Sociology

The political ideology of a country is seen through existing political parties. In Canada there are about five political parties each is led by a leader. A party with the largest number of seats is led by a prime minister while the leader of the second largest is the leader of the opposition. The current government has been formed by conservative party being led by Stephen Harper who is the prime minister. The bodies of beliefs that guide them include conservatism, social and fiscal conservatism, right libertarianism and market economy. They have 143 current seats in the House of Commons.

Canada has always been thought of as the most stable democracy. In 2006 it was ranked third most democratic worldwide ahead beating all other nations in America which are more popular than it. It was also ranked 11th in 2008. Conservative party has been ruling since 2006 and has made various breakthroughs in Quebec. There are political storms that are aiming to end the reign of the conservative government in Canada. The opposition leaders have formed a coalition to substitute the conservatives government. The coalition is among the liberals, new Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois who are claiming that they have no confidence in the Prime Minister Stephen Harpers government of the minority and are set to form   substitute government. Canada is therefore facing a critical situation as the conservatives government is likely to be overthrown (Long 37).

The prime minister says that as they try to sort out economic crisis in the country the opposition leaders are fighting to get into the government without the consent of the Canadians. Duceppe and the Quebecs have claimed to support the coalition as their interests and those of the Canadians have been ignored by the conservative government.

It is therefore seen that the current crisis is brought about by the opposition parties need for power and not their claims on regional, economic, cultural and ideological interests. Political parties are now defined by pure opportunism and winning at all costs especially for the Bloc and the NDP parties while the Liberal and the Conservative parties hold loyalty to the interest of wealthy people.

Therefore , the best contribution to issues affecting Canadian politics is to negotiate politics, where the ideological visions of the political parties is in the interest of the common good which will bring about an ideal society. Unlike in the past where politics was a common talk in Canada, the political scientists and departments of political science had flourished. In future Canadian politics is expected to fall. Attraction to domestic politics is minimal to young scholars. Faculty members are in short supply and there is enticing of students to enroll (Bickerton and Gagnon 19).

Canadas Economics
The economy of Canada is ranked the eight worldwide. It was also affected by the economic crunch that was experienced throughout the world. Its economy mainly depends on the service industry just like other countries, and over three quarters of the Canadians are employed in this sector. Canada is considered to be one of the developed countries and member of the G8. Its economy is highly impacted by its association with the United States positively and is better as compared to other countries which have similar association with United States simply because of its excellent policy management and implementation of strategies that it has always taken in upholding financial and economic stability (Boone and David 125).

Currently, the economy of Canada is facing tough backdrop as a result of the economic crisis. Canadas advantages includes strong economy, experiencing surplus in its fiscal and current accounts, prices are not fluctuating so much, unemployment rate is low, and stability in its finance. On the industry sector, banks are stable and there is no expectation of their failure any time soon since they are ranked the first in the world in terms of capital and stability. This is because of excellent banking system and its regulator the Bank of Canada has been recommended for the monetary policies it has established and on how it managed the deficit. This also is viewed to be the same as that of the insurance industry which is expected to overcome the economic crisis.

The bank of Canada has put in place mechanism that will see to it that the financial system is not affected.  The interest rates have been dropped significantly as from the year 2007 the month of December by 400 basic points. There are also plans by the central bank to increase the amount of money that is available to lenders. Canada has established good measures that will enable a huge sum of money be pumped to the economy so as to uplift the credit facilities and to promote lending. This is in support of the commitment of G7 partners (Boone and David 157).

There are disadvantages in response to this manner in which Canada is handling the country from its trading associates. In the last 7 years, the unemployment rate has escalated to 8 as reported on February, but there is expectation that its going to fall because of the reduction of prices for the exports and other soft commodities. The western Canada is most likely to be affected by the falling prices and the producers share prices, besides the curtailed spending of the households. Cars and other goods that are being exported to U.S have been decreasing but the manufacturers are expecting an improvement as a result of exchange rates becoming weak to that of United States. The GDP of Canada have been predicted to grow by 4 in 2010, if this comes true as its so ambitious, then it will overtake that of British and U.S.

Canadas Cultural issues
In Canada multiculturalism refers to the existence and perseverance of varied few racial and ethnic groups who describes themselves as dissimilar and would not like to change in any way. This concept has been defined in many ways in Canada sociologically, ideologically and as a policy in political view or a process. In ideological point of view it entails ideas and principles that pertain to the celebration of cultural diversity in Canada. As a policy it is ordered on management of the existing diversity through formal programs in the centralized, provincial and municipal domains .Hence it is seen as a process in which the ethnic groups compete for aids from the authorities in their quest for achievement of certain goals (Kalman 82).

Canada was the first country to adopt multiculturalism as an official policy. This step promise respect for all Canadians irrespective of their backgrounds and ancestry. It was first founded by three cultures British, French and Aboriginal. Today it is the key to Canadians identity. It has then pushed these communities to take part in the societys economic, social and cultural incorporation. It has also brought about language diversity as today in Canada there more than three languages, mainly spoken are French English and Chinese languages.

Multiculturalism in Canada has faced a challenge of exploitation by the federal government in its efforts to increase business opportunities wit other countries. The government has always given multiculturalism various shapes to draw business and trade links from other countries. There are other challenges which includes globalization and ever rising migration of people from one country to the other.

Issues associated with multiculturalism include the future prospects, the unstable economy and the call for a larger labor force which has affected the societys view of the immigrants. There is fear that the multicultural programs have led to the immigrants standing apart from the majority Canadians hence those opposing multiculturalism want the number of immigrants to be reduced (Kalman 148).
Tolerance is expected in a greater perspective in order to accept one another as Canadians irrespective of increasing diversity of people from different race and culture. The future of Canada is depended on the all the Canadians who must be committed to embrace unity and be proud of the existence of individual heritage.

Canadas international relationships
Canadas relationship with the United States is advanced and of the modern world as far as development is concern. Canada and United states are the leading worlds trading partners with their boundary having no military personnel. The relationships are as friendly as evidenced by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which removed all the trade barriers between the two countries and that of Mexico. If incase there arise any conflict between the two states, the resolution panel will deal with it without expressing them openly to other countries or with aggression.

Canadas affiliation with the G9 countries has been good and of great benefit to the country. The relations have seen the improvement of the trade being carried out between the countries since 1976 when Canada joint to be one of the members. The trade between Canada and the European Union increased overwhelmingly and saw them take great positions in the trade activities between the two countries. These affiliation normally comes with a benefit and at the same time something that a country must loose so as to continue being a member and benefit from their services. The G9 position on matters affecting the world may see actions being taken against the member states hence it has great impact on their economy, politics and the cultural effects. The G9 creates policies that affect major policies on the international scene (Burchill and Linklater 120).

Canadas affiliation with United States have been criticized severally that the economic relationships is as a result of their political fragmentation, and that the United States have been dominating economically in all matters that relates to trade between the two countries. On political scene, Canada have always differed with united states on their policy of handling Cuba and the clashing between the two countries over the pacific fishing waters. The policies that the U.S. had on Cuba had effects on Canada such as the companies that will do business with Cuba will risk being punished. There were a lot of business people of Canada who were punished and their properties in the U.S. seized. Because of the fear of the unknown, Canada has always tried to be positive with the decision of the U.S. so that they will not be affected economically, and be able to benefit especially politically.

The Kyoto protocol on the green house gas emissions saw the two countries take separate sides and it greatly affected Canadas political system as most provinces in Canada are opposed to the governments Kyoto plans. Globalization to Canada may be said to be a necessary move to be utilized in order to experience a great change in all aspects necessary for development and that promotes positive coexistence of all the developed and the developing countries. Canadas future prospects as the worlds superpower is not that easily achievable though with its relationship with the U.S., it can happen or may not happen at all. China is the country to watch in the future and U.S. is already threatened. Canada as seen as the main energy superpower has chances especially with the trade partnership with the U.S. (Shimko 29).

Canadas Quebec issues
French Canada is part of Canada that is occupied by the French speaking people. They occupy one of the largest provinces in Canada called Quebec which is ranked the second administratively. The other provinces of Canada are occupied by the English speaking Canadians and they are the determinants of the French speaking Canadians actions. They are the majority and consider themselves as the rightful owners of the whole Canada hence they pass laws that are to their advantage. In Quebec, the national assembly is expected to carry on its duties in both English and French, the laws also should be written also in the two languages. Quebec is free and upholds its own set of rules as laws and is democratically allowed to speak primarily in French language, separate religion and state, and to treat all men and women with equality (Naidu 68).

The structure of Canada is influenced by the Quebec society. Quebec is a society of its own and operates under charters that are constitutionally recognized in Canada such as the Quebec human rights and freedom charter, the French language charter and the civil code of Quebec. Quebec has always wanted to be separate from Canada and to run its affairs as a sovereign state but have never succeeded. There are different things that Quebec does but there are other things that they share with other parts of Canada like the currency.

Quebec has not participated in any constitutional voting excises for some time now. They do not cooperate with Canada because of the defeat of the 1982 Quebec referendum. The future of Quebec being a separate state is dull since Quebecers are divided on different positions. They are divided along the system of governance to be put in place with people supporting full sovereignty, others supporting sovereignty-association with Canada and others are actually do not want any change from the current form of system in place. With this division, then Quebec will not be sovereign state for such a long time (Brokaw 110).

Canadas aboriginal issues
Aboriginal issues relates to the culture that have been faded away by the introduction of the European culture which saw the rich culture and spiritual norms of the Canadians. The introduction of this European culture affected the people of Canada in so many aspects such as their land being taken away, new cultures and values were introduced to them, the system of governance became the alien which led to a cycle of social, physical and spiritual distortion with its effects being felt today.
There are issues that have resulted from the aboriginal such as poverty, poor health care systems, and abuse of substance. Besides this, there is loss of identity, suppression of their values and being deprived of their own rights. There is expectation that aboriginal people are working on most of the issues so that they can re-claim their own lives as they re-identify their original values after this long period when they have been under oppressions. On the other hand, the non-aboriginal have also known the unfairness that the aboriginals have been subjected to and currently they do appreciate the wealthy culture of the aboriginals. They have also started to engage themselves on the healing process by learning what the aboriginals underwent so as to create an enabling environment for understanding and respecting one another (Wadden 93).

There exist relations between the aboriginal and the non-aboriginals that they must unite and fight against them. The cycle of destruction that has been experienced between the two types of people need to be addressed in unison. This has been the problem which has led to the family violence, educational failure, poverty poor health and then starts again with the violence. In breaking the cycle that have affected the aboriginal people, many scholars, artist leaders and the activists have nowadays emerged and they are fighting for their colleagues for social justice and opportunities that one is always expecting to attain.

Currently, there are a lot of challenges that the aboriginal people are going through. Unemployment is the main problem in which the non- aboriginal people are being favored. Most employers are having a lot of difficulties in dealing with the aboriginals meaning that this have a long time impact on them. Integration into the 21st century of the aboriginal people is really challenging as the past have severely affected them so much such that their communication skills is very poor. There are cultural effects which have led to lack of appropriate skills and training such as communication, culture, skills and training, and misconceptions.

It might take time but its attainable. Integration success will be accelerated by negotiations and reconciliation of the aboriginal people and the other people in Canada. There should also be establishment of new and everlasting relationships between the aboriginals and the non-aboriginals with respect, acknowledging and enhancing sharing such that the aboriginal people will also have their values and beliefs being part of the governing institution.

Conclusion
I am a white English Canadian. As a Canadian, I will look beyond the issue that surrounds racism, discriminations in terms of cultural background, and respect for different opinion politically, socially or economically and be able to enhance dialogue and sharing of ideologies. Patriotism is showing love, supporting, serving, and always defending ones country so as to attain inspiration and to have a positive change and to care for all the citizens indiscriminately. Nationalism is strong attachment to ones country with loyalty and patriotism (Primoratz and Paykovic 11).

I will fit well in the society of scholars who want liberation and fairness among all the citizens in the country and to see all country men as equal to me with a common desire for our beloved nation. The society should be able to accept changes without being subjected to pressure that is enough so as to bring change as it is expected by the people. For positive coexistence, policies that should be in place should be those that enable every one to live in harmony with the other person. Freedom of religion and speech should be enhanced. All schools should be under the same system both in the Quebec and Canada as they are both under the same constitution. The curriculum is what I will be fighting for so that it will be covered under the same language hence enabling every citizen to access equal employment opportunities. Multicultural diversity should be part of the school curriculum and the entire citizens who are of the school going age are made compulsory to go school. In school, they are expected to attain various trainings, knowledge and skills that will enable them fit to the society as well. The school system here is a very important source of national unity, peace and appreciation of the other person from the other culture as they are by socializing. Hence, with discrimination or the feeling of people being aboriginals and non-aboriginals will fade away gradually. As a Canadian, I would want a country where I can go to any school or any institution and be treated fairly and be subjected to equal opportunities in terms of employment, hearing among others so that I get the energy and the desired motivation to deliver my best to my sovereign State of Canada without being misunderstood, misquoted or seen as a stumbling block towards giving to the people what the deserve and delivering reforms.