Chapter 12

Modern Canada

Postwar prosperity and social programs, Canada in the world, Quebec, a changing society, and Canadian inventions.

Postwar prosperity and social programs

The discovery of oil in Alberta in 1947 began Canada’s modern energy industry. In 1951, for the first time, a majority of Canadians could afford adequate food, shelter and clothing.
Between 1945 and 1970 Canada enjoyed one of the strongest economies among industrialized nations. Today Canadians enjoy one of the world’s highest standards of living.
The Canada Health Act ensures common elements and a basic standard of coverage. Unemployment insurance, now called employment insurance, was introduced in 1940; Old Age Security was devised as early as 1927; and the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans date from 1965. Publicly funded education is provided by the provinces and territories.

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Canada joined other democratic countries of the West to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance, and joined the United States in the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD).
Canada joined the United Nations and took part in the UN operation defending South Korea in the Korean War (1950–53), with 500 dead and 1,000 wounded.
Canada has taken part in numerous UN peacekeeping missions in places as varied as Egypt, Cyprus and Haiti, and in other international security operations.

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Quebec experienced an era of rapid change in the 1960s known as the Quiet Revolution, and many Quebecers sought to separate from Canada.
In 1963 Parliament established the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, which led to the Official Languages Act of 1969 guaranteeing French and English services in the federal government. In 1970 Canada helped found La Francophonie.
The movement for Quebec sovereignty was defeated in a provincial referendum in 1980. In 1982 the Constitution was amended without the agreement of Quebec, and sovereignty was defeated again in a second referendum in 1995.

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Most Canadians of Asian descent had in the past been denied the vote. In 1948 the last of these, Japanese-Canadians, gained the right to vote. Aboriginal people were granted the vote in 1960. Today every citizen over the age of 18 may vote.
Canada welcomed thousands of refugees from Communist oppression, including about 37,000 who escaped Hungary in 1956, and over 50,000 Vietnamese after 1975.
By the 1960s one-third of Canadians had origins that were neither British nor French, and took pride in preserving their distinct culture within the Canadian fabric.

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In the visual arts Canada is perhaps best known for the Group of Seven, founded in 1920, who developed a style of painting to capture rugged wilderness landscapes. Emily Carr painted the forests and Aboriginal artifacts of the West Coast, and Kenojuak Ashevak pioneered modern Inuit art.
Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891. In 1972 Paul Henderson scored the winning goal for Canada in the Canada–Soviet Summit Series, often called “the goal heard around the world”.
In 1980 Terry Fox, a British Columbian who lost his right leg to cancer, began his cross-country “Marathon of Hope” to raise money for cancer research and became a hero to Canadians. In 1985 Rick Hansen circled the globe in a wheelchair to raise funds for spinal cord research.
Sir Frederick Banting of Toronto and Charles Best discovered insulin, a hormone to treat diabetes that has saved 16 million lives.
Other Canadian discoveries and inventions include the telephone (Alexander Graham Bell), the snowmobile (Joseph-Armand Bombardier), the world system of standard time zones (Sir Sandford Fleming), the first cardiac pacemaker (Dr. John A. Hopps) and the Canadarm.

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