Deck 12: State Responses to Racism in Canada

Question 1

What is not one of the five major state responses aimed at controlling racism in Canadian society?

A) Affirmative Action policies
B) Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
C) Employment Equity legislation
D) Human Rights Codes
E) Multiculturalism legislation policy

Answer 1

Affirmative Action policies

Question 2

The state has many functions and responsibilities. One of its main roles is to ______.

A) Function in the same way as a private corporation
B) Proscribe behaviour
C) Mediate international disputes and conflicts
D) Intervene in the lives of individual citizens
E) Entertain foreign dignitaries

Answer 2

Proscribe behaviour

Question 3

What is the main principle behind the enactment of the Anti-Terrorism Act?

A) To show Canada's commitment to the 'War on Terror'
B) To allocate more funding for Canada's military
C) To ensure the nation's safety and security
D) To declare Canada's position on torture
E) To create new safeguards ensuring the protection of Canadian citizens accused of terrorism in other countries

Answer 3

To ensure the nation's safety and security

Question 4

Canada has signed a number of international conventions addressing human rights issues. However, this merely gives the impression that Canada (at the federal level) is committed to the development of an equitable society based on fairness and non-discrimination because

A) These covenants do not bind the provinces
B) They don't have to be respected by the top 5 First World nations
C) It is very difficult to file a complaint against a country in international courts
D) Once the Conservative government came into power, the covenants were never re-signed
E) It costs too much money to adhere to all of the guidelines that are in place

Question 5

What was the first international covenant protecting human rights to be ratified by Canada?

A) The Ontario Human Rights Code
B) The Universal Declaration on Human Rights
C) The United Nations Policy on Human Rights Violations
D) The First International Conference on Human Rights
E) The North American Free Trade Agreement

Question 6

Many scholars in democratic liberal countries, including Canada, have pointed to the state and state apparatuses as

A) Primary tools in the destruction of Whiteness
B) Primary agents of socialization
C) Primary sites through which racism is constructed, maintained, and preserved
D) Secondary stages in the process of government accountability
E) Secondary sites of anti-racist resistance

Question 7

As a result of changes in the leadership of the government of Canada in July 1993, multiculturalism was subsumed into what federal ministry?

A) Ministry of Sports and Leisure
B) Ministry of Training
C) Ministry of Indian Affairs
D) Ministry of Cultural Affairs
E) Heritage Canada Ministry

Question 8

In what year did Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau officially make multiculturalism a state policy?

A) 1947
B) 1955
C) 1971
D) 1984
E) 1990

Question 9

The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1971 stated that Canada was both culturally and ethnically a _____ society, in that it contained Canadians of British and French origin, Aboriginal peoples, and 'others".

A) Separatist
B) Multicultural
C) Diverse
D) Plural
E) Complex

Question 10

It can be argued that the Multiculturalism Act focuses on limiting diversity to ______ rather than political or transformative kinds of change.

A) Institutional
B) Systemic
C) Civil
D) Symbolic
E) Cultural

Question 11

One of the major weaknesses in multiculturalism policies is

A) That it cannot regulate the individual thoughts of Canadian citizens
B) Its failure to deal with the problems of systemic racism in Canada
C) That it promotes the discourse of reverse racism
D) Its potential of creating a divided and segregated society
E) The creation of 'ethnic ghettos' in Canada's largest cities

Question 12

In 1960, the Canadian Bill of Rights was introduced by Prime Minister John G. Diefenbaker. Although it prohibited racial discrimination, it did not have

A) Constitutional status
B) International approval
C) Political credibility
D) Corporate sponsorship
E) Ethical guidelines

Question 13

What was the first piece of federal legislation introduced by a Canadian Prime Minister prohibiting racial discrimination?

A) The Geneva Convention
B) The Treaty Recognizing Human Rights
C) The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
D) The Constitution
E) The Canadian Bill of Rights

Question 14

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not define discrimination, racism, or race. Those interpretations have been left up to

A) Individuals
B) Corporations
C) Politicians
D) Judges
E) Academics

Question 15

When a charge of racial discrimination has been levied against an institution, what needs to be initially defined for the case to be heard in the courts?

A) A 'challenge for cause'
B) An 'exemplary letter of performance'
C) A 'union brief'
D) A 'cause of action'
E) A 'statement of fact'

Question 16

Many critics have argued that the Anti-Terrorism Act is yet another form of ______.

A) New racism
B) Under-policing
C) Racial profiling
D) Censorship
E) Cultural racism

Question 17

Which of the following groups could theoretically be prosecuted under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act because of the broad definition of terrorism that is used?

A) Street gangs
B) Trade unionists involved in illegal strike activity
C) White-collar criminals
D) Soldiers in the military accused of sexually violating citizens during peacekeeping missions
E) Citizens who illegally download music or movies off the internet

Question 18

There are a number of myths associated with employment equity legislation in Canada that reflect the discourses of democratic racism, including:

A) "Employment Equity Ignores the Merit Principle."
B) "Employment Equity Is Far From Employment Equality."
C) "Employment Equity Stigmatizes White Employers."
D) "Governments Should Not Be Interfering in Private Business."
E) "Employment Equity Violates the Geneva Convention."

Question 19

"Employment equity gives an unfair advantage to people of colour." This myth commonly associated with employment equity legislation in Canada invokes which discourse of democratic racism?

A) Discourse of Equal Opportunity
B) Discourse of Reverse Racism
C) Discourse of White Victimization
D) Discourse of Colour-Blindness
E) Discourse of Denial

Question 20

Equality in employment means that

A) All Canadians have jobs that are based solely on their qualifications
B) Minorities be given access to upper-management positions that had been previously denied to them
C) No one is denied opportunities for reasons that have nothing to do with inherent ability
D) Ethno-racial groups are equally represented throughout all sectors of the Canadian labour market
E) Equity cannot be ensured without violating the constitutional rights of Canada's founding fathers

Question 21

In a report released in September 2002 and prepared by the Public Service Commission, it was found that federal hiring rules are widely ignored by managers and favouritism is still very common. Which state response to racism has been rendered less effective as a result of these practices?

A) Human Rights Codes
B) Multicultural education
C) Canada's Anti-Racism Initiative in Space (CARIS)
D) Employment equity legislation
E) Hate crime laws

Question 22

How did the federal government respond to growing concerns over employment discrimination against people of colour (visible minorities), women, persons with disabilities, and Aboriginal peoples in 1984?

A) Fired senior managers in the Human Resources department of all government agencies
B) Held a national conference with the owners of major corporations to discuss and ratify new laws forcing businesses in the private sector to hire minorities based on annual quotas
C) The federal government did nothing to address these growing concerns
D) Established a royal commission of equality in employment
E) Sent Members of Parliament on a fact-finding mission to five U.S. states to see what they had done to ensure fairness and equality for American citizens in the workplace

Question 23

In addition to its assumed role of providing leadership in combating racism and inequality in society and as a guarantor of human rights, the state also has a direct role in terms of its responsibility as a(n):

A) Role model
B) International leader
C) Provider of services
D) Corporation
E) Educator

Question 24

The purpose of the Employment Equity Act was to achieve equality in the workplace, and to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by designated groups. Identify who would not be considered a member of a designated group.

A) A female journalist
B) An Asian consultant
C) An Aboriginal lawyer
D) A male police officer
E) A Black disabled female accountant

Question 25

What does contract compliance refer to?

A) A system of determining whom government services are provided to
B) A bilateral program signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that allows Fortune 500 companies to resist anti-racism initiatives
C) A way of ensuring that racial minorities and Aboriginals have equal access to or participate adequately in government programs and services
D) Penalties that are enforced on public companies who have failed to hire minorities on executive boards
E) A method of influencing private companies to implement an employment equity program
True and False Questions:

Question 26

The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified in 1970, is based on the conviction that any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous.

Question 27

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enshrined in the constitution in 1982.

Question 28

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms prevents one group of citizens from discriminating against another.

Question 29

Unlike the United States, Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act provides a clear and concise definition of what constitutes an act of terrorism.

Question 30

Employment Equity legislation is a government strategy based on the enforcement of hiring quotas in both the public and private sector of the Canadian labour market.

Question 31

Minority organizations have been exploited by the state as an expedient way to deliver public services to people of colour.

Question 32

Under contract compliance, a vendor's contract is contingent on the existence of an equity program. However, there is no penalty yet in place for non-compliance.

Question 33

It has been argued that while public policies, including the Canadian Multiculturalism Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, represent significant steps on the path to racial equality, they are not instruments of social transformation.

Question 34

The "symbolic multiculturalism" of state policies holds to a paradigm of pluralism premised on a hierarchical order of cultures that under certain conditions "allows" or "tolerates" non-dominant cultures to participate in the dominant culture.

Question 35

Employment equity legislation has had no impact on the Canadian labour market since its inception.