Understanding different views is an essential skill for personal growth, creative innovation, fostering empathy, critical thinking and building community. It also promotes diversity, inclusion and tolerance, which are vital to creating a more harmonious society. This activity aims to help you reflect on your personal journey and understand why people have different views within your community and across the country. By the end of this activity, you will be able to:
- Demonstrate empathy and understanding towards people who hold different views
- Understand the impact of diverse views on communities
- Analyze the relationship between your community and the larger society
Your community, in this case, can be your town, city or region.
Part One: Your Community
Goals:
- Identify the community you live in and describe how it’s unique from other parts of the country
- Research the history and geography of your community and analyze how that’s shaped your community’s politics
- Interview family members, friends and people from your community about their views on Canadian politics
Answer the following:
- What community do you live in? How is your community unique from other parts of the country?
- How does your community shape or inform your views on specific issues? What issues do local politicians focus on in your community? What issues do you hear being debated in your community?
- Interview family members, community members and/or friends. What do they know about local, provincial and federal politics? Do they think it matters? Do they feel their voice is heard? What kind of news media do they consume? Why do you think they consume stories from these sources?
- Who are your local elected representatives? What party (if any) do they belong to?
- Look at polls from across the country and find communities that are similar to yours (culturally, economically, geographically, etc). Why do you think similar views are shared between these communities? Now find communities that are different. Why are they different?
- What traditional territory do you call home? What is the historical relationship between Canada and the Indigenous nations that first resided here? Is there a treaty? What is your local land acknowledgement?
- Look at a map of your community. What ecozone are you in? What species exist in your area? How much original natural land remains? What species are at risk in your area? Do you have any parks near your community? How does your community connect to nature? Is nature relevant in your community?
Part Two: Your Views
Goals:
- Analyze the news media you consume and explain why you enjoy it
- Discuss similarities and differences in news media consumption with your classmates
- Reflect on why it’s important to consume news from different sources and why understanding the views of other people matters
Answer the following:
- What types of news media do you consume? Why?
- Gather with your classmates to discuss the similarities and differences between the media stories you consume. Check out the media that someone else enjoys – from your class or even from a different community (check out online polls as a resource!) – and discuss with others why you did or did not enjoy it.
- Why is it important to understand other people’s views/context?
- Use a map of Canada and fill in the following for each province/territory (or you can break it down further into provincial/territorial regions):
- traditional politics (what political party do the majority of people vote for?)
- economic history (what were/are the main economic activities?)
- where are immigrants coming from and where are they settling?
- what signed treaties exist?
Regionalism and Your Views
Regionalism in Canada refers to the distinct identities, cultures and interests that exist within different regions of the country. It acknowledges the unique characteristics and perspectives that arise from the geographical, historical, environmental and socio-economic differences between the various provinces and territories.
While regionalism focuses on the nation’s differences, federalism focuses on the nation’s shared characteristics and perspectives – the unifying identities, cultures and interests of Canada. Or it should. Of course, the definition of federalism is often debated by different regions for the reasons you now know.
Can you describe the regional differences in terms of:
Geographical Diversity
Cultural Differences
Economic Disparities
Political Representation
Interprovincial Relations
See if you can connect specific economic activities to certain Canadian regions:
Did you know most of them?
How has your region’s context shaped your views?