This critical response assignment requires you to write a short essay in response to one of the three questions on the reverse of this page. Your essay should be 3-4 pages in length (750-1000 words) and should include: an introduction; a brief summary of the key points; a comprehensive evaluation of the various positions on these key points; and a concluding section summarizing your personal opinion of the issue(s) you have focused on. You are only required to use texts we have read in class as sources. You should use a minimum of three and must use proper APA style for all citations.
Questions
1. Read "Assessing the Opposition to Multiculturalism" (included below). Why do you feel some people oppose or fear multiculturalism in Canada? Do you think their opposition or fear is valid? Why /why not?
2. Read "The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism". The Official Languages Act (OLA) of 1969 was intended to address social and economic inequality between French and English Canada. However, the establishment of the bilingual state created a range of new problems. Consider the pros and cons of the OLA in terms of Canadian identity and belonging today. In what ways has it been successful? In what ways has it not?
3. Read "A Typology for Understanding Internal Cleavages". Describe some of the frictions or tensions between these two conceptions of Canadian society. Are these two models compatible?