APS 223: Sociology of Canadian Society

Our objective in this book is to contribute to the knowledge on Ontario-Quebec relations. The first part focuses specifically on the origin and current state of relations between the two provinces. It offers a "big picture" view of interprovincial relations from a number of perspectives (political, economic, social, and public policy). The second part compares key public policy issues in the provinces in a wide range of fields. The analyses provided illustrate the similarities and differences between Ontario and Quebec, and provide a better understanding of the issues and policies that affect Ontario-Quebec relations.

As members of an official linguistic minority in Canada, Anglophone teachers living and working in Quebec have a distinct experience of the relationship between language and identity. In Negotiating Identities, Diane Gérin-Lajoie uses a critical sociological framework to explore the life stories of Anglophone teachers and illustrate the social practices which connect them with their linguistic, cultural, and professional identities. Exploring the complexity of identity as a lived experience, Negotiating Identities demonstrates the strength of language as a political force in these educators' lives both in the classroom and outside it.

In 1912, the Ontario Conservative government issued the controversial Regulation 17 in an attempt to improve the quality of English-language teaching in the province, while effectively restricting French-language instruction within bilingual schools. Prayers, Petitions, and Protests explores popular reaction to the policy in the Windsor border area and the radical opposition of the Catholic hierarchy to bilingual schooling.

Fournier points out that the Meech Lake Constitutional Accord was flawed for both Quebec and English Canada. It offered Quebec too little to satisfy those wanting sovereignty but was largely incompatible with the rest of Canada's vision for the future of the country. The response of the rest of Canada to Quebec's new constitutional initiatives, Fournier maintains, will have considerable influence on how far down the road to sovereignty Quebec may choose to travel.

In Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada, eleven scholars explore the complex relationships between religious and ethnic identity within the nine major Christian traditions in Canada.

An impressive collection of essays by 21 of English Canada's leading theatre critics provides a cultural history of Canada, and Canadians intense relationship to theatre, from 1829 to 1998, and across the whole country.

From Aboriginal writing to Margaret Atwood, this is a complete English-language history of Canadian writing in English and French from its beginnings. Pays special attention to works from the 1960s and after, to multicultural and Indigenous writing, popular literature, and the interaction of anglophone and francophone cultures throughout Canadian history.

Drawing on diaries and letters exchanged between family members Françoise Noël considers the nature of family, the couple during courtship and after marriage, parents and children in childhood and after the children leave home, and the social life of the family in terms of both leisure time and entertainment and the mutual assistance provided by social networks of kin, neighbours, and friends. She notes that courtship usually took place within the social network of interactions with kin and neighbours and shows that family life was located in a broad social space that included people of various ages.

Written by a survivor of childhood abuse, this moving memoir traces the influence of the author's mother tongue in the formation of her identity, and the role her second language played in providing a psychological sanctuary. Kathleen Saint-Onge reflects on the ambiguities of growing up in a primarily French household while attending English schools as she richly recounts the emotional gains and losses of a life lived in two languages. A testament to the power of language in determining feelings of belonging or alienation, Bilingual Being also presents a portrait of the 1960s in Quebec and the changing role of the Catholic Church.