Canada's Most Defining Moments
By: Gurkamalpreet
Introduction
World War I Event
The Battle of Midway
Troops were the biggest resource provided from Canada. Most of the people sent to Canada were aircraft flyers who helped a lot during the last hours of the battle. These aircraft flyers shot the 4 Japanese ships leading them to sink. Canada lost close to 50 people during the course of the battle, most of these deaths were aircraft being shot down. Even with the losses in the end it was all worth it, Canada, U.S.A, and the allies had won the battle.
Overall with Canada's involvement, Canada and the U.S built greater relations when working together on causing permanent damage to the Japanese Navy during World War II. This would then weaken Japan for the Pearl Harbor battle and the eventual defeat of the Empire of Japan resulting in a great military accomplishment for Canada.
1920's to 1930's Event
Prohibition
With the law enacted, the number of drunk people in public were obviously a lot less however, since people wanted their booze, they would often make alcohol at home called moonshine. This would be a lot more harmful for the body and not as tasty which lead to many people getting sick. Since people wanted their booze (demand), their was a rise in bootleggers who were criminals that would supply the alcohol to people (supply). With bootleggers running around there was also the introduction of speakeasies which would be a private place where people could get alcohol but was only available to the people who knew about them since they were usually disguised as another type of store to hide from law enforcement. Another way people could get their "drink" was to fake sick and get alcohol from the doctor since alcohol was supplied to the medical field from the government. As you can imagine many people abused the system with some getting caught and punished.
As you can already tell people would do almost anything to either drink alcohol or to make money from alcohol. The public thought that the government was abusing their power and that alcohol should be a right and because of this Prohibition was
short lived in Canada. The government knew that alcohol wasn't all that bad and they could also make a ton of money from it. Yukon repelled prohibition in 1920 with Manitoba and British Columbia in 1921, Alberta, Newfoundland and Saskatchewan followed by ending it in 1923, 1924, 1925. Ontario and New Brunswick got rid of the law in 1927 and Nova Scotia got rid of the law in 1930. Finally, Prince Edward Island ended prohibition in 1948 resulting in Canada now becoming a fully alcohol friendly country.
Trudeau Era
Multiculturism
This event helped establish Canada identity and Canada's role on the international stage allowing multiculturalism to spread. Multiculturalism is something that we are used to nowadays with people of all types of race and backgrounds interacting with each other. Without this policy my family, some of my friends and I would not be here.
Newly elected Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau introduced the multiculturalism policy which would allow people from countries around the world to come to Canada. This policy was smart in terms of being a role model for other countries and to also build up Canada's infrastructure. Much of Canada's economy is made up of immigrants. These immigrants are skilled people who are from countries that aren't as rich as Canada such as Syria, India and Philippines. Canada also accepted and still accepts many refugees which are people who are endangered in their country with Canada giving them a fresh start.
This is a huge defining moment in Canadian history as diversity is one of the first things people think about when they think about Canada. With the introduction of this policy and at the time of being a couple of years away from world war II, Canada built up the reputation of being a peaceful place where everyone can work together and get along. I cannot imagine my life with only a certain group of people to interact with or in a totally different country.
"Recent times" 1984-2016
Modern Conflict: Afghanistan
Canada was deployed as part of the International Security Assistance Force. Canada was sent over with the U.S to try and identify and neutralize the Al Qaeda terrorists from 9/11. Canada and the U.S teamed up about a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Canada had many soldiers either partaking in fights or training troops. Canada helped Afghanistan by giving protection and also gave millions of dollars. Canada along with NATO helped stop the rise and the resurgence of the terrorists. Canada officially withdrew all of their troops by 2014 with either soldiers returning to their families or families remembering their loved ones who lost their lives in war.
Conclusion
Biography
http://www.faslink.org/prohibition%20timeline%20canada.htm
http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/fr/article/prohibition/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiculturalism_in_Canada
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/multiculturalism/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada%27s_role_in_the_Afghanistan_War