Wednesday, January 6. 2016

Today's schedule is B-AG-A-D-C

Home of Galician (Ukranian) settlers, Rosthern, SK, about 1910

A Block Social Studies 10 -  Today we'll look at the challenges that "minorities" faced in Canada in the 1800's. We'll look at examples of racism both in terms of government & immigration policy and racism as a culture amongst the people of the country. Consider this from the Canadian Encyclopedia...On August 12, 1911 the Laurier government drafted and approved a remarkable document (although it was not enacted as law). The proposed Order in Council read:

For a period of one year from and after the date hereof the landing in Canada shall be [sic] and the same is prohibited of any immigrants belonging to the Negro race, which race is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada

Not so nice! So who did we want? Again the Canadian Encyclopedia claims that, Clifford Sifton and his immigration authorities balanced their ethnic anxieties against a frantic search for settlers. They listed ideal settlers in a descending preference. British and American agriculturalists were followed by French, Belgians, Dutch, Scandinavians, Swiss, Finns, Russians, Austro-Hungarians, Germans, Ukrainians and Poles. Close to the bottom of the list came those who were, in both the public and the government's minds, less desirable, e.g., Italians, South Slavs, Greeks and Syrians (Think about that in terms of current times and government policy!). At the very bottom came Jews, Asians, Roma people and Black persons.

We'll talk about the Komagata Maru and the Continuous Passage Act (Sikh); the Head Tax and eventual Chinese Exclusion Act (Chinese); the banning of the Potlatch, residential schools and cut-off lands (Aboriginal); the Vancouver Riot of 1907, the government limitation of 400 Japanese immigrants per year and the Asiatic Exclusion League (Japanese); and the Immigration Act of 1910, which gave the Cabinet the authority to exclude “immigrants belonging to any race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada.” (see the African American comment above).

D Block Geography 12 - Today we shift our focus to look at ecosystem components. We'll identify what an ecosystem is (along with its abiotic and biotic components) and understand what a community is. We'll see what Tim and Moby have to tell us about ecosystems and then you'll need to work on questions 1, 4, 6, and 8 from page 661 of your Geosystems textbook. For help on ecosystems check out:
"The Concept of the Ecosystem"
Ecosystem Fundamentals
Ecological Systems
Province of BC: Plants, animals and ecosystems
BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer

C Block Crime, Media and Society 12 - Today we'll continue our look at the Russell Williams case from 2010. Yesterday in class we watched the CBC Fifth Estate documentary "Above Suspicion" on the case and it reflected the Canadian coverage of the case. Today we'll look at the American coverage of the case, specifically the CBS 48 Hours Hard Evidence documentary: "Name, Rank, Serial Killer" and/or the NBC Dateline documentary "Conduct Unbecoming". We'll look at the "Cross Border Crime Stories" handout I gave you and after watching the episode perhaps you'll have a better grasp on the differences between our two legal cultures when it comes to crime coverage in the media. The biggest difference is the limitations on what can be reported about criminal prosecutions. Consider the differences in what was reported and how it was reported.