Category: Canada

Physician assisted suicide has been an ongoing debate since the early years however, it recently sparked more attention in 2009 when Gloria Taylor, an ALS patient, decided to challenge the Canadian courts’ prohibition. ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a disease affecting motor neurons of the spinal cord, which causes progressive weakness and atrophy of muscles. She was soon joined by Dr. Shoichet, Lee Carter and Hollis Johnson both of whom were fighting for Kay Carter, a woman with spinal stenosis causing her endless suffrage. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that section 14 and 241(b) of the Criminal Code – prohibiting consented life termination, infringes section 7 of the Charter – the right to life, liberty and security and the right to not be deprived of. The topic of euthanasia has a lot of controversy surrounding it as there is a lot of things that may go wrong however, there are certain restrictions and guidelines placed to ensure things run smoothly throughout this process. In June 2016, Canada officially legalized euthanasia with reasonable and eligible conditions for example, the individual must be at least 18 years old, mentally competent and have a voluntary request. Although, it has only been legalized for two years, there have been a lot of controversial opinions surrounding the legalization of euthanasia. Nonetheless euthanasia should remain legal in Canada because of various reasons but most importantly, the quality of life, medical resources and the lawmaker’s perspective. The quality of life especially near the end of an individual’s life is very low and should be up to the patient to decide how long they want to continue going through the painful symptoms. Moreover, there are so many medical resources available when it comes to curing a disease however there is still major debate about using the resources to end a terminally ill patient life who merely holding on by a thread peacefully. Alternatively, give patients the right to euthanasia with very strict requirements without violating any rights or freedoms under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Charter fights for and guarantees rights for all Canadians to have the maximum freedom in living their life as pleased. Physician assisted suicide helps those who are constantly suffering through intolerable pain however, many people argue that if physician assisted suicide was an option to sufferers, they may be more lenient to choose this option without putting up a fight, misusing their power. However, the right to die should be a matter of personal choice and based off of how sever the illness is affecting the individual. For example, individuals make decisions everyday based off of clothing choices or career paths and should be able to have a say in ending their life with the assistance of a doctor. Moreover, it should be the individual’s choice based off of how long they want to go through the painful symptoms of the disease and most would prefer to die painlessly rather than painfully. Individuals who are suffering from terminal illnesses are often in an endless amount of pain which can be extremely excruciating for the patient and the only option for the patients who are suffering from said illnesses is to repeatedly take painkillers to help numb the pain in the tiniest way possible. In fact, the quality of life especially near the end of an individual’s life is very low. In addition, euthanasia gives both the individuals and the individual’s families the choice to stop the suffering peacefully. Michael Irwin, MPH, MD, a Coordinator of the Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS) said: “I’m pro-life – I want to live as long as I possibly can, but l also believe that the law should be changed to let anyone with some severe medical condition which is causing unbearable symptoms to have an assisted suicide. I wouldn’t want to be unnecessarily kept alive against my own will”. Indeed, many people often don’t want to be kept alive when dealing with an endless cycle of pain as they pray to be taken away every day to stop their suffering. For example, the case Rodriguez v. British Columbia is one of the main precedent cases that was looked upon and played a role in the legalization of euthanasia today. In this case the Supreme Court listened to a woman by the name Sue Rodriguez who wanted to end her life through the help of a physician because she was immobile. She argued section 7 (the right to life, liberty and security) was violated as it prevented her from living her life peacefully and to the fullest extent, section 12 (cruel and unusual treatment) was violated as it was considered cruel to let her suffer from a disease that is slowly killing her when there is another option and section 15 (equality rights) of the Charter. The ruling however did not favor Sue as the courts found that the physician assisted suicide prohibition did not violate section 7 of the Charter, however it did violate section 15 – equality rights. In addition, the judges ruled that this violation is justified through section 1 – reasonable limits with a vote of five to four. Sue ended up passing two years after challenging the idea of assisted suicide. For this reason, although Sue Rodriguez was denied her right to assisted suicide, she definitely played a main role in legalizing euthanasia today. Furthermore, many patients who are suffering from a terminal illness are unable to get the help or treatment they need and must involuntarily endure extreme pain and suffering which is unfair to the patient. In short, euthanasia should remain legal in Canada because if patients can terminate their lives with a single signature on one consent form, it is upsetting however it comes down to one’s personal opinion. It is easy to be ignorant and not see the pain one is enduring, which is also why the judges ruled in favor of physician assisted suicide.

“Your right to control your own life . . . is yours your entire adult life, up to and including the time and manner of your death” (Andrew Lewis).

That being said, physician-assisted suicide does damage to patients by breaking the trust between physician and patient, which should be based on healing, not based on killing. However, euthanasia has a lot of controversy surrounding it as there is a fine line between the right and ‘wrong’ approach to death according to society. The ‘right’ approach to death would be to allow the human body to take its natural toll to life, whereas the ‘wrong’ approach would be to put the patient to rest due to the unbearable pain they are experiencing using medical resources with their consent. That being said, there are so many resources available when it comes to curing a disease but why can they not use the resources to end a terminally ill patient life who merely holding on by a thread peacefully. Statistics have shown that as many as 97 beds at Toronto’s brand-new Humber River Hospital in what the administration calls ‘unconventional spaces’ as well as “Acute-care occupancy rates above 100 per cent in every month from January to May at both Brampton Civic and Etobicoke General hospitals”. In all honesty, many individuals argue that hospitals have a big problem with overcrowding and need to work on seeing and treating more patients at a time. Not to mention, giving terminally ill patients the option to peaceful pass away to end their suffering in a timely manner, could ease this burden that the hospitals are facing as well as the patients loved ones. Canada is one of the only countries that grant citizens free health care however, often times many patients travel from Canada to America to seek treatment to reduce the pain of euthanasia symptoms where supplies that are very costly. To tell the truth, when a person chooses the right to die, it ends all of these costs that their family has to suffer. It also allows the family to spend the last few moments of with their loved one happily rather than, living with a suffering loved one whom you know is always in constant pain. There have been several cases in the past where the patient suffering from a terminally illness have committed suicide in very painful yet fast ways to stop the unbearable pain, for instance: “I wrote an editorial favoring it, and told the story of my father, who shot himself rather than endure a protracted death from metastatic cancer of the prostate” (Marcia Angell, MD Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School). Euthanasia can be extremely straining on individuals when it comes to the painful symptoms, they must go through which feels unbearable to them and the only option patients turn to when assisted suicide is not available is unassisted suicide. This cannot only cause pain for the patient as they are passing away in a very forceful manner by either putting a bullet through their head or overdosing but their loved arounds the patients. With regards to, Marcia Angell, MD Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School told her story about her father whom shot himself instead of dealing with his terminal illness and spending time with his family while enduring painful symptoms. That being said, the doctor’s duty is to help patients and avoid suffering however, when the doctor’s duty is not only healing it should shift to relieving the suffering of patients. With that in mind, continuing to keep euthanasia legal will not only allow patients to rest in peace but also give their friends and family a sense of peace that their loved one was no longer in pain when they were let go with the help of a physician.

Finally, the ideological process makes no sense to allow a terminally ill patient as well as their loved ones to suffer when there is another option available that they would very much appreciate. Many argue, societies that authorize suicide as a ‘choice’ soon end up placing pressure on others who may be going through similar terminal illnesses to ‘do the right thing’ and kill themselves. In the 1993 Rodriguez case the Supreme Court listened to a case where a woman by the name Sue Rodriguez wanted to end her life through a physician because she was immobile. The ruling however did not favor Sue as the courts found that the physician assisted suicide prohibition did not violate section 7 of the Charter, however it did violate section 15 – equality rights. In addition, the judges ruled that this violation is justified through section 1 – reasonable limits with a vote of five to four. Though the decision did not work in favor towards her, this was the precedent case for other cases of euthanasia that followed and is one of the main reasons why euthanasia is legalized today. Moreover, to be eligible for medical assistance in dying, there are certain requirements an individual must meet for example, the patient must be at least 18 years old, mentally competent, have a terminal illness, make a voluntary request for medical assistance in dying and give oral consent. With that said, Canada is very secure when it comes to the requirements patients need in order to have the act of euthanasia performed on them, as Canada has taken longer to legalize euthanasia than other countries. A survey conducted in the Netherlands from 1992- 1997, the researchers found that family and friends of patients who requested medical assistance in dying had less traumatic grief symptoms, fewer current feelings of grief, and fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms compared to the family and friends of women who died naturally. Likewise, often times the argument made is the devaluation of life physician assisted suicide created. The basis of this argument was more religious than rational. God created people to live a long life and to pass when their time came, not to cut it short whenever they please. Each life should be respected and not taken for granted. If patients can terminate their lives with a single signature on one consent form, it is upsetting however it comes down to one’s personal opinion. It is easy to be ignorant and not see the pain one is enduring, which is also why the judges ruled in favor of physician assisted suicide. We should be allowing people to act on their own autonomy rather than attempting to preserve lives. Many of the reasons why euthanasia was not legalized sooner was because a lot of the individual who were fighting again euthanasia at the time believed that it was not religiously okay and that nature should take its path when it comes to death.

Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable disease that includes unbearable symptoms that the patient has to go through. The recent legalization of euthanasia in 2016 has sparked controversy almost everywhere as people are for it and against it. Nevertheless, despite the negative connotations, euthanasia has very specific requirements an individual must possess in order for the physician to go through with it. Euthanasia does not only relieve the patient’s suffering but the quality of life near the end of their journey, reduce the ‘overcrowding’ manner at hospital where terminal ill patients anxiously overdose on painkillers to minizine their pain in the tiniest way possible and give patients another option to death without violating any of the rights and freedoms that are guaranteed in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Ultimately, this issue of euthanasia reveals that society as a whole should keep euthanasia legal as it solves more than one problem and it is a win-win situation for all as it includes very strict requirements as well. In other words, instead of being quick to deny the idea of euthanasia, society must realize the unfortunate pain, individuals have to go through if euthanasia was not legalized as the patient’s loved ones experience less post death symptoms.

A challenge for Canadian health care is access. Most Canadians have timely access to world-class care for critical emergencies such as stroke, cancer care, and heart problems. However, for less critical problems the wait time can be as long as months or even years. “In Canada, only 38 percent of people report being able to see their primary care provider the same day or next day when they call. France, Australia and the United Kingdom all report 50 percent or higher rates, and countries such as Germany, New Zealand and Switzerland hover around 70 percent. Improving prompt access is critical to achieving continuity of care while reducing the number of people relying on walk-in clinics and emergency departments” (Tepper, 2015). When you are ill or in pain, there is nothing more terrorizing than waiting to be treated. The wait times Canadians encounter is one of the primary concerns of our healthcare system today, and it makes many of us wonder if our system needs to be re-evaluated. Some people have propositioned the concept of a parallel privatization system for those who can afford to pay to justify the wait times. Individuals value prompt responsiveness for two reasons: 1) it may lead to improved health results, and 2) it can dismiss worries and concerns that come with waiting for treatment or diagnosis. In Canada, “18% of individuals who visited a specialist indicated that waiting for the visit affected their life compared to 11% and 12% for non-emergency surgery and diagnostic tests” (Sanmartin, 2006 Nov; 2(2): 43–51), several of these individuals underwent stress, anxiety, and complications with day-to-day responsibilities.

A parallel private healthcare system could potentially reduce wait times for both low-income and high-income citizens, but issues with no government control could arise. Creating a parallel private system could benefit Canadians in several ways. However, this could also affect our history of equal human rights. A parallel privatization system could generate debate, but in general it could be a suitable solution.

Canada expends more on healthcare than the majority of high-income OECD (the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries with universal healthcare systems. To start off with, management is branded as being uneconomical. Money is being wasted, there is an absence of desire to search for valuable information for better treatment, keeping records of treatment outcomes, and decreasing the probabilities of redundant duplicate treatments. It is argued that our health care system would benefit more if it would be viewed as a corporation with solid and coordinated leadership, planning, and spending.

It is clear that the state of the health care system at the moment seems to be chaotic and poorly managed. An efficient resolution would be to present a system of coordinating tasks between different representatives in this field. This way, someone will be accountable to deliver effective administration and justifications on how the money will be spent. Having an adequate amount of medical resources does not necessarily mean that they are being utilized; therefore, it is important to also incorporate the volume of services or use of resources. There have been research suggesting that medical technology plays a substantial role for enhancing the efficacy of medical services, ultimately benefiting patients while reducing healthcare expenditures over time. For instance, medical technologies such as new diagnostic equipment and innovative surgical and laboratory procedures revolutionizes the efficiency of hospitals and enhances the security and welfare of patients.

Purpose:

Compared to other nations Canadians are vastly overpaying for their drugs and many citizens are unable to afford critical medicine. The purpose of this briefing note is to outline the current state of the pharmaceutical industry in Canada and provide recommendations that would enhance the accessibility and affordability of pharmaceuticals.

Background:

In the 1960s, when universal single-payer healthcare was introduced in Canada, pharmaceuticals played a small role in the healthcare process and consequentially conversations about universal drug coverage were dismissed. However, in the late 1970s, technological advancements in the pharmaceutical industry meant that medication use and prices skyrocketed, making medication an integral part of care. As a response, throughout the 1970s and 1980s, provincial governments began offering limited drug coverage to vulnerable population groups but none were universal or linked to universal healthcare, except for a brief attempt in Saskatchewan. In the meantime, the lack of universal public pharmacare across Canada created a market for private drug coverage. Often provided through employers, private insurance companies also offer drug coverage on an individual basis. This patchwork structure of pharmaceutical coverage poses challenges for accessibility and affordability, which have been exacerbated in recent years with increasing medication demand and prices.

Since 1985, drug spending has climbed from $2.6 billion to $33.7 billion in 2018 and approximately 1 in 5 Canadians struggle to afford to pay for their medications. Almost 1 million Canadians are forced to cut spending on food and heating to pay for medication and 3 million Canadians forgo necessary medication due to affordability issues. As of 2019 Canadians pay the third most per capita for pharmaceuticals in the world, only behind the US and Switzerland. There are a few reasons for the exorbitant prices but mainly it is due to the lack of unified bargaining. Between 2012 and 2017 Canadians wasted $15 billion on pharmaceuticals. Having reasonable access to pharmaceuticals is a key part of the healthcare process and since 1960 there have been five separate commissions calling for drastic changes to the Canadian structure of drug coverage. Currently, Canada is the only nation that offers universal healthcare but not supplementary universal drug coverage.

Options:

Option 1: Catastrophic Drug Coverage

This model reimburses individuals whose drug costs exceed a certain percentage of their income. Individuals would pay for a portion of their medication, up to a limit set by the government. This system is used by most provinces that offer a partially public program.

Advantages: It is similar to the current structure in many provinces so it would not require a massive initial overhaul. Additionally, it is a progressive model because citizens with lower incomes receive coverage for a greater portion of their pharmaceutical costs. This is also a lower-cost approach to drug coverage than the other two options.

Disadvantages: Determining the deductibles and the cut-off percentages is a complex formula and patients would have to go through multiple levels of bureaucracy to ensure optimal coverage. This model is not used by any other nations and there is not a pathway for success that Canada could follow. Additionally, this model does not fully ameliorate the burden on employers and perpetuates a tiered system that disadvantages individuals without private insurance. It also does not allow for a fully unified bargaining process.

Option 2: Statutory, Multi-Payer Model

Citizens are mandated to purchase an insurance plan that meets price and coverage standards set by the government. This system is currently used in Quebec where residents either receive coverage from a private plan, usually provided by employers, or a public plan which they are required to purchase.

Advantages: Private insurance companies would not be driven out of business and would continue to provide different options for consumers. Additionally, regulations set by the government ensure moderately reasonable prices and a standard offering of drugs.

Disadvantages: This system does not allow for collective bargaining of drug prices, limiting the cost-effectiveness of both the private and public plans. Similar to the model above it also potentially creates a two-tiered system in which citizens who cannot afford a private plan are forced to purchase an inferior structure of coverage and it does not ameliorate the burden on employers.

Option 3: Universal, Single-Payer Model

Working in tandem with the current system of universal healthcare, this model relies on government funding and agencies to provide completely publicly funded pharmaceuticals. Price bargaining is executed by a singular agency that also categorizes drugs by price and effectiveness.

Advantages: Having a singular agency bargaining for the entire country and a unified structure of drug delivery would vastly decrease drug prices. By 2027 Canadians will have saved approximately $5 billion on pharmaceuticals, even taking into account potential costs. Working in tandem with universal healthcare also ensures a simple system with minimal bureaucratic confusion. This model would also alleviate the burden on employers struggling to cover employees thus encouraging economic growth.

Disadvantages: The most expensive of all the systems listed, a universal, single-payer system would cost an initial $6 billion just for implementation. There would also be a yearly expense of nearly $12.3 billion.

Recommendation: Option 3

Based on the options provided, the federal government should choose option 3: the universal, single-payer model. While the most expensive, this option provides the most thorough and efficient delivery of pharmaceuticals. It has the fewest complicating barriers for patients and it alleviates the burden on employers. Politically, this is also the most viable option as well. The current New Democratic Party potentially holds the balance of power and they have stated that implementing a universal single-payer plan is their number one priority. To maintain the confidence of the House, it is advisable to work with the NDP to pass the legislation required to initiate the creation of a pharmacare system that works in tandem with universal healthcare.  

The boreal zone, situated within the northern regions of the globe, stretches around 5000 kilometers from Labrador and Newfoundland in the east to Yukon in the west, extending south 1000 kilometers from the edge of the arctic tundra. Estimated to be around 270 million hectares, this boreal region covers more than half of Canada’s land area, sheltering millions of wildlife species. Making up a third of this boreal zone, Canada’s boreal forest is essential for not solely the tradition and culture of Indigenous people, but also the future of the world, for it stores around 12% of the carbon in the air, making this forest a major factor for the fight against climate change. Four million people depend on this forest as home including Aboriginal people, and a further 600,000 Canadians rely on the resources from the forest for their livelihoods. The climate is made up of a great fluctuation between the seasons, with short, warm, and moist summers and long, freezing, and dry winters.

The Importance of Canada’s Boreal forest

Canada’s boreal forest undoubtedly plays a significant role by not only sheltering a variety of wildlife but provides benefits that extend beyond its borders. The boreal forest consists of one of the world’s largest reserves of unexploited wood fiber. There are 20 species of trees in the forest, the main types that make up the forest canopy being larch, balsam fir, white spruce, and lodgepole pine. Most are coniferous trees, which means that they have the ability to remove amounts of carbon from the atmosphere unlike other trees through photosynthesis, as well as being able to store large amounts of carbon for thousands of years while producing oxygen. All these trees provide shade, windbreaks, and screening, in addition to shelters for mammals, birds, insects, and other wildlife. The trees, as well as all the other plants in the forest, helps improve the cycle of nutrients, making rich soil, and controlling erosions.

While trees are the dominant plant species, several different plants such as mosses, lichens, and shrubs also play a part in keeping the ecosystem a sustainable and interlocked community. Lichens grow in areas that aren’t coated by mosses, as well as on wood. They are a combination of fungi and algae that prove to be useful plants in nature, as they are food for some animals, whilst being also a material they can use for nests or homes. When they grow on rocks, the chemicals that they release contribute to the slow process of rock breakdown and soil formation.

This biome consists of wide, uninhabited landscapes with large lakes, rivers, and wetlands, filtering millions of liters of water, lessening the chances of floods and droughts, and providing ducks, as well as multiple other species living in the waters the resources that they need. Almost half of the birds in North America are supported by the boreal forest, in some way or another throughout the year. Estimated to be around 300 species, that is- 300 million birds- breed and travel through the boreal forest during migration. Swans, ravens, owls, kinglets, and woodpeckers are only a fraction of the birds who rely on the forest. Several species of mammals have adapted to suit Canada’s forest, such as the wood bison, moose, and snowshoe hares. There are more than 90 species of animals in the forest, including many that are endangered such as grizzly bears, wolverines, and whooping cranes. They also share this forest with 32, 000 insects as well- around a quarter have yet to be described. Despite being one of the most important components which make up the boreal food web- to pollinate and decompose- they are poorly understood in the biome. Every living thing in this region plays a role to help preserve the biodiversity and the variety of life on Earth, maintaining the balance in the natural resources.

As more than 500 Indigenous communities have relied on and lived in the boreal forest for thousands of years, it is important for them to keep the forest healthy and preserve the cultural values of their heritage. Moreover, as more than 17, 000 individuals of the Indigenous community rely on the forest products industry for employment, as well as 233, 900 Canadians, the forest remains a major source of people’s livelihood through employment.

Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts

Having such a diverse and beneficial ecosystem producing resources has led to much development of mining, forestry hydro dams, oil and gas production, tourism, and hydroelectric generation in the boreal forest. Currently, more than 30% of the forest has been made into some form of current or future industrial development. Consequently, these actions have resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation, weakening the natural systems as well as disturbing the wildlife that depends on large, intact areas or a specific home to survive. These impacts and changes, with pollution from industries, and diversion of water flow caused by mining and hydroelectric developments, have caused grave effects on the wildlife and the forest. A recent study estimated that Canada’s current annual deforestation rate is 92,500 hectares a year.

Satellite data now conveys a new problem for the forest- tar sands mining. Tar sand is a mixture of clay, water, and a substance called bitumen, which is a black oil formed if bacteria are in oil. The extracting of tar sands is beneath the boreal forestland, creating outcomes that cannot be regenerated, such as how it is a non-renewable resource, producing greenhouse gases and not easily replenished. Since 2000, Canada’s tar sands region has wiped out almost two million acres of boreal forest. We can predict that if it continues, the loss of the forest will have grave effects on the livelihoods of both the wildlife and people in that their habitation will be wiped out and the loss of production will have a grave impact on businesses.

Climate change has also influenced the forest; the increase in temperature changes both the quality and quantity of water, resulting in a disturbance in the distribution of water for plants and animals. This can also lead to the less developed and weak species being wiped out due to drastic changes each year.

Management Strategies

Growing concern to sustain Canada’s boreal forest has resulted in action for change. As Canada’s boreal forest is the country’s most important resource, governments are continuously trying to find ways and an alternative to reduce the impacts of development pressures near the forest as well as to enforce laws to monitor companies, which include: abiding by the conditions of a harvesting permit, restricting what types of trees can be harvested, which are only 35 out of 180, limiting what types of animal and plant can be imported into Canada, and many more. Although there are many changes to this forest, much of it is owned and managed by the government. It is estimated that around 10% of the land is protected, making this boreal forest the most preserved than any other country with boreal forests.

Environmental organizations all around the world are spreading the word to raise awareness, teaching individuals how to reuse, recycle, and reduce the use of products from the boreal forest, and how to learn to use alternative energy sources which are good for the environment. Furthermore, independent organizations have also put in place forest management certifications, which provide assurance alongside government laws, that a company using resources from the forest is acting legally, and operating correctly with the forest management laws and regulations. These include respecting Aboriginal views and values, and ensuring that where they harvest, the forest regrows.

Despite the common belief that the forest is in danger of deforestation, Canada has overall reduced the rate of deforestation over the last 20 years, which is expected to continue. For the generations to come, people can now know that the risk of damaging the forest is slim- the management strategies have ensured the boreal forest stays healthy and productive- in fact, the rate of deforestation is one of the lowest in the globe. The most recent study in 2014 shows that deforestation in Canada is a total around 0.3% of the world’s deforestation in total.

Bibliography

Websites

1. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. (1996). ENVIRONMENT- PICTURE STORIES. Retrieved September 3, 2019, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/04/alberta-canadas-tar-sands-is-growing-but-indigenous-people-fight-back/
2. BOREAL SONGBIRD INITIATIVE (BSI). (2015). BOREAL FOREST. Retrieved September 3, 2019, from https://www.borealbirds.org/threats-canadian-boreal-forest
3. The Nature Conservancy. (2019). Boreal Forest Canada. Retrieved September 5, 2019, from https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/boreal-forest/
4. Resolute. (2019). Boreal Forest. Retrieved September 5, 2019, from https://www.resolutefp.com/Sustainability/Conservation_and_Biodiversity/Boreal_Forest/

Articles

1. Jimmy Thomson. (2018). Why Canada’s boreal forest is gaining international attention. The Narwhal. Retrieved from https://thenarwhal.ca/why-canadas-boreal-forest-is-gaining-international-attention/
2. Anthony Bazzinotti. (unspecified). Boreal Forest Biome in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=6075024c90a34ce3ba300789b34a2925
3. Peter Kuitenbrouwer. (2019). BATTLE FOR THE BOREAL. NATIONAL POST. Retrieved from https://business.financialpost.com/features/battle-for-the-boreal-forest-2
4. Carys Richards. (2018). The importance of boreal forests. NATURE CONSERVANCY CANADA. Retrieved from http://www.natureconservancy.ca/en/blog/the-importance-of-boreal-forests.html#.XW3tdGx7muU
5. Northwest Territories. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://school.eb.com.au/levels/high/article/Northwest-Territories/110600
6. Elliott, C. (2000). Forest Certification: A Policy Perspective (pp. 125-168, Rep.). Center for International Forestry Research. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep02164.13

Videos

1. NRDCflix. (11.2.2017). Protect the Boreal Forest [online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3OU–05AdQ
2. NaturalResourcesCa. (24.11.2010). Canada’s Boreal Forest [online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhe5FHbmpbc
3. NaturalResourcesCa. (25.11.2010). Natural Disturbances in Canada’s Boreal Forest [online video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH1yAOhlmnE

Images

1. Brandt, J. 2009. The extent of the North American boreal zone. Environmental Review. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/Ani/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/IE/PQF2TC1Z/484.pdf
2. Hinterland. 2002. Black spruce and feathermoss. Canada’s Boreal Forest. Retrieved from http://www.hww.ca/en/wild-spaces/boreal-forest.html
3. N.a. 2017. WOLVERINE. ZooMontana. Retrieved from http://www.zoomontana.org/exhibit/wolverine/
4. Cierra, D. 2015. Canadian Boreal Forests. Blogger. Retrieved from http://canadaianborealforest.blogspot.com/
5. Cierra, D. 2015. Canadian Boreal Forests. Blogger. Retrieved from http://canadaianborealforest.blogspot.com/
6. March 21, 2017. Putting a Value on the Ecosystem Services Provided by Forests in Canada. Nature Conservancy of Canada. Retrieved from https://images.app.goo.gl/R6P9fTAZCSXx4MF76

Books

Philip Joseph Burton. (2003). Towards Sustainable Management of the Boreal Forest. National Research Council of Canada.

1. Boreal Forest Threats and Conservation Status. (2011). In Wells J. (Ed.), Boreal Birds of North America: A Hemispheric View of Their Conservation Links and Significance (pp. 1-6). The University of California Press.
2. Davidson, I., Fernández, D., & Clay, R. (2011). Important Bird Areas as Wintering Sites for Boreal Migrants in the Tropical Andes. In Wells J. (Ed.), Boreal Birds of North America: A Hemispheric View of Their Conservation Links and Significance (pp. 95-106). University of California Press.
3. W.A. Kurz, C.H. Shaw, C. Boisvenue, G. Stinson, J. Metsaranta, D. Leckie, E.T. Neilson. (2013). Carbon in Canada’s boreal forest — A synthesis. Environmental Reviews, 21(4), 260-292.

Canada is the third-largest forested area in the world. The enormous amount of forested land is an obvious explanation as to why large-scale commercial forest harvesting is taking place in Canada and contributes a lot to its economy. However, the deforestation of such a large number of trees has affected the environment in a severe way. If steps are taken to manage forests with a more sustainable approach, then attempts can be made to restore the environment and preserve it.

Approximately 38 percent of Canadian land is a forested area, that is, 3.4 million out of 9.1 million km². A little more than half of this amount is categorized as commercial forests, or forests with marketable trees that are produced in a reasonable amount of time. About 11% of this is owned by the federal government, 80% by the provinces, and the rest by private owners, such as individuals and corporations. These forests have been set aside solely for commercial purposes.

The forestry industry is rooted in all Canadian regions, with the exception of the far north. It is primarily in Ontario and Quebec, with 52% of total forestry jobs in those provinces, as well as 39% in Western Canada and the Prairies, and 9% in Atlantic Canada. Canadian forests account for 10% of the world’s forests. The forestry industry has three subsectors: solid wood product manufacturing, pulp and paper product manufacturing, and forestry and logging. The solid wood product manufacturing sector produces softwood lumber, structural panels, millwork, and engineered wood products, while the pulp and paper product manufacturing sector produces newsprint, household tissues, and dissolving pulp, and the forestry and logging sector manufactures timber.

Canada is the world’s largest exporter of forest products. Due to its timber, it is able to efficiently manufacture a large variety of forest products, such as softwood lumber, newsprint, wood pulp, wood panels, and value-added products. Though the country produces a large number of products annually, only 1% of commercially forested area is cut down.

The forestry industry contributes greatly to Canada’s economy for many decades. In 2013, it contributed $19.8 billion (1.25%) to Canada’s GDP. Out of that, the solid wood product manufacturing, pulp and paper product manufacturing, and timber sectors each contributed 44%, 36%, and 20% respectively. While 51% of logging and 45% of wood industry activity take place in British Columbia, together, Quebec and Ontario account for 62% percent of pulp and paper industry activity. In 2017, forestry industry products were about 7.2% of total Canadian exports, contributing approximately $24.6 billion to the Canadian economy. Additionally, the growth of the Canadian forestry industry has aided in the development of other manufacturing and service industries.

Although the forest industry makes up a smaller percentage of the Canadian economy, it generates more jobs and helps more with the balance of trade than other natural resource industries. The most contributions from the forestry industry to the Canadian economy come from traditional forest products, such as lumber, other solid wood products, pulp and paper, and forestry activities such as forest management and logging. In 2017, approximately 209,940 people, including about 11,565 Indigenous employees, were employed in the forest industry. Additionally, about 200 rural communities in Canada rely on the forest industry for at least half of their income.

Although Canada had been primarily exporting forest products to the US, the industry was forced to expand its exports to other countries in 2008 after the US housing crash and the global financial crisis started. The increase in exports to Asian countries, primarily China, has helped increase the impacts of the forestry industry on the economy.

One of the negative effects of clear-cutting is deforestation, which is the clearing of the planet’s forests and results in damage to the land quality. Approximately 30% of the planet’s land area is still covered by forests, but sections half the size of England are cut down annually. At this rate, all of Earth’s forests could disappear within a century. Logging operations, which manufacture wood and paper products, cut an enormous amount of trees yearly. However, loggers, some illegally, construct roads to travel to more remote forests, resulting in more deforestation. Furthermore, deforestation affects the environment in a negative way because it results in the loss of the habitats of millions of species. About 80% of the planet’s land animals have adopted forests as a habitat, and will not be able to survive deforestation. Moreover, clear-cutting replaces mixed-age, biologically diverse forests with single-age, single, or few species plantings. Single species planting, the practice also known as monoculture, decreases biodiversity and increases disease susceptibility. As well, clear-cutting depends on roads to transport timber, but building these roads causes root damage, erodes topsoil, and pollutes streams. Additionally, it gets rid of small trees, snags, boles, and woody debris on which invertebrates and fungi depend.

Another negative effect of clear-cutting, also environmentally related, is its contribution to climate change. Trees are a part of the natural water cycle, as they transpire water back into the atmosphere. However, a lack of trees may cause forests to become deserts, because moist forest soils rapidly dry up without the protection of trees. The removal of trees takes away portions of its canopy, which blocks solar rays during the day and retains heat during the night. It causes more “extreme temperature swings” that can be dangerous for both plant and animal life.

Between 35 and 30 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere every year, approximately 1.6 billion tonnes, is caused by deforestation. Trees are crucial to the environment in that they absorb the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming. However, the fewer the forests there are, the larger the amounts of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, thus quickening the rate and severity of global warming. Furthermore, when trees are clear-cut, all the carbon emissions that had been previously absorbed by the trees re-enter the environment, releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The most practical solution to deforestation is sustainably managing forest resources by not practicing clear-cutting to ensure that forests do not get as severely affected as they do currently. Additionally, there needs to be a balance in the forest industry; older trees that are cut down need to be replaced by younger trees.

Sustainable forest management focuses on what is left behind, not what has already been cut down. Instead of clear-cutting forests and tracts, the method of selective cutting can be practiced. This involves mature or unwanted trees being cut down, which encourages the growth of healthy trees of different ages, and maintains the biodiversity of the rest of the ecosystem. Moreover, practices of artificial planting, herbicides, insecticides, and fertilizers are not employed.

Using methods such as selectively cutting merchantable timber allows new tree growth. One way to practice this is single-tree selection, which involves cutting individual trees at a time. Furthermore, trees can be cut down into clusters to create gaps in a forest, known as group selection, which is economically beneficial as it makes the most efficient use of available growing space, soil, and light. A third method is cutting down small areas of land instead of individual trees. An example of a place that practices this is the Douglas fir forests in the Canadian Pacific slope and the western US. Wedge-shaped gaps of cleared ground are formed when logging by powerful yarding machines. Parts of the forest enveloping the area are left for years to provide the barren area with shelter and seed. The wind carries many seeds into the area, resulting in the growth of new seedlings first. When the young trees have matured and are able to bear seeds, the sections surrounding them that had been left before may be cleared. Similar methods clear strips cut across the forest or circular areas gradually expanding until they merge, and are used in France and Germany.

In general, forest management is mostly for economic benefit, because the forest industry can only be effective if it can operate continuously. Although foresters believe it is best to cut down a tree after a long time while it grows, there is a way in which a moderate number of trees can be cut down indefinitely every year if the annual harvest and amount of crop destroyed through fire, diseases, insects, and other factors are outweighed by the yearly growth. A crucial factor of this is a crop’s rotation period or the age up to which the crop can be grown before it is cultivated. Some short rotation periods in tropical regions: are 7 years for Leucaena (firewood), 10 years for eucalyptus, and 20 years for pine (pulpwood). Hypothetically, sustained yield can be practiced by the cutting down and replanting of a tenth of a eucalyptus forest. Northern Europe and North American rotation periods for pulpwood go up to 50 years, about 100 years for softwood logs, and up to 200 years for central European broad-leaved trees like beech and oak. While only a small portion of the timber harvest is acquired by clear-cutting a small section of the forest annually, the rest is safeguarded by exploiting the whole forest periodically.

In conclusion, current forestry activities in Canada are not very sustainable. However, they can be made more sustainable so that forests can be used as a natural resource for many years. Although Canada’s large forested area allows for a longer presence of this resource, the forest industry must adapt its economic activities to ensure that it lasts. Sustainable forest management can be practiced to ensure that while trees are cut down to be manufactured into forest products, the areas with felled trees aren’t permanently void of forests. Instead of simply cutting down forests and abandoning the felled areas, trees in forests can be cut down individually or in clusters, and new trees can be planted there to compensate for trees that have been cut down. That way, Canada can benefit economically from its forests, while also sustaining them to last for a long time.

Whist researching my topic, I wanted some background noise to help me concentrate. So, I turned on my TV and started to play one of my favorite shows, ‘Black Mirror’. The episodes are all individually casted and have unique storylines. The topics on the show explore relevant topics, but with exaggerated storyline to create an unease about our modern society. As I was endlessly sifting through information and glancing up at my screen, I realized that the mind warping ideas coming from the utopian TV show matched the ideas in my research. I quickly made connections ad saw exactly how I would explain the education system. At first, I thought I would create and describe an ‘episode’ of the series about high school, I would exaggerate the circumstances and create something that would make people think of high school with the skeptical perspective I sat at my computer, wondering how to create this story. Then I realized I don’t have to. When spoken about as a skeleton, school sounds morbid and cruel. So, instead of creating and altering our realities, I will be dry and right to the point. The circumstances of our school system appeal for themselves. The school system is based on things like our shameful history, standardized testing and current political problems resulting in funding cuts. Teens relinquish all control that we have. We trust that for a concept like school to be enforced all over the world it must be effective, there must be science behind it or logic. To understand how and why we’ve created this system we must remember that this is not a product of logic or science or psychology, it was a product of history.

I believe we need to view the problem in a futuristic mindset to find a solution, but to understand schools, we must view them in historical perspective. When we see that children everywhere are required by law to go to school, that almost all schools are structured in the same way, and that our society goes to a great deal of trouble and expense to provide such schools, we tend naturally to assume that there must be some good, logical reason. If we want to understand why standard schools are what they are, we have to abandon the idea that they are products of logic or scientific insight. They are, instead, products of history. As I previously said, schooling as it exists today, only makes sense if we view it from a historical perspective. As a step toward explaining why schools exist, I will in a nutshell explain the history of education.

For hundreds of thousands of years, children educated themselves. They learned through self-directed play and exploration. If you look at schools in relation to the history of our species, they are very recent institutions. For hundreds of thousands of years, before the advent of agriculture, we lived as hunter-gatherers. Children in hunter-gatherer cultures learned what they needed to know to become effective competent adults through their creativity and interest. The strong drives in children to play and explore presumably came about, during our evolution as hunter-gatherers. Adults in hunter-gatherer cultures allowed children almost unlimited freedom to play and explore on their own because they recognized creative activities are child’s natural ways of learning. The rise of agriculture and industry forced children to become laborers. Play, creativity and exploration were suppressed. Creativity, which had once been a virtue, became a vice beaten out of children. Hunter-gatherers saw did not see labor as a job or ‘work’, so they did not distinguish between work and play—essentially all of life was understood as play. The new industry gradually changed learning from what we here from the hunter-gatherers, into something more familiar in modern day. With agriculture, people learned that mass production could allowed them to make more money. This large-scale farming required long hours of relatively unskilled, repetitive labor, most of which could be done by children. Children’s lives changed gradually from the free pursuit of their own interests to increasingly more time spent at work. With the rise of a new bourgeoisie class, child labor gradually subsided, but this did not immediately improve the lives of most children. Business owners cheap needed laborers. They felt they could profit by extracting as much work from them as possible with very little compensation. During this time period the extent of a child’s education was squashing their willfulness in order to make them good laborers. A good child was an obedient child, who suppressed his or her urge to play and explore. A good child blindly carried out the orders of adult masters. But human instincts are very strong, the children’s creativity and need for exploration were so powerful that they can never be fully beaten out of a child.

The idea of universal, compulsory education arose and gradually spread. Some would be religious, and some public. As industry became somewhat more automated, the need for child labor declined in some parts of the world. The idea began to spread that childhood should be a time for learning. The idea and practice of universal, compulsory public education developed gradually in Europe, from the early 16th century on into the 19th. It was an idea that had many supporters, who all had their own ideas concerning the lessons that children should learn. Employers in industry saw schooling as a way to create better workers. To them, the most crucial lessons were punctuality, following directions, tolerance for long hours of tedious work, and a minimal ability to read and write. From their point of view, the duller or lest explorative the subjects taught in schools, the better. Although the traits to make a good laborer were most important, children still learned subjects such as Latin and mathematics, nobody believed that children left to their own devices, even in a rich setting for learning. They felt as though children had to learn just the lessons that they, as adults, deemed to be so important. All of them saw schooling as the implanting of certain truths and ways of thinking into children’s minds. The only known method of education, then as well as now, is forced repetition and testing for memory of what was repeated. With the rise of schooling, people began to think of learning as children’s work. The same power-assertive methods that had been used to make children work in fields and factories were quite naturally transferred to the classroom. Repetition and memorization of lessons is tedious work for children, whose instincts urge them constantly to play freely and explore the world on their own. Just as children do not adapt readily to laboring in fields and factories, they did not adapt readily to schooling. This was no surprise to the adults involved. By this point in history, the idea that children’s own willfulness had any value was pretty well forgotten. Everyone assumed that to make children learn in school the children’s willfulness would have to be beaten out of them. Punishments of all sorts were seen as essential to the educational process. In some schools, children were permitted certain periods of play (recess), but play was not considered to be a vehicle of learning. In the classroom, play was the enemy of learning.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, public schooling gradually evolved toward what we all recognize today as conventional schooling. The methods of discipline became more humane, or at least less corporal, the lessons became more secular, the curriculum expanded, as knowledge expanded, to include an ever-growing list of subjects, and the number of hours, days, and years of compulsory schooling increased continuously. School gradually replaced fieldwork, factory work, and domestic chores as the child’s primary job. Just as adults put in their eight-hour day at their place of employment, children today put in their six-hour day at school, plus another hour or more of homework, and often more hours of lessons outside of school. Over time, children’s lives have become increasingly defined and structured by the school curriculum. Children now are almost universally identified by their grade in school, much as adults are identified by their job or career.

Schools today are much less harsh than they were, but certain premises about the nature of learning remain unchanged: learning is hard work, it is something that children must be forced to do, not something that will happen naturally through children’s self-chosen activities. The specific lessons that children must learn are determined by professional educators, not by children, so education today is still, as much as ever, a matter of inculcation (though educators tend to avoid that term and use, falsely, terms like ‘discovery’).

Clever educators today might use ‘play’ as a tool to get children to enjoy some of their lessons, and children might be allowed some free playtime at recess (though even this is decreasing in very recent times), but the children’s own play is certainly understood as inadequate as a foundation for education. Children whose drive to play is so strong that they can’t sit still for lessons are no longer beaten, instead, they are medicated and pitied for a basic human reaction. School today is the place where all children learn the distinction that hunter-gatherers never knew—the distinction between work and play. The teacher says, ‘You must do your work and then you can play’. Clearly, according to this message, work, which encompasses all of school learning, is something that one does not want to do but must, and play, which is everything that one wants to do, has relatively little value. That, perhaps, is the leading lesson of our method of schooling. If children learn nothing else in school, they learn the difference between work and play.

A person who historically played a huge role in developing the education system in Canada was Egerton Ryerson. He was greatly involved in creating a wide spread uniform education system in Ontario. Ryerson helped found the Upper Canada Academy in Cobourg in the 1830s, which was one of the first school in Ontario. Ryerson also fought for many secularization reforms to keep power and influence away from any one church, which is ironic for his choices later in his career. Such secularization also led to the widening of the school system. The current Governor General asked him to become Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada in 1844. It is in this role that Ryerson made his historical mark. He is credited with the creation of the modern textbook. Also, he fought for school to be free to the public. While Egerton Ryerson supported free and compulsory education, he also believed in different systems of education for white children and Aboriginal children. These beliefs played a role in the establishment of what became the residential school system that has had such a devastating impact on First Nations, Metis and Inuit people across Canada. Along with this he also believed girls shouldn’t be educated past 6th grade as their roles in society are to be wives and homemakers.

Next, I will transfer from the origins of the system to current application methods, every teen’s nightmare, standardized testing. School has always relied on standardized testing. The Industrial Revolution and the movement to increased schooling where students were what really advanced the use of standardized testing. Children were being moved out of the work force and into schools. One of the easiest and the cheapest way to test large numbers of those children was with a standardized exam. In the U.S. Alfred Binet (1857-1911) and Theodore Simon (1872-1961) developed what is now commonly known as an IQ Test, beginning in the late 1800s and culminating with the Binet-Simon scale in 1905. These intelligence tests were created in response to the wanting of the French government to develop special education classes for students who were not benefiting from the newly instituted regular compulsory education program. The tests tried to identify students who needed focused education in order to maximize their education. These standardized tests were an attempt to streamline education so that society would gain maximum benefit from each citizen. Historians suggest by World War I every day standardized testing was the only method of assessment. Although Americans were creating tests like the SAT tests, Canadians did not have a big exam like that until the 1960s. Alberta was the first province in Canada to create a big exam. Their first exam was comparable to modern EQAO. The test was given to 3th, 6th, and 9th grades. Historians suggest that Alberta’s introduction of achievement testing was done in response to a worldwide wave of educational reform that wanted more accountability and structure in education. At the 12th grade level, diploma exams were reinstated in 1984, after being removed for several years. These tests are the heart of the school system, yet there are hundreds of studies proving them ineffective. There are so many variables to be considered including giving an advantage those who can afford test prep, using arbitrary, subjectively-set pass-fail cut scores. They can reduce teacher creativity and the appeal of teaching as a profession, create unnecessary stress and negative attitudes toward schooling, waste the vast, creative potential of human variability, and even penalize test-takers who think in nonstandard ways. Speaking personally, I feel as though test scores do not reflect my overall intelligence.

Ontario’s education system has had its ups and downs, the most recent change is thanks to a politician named Doug Ford. His recent cuts are ironically labelled ‘Education That Works for You’. His plan focuses on modernizing learning, modernizing health and physical education. ‘Modernizing classrooms’ means improving broadband Internet access, requiring high school students to take a minimum of four online courses (up to now, online courses were typically optional), and making ‘sustainable’ cuts to grants for student needs which covers costs for things like classroom supplies and Indigenous language programs. It also means increasing class sizes—under the plan, average class size for grades four through eight will rise from 25 to 27, while average class size for grades nine through 12 will jump from 25 to 33. As for ‘modernizing learning’, Ford’s government hopes to introduce a new four-year math plan that will increase online resources and require new teachers to pass a math knowledge test to become Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) certified—seemingly regardless of their subject expertise. Meaning every teacher must pass this math test no matter their subject. The health and physical education portion of the plan is step in the right direction, they plan to undo the decision they made summer of 2018, which was to revert schools to the 1998 curriculum, including sex education after much backlash (the 1998 curriculum didn’t cover consent, online communication, or LGBTQ2+ identities). The final version looks more similar to the 2015 curriculum and covers consent, online safety, gender identity and expression. That said, certain topics will now be covered in grade 8, not grade 6. But Ford has neglected education on mental health, the farthest they will go is adding a class on what a healthy family looks like to help kids in abusive situations. They will also be adding the risks of opioids and vaping to the curriculum. This prime example of how the school system isn’t setup to help students succeed.

The picture I’ve painted in this paper should open your mind the way an episode of ‘Black Mirror’ does. It should show you that although history is important, it’s nothing unless we learn from it. It should show that a test doesn’t determine whether someone is or isn’t intelligent, and lastly should that, our future is depended on whether or not we change our ways. I could scare you by crafting a story. Using fiction to plant a seed in your mind, instead I used facts and knowledge to hopefully, invoke change. In the world of Charlie Brooker, my story isn’t a warning, change is inevitable, the question is when.

Canada has become very popular among international students who are passionate about staying in the country even after completing their program. Canada is no longer a downgraded place when it comes to acquiring foreign education. International students are open to numerous opportunities in this country and they have a better chance of securing a permanent residence after the completion of their studies.

Canada is highly ranked among the top ten places to study and live in the global world, plus, the education system is highly ranked and rated. And this explains why thousands of internationals apply to study in Canada every year and call it their home.

Generally, Canadian schools are very particular about delivering quality and top-notch education, coupled with very affordable and low tuition fees. And because of this low tuition rate, Canada has become a major option for international students to study in a foreign country, away from their home country.

The first thing that makes studying in Canada beneficial is the way of life in this country. Canada is a very large country, thus it comprises different kinds of people, a vast landscape, a nice climate, and a very unique and fantastic way of life. Canadians are very particular about values, respect for human dignity, equality and diversity, pride, and so on.

In addition, Canada is home to a large number of colleges and universities that welcome international students all year round. There are many top-quality universities and colleges in Canada. Moreover, the programs they offer are very diverse, so everyone will be able to find something to their liking.

One more benefit of studying in Canada is that this country is considered one of the safest and most secure places to live in the whole world.

It’s very rare to come across negative feedback from Canadian international students. Over the years, they’ve all had amazing and encouraging things to say about studying in Canada. A higher percentage of Canadian institutions have international student offices that see to the needs and complaints of every international student.

There are numerous supports available for international students in Canada both from the institutions and the communities. As an international student with a work permit, you are permitted to work on a part-time basis during your study in the country. This will help improve your standard of living and cover your expenses.

Finally, is it really worth it to study in Canada? With all the benefits, definitely yes. Studying in Canada paves the way for opportunities for international students, it’s also the best way to secure permanent residence in Canada. Canada is also a place full of diverse cultures, Canadians appreciate and celebrate diversity and also appreciate other people’s culture. A greater opportunity is in stock for you if you become an international student in Canada.

1.0 Introduction

In this study, youth unemployment in Canada is taken into consideration. Canada is a nation situated in northern North America and the population of Canada is around 37 million people. In this study, the trend of unemployment in the period from 2000 to 2019 will be stated clearly by giving the measurement of the unemployment rate in Canada. Besides, the factors of youth unemployment in Canada need to be defined and clarified. In addition, the impacts of unemployment on Canada’s economy and the ways to overcome youth unemployment in Canada will also be explicitly mentioned.

1.1 Unemployment

The definition of unemployment is someone who is out of work at the moment but is eligible for jobs and has been constantly looking for work in the past month. The three major types of unemployment are frictional unemployment, structural unemployment, and cyclical unemployment. Frictional unemployment is short-term unemployment due to the method of linking workers with jobs. Examples of frictional unemployment are voluntary, relocation, newly entering the workforce, and re-entering the workforce. Structural unemployment refers to unemployment caused by a persistent mismatch between workers’ skills or attributes and job requirements. Examples of structural unemployment are advances in technology and job outsourcing. Cyclical unemployment is triggered by the contraction of the business cycle. An example of cyclical unemployment is demand-deficient unemployment.

1.2 Youth Unemployment trend in Canada

The line graph shows the percentage of youth unemployment rate in Canada from 2000 to 2019. In 2000, the youth unemployment rate in Canada was 12.6%. The graph rose by 1% to 13.6% from 2000 to 2003. In 2004, the figure stands at 13.6%. The youth unemployment rate in Canada dropped dramatically from 2005 to 2007. The lowest youth unemployment rate during the period was 11.1% in 2007. The figure increased rapidly from 2008 to 2009 by 3.8% to 15.3% and is the highest youth unemployment rate during the period. The graph declined marginally in 2010, then continued to rise in 2001 and 2012. The youth unemployment rate in 2013 was 13.7%. The graph gradually decreased from 2013 to 2018 but in 2019 the figure increased by 0.3% to 11.8% of the youth unemployment rate. Overall, in 2007 it had the lowest youth unemployment rate while in 2009 it had the highest youth unemployment rate.

2.0 Factors of Youth Unemployment in Canada

There are a few factors that can affect the youth unemployment rate in Canada such as lack of experience and skills, advances in technology, voluntarily and fewer jobs than job seekers.

2.1 Lack of experience and skills

The youth unemployment rate tends to be greater than other demographic groups due to a lack of experience and skills. This makes it more difficult for young people to find work. They cannot gain the practical experience that they need unless they can find someone willing to hire them. Most companies prefer to hire experienced workers rather than those without work experience. This is because experienced employees can easily get the job done and they will not spend so much time learning their work compared to employees without experience. When employees lack experience, they may not complete work on time. In addition, a lack of skills may be rejected by a company. Job candidates require skills such as communication skills, computing skills, self-arrangement, and others. People with no skills or lack of skills may not qualified for the company and hard to get employed.

2.2 Advances in technology

Advances in technology have brought a lot of benefits to the world and helped people improve their standard of living, but also made people feel anxious. This is because machines will replace more repetitive tasks since machines can improve accuracy and safety in many work areas. It makes human skills obsolete and at lease devalues them. Technological unemployment occurs when developments in technology and work practices cause certain employees to lose their jobs. For example, by integrating labor-saving equipment into the production cycle, a company may get rid of jobs and manufacture the same amount of products as before. Therefore, certain employees could lose their jobs.

2.3 Voluntarily

Voluntarily is when someone decides not to work and volunteers to quit the job. Most of them quit their job because they did not want to accept low-paid jobs. In addition, there are a few reasons for voluntary unemployment including that they are satisfied with the amount of unemployment payment provided by the government makes them feel that their work is not ideal, high marginal tax rate which decreases effective take-home pay, some jobs are considered demeaning such as security guard and others. Some of them are not working because they are finding jobs with higher salary and benefits. This can happen when the equilibrium pay rate is lower than the salary required to encourage people to provide labor.

2.4 Fewer jobs than job seekers

One of the factors of youth unemployment is that fewer jobs than job seekers. This is an economy’s overall demand for goods and services that cannot fully support employment. In technical terms is known as demand-deficient unemployment. This will happen during the decline phase of the business cycle and when aggregate demand in the economy is not enough to provide jobs for everyone who wants to work. Demand for goods and services is reduced, less production is required and fewer workers are needed. Low market demand has forced the company to lose too much profit and a decline in revenue. They do not expect sales to pick up at the moment so they must fire workers. The greater unemployment, which is cyclical, leads the market demand to slip even more. It contributes to substantial unemployment.

3.0 Impacts of Unemployment to Canada

Unemployment can affect a country in every perspective including economic, social, political, and others. This includes increasing government borrowing, crime rates increase, and Gross Domestic Product of the country will decrease

3.1 Increasing government borrowing

High unemployment leads to less consumption of goods and services, as fewer people pay income taxes and reduce spending. While underpayment of taxes leads to increased demand for government borrowing. The government should take action to compensate for the cost of unemployment. They must raise funds or increasing expenditures by trying to cover all these benefits in another way. In addition, the government does not only pay unemployment benefits, but it also needs to pay a family who has unemployment to receive housing benefits and income support. According to a new report by TD Economics, the increase in youth unemployment in Canada during the latest recession will cost Canadian youth $23.1 billion in lost wages over the next 18 years.

3.2 Crime rates increase

Getting out of work can affect people’s lives in many ways. It is not only a loss of income, it may lead to negative emotions. In underdeveloped countries, poverty and unemployment tend to be other causes of crimes such as robbery and theft. A man who loses his job and has no money to feed his family might resort to stealing. When the unemployment rate increases, crime rates tend to increase. According to a 2016 Journal of Quantitative Criminology study, people who are unemployed due to socially unacceptable reasons and do not want to find jobs are more likely to engage in theft and robbery.

3.3 Gross Domestic Product will decrease

When the unemployment rate increases, the gross domestic product will decrease. The relationship between the unemployment rate and gross domestic product is inversely proportional. High unemployment suggests that the economy runs below the maximum potential and is inefficient. This would result in decreased production and profits. The unemployed are also unable to purchase many items, so they would lead to reduced spending and lower production. A rise in unemployment will hurt multipliers.

4.0 Ways to overcome the unemployment among the youth

There are a few ways to overcome unemployment among youth as tertiary institutions should equip students with more skills, encourage youth entrepreneurship,

4.1 Tertiary institutions should equip students with more skills

Nowadays, people are living in a fast-changing world where the job market changes so dramatically. People with no skills or a lack of skills can be replaced by other experienced and skillful people. Lack of experience and skills is one of the factors of youth unemployment. The government should try to fix this issue by running a range of programs to help youth in developing new skills. The government should set the syllabus for tertiary institutions to equip students to graduate with more skills. Those skills that they need to learn should be transferred across different industries such as the ability to learn new things quickly, teamwork, thinking analytically, and others. Besides, they also need to include good working attitudes such as honesty, respect, and others.

4.2 Encourage youth entrepreneurship

Young people must be empowered to start businesses. In many countries, very few young people are willing to run a business after graduation. Young people should start their businesses to create more employment opportunities for others. Entrepreneurs are essential to creating wealth and driving economic growth, innovation and employment. The government can provide them with entrepreneurship courses and teach them how to manage and run their own business. This will be the first step in nurturing a more independent and driven youth generation in a country. The young generation was exposed to the Internet earlier, so they have a broader vision of the world and better creativity compared to the previous generation. Governments must develop incentive programs for youth entrepreneurship to help and motivate them more.

The candidate with the most votes wins a riding, and a coalition will be formed by the party to win most ridings. The prime minister is not directly elected; rather, the leader of the winning party will take the top position (Kestler 1). Six rival Parties are all trying to achieve the same common goal, which is to become the next government in power. I live in Sage Creek, Winnipeg, Manitoba, my drive is the Constituency of St. Boniface. The two parties that have caught my attention the most are the Liberals and the Conservatives. I will describe Justin Trudeau, who is a candidate for Prime Minister with the Liberal Party of Canada, who promotes the benefits of working citizens and seeks to raise Canada’s minimum wage. In contrast to the child benefits, the working parents need and will through. Below the higher position of Prime Minister, I’m going to talk more about Dan Vandal. Who’s got a c. Who will share ideas with his group, but more or less concentrate on his family, as well as helping parents better manage child care and accessibility. Along with a middle-class tax benefit that will further improve the neighborhoods in Manitoba. Andrew Scheer, along with the Conservative Party, is the leader to reform immigration policies and boundaries, and also to remove the carbon tax. As the MP for St. Boniface, Réjeanne Caron will reflect on the public safety of her city, beginning with a tax credit bus incentive that much of Manitoba would enjoy, along with the removal of GST on home energy. Several announcements have been made along the lines of this year’s campaign.

The Prime Minister of Canada is the head of the elected government which is normally for a four-year duration. When elected, he/she becomes the principal minister of the country. In this year’s federal election, there is an ongoing debate on who will succeed in becoming the next Prime Minister. In the running for this position, we have Andrew Scheer, from the Conservative Party of Canada, and Justin Trudeau, from the Liberal Party of Canada (Tasker 2). Both are very popular political leaders with a lot of experience, however only one can be elected by Canadians. Justin Pierre James Trudeau (Parliamentary member) is a Canadian politician who serves as Canada’s 23rd and incumbent leader. Since 2015, he has held this position and has been Liberal Party leader since 2016. Justin Trudeau spent his early years in the media as the child of Pierre Trudeau the popular Canadian prime minister. Growing up as a Canadian icon with his father, Justin learned how to ‘live and breathe’ a Liberal mindedness. Justin has promised many major changes to the government and the environment of Canada in his 2019 plan to win (Harris1).

Trudeau’s list of promises to gain voters includes eliminating the fee merchants pay to credit-card companies on every transaction, reducing the cost of federal incorporations, eliminating the federal business advisory services fee, and aiding small businesses by creating a voluntary payroll system to automate records (Lim 3). Trudeau’s campaign includes implementing a pilot project to give up to $50,000 to as many as 2,000 new businesses, to help them start up their companies. He also wants to include giving $250 to entrepreneurs to create a website. The Liberals estimate these above actions would cost the federal treasury $129 million next year, with it increasing to $163 million in 2023-24. Major credit card companies will be affected by this change and, in turn, it can force them to revoke offered reward programs linked to their cards (Bloomberg 4).

As part of their platform, the Liberals are also promising to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 and employment insurance sickness benefits to 26 weeks from 15 weeks. This gives an advantage to all lower-income citizens living paycheck by paycheck. In 2017, t3.4 million Canadians were living below the poverty line, or 9.5 percent of the population, down from 10.6 percent in 2016. An employee who earns $7.20 an hour minimum wage would be below the poverty line. All adults would need to perform minimum wage jobs in a Canadian family to live above the level of poverty (Grabish 2). On the other hand, to be above the level, a single person must earn $12,140 a year, or $5.83 an hour. As a consequence of Trudeau’s plan, employers with tight budgets may have to lay off employees to maintain their budget. Companies may pass on the cost of higher wages to consumers with price increases known as the ‘scale effect.’ This would lift living costs and establish a need for further rises in minimum wages.

The Liberals do pledge to raise the Canada Child Benefit if re-elected and to tax-free maternal and parental leave benefits. EI premiums were known for pregnancy or maternal income. To apply, during the 52 weeks before filing your statement, you must have earned at least 600 hours of insurable work (Canada 2). In the first few months of parenting a baby, parents usually struggle with sleep deprivation and loss in work hours. Trudeau is promising to increase the child benefit to 15%, which, in turn, would give $1000 to some families with newborn children. This would also grant new measures that will help LGBTQ become eligible for parental leave benefits. For the average family, Trudeau said that this would amount to an extra $7000 claiming the proposed new leave (Gale 7). Although business owners will likely have to fit that bill. Canadians may take advantage of this benefit and put pressure on the Canadian System, knowing that this will be available to all families. It may also cause undue financial stress on the Canadian government, which may encourage parents to stay at home and not join the workforce.

Andrew Scheer is in the running for the Conservative Party, also known as the ‘Tories’. Sheer is a Canadian politician serving as a Member of Parliament for the riding of Regina. Since 2017, he has been president of the Conservative Party and a member of the Official Opposition. Andrew Scheer is proposing some changes to carbon tax and immigration laws, but his most insightful pledge to the Canadian media was to bring change to immigration (Scheer 2). He claims that he would close the gap in the’ Free Third Country Treaty’ between Canada and the United States. It also offers increased language training, greater consideration of job skills, and a refocusing of the government-sponsored refugee program on survivors of violence vs. arriving, first served. Thanks to the increase in irregular migrants, Canadians have lost confidence in the fairness of the immigration system. Creating an unpredictable rate of immigrants taking advantage of these entries and becoming illegal immigrants (Lum 2). Although this sounds like a great idea and can solve Canada’s immigration system problems, this will cost a fortune for the government to pay, either leading to a tax increase a decrease in tax returns, or other cuts to benefits provided by the Canadian government. Like all advancements in security and technology, it comes with a price, and Canada might not be ready for this money, tax, and security overhaul.

Andrew Scheer has called the Liberals’ carbon tax ineffective and has advised he would repeal it. The Conservative party would leave it to the provinces to decide if they want to put a price on carbon. The average price of gasoline is $1.38, which has increased by 4.4 cents since the carbon tax was imposed. Carbon taxes make fossil fuel prices increase and impose a harsher burden on those living in low-income situations. They will pay a higher percentage of their income for essentials like gas, electricity, and groceries. This will most likely call for a carbon tax rule that reflects each company or individual’s ability to pay (Thompson 4). With the carbon tax causing increases in business overheads, companies will be prompted to find more efficient ways to manufacture their products or deliver their services. The carbon tax’s purpose is to make sure that companies that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide will reduce, and if not eliminate their emissions. According to a 2011 report by the Congressional Budget Office, “A $20 per ton carbon tax would raise nearly $1.2 trillion over the next decade. This means that there would be plenty of opportunities to produce green energy. Green energy will address the need for sustainable and less damaging power sources, and that a growing green movement that would be beneficial to society would be promoted”(LLeviticus6). Andrew Scheer has promised to remove the carbon tax, and better secure Canada’s immigration laws and borders.

The pecking order below the position of Prime Minister is vast. There are many MPs for each Party. In my riding of St. Boniface, six MPs are running, the two I will be focusing are are in the same parties as the prime ministers I researched. Dan Vandal, with the Liberal Party of Canada, and Réjeanne Caron with the Conservative Party of Canada. Rejeanne Caron is a Francophone Metis women. She is an active 25-year veteran of the Winnipeg Police Service. Also as an active community member, Caron currently sits on many boards and committees such as the board of The Bear Clan, and the Winnipeg Safe City Steering Committee in support of the UN Safe Cities global initiative to reduce sexual violence against women and girls. Caron focuses mainly on the security and public safety of her country. The proposed Green Public Transit Tax Credit is a 15 percent credit that would apply to the costs of weekly and monthly transit passes and frequently used electronic fare cards (Caron 4). The Parliamentary Budget Office says that the new credit will cost $229 million in 2020 and around $331 million by 2030. On an average weekday, Winnipeg Transit carries over 168,400 passengers. With this tax credit, many who seek to start using buses will receive a credit for using transit buses. This aids the community, not only by using tax credits saving people money and finding a cheaper and safer alternative than using cars which pollute the environment substantially, compared to busses which can hold a much larger capacity of people. New Canadian tests have revealed that modern diesel cars produce 10 times more toxic air pollution than heavy trucks and buses. However, buses and trucks have larger engines and burn more diesel per kilometer, meaning that cars produce 10 times more pollution. Exhaust and chemical pollution is only one item for Réjeanne Caron’s running for the Conservatives (Jaffe 2).

Another promise that Réjeanne Caron has made to Manitobans is taking the tax off home energy. This will return around 92.78 dollars to all households per year. The average home energy bill in Manitoba costs $111.67 per month. Being taxed on what you already pay for your household is unnecessary. The government is taking money that doesn’t belong to them and should either go back into the pockets of Manitoba Hydro or return it to the customer. One deficiency of the ‘no tax on home energy’ is that Manitoba Hydro will see an increase in the usage of electricity and other sources since the homeowners will be paying less, thinking that they can take advantage of their situation. This may cause more need for assistance and a higher demand for this utility, increasing the need for more jobs in the electrical system and power line workers across Manitoba (Giroux 11).

Dan Vandal, is a Métis politician in Winnipeg, MB. He represented St. Boniface on the Winnipeg City Council from 1995 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2014, and ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Winnipeg in 2004, coming in second place to Sam Katz. Dan Vandal is another candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada running as an MP for St. Boniface and St. Vital. Vandal and the Liberals promised that the government would create up to 250,000 more spaces for children in before and after-school childcare programs. Child care, otherwise known as daycare, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time. Almost half (46%) of parents reported using some type of childcare for their children aged 14 years and younger in the past year. Expanding the childcare capacity not only in communities but all over Canada is a ‘life saver’ for some parents who commute across the city to pick up their kids (Tsang 1). The constant denial of applicants and overcrowded care centers are creating a sense of disapproval from the parents now trying to find other ways of getting someone to watch their children. Many parents have had to stay home from work just to be able to drive and pick up their kids from school. Especially if they live far from the school which is now common with the overpopulation of some schools. An increase in available spots for childcare services will open a whole new opportunity for some parents to find a way of relief. Although in some cases the parents who use child care will take advantage and leave their children for longer periods. This places more need for staff and facilities for the child care services to comply with the new requirements (TaxTips 2). Not only have to take more children, but there will also have to be multiple buildings built, or leased, to meet the quota of 250,000 more available spots open for more children. This will put an incredible burden on the taxpayer. The average child day care costs around $211 a week for Manitoba Families. If there were to be advancements and more facilities built this would not only raise the price of care but place a higher standard of requirements the parents must meet to be accepted. In Canada, a family with a child under five with no special needs, no public assistance, and who is in daycare for at least eight hours a week spends an average of $5.31 per hour and $8,320 per year on childcare. This cost cuts a very large chunk of their annual income just for child care. If there were to be more facilities and availability hours, the price would never drop, and constantly rise. This would make it hard for lower and mmiddle-classcitizens to be able to afford childcare services.

Dan Vandal and the Liberals also promise that if re-elected, the Liberal government would make sure middle-class income earners won’t pay taxes on the first $15,000 of earnings. The median annual income in 2019 for a single person living in Canada is $33,000, and that number jumps to $92,700 for families with dual income between two working parents. “With this tax cut, we’ll lift about 40,000 people out of poverty, twice as many as the Conservative plan, and make life more affordable for Canadians.” The plan is expected to cost $2.9 billion in the first year, increasing to $5.6 billion in 2023-24 (Haslet 3).

Canadians will be faced with a big decision this year when it comes to the well-being of Families, Immigrants, Taxes, Daycare, and the Environment moving forward. The candidates all hold important, valuable, and debatable offerings to our citizens. I can’t wait to be able to vote. The right to vote, when I’m 18, will not be taken lightly. I have learned a lot of things about politics that I’ve never heard of before by reflecting on the data gathered. I will better prepare myself for this task when I can participate and use my ability to decide my future. Understanding why Parties develop their strategies and others creates a sense of transition, so change is good for an ever-growing nation like Canada. Looking at key ideas and pointing out the strategies and commitments of each Party, I realize that it is time for change and that Andrew Scheer and the Conservative Party should have the largest number of seats to secure this year’s vote. For the main reasons that he approaches his proposals in a manner of consideration and care.

The element of globalization, supported by high-level technological growth, has made it possible for different societies or nations to determine and compare various similarities and differences with one another. One of such elements that many societies tend to compare is the crime rate of the respective areas so that the right decision-making process can be made to establish the required high-level safety. Canada and the United States of America (U.S.A) are the ideal nations where the comparison in criminal matters is carried out since these two are geographically proximate and have relatively the same socioeconomic aspects. When the two countries of Canada and the U.S.A are compared on matters of crime rates, the United States is struggling with a high crime rate compared to Canada

Gun violence is one of the crime issues facing Canada and the United States. Gun violence refers to the type of crime executed through the use of firearms such as shotguns, pistols, assault rifles, and much more to intimidate, hurt, or kill the victims. The two nations of Canada and the United States have laws allowing ownership of guns. However, some individuals illegally acquire and use firearms to execute their criminal activities. The crime rates emanating from gun violence have occurred in the two nations in the recent past as discussed below. In the United States, although the 2020 years recorded limited mass shooting cases, 2020 was the year that the nation marked one of the deadliest years in terms of gun violence. Over 43500 deaths resulting from gun deaths and a total of 610 mass shooting cases were recorded in the United States. The country was also subjected to alarming gun violence in the states of Atlanta, Boulder, San Jose, California, and Georgia within the period running from March to May 2021 (The American Journal of Managed Care, 2021). Furthermore, about 70 percent of gun violence occurs in the United States since the guns used in the heinous acts are easily concealed, hence preferred by many criminals (Webb, 2019). On the other hand, Raycraft’s (2021) report shows that the gun violence crime rate was relatively lower at 8344 victims in Canada. However, despite the lower rate of gun violence between Canada and the U.S.A. in 2020, the pattern reveals that this form of crime is increasing, as the 2020 firearm crime was a 15 percent increase compared to the previous year’s population. One significant difference between the gun violence crime in the United versus Canada is that the latter has about 13 rates of general gun ownership to that of the United States, but with relatively low handgun ownership. However, the increasing rate of crime in Canada should be a warning that it is high time changes are put in place to curb the issue of gun violence than it is now. All in all, the crime rate in the form of gun violence tends to be more alarming in the United States than in Canada.