The reading offered a summary of much of the discussion we had in class over the previous two days. In particular, the Quebec referendum and Canada's cultural identity is addressed. As well, methods of historical inquiry and the process by which we determine the historical importance of items was covered.
During the course of working on your family history and preparing your slide show concerning Canada's identity, you will have to make decisions regarding the relative importance of various events and personalities. These decisions will be governed in part by your personal biases with respect to how you see the world around you. This is the case for all historical writing. Therefore, you must be aware of this fact and critically evaluate material accordingly. Consider the source, the audience that is being written for and the writer's purpose.
We discussed bias in the context of the section written about Pierre Trudeau. The line, "Repeatedly, Canadians voted Trudeau and his party into office, thereby showing they approved of his policies." Upon further consideration, we discovered that Trudeau's career included a minority government, an electoral loss to Joe Clark (who himself was perceived to be a weak leader), and consistent rejection by Canadian voters outside of Quebec and Ontario.
See the story linked below to learn about Trudeau's youth.
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=0c1b3dca-544a-45d8-8ce3-f577f9cb43a6
To be sure, Pierre Trudeau was a complicated man who had a consequential impact as prime minister. He was colorful, controversial, and blunt when he felt the occasion required. He was well read and unquestionably intelligent. He made decisions and took actions that would shape Canada for years to come. However, to say that his elections reflected the approval for all of his policies throughout the country assumes that the country is limited to central Canada. For most of Trudeau's time in office, there were no Liberal Members of Parliament west of Manitoba. Therefore, it would be fair to say that, at least in this section of the textbook, we see a bias towards central Canada and in favor of Pierre Trudeau.
Once again, for the purposes of this course you must be aware of the biases that exist in all historical intrepretation. Keep that in mind as we proceed.
