.