The Aboriginals and the Canadian Government

The document under study is an extract from a newspaper article from the Guardian published in 2019. It tackles how the Canadian government does not respect Indigenous people’s lands. Indeed, the Canadian government chose to use their lands to build energy projects without the Indigenous peoples’ consent. This engendered violence and conflicts between the government and the Aboriginals. The latter want to protect their lands and defend their rights.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😊

 The Aboriginals and the Canadian government

The document under study is an extract from a newspaper article from the Guardian, published in 2019. It deals with how the Canadian government does not respect the lands of Indigenous people. In fact, a petrol company would like to build a pipeline that is crossing Indigenous’ lands. On top of that, they would like to build them without their consent. As a result, the Aboriginal people protested to block the construction of the pipeline.

This reveals that the relationship between the Canadian government and the Indigenous people is complicated because even if the government gives a warm welcome to every immigrant coming to Canada, they do not respect the peoples from the First Nations of their country. Therefore, the latter feel left out and abandoned by the Canadian government.

Besides, the Canadian government took decisions and signed documents against the Aboriginals’ will to take advantage of them and their lands.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😊

 A Very Attractive Country

The document under study is a video from Citizenship and immigration Canada, published in 2015.

We have learned the reasons why people move to Canada, it is to start a new life, to escape war or political conflicts from their country of origin, to feel safe and have a prosperous life in Canada.

The immigration process to become a citizen takes 3 years to complete. In fact, the newcomers must learn the languages, the geography and the history of the country, the rights and responsibilities of a Canadian citizen.

On top of that, they have to undergo health and security checks. At the end of the process, they are invited to take part in a citizenship ceremony in which people in charge of the organization (citizenship judges) are very involved and committed in the integration and welcoming the newly citizens. At the end of the ceremony, the newly citizens take the oath of citizenship and they all sing the national anthem entitled “Ô Canada”.

To conclude, the video conveys an image of Canada as an open-minded and multicultural country. Moreover, it is portrayed as a heartwarming and welcoming country in which every citizen is part of a brotherhood. There is a willingness to create a genuine bond with one another. They strongly believe that everyone can be beneficial for the well-being of the country.

 Homework: Learn the lesson.

 (At the Following of what we did last time) 

The solution to stop the spread of deep fakes would be to hold social media organizations responsible for the spread of deep fakes. However, these social media companies have a general legal immunity to content posted on their platforms. Nevertheless, this may change in the future.

Even though people should be more cautious and educated on the matter, there is another problem to be able to identify deep fakes properly: the liar’s dividend. In fact, the purpose of the liar’s dividend is to mislead/deceive people into making them believe that a real/genuine/authentic video with someone doing something illegal is fake. At first AI was only available for sophisticated machine learning experts. If deep fakes is not properly controlled, it can affect national security and our politics.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Be ready for an Oral Comprehension Evaluation on the theme of the chapter on Tuesday, January 7th 2025.

Enjoy Your Vacation! 😊

 Fighting Disinformation

The document under study is an extract from a website called Brookings.edu, published in December 2017. It deals with how journalists wish to fight disinformation.

Nowadays, what is paradoxical with today’s journalism is that information is more accessible online through social media platforms, however, with all the fake news that can be found on these same platforms, it degrades the image of authentic media.

According to the article, governments, businesses, consumers, technology companies and educational institutions could solve this problem by teaching people about news literacy and help them how to spot fake news.

The news media landscape has changed throughout the past decade thanks to the digital sources, the reach of journalism, social media and public engagement. On top of that, people now get their news mostly online. Besides, the readers are mainly young adults.

To finish with, in order to receive specific information one would like to read, one can customize their preferences on their devices. Eventually, this can also help to select what is real information from misinformation.

Legislating on Deep Fakes?

 The document under study is a recording from a radio program, NPR, an American radio. It was published in 2019. It deals with the complexity of legislating deep fakes.

A deep fake is a technology involving the use of artificial intelligence (A.I.) to manipulate videos or audios to make them appear real and convincing. Deep fakes have a real impact on our society regarding the rise of fake news.

Moreover, deep fakes are becoming a national security concern because they can make people do or say things they never did or said before.

Furthermore, deep fakes can create disastrous situation and critical scenarios with for example a military official giving orders to mass troops at a border when it never really happened in the real world.

The USA cannot sue (to judge in a trial) the person at the origin of a deep fake because it is complicated to track them. On top of that, if they are from another country, they don’t have the right to prosecute a foreign person.

Homework: Learn the lessons.

 (At the following of what we did last time)

Furthermore, Canada is one of the most tolerant countries not only in terms of race but also in sexual identity. In fact, they are one of the first country to legalize gay marriage.

To conclude, the author seems to have an ironic tone because he thinks that Canadians would not be as open-minded as if they were living in Europe. Therefore, his point of view is not objective as he uses the pronoun “we”, we understand that he himself is Canadian. On top of that, he also uses a serious tone when he enumerates the number of immigrants coming to the country. Objectively, the Canadians’ tolerance/open-mindedness is due to their history and geographic situation.         

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 (At the following of what we did last time)

Canada is seen as a tolerant country because the figures indicate that it has been the only country that has so many immigrants coming in and no other country is capable of competing with Canada’s figures. Furthermore, even all the political parties are pro-immigration. On top of that, it is not only being tolerant regarding ethnicity issues, it is also very accepting of sexual identity with the country being one of the first one to legalize gay marriage.

To conclude, we can observe that the author is Canadian as he uses the pronoun “we”.  Therefore, he is not really objective in his analysis: he has an ironic tone, as he wants to point out that Canadian should not be proud of their tolerance because if they were in a European country they may not have had the same opinion on immigration. Indeed, actually, their tolerance is due to their geography and history.

 Homework: Learn the lesson.

Who are the Black Native Americans?

The document under study is an article written by Brittany L. Cerny published in 2022. It deals with the underrepresented community of the Black Native Americans.

We have learned that this people is ethnically related to Africans who were brought during the slave trade to America and to the Native Americans.

The Black Native American community is not a well-documented group as they are a minority of a minority.

At the time, the Native Americans and the Africans were persecuted and oppressed by the white Europeans, therefore they got together, became friends for some of them and had children together. On top of that, some wealthy Native Americans also bought African slaves for their own homes and some also had children with them as well.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

 (At the following of what we did last time)

The goal of this video is to promote the multiculturalism of the country and its traditions. It is to emphasize that it is a welcoming country. As the video is played during the citizenship ceremony it is a way to show new citizens what community they are about to join.

An Open-Minded Country…

The document under study is an excerpt from an article written by John Ibbitson in 2014. It deals with how Canada celebrates its culture of accommodation.

We have learned that every year an equivalent of 1% of the Canadian population is added to the inhabitants of the country. In fact, for example, in 2012 the number of new immigrants was of 258,000. Hence, over the last 20 years until 2014, there have been more than 5 million immigrants arriving in Canada.

Moreover, there are three main political parties and each one of them claims to be pro-immigration. Indeed, unlike European countries in which many illegal immigrants can travel easily from countries to countries, Canada is surrounded by three oceans. They serve as natural borders. Hence, it is easier to be tolerant when there is no big threats of illegal immigration in your country. The only physical border they have is with the USA.

Moreover, Canada has a high number of immigrants because of its openness to people regardless their race/origins, religion and sexual orientation.

Multiculturalism is a direct heritage of Canada’s history as its Constitution was drafted by the French and the British in 1867 who had been working together in the construction of the country. In addition, since multiculturalism is written in its Constitution, it means that it is a very important notion for both the government and the citizens.

(We will continue the study of the text on Friday. Be ready!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Fake News: A Case Study

The document under study is an extract from an online article published on the website History.com in 2009. It deals with a man called Orson Welles who created a radio play on October 30^th 1938 about aliens invading the USA. American cities were quoted such as Grovers Mills, Chicago or Saint Louis…

A radio play is like an audio theater, it is entirely fiction, which aims at entertaining people.

The story was made realistic thanks to the sound effects, the good performance of the actors, the details given made it believable.

As a consequence, the radio listeners thought that the story that was airing/broadcasting was true. Therefore, they started to panic and were terrified. They tried to flee and run away from their houses, some went to church to pray. Some other went to the police to ask for gas masks. Some even believed that they were all going to die.

Upon hearing these facts, to calm everyone down, Welles went on air to remind the audience that the story was merely fiction. Because of this event, Welles was afraid that this radio play could ruin his career. However, it turned in a good way for him as he had a contract with Hollywood studio and produced one for the greatest American films ever made.

This story was the first biggest fake news event in the American history, as the citizens really believed that aliens were actually invading the country thanks to the very nice performance of the actors from the radio play.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Behind Fake News

The document under study is a video from the Ellen Show published in October 2017. We can see Ellen who is explaining facts and fake news with fruit.

She uses an apple, a banana, two oranges and a pineapple.

The apple represents the facts as she was inspired by CNN last commercial on their ability and will to always share real facts with their use of an apple to illustrate their message. Then, one of the oranges represents the things that Donald Trump, president at the time, said. The pineapple represents Anderson Cooper, a famous anchorman for CNN. The banana represents fake news, as it is not a real one, it is indeed a fake one made out of plastic. Finally, the second orange represents a magic trick with a card inside of it.

The reason why Ellen uses fruits to speak about fake news is that fruits are well-known and relatable/relevant to everyone. On top of that, the fact that she uses a plastic piece of fruit reinforces/stresses the dichotomy/duality between what is fake and what is real.

____________________________

Homework: Learn the lessons.

Pocahontas, Movie Trailer

The document under study is the trailer for the Disney movie Pocahontas, released in June 23^rd 1995 in theaters. This movie can be considered as a faulty representation of Native Americans. Firstly, this Disney adaptation is tailored towards a young audience, which can be an explicit factor towards the shaping of a generation view on Native American culture whether it be positive or negative. On top of that, this movie is also a heavily romanticized version of the myth, which simultaneously sparks public interest all while propagating an inaccurate facet of history.

Moreover, contrasting with the white people, the Native Americans are partially naked, it stresses the image of an uncivilized people in the point of view of the colonists.

Often, media can only take one part of the real story and forces people to think in a certain way, which creates stereotypes and a separation between the peoples. They never really mention the common traits in order to create a form of unity.

However, as time passes by, the Hollywood industry is getting better at representing Native Americans in movies such as “Dances With Wolves” or “the Last of Mohicans”… by celebrating and respecting their culture.

Homework: Learn the lesson.

Unit 3 : The Canadian Tale

To what extent can Canada be seen as a land of freedom and tolerance?

Axe 1: Identities and Exchanges

Welcome to Canada

The document under study is a video from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada organization.

Canada is shown as a peaceful and tolerant country. The landscapes are awe-inspiring, pristine and breathtaking home of a large eco-system with a wide range of wild animals.  Canada is also depicted as a welcoming and multicultural country. In fact, the inhabitants are, for a part, from numerous countries.

There are also a lot activities to do either in the summer or in the winter with sports such as canoe, horse-riding, ice-skating, hockey, hiking…

In Canada, urbanized parts of the country are depicted as dynamic cities. The video also conveys the sustainable aspects of the country with the use of solar panels. On top of that, we understand that agriculture plays an important part on the economy of the country. 

(We will continue the study of the video. Do not hesitate to watch it again so that you will be ready to talk about it in class next week!)

Homework: Learn the lesson.

The News We Read

The first document under study is a cartoon by K. Hafeez published in 2018. We can, see two characters in a coffee shop talking about fake news. This cartoon denounces the prevalence of misinformation and the casual almost dismissive attitude many people have towards critically evaluating online information.

It is not a funny cartoon, it is more serious and worrying to make people aware of the dangers of the spread of fake news. People should check the news they read before sharing them.

The second document under study is a cartoon by R. Rogers published in 2016. We can see a stereotypical modern American man who is hypnotized by/absorbed in his smartphone and who is about to step into a hole as he is not even paying attention to what is going on around him. The man represents the American citizens who are accustomed to read their news on social media and believe in it. They are naïve/gullible. The Fake News hole can represent the amount/avalanche of news that circulate online due to its width/largeness. Moreover, it represents a sort of trap in which people fall easily, therefore it stresses the idea that fake news is dangerous.

This cartoon is not funny as the fake news hole is a metaphor to say that fake news are dangerous. This cartoon is not only aimed at American people its targeting everyone who has access to social media.

To conclude, both of these cartoons are denounces the risk and consequences of fake news. The two people from the first cartoon could easily fall into the fake news hole. Eventually, the news we read on social media should always be double-checked.

Homework: Learn the lesson.