Charles Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus, The University of British Columbia
[permission
to reproduce granted if authorship is acknowledged]
In his comments about the Ottawa trucker convoy, Kurt Phillips of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network described some of the protesters as “. . . people who really don’t understand how government works.” There is quite a bit of anecdotal evidence in support of Phillips’ claim.
One of the first examples was the purpose of the convoy. Many in the convoy said they were going to Ottawa to protest COVID mandates, most of which were set by provincial health authorities. Fair enough, there is a vaccine mandate imposed upon commercial truckers entering the US (imposed by the US) and returning to Canada (imposed by Canadian authorities). But most COVID health restrictions are provincial restrictions according to the (Canadian) Constitution Act.
Another example in support of Phillips’ assertion were the numerous references to the US Bill of Rights and the right of free speech it confers. Although it is difficult to imagine that commercial truckers are geographically challenged, Ottawa is in Canada.
Canadians have fundamental freedoms under the Canadian Charter
of Rights and Freedoms – conscience and religion, peaceful assembly,
association – and “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression,
including freedom of the press and other media of communication.” But many of
the protestors appeared unaware that Section 1 of the Charter limits those
freedoms:
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
Phillips’ assertion about the protesters as “. . . people who really don’t understand how government works” might be true of Canadians more generally. In an earlier blog I lamented the conspicuous absence of the concept democracy in BC’s provincial curriculum. The Phillips’ comment prompted me to examine the three BC documents - “Big Ideas,” “Curricular Competencies,” and “Content” - that guide teachers responsible for social studies from grades Kindergarten to Grade 10.
Grade 2 Big Ideas reveals a fundamental flaw in the thinking of those who created them. One of the Grade Two Big Ideas is that “individuals have rights and responsibilities as global citizens” (Grade 2). Citizenship describes a relationship between an individual and the state. It is in that social contract that rights and responsibilities are defined.
“Global citizenship” may be an aspiration among those writing the curriculum. But until there is world citizenship and the existing nation states cede their jurisdiction to some yet to be defined global body, I am grateful for citizenship in Canada and the rights and obligations that I have.
The authors of the provincial curriculum should have noticed their global citizenship mistake when they crafted one of the Big Ideas for grade six. The tip off is their statement that “systems of government vary in their respect for human rights and freedoms.” The inconsistency between the grade two and grade six big ideas should have caused them to reflect.
A closer look at the curricular competencies and the content suggestions – yes, suggestions – does not inspire confidence that Canadian students living in British Columbia will understand how their government works.
I do not want to blame the education system for protesters’
ignorance of government. Most do not live in British Columbia and only a few who
do were young enough to have gone to school in BC since the curriculum change.
But the ignorance of the truckers and their fellow travelers signals that this
significant knowledge gap has been with us for some time and is likely not
confined to British Columbia.