Canada: A Changing Society

1. Canada: A Changing Society Ch. 7 (p. 160-167, 177-180)

2. Canada After WWII • Returning veterans helped by government programs • Veterans and wave of immigrants leads to increased demand for housing • Rise of suburbs (housing developments and communities outside of city centres) • Suburban Values • Traditional family life • Stay-at-home mom, working dad, 2+ kids (nuclear family) • Increase in the birth-rate 1946-1961 (ie. “baby boom”)

3. Suburbia

4. Suburban Nuclear Family

5. Canada After WWII • Age of the Automobile • Cars needed by families in suburbs, commute to work • Small neighbourhood stores replaced by fewer large supermarkets and department stores, shopping malls • Poor safety: seat belts rare, drunk-driving common • Consumer Society • Rise in advertising, especially on television • Economy booming, Canadians have money to spend • New high-tech gadgets, appliances, toys, etc. • Conspicuous consumption • “keeping up with the Joneses”

6. Advertising

7. Canada After WWII • Teen Culture and the Youth Movement • Before WWII, the average Canadian was out of school by grade 8 • Need to make money for family, needed to fight in wars • Baby boomers stay in school much longer, university • Economy booming, not needed as soldiers • A lot of free time, spending money from part-time jobs • Become target for businesses, advertising • Teens create their own culture • Fashion, slang, music, movies, etc.

8. Canada After WWII • Teen Culture and the Youth Movement • Baby boomers rebel against parents/adults • Rock ‘n’ roll culture in 1950s, becomes accepted by adults by mid-1960s • Hippie culture in mid-1960s and early-1970s • “youthquake” – long hair, psychedelic stuff, sexual promiscuity, drug experimentation, anti-consumerism • Mass political protests and demonstrations, politicians take note • Voting age lowered from 21 to 18 • “Trudeaumania” – wave of popularity that swept Pierre Trudeau into office, treated like a rock star • Why?: informal, flashy, scandalous, bachelor until 1971 • By 1980s, baby boomers growing up, many have careers and families, “settled down”, protest movement fades away

9. Teen Culture

10. Teen Culture

11. Trudeaumania

12. Protecting Canadian Culture • Canadians, especially youths, increasingly influenced by American culture after WWII • Movies, TV, music, celebrities, etc. • Adults and government increasingly concerned • Massey Commission (1949) • Purpose: investigate the state of Canadian culture • 1951: reported that Canadian culture should be protected from American influences • National Film Board (NFB) should be strengthened • Makes documentary films by Canadians and/or about Canada • Federal government should help fund the arts

13. Protecting Canadian Culture

14. Protecting Canadian Culture • Canada Council (1957) • funded by federal government • gives grants to artists and organizations to strengthen Canadian culture • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) • Broadcast on radio since 1936 • Response to influence of American culture pre-WWII • 1952: establishes television stations, broadcasts Canadian content across country

15. Protecting Canadian Culture

16. Protecting Canadian Culture • Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) • Established in 1968 • Regulates Canadian broadcasting (TV and radio) • Controls how much foreign programming can be broadcast on television and radio in Canada • Requires certain amount of Canadian programming on TV and radio