Canada in the 1960’s The 1960’s was a decade of concentrated social change. Social movements of the 1960’s included: Women’s liberation Civil rights Free love Peace All of these movements shared a desire for the liberation of the individual. They created a counter- culture of youth and freedom, that questioned the “status quo” of the “establishment”

Canada in the 1960’s In the early 60’s Canada produced the world’s leading philosopher of communications Marshal McLuhan. He observed that electronic media was becoming more important than print. He was made famous by the phrase “ The medium is the message.” and said that the new types of media would ultimately create a “global village.” He theorized that distinctive national identities would dissolve as the distances created by geography, succumbing to the instant communication provided by new technology. The 1960’s certainly marked huge changes in the ways in which Canadian’s perceived themselves. We obtained a new national symbol, we instated the official languages Act and we experienced a huge shift in our national morality

Canada in the 1960’s: The new Flag In 1964 Canadians were involved in an argument over the Canadian flag, many were attached to the British Union Flag However people who viewed themselves as Canadian, and not British, did not care for it. In 1963 Prime Minister Lester Pearson unveiled his idea for a new flag and by 1965, we had a brand new flag

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Canada in the 1960’s: Freedom of the individual In the early and mid-60’s, the desire for freedom was expressed in long hair, casual dress, and loud rock and roll (Hippie Era) The decade progressed into protest marches on behalf of peace, and the civil rights movement The new philosophy set individuals above the authority of groups and what by many were considered outdated moral standards Government was seen by many as the accomplice of business, instead of the protector of citizens and the environment

Canada in the 1960’s: Women Women were ready for liberation A dependable birth control pill, introduced in the early 1960’s made it possible for women to delay or avoid having children. This in turn made it possible for more women to compete with men in the business world. Women’s groups campaigned for equal rights, equal opportunities in the job market and an end to discrimination based on sex. Prime Minister Pearson set up of Royal Commission on the status of women, that was actually led by a woman, the first federal commission ever to be chaired by a woman.

Canada in the 1960’s: Bilingualism In 1963 Prime Minister Pearson appointed the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism. The report found that Quebecois were alienated from the rest of Canada, partially because the French language was not considered equal to English throughout the country. When Pierre Trudeau Became Prime Minister in 1968, he passed the Official Languages Act in 1969, this gave equal status to English and French officially making Canada a bilingual country.

Tommy Douglas & Medicare Beating out Terry Fox, Pierre Trudeau, and Frederick Banting to be named the Greatest Canadian in a CBC poll is quite an accomplishment. Tommy Douglas — who was at times labelled a “Red” and a “Communist” by his political opponents — won the honour largely for his belief that every Canadian deserved the right to have quality health care, regardless of their economic or social situation. This conviction likely stemmed from his social gospel roots in Manitoba, and continued during his days as Premier of Saskatchewan and later as leader of the federal NDP. “The Father of Medicare” saw his Medicare plan enacted in Saskatchewan in 1962 and later by the federal Pearson government in 1966.