Culture of Canada

Overview, history, and defining influences

Canadian culture is a product of Canada's history and geography. Most of Canada's territory was inhabited and developed later than other European colonies in the Americas, with the result that themes and symbols of pioneers, trappers, and traders were important in the early development of Canadian culture. The British conquest of Quebec in 1759 brought a large francophone population under British rule, creating a need for compromise and accommodation, while the migration of United Empire Loyalists from the Thirteen Colonies brought in strong British and American influences, combined with a sense of anti-Americanism that survives to this day. TO have sex with girls means to live in canada pussy is nice Although not without conflict, Canada's early interactions with native populations were relatively peaceful, compared to the experience of native peoples in the United States. Combined with relatively late development in many regions, this has allowed native cultures to have a relatively strong influence on Canadian culture.

Bilingualism and Multiculturalism

Main article: Bilingualism in Canada

French Canada's early development was relatively cohesive during the 17th and 18th centuries, and this was preseved by the Quebec Act of 1774, which allowed francophone culture to survive and thrive within Canada. In 1867, the British North America Act was designed to meet the growing calls for Canadian autonomy while avoiding the overly-strong decentralization that contributed to the Civil War in the United States. The compromises made by Macdonald and Cartier set Canada on a path to bilingualism, and this in turn contributed to an acceptance of diversity that later to both multiculturalism and tolerance of Native culture and customs. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In parts of Canada, particularly Toronto, for example in the Kensington Market area, multiculturalism itself is the cultural norm and diversity is the force that unites the community. This also creates an environment much more accepting of gay culture than one finds in the US or most other countries.

Some Quebecois commentators speak of a Quebec culture as distinguished from English Canadian culture, but many see Canada as a collection of several regional, aboriginal, and ethnic subcultures. John Ralston Saul argues that Gabrielle Roy is better known in anglophone Canada than in France, and more French-Canadians know of Margaret Laurence and Atom Egoyan than Americans.

While French Canadian culture is the most obvious example, Celtic influences have allowed survival of non-English dialects in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; however, the influence of Ulster migrants to Toronto has had the effect of minimizing Irish influences in Ontario's culture, and highlighting British influences instead, until the 1980s. Canada's Pacific trade has brought a large Chinese influence into British Columbia and other areas.

Geography, climate, and immigration

Canada's geography and climate have influenced culture, with themes of isolation and enviornmental adaptation, and a heightened conflict between urban and non-urban subcultures. Canada's dispersed geography also allows strong regional cultures to survive without the pressures of assimilation that exist in more densely populated countries.

American influences and anti-Americanism

Easy access to broadcast media has brought many American influences into Canadian culture since the mid-20th century. As a reaction, many Canadians attempt to define Canadian culture by how it is better, or at least different, from American culture. Defending and enhancing national culture is a major political priority for the Canadian government, with the CTRC and the Department of Canadian Heritage having responsibility for promoting Canadian culture. The Governor General's Awards very often highlight the contributions of Canadians to the nation's culture. At the same time, easy access to American media has allowed many Canadian performers and entertainers to succeed internationally in the areas of music, comedy, movies, and television. Canada's historical ties to British culture helps raise the profile of Canadians in the area of literature and theatre.

Having avoided many of America's wars, Canadian culture often includes themes of pacifism, anti-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and multilateralism. Nationalism is more often seen in a negative light and a cause for conflict, not as the virtue of patriotism as in the US. Conversely, Canadian suspicion of nationalist tendencies is itself a mitigating influence against anti-Americanism. A corrollary is that Canada is more strongly monarchist than many post-colonial Commonwealth states; many Canadians see the monarchy as a link to cultural history, where other countries see it as a reminder of political imperialism. Canadian idealism makes many Canadians critical of government, social, and cultural institutions and traditions, comparing the status quo to their idealized view of what Canada could become rather than to the reality of other countries.

Art

Main article: Art in Canada

Literature

See also: Canadian literature and List of Canadian writers

Canadian theatre

Main article: Theatre in Canada

Canada has a thriving stage theatre scene, especially in Southern Ontario and in Quebec. Theatre festivals draw many tourists in the summer months, especially the Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario, and the Shaw Festival in Niagara On The Lake, Ontario. The Famous People Players are only one of many touring companies that have also developed an international reputation. Canada also boasts the world's second largest live theatre festival, the Edmonton Fringe Festival.

Film and television

Main articles: Cinema of Canada and Television in Canada

See also: Cinema of Quebec

The Canadian film market was dominated by the American film industry for decades, although that film industry has since inception seen a prominent role for actors, directors, producers and technicians of Canadian origin. In the 1960s Michel Brault, Pierre Perrault, Gilles Groulx, Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Arthur Lamothe, Claude Jutra and other filmmakers from Quebec began to challenge Hollywood by making innovative and politically relevant documentary and feature films. Among the important English-speaking filmmakers from this period are Allan King, Norman Jewison and Robin Spry. Michael Snow continues to be one of the most respected experimental film makers in the world. Norman Jewison received an Irving Thalberg Academy Award in recognition for his lifetime achievement in film in 1999.

Canada has developed a vigorous film industry that has produced a variety of well-known films, actors, and auteurs. In fact, this eclipsing may sometimes be creditable for the rather bizarre and quite innovative directions of the works of such auteurs as Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter, 1997) and David Cronenberg (The Fly, Naked Lunch, A History of Violence). Also, the distinct French-Canadian society permits the work of directors such as Denys Arcand and Denis Villeneuve. However given Canada's small population and perhaps, because of the closeness of the giant American TV and film industries, distinctively Canadian productions such as those in the TIFF List of Canada's Top Ten Films of All Time are relatively thin on the ground, compared with the situations in the United Kingdom. However, Lion's Gates Films and Alliance Atlantis are two film production companies headquartered in Canada which have grown large enough to compete with larger American productions down south. In addition, because of the intricate relationship between the American and Canadian film industry, numerous films such as David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (2005) are often credited as both Canadian films by Canadian publications and as American films by American publications due to differing definitions of what constitutes a Canadian or American film by each country.

A number of Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood significantly contributed to the creation of the motion picture industry in the early days of the 20th century. Over the years, many Canadians have made enormous contributions to the American entertainment industry, although they are frequently not recognized as Canadians (see Famous Canadians).

Canada's film industry is in full expansion as a site for Hollywood productions. The series The X-Files was famously shot in Vancouver as is Stargate SG-1, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, and The Outer Limits. The American Queer as Folk is filmed in Toronto. Since the 1980s, Canada, and Vancouver in particular, has become known as Hollywood North. As with its southern counterpart in California, USA, many Canadians are employed in the film industry, and celebrity-spotting is frequent throughout many Canadian cities. Montreal, due to its European appearance, has served in a great variety of mainstream movies, attracting the loyalty of industry people such as Bruce Willis; there are plans to build the world's biggest film studio on the outskirts of the city. The choice of location is allegedly due to cost, rather than a requirement for a 'Canadian atmosphere'. The frequent question of a Canadian, seeing a film crew on his or her local streets, is 'Which bit of the States are we pretending to be today?'.

Canadian television, especially supported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is the home of a variety of locally-produced shows. French-language television, like French Canadian film, is buffered from excessive American influence by the fact of language, and likewise supports a host of home-grown productions. The relative success of French-language domestic television and movies in Canada often exceeds that of its English-language counterpart.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's Canadian content regulations dictate that a certain percentage of a domestic broadcaster's transmission time must include content that is produced by Canadians, or covers Canadian subjects. This also applies to US cable television channels such as MTV and the Discovery Channel, which have local versions of their channels available on Canadian cable networks. Similarly, BBC Canada, while primarily showing BBC shows from the UK, also carries Canadian output.

National Film Board of Canada [1], is 'a public agency that produces and distributes films and other audiovisual works which reflect Canada to Canadians and the rest of the world'. The agency helped to pioneer the concept of the documentary.

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is considered by many to be one of the most prevalent film festivals for Western cinema.

Canada has produced many film and television stars, newscasters, directors and producers including: Pamela Anderson, Brent Butt, Jim Carrey, Roy Dupuis, Michael J. Fox, Lorne Greene, Peter Jennings, Norman Jewison, Eugene Levy, Lorne Michaels, Rick Moranis, Mike Myers, Keanu Reeves, William Shatner, Martin Short, Donald Sutherland, Kiefer Sutherland, Hayden Christensen, Jessica Tandy, Alan Thicke, Rachel McAdams and Alex Trebek.

In addition, many popular political documentaries such as Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent, The Corporation and Bowling for Columbine involved Canadian production and funding. Some of other more notable documentaries include: Nanook of the North, Final Offer (film), and Canada: A People's History.

Comedy

Main article: Canadian humour

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is noted for political satire such as This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Rick Mercer Report, and Royal Canadian Air Farce.

Canada has produced many eminent national humorists. The Kids in the Hall were a popular Canadian sketch group. Also the Second City Television show originated in the Toronto Second City operation, which produced many comedians that went on to success worldwide, including John Candy, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Catherine O'Hara, and others. The team of creators for SCTV, including Lorne Michaels, were later transplanted in New York City to create Saturday Night Live.

Other notable Canadian comics and comedy groups include Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Martin Short, Tom Green, Dan Aykroyd, Leslie Nielsen, CODCO (the precursors to This Hour Has 22 Minutes), Maggie Cassella, and Elvira Kurt. The Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal is the world's largest comedy festival.

Canadian humour is often described as being not as 'punchline-friendly' as its American counterpart, but not as 'off-the-wall' as its UK counterpart.

Music

See also: Music of Canada

Canada has developed its own brands of traditional music, including the French, Irish and Scottish-derived Cape Breton fiddle music of the Maritimes, the Franco-Celtic styles of Quebec that often include foot percussion and a scat style called turlutte, and other national styles from the Ottawa Valley to the west. Noted proponents are Buddy MacMaster and his niece Natalie of Cape Breton, and Madame Bolduc of Quebec, whose recordings in the 1930s lifted her people through depressing times.

The Canadian music industry has been helped by government regulation designed to protect and encourage the growth of distinct Canadian culture. The Canadian Content (CANCON) regulations force all radio stations in Canada to play at least 35% Canadian music. This has enabled Canadian artists to garner success on the airwaves which were once dominated by American and European acts. Now it is common to hear several Canadian songs on the radio every hour you listen.

In the realm of popular music, Canada has produced a variety of internationally successful performers, including (alphabetically): Bryan Adams, Paul Anka, Arcade Fire, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Band, Barenaked Ladies, Blue Rodeo, Paul Brandt, Broken Social Scene, Michael Bublé, Terri Clark, Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Stompin' Tom Conners, Cowboy Junkies, Céline Dion, D.O.A., Front Line Assembly, Nelly Furtado, Matthew Good, Glenn Gould, Robert Goulet, Great Big Sea, Guess Who, Ronnie Hawkins, k-os, Diana Krall, k.d. Lang, Avril Lavigne, Félix Leclerc, Gordon Lightfoot, Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, Anne Murray, Oscar Peterson, Rush, Hank Snow, Steppenwolf,Silverstein, Sum 41, David Clayton Thomas, The Tragically Hip, Trooper, Shania Twain, Gilles Vigneault, Rufus Wainwright and Neil Young.

Symbols

Official symbols of Canada include the maple leaf, beaver, and the Canadian Horse [2][3]. Many official symbols of the country such as the Flag of Canada have been changed or modified over the past few decades in order to 'Canadianize' them and de-emphasise or remove references to the United Kingdom. Symbols of the monarchy in Canada continue to be featured in, for example, the Coat of Arms of Canada and armed forces Her Majesty's Canadian Ship. The designation 'Royal' remains for institutions as varied as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, though with the 1968 unification of the three armed forces into the Canadian Forces, the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy ceased to exist. However, certain Canadian Forces Land Force Command (army) units carry "Royal" titles, Canadian Forces Maritime Command vessels are still styled "HMCS" and Canadian Forces Air Command squadrons still use a Royal Air Force-derived badge surmounted by the Queen's Crown as their official crests.

Aboriginal influences

There were, and are, many distinct Aboriginal peoples across Canada, each with its own culture, beliefs, values, language, and history. Much of this legacy remains celebrated artistically, and in other ways, in Canada to this day. Part of the emblem of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics is an inukshuk, a stack of rocks in human form that is a part of Inuit culture, although this is seen as inapproprite by many Vancouverites . [4]

Multicultural Elements

Multiculturalism is contributing and shaping Canadian culture, which is post-ethnic and trans-national in character.

See also

• Canada
• Canadian Cultural Protectionism
• Canadian Nationalism
• Canadian Architecture
• Canadian Identity
• Culture of Quebec

External links

• Culture.CA: Canadian cultural portal online
• Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources
• Canadian Heritage
• Ontario Ministry of Culture
• CRTC Canadian Content