In 1945, Canada's flag was a version of the British Red Ensign, its final court of appeal was still in Britain (appeals to the Privy Council did not fully end until 1949), and its constitution, the British North America Act of 1867, could only be changed in most respects by the Parliament of Britain. Most of the films, magazines and television programs Canadians consumed came from the United States. By 1982 Canada had its own flag, an official national anthem, a thriving national culture and a constitution it could amend itself, with a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This lesson asks how Canadians defined themselves in these years, both against Britain's past and beside a powerful American neighbour, and why the final step, patriation, left Quebec outside.
Culture: protecting a Canadian voice
The Massey Commission (Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences), whose report appeared in June 1951, warned that American magazines, films and radio were swamping Canadian culture. It recommended public support for the arts and universities. Its legacy includes the National Library (1953) and the Canada Council for the Arts (1957), which funds artists, writers and performers. CBC Television (1952), the National Film Board, the Stratford Festival (1953) and the Shaw Festival (1962) gave Canadian performers a stage. In 1971 the Canadian Radio-Television Commission (CRTC) began requiring AM radio stations to play at least 30 per cent Canadian music (Canadian content or CanCon rules), which helped launch the careers of many Canadian musicians.
| Artist or event | Contribution | Significance for identity |
|---|---|---|
| Kenojuak Ashevak | Inuk artist from Kinngait (Cape Dorset); her print The Enchanted Owl (1960) became one of the best-known Canadian images | The Kinngait print studios, set up with the community's co-operative from 1959, made Inuit art internationally famous and a source of income |
| Norval Morrisseau | Anishinaabe painter from northwestern Ontario whose first solo show in Toronto (1962) sold out | Founded the Woodland style, bringing Anishinaabe stories and imagery into contemporary art; with artists such as Daphne Odjig, he helped build a new movement in First Nations art |
| Writers | Margaret Laurence, Gabrielle Roy, Mordecai Richler and others wrote about Canadian places and lives | Canadians read literature set in Manitoba, Montreal and small-town Canada instead of only British or American stories |
| Musicians | Oscar Peterson, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Gilles Vigneault, the Guess Who and others | Canadian voices gained audiences at home and abroad |
| The 1972 Summit Series | Canada's NHL players narrowly beat the Soviet national team; Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in the last game in Moscow | Millions watched at school and work; hockey became a symbol of national unity in a Cold War contest |
| Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope | In 1980, Terry Fox, who had lost a leg to cancer, ran about 5,370 km from St. John's toward the Pacific before cancer forced him to stop near Thunder Bay | Became a lasting symbol of courage and generosity; Terry Fox Runs still raise money for cancer research |
New symbols: the flag, the Centennial and Expo 67
Prime Minister Lester Pearson wanted a flag that did not depend on British symbols. The "Great Flag Debate" of 1964 was bitter: Opposition leader John Diefenbaker and many veterans defended the Red Ensign, while many French Canadians had long wanted a flag without the Union Jack. Parliament finally chose a red and white design with a single maple leaf, and the Maple Leaf flag was raised for the first time on February 15, 1965. Two years later, Canada celebrated its Centennial with thousands of local projects, and Montreal hosted Expo 67, a world's fair that ran from late April to October 1967 and drew about 50 million visits. Expo's daring architecture, such as the Habitat 67 housing complex, and its confident mood made many Canadians feel their country had come of age. The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo used the world stage to tell visitors about broken treaties and residential schools, an Indigenous perspective most visitors had never heard. In 1980, "O Canada" officially became the national anthem.
Living beside the United States
| Development | Date | Challenged or reinforced the relationship? |
|---|---|---|
| Auto Pact | Signed January 1965 | Reinforced: free trade in cars and parts created many jobs in Ontario, with safeguards for Canadian production, but tied the industry to American companies |
| Vietnam War | 1960s–1975 | Challenged: Canada stayed out of combat, and tens of thousands of American draft resisters and deserters came to Canada (estimates range from about 20,000 to over 50,000), though Canadian firms still sold war materials to the US |
| The Third Option | 1972 | Challenged: after American trade measures in 1971 hurt Canada, the government (Mitchell Sharp) set a goal of reducing dependence on the US by expanding trade with Europe and Asia; results were limited |
| Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA) | Created 1973; began work 1974 | Challenged: screened foreign takeovers to make sure they benefited Canada, irritating American investors |
| Petro-Canada and the National Energy Program | 1975; October 1980 | Challenged: a national oil company and a program to increase Canadian ownership of the oil industry angered American companies and the Alberta government |
| Acid rain | Late 1970s onward | Challenged: acid rain, much of it from American coal-burning power plants, damaged lakes in Ontario and Quebec, a source of friction for years |
Patriation and the Charter, 1980–1982
For decades, Ottawa and the provinces could not agree on a formula for amending the constitution in Canada, so it stayed in Britain. After the 1980 referendum, Trudeau moved to patriate (bring home) the constitution with a Charter of Rights, even without provincial agreement. Eight provinces, including Quebec, opposed him. On September 28, 1981, the Supreme Court ruled that Ottawa could legally ask Britain to act alone, but that doing so without substantial provincial support would break constitutional convention. At a conference in November 1981, federal and provincial ministers worked out a compromise late on the night of November 4 in a kitchen at the conference centre: the Kitchen Accord, accepted by Ottawa and nine provinces on November 5, 1981. Quebec premier René Lévesque, who had not been part of the overnight talks, refused, and many Quebecers still call it "the night of the long knives". The Constitution Act, 1982, was proclaimed by Queen Elizabeth II on Parliament Hill on April 17, 1982.
- An amending formula: most changes now need Parliament plus at least seven provinces with at least half of Canada's population (the "7/50" formula); some changes need every province.
- The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: protects fundamental freedoms, democratic, mobility, legal, equality and language rights; section 1 allows reasonable limits, and section 15 (equality rights) took effect in 1985 to give governments time to change their laws.
- The notwithstanding clause (section 33): the provinces' price for agreement; it lets Parliament or a legislature override certain Charter rights for renewable five-year periods.
- Section 35: recognized and affirmed existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis, after Indigenous protests such as the 1980 Constitution Express trains to Ottawa (see the Indigenous lesson in this unit).
- Section 28: guaranteed rights equally to men and women, after lobbying by women's groups.