Social Change in Canada

One of the most important aspects our world has faced is change. Change within our countries, religions, society, families and ourselves. With change comes challenge and that is the driving force to which certain people thrive on. Fear of a new beginning, or simply a new view, can rock as something as strong as a nation and as tiny as a town. Before individuals introduced Canada to modern opinions, one would view as obvious today, he or she would live life blinded by the unmade changes and improvements our nation has seen in recent years. This report will examine and throughly discuss three human beings who helped shape perspectives on Canadian citizens. Factors on how they were able to inflict change and how these individuals added to the growing trends, events and forces that shaped North America in the twenty-first century will also be investigated. Pierre Trudeau, Aylan Kurdi and Terry Fox are all different in many qualities, but alike in the end result of change in Canada. It is universal knowledge that a society is dynamic and undergoes social change at both slow and fast rates.

Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau was a very equally loved and hated man. People conveyed paradoxical views on behalf of his work related and personal activities. The reason his success rested unwell with some of his citizens is because they were usually of an older age and did not get accustomed with the changes he was making. Trudeau brought on a new era of young men and women political supporters. His popular stature with his supporters originated from his strong charismatic abilities, revolutionary views and no nonsense personality. Trudeau’s cohorts raised so many popular opinions about him that the term ‘Trudeaumania’ was created to represent his movie star like attention (The Biography, n/a). Within a year of his early political career, as the Minister of Justice, Trudeau had reformed the divorce laws and liberalized the laws on abortion and homosexuality (The Biography, n/a). These new reforms came from his strong want of Canada to be an equal country. He wanted every civilian, no matter the race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation to be considered on level grounds with each other (studymode, 2015). Trudeau was an eye-opener to many Canadians on what an idealistic leader should exemplify, but of course many citizens still disliked him because he showed a less than professional attitude. Once Trudeau was elected for Prime Minister, he fought for universal health care and equal income by standing by his belief of a “just society” (canadiancontent, 2012). He championed bilingualism as a quality of Canada that needed to be offered. He knew that Quebec felt unincorporated in Canada’s history so he made the national languages both French and English to change the views of rebelling Quebec citizens. (studymode, 2015). Trudeau grew up with French and English speaking parents so he knew first hand the positive outcomes and opportunities bilingual individuals received (The Biography, n/a). Pierre knew that Canada rested on the shoulders of the new generation. He changed the twisting and seemly untouchable political side of a country to a tangible, easily understood aspect of every young persons life.

Trudeau is perfect example of Malcolm Gladrve’s ‘Tipping point’ which explains that when a popular individual shares new views he or she can create a ‘social epidemic’ (Shaheen, Class Notes, 2015). More and more people begin to relate and feel connections with this larger than life person, which then gradually connects to the concept ‘Stickiness factor’. This factor is explained by how the audience understands the new ideas and how they begin to accept the new status quo (Shaheen, Class Notes, 2015). Emilie Durkheim’s ‘structural functionalism’ is also connected to Pierre’s social changes by his insistence on educating the young and bringing about a smarter, more qualified generation to continue Canada's legacy (Shaheen, Class Notes, 2015). Marxism and Trudeau coincide with social change being the cause from a difference in the political/economic system, through this social institutions prolong and preserve it self, like how it has been roughly forty years since Trudeau and yet Canadians still carry out his beliefs in a “just society” (Shaheen, Class Notes, 2015).

Aylan Kurdi

What is the one true thing that can not only spread silence like a sickness, but also erupt full-fledged riots? Easy, a dead child. Children are seen as a manifestation of innocence. A brutal death is magnified once it has come into the public that the victim is a child. Alan Kurdi took the ignorance of the war and cleared a path to the truth. Aylan emerged in Turkish media and has sparked international outrage over the refugee crisis (Independent, 2015). Social media is always