Canada 2020–2022 by James Kent Donlevy

Author:James Kent Donlevy
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

ONTARIO: Ontario has traditionally been Canada’s political pivot and economic motor, despite the growth of the West, the ambitions of the Maritimes, and the assertiveness of Quebec. Ontario houses 38% of Canada’s population and produces about a third of the nation’s wealth. Toronto’s massive economy alone is equal to or larger than that of every province. Former Premier David Peterson was once asked if he was uncomfortable about Ontario’s becoming wealthier while other regions were suffering. He answered: “One of the things that keeps this country together is that everybody hates Ontario, and what keeps Ontario together is that everybody hates Toronto, and what keeps Toronto together is that everybody hates Bay Street” (Canada’s Wall Street).

Toronto’s Rogers Centre (formerly SkyDome), one of the most modern sports facility in the world Photo: Ian Steer

Ontario’s its preeminence is being challenged by Canada’s new economic power centers: Alberta, British Columbia, oil and resource-rich Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and Labrador. Ontario does not play the kind of leadership role in Canada it once did. Although it is by no means a poor province, Ontario’s economy has performed sluggishly for a long time and much of the troubled manufacturing and auto industry is within its borders. In the decade from 2001, its per capita GDP remained virtually unchanged. The surging West’s combined GDP surpassed that of Ontario for the first time in 2008. Ontario embarrassingly received equalization payments as a “have-not” province.

Toronto’s status as the country’s premier city was challenged for the first time in over a century, this time by Calgary. Toronto has budget and infrastructure problems and its manufacturing sector is not in good condition, having shed 100,000 jobs in the five years up to 2008. Still, Ontario continues to attract 40% of all immigrants to Canada; 44% of its residents are foreign-born, well above the province’s 27%. It also remains the country’s financial center. Private wealth is pouring into art galleries, theaters and new museums as Toronto tries hard to retain its image as a “city on the rise.”

Canada’s largest province is not officially bilingual even though its government extends French-language services to Ontario’s half million francophones, about 5% of the population). When a court in Ontario ruled that under the Charter of Rights francophones are entitled to an education in French, the province quickly complied. Toronto is the most ethnically diverse city in North America. In 2002 Ontario received its first Aboriginal lieutenant-governor in Canada: James Bartleman, a Minjikanig Indian and former Canadian ambassador to the EU.

In 1999, a reform compressed high school from five to four years while stressing more mathematics and science, a kind of pre STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) initiative. Since 2000, students are subject to a code of conduct that includes reciting the Oath of Citizenship and pledging allegiance to the Queen. Official hoped that the oath and code would instill respect for Canada and make schools safer. In 2001 vouchers were offered granting tax credits to parents who send their child to a private school.

For many voters the pace of the changes was too fast.

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