| Back | *MEMORIZE AND BE ABLE TO EXPLAINCentralist / Decentralist -> Along with economic dominance, Ontario and Quebec exhibit political dominance over other regions. The 338 seats currently in the House of Commons in Ottawa are distributed based on population. Each seat, one for each Member of Parliament, represents an electoral riding that contains around 118,000 people. In 2024, 5 new seats were added to the house of commons and given to the fastest growing regionsIndigenous / Non-Indiegnous -> The federal government has responsibility for matters involving Indigenous Peoples. In the distant past, the federal government advocated for assimilation policies. Assimilation was attempted by educating Indigenous children in residential (boarding) schools operated by Christian churches beginning in 1892. First Prime Minister John A. MacDonald stated that the goal was to "take the Indian out of the child"Immigration -> Immigration has historically been used as an instrument of colonial power. After the British Conquest of New France in 1759, the British government set the immigration policy. Their objective was to offset the French-speaking population by encouraging large scale immigration to British North America. After Confederation, Canada remained closely tied to the British Empire. Immigration policies in the late 1800s continued to reflect the imperialist attitude that British people were superior to people from other countries. Immigrants from other areas were needed due to a shortage of workers; the CP Railway through the Cordillera was largely built by 15,000 Chinese labourersFrench / English -> Canadian unity depends on the continuation of the French and English relationship and the need to compromise. This faultline dates to 1750 with the British Conquest of the French on the Plains of Abraham. Under the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France ceded New France to Britain. This placed French-speaking people under the British monarchy |