UNI320Y: UNDERSTANDING CANADA TODAY
Winter Term 2006 — Second Essay Proposals — Course Instructor: Emily Gilbert
Second term essay proposal (2-3 pages)
Second term essay (2500 words)
5%
25%
February 15, 2006
April 05, 2006
AIM OF THE ESSAY PROPOSAL
The aim of the essay proposal is to get you to think about and begin research on your
second term essay. By providing a tentative thesis statement and a general summary of
the issues that you will explore, you will begin to establish your arguments/position. By
providing an annotated bibliography you will begin to think critically about your research
materials. The essay proposal also allows you to get some preliminary feedback on your
research and writing skills that will help you to better craft your essay.
INSTRUCTIONS
For the essay proposal you need to
a) provide a tentative thesis statement
b) give a general summary of the issues that you will address
c) and provide an annotated bibliography.
Thesis statement
An effective thesis statement provides a clear sense of the main topic that you will
address in your paper, the position that you will argue, and how you will do so. More
information on crafting thesis statements can be found here:
http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/thesis.html
General summary
Here you have an opportunity to provide details regarding how you will approach your
essay topic. This should include some mention of the issues that you will address to help
support your essay’s thesis statement. You can include here some of the particular issues
that you will address in your essay.
Annotated bibliography
You need to provide an annotated bibliography of 6 scholarly sources which might
include academic book chapters; and/or articles from academic journals; and/or
government policy documents. Two of your sources should be drawn from the Winter
course readings. The additional four sources will be drawn from your independent
research.
Annotated bibliographies are not simply lists of the sources that you will use; they
provide a summary of each source—its thesis statement and conclusions—and an
understanding of why it is relevant to your analysis. More information on annotated
bibliographies can be found at: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/annotatebib.html
CANADIAN STUDIES RESOURCES
For more information on library resources for Canadian Studies students, go to the
following website set up by Robarts for our program:
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/robarts/reference/resources/canadian/ (Please note that
this website is still under construction; not all links are active yet.) Also try the
following link for some information on CS sources: http://www.iccsciec.ca/blackwell.html
The CBCA Complete and CPI.Q databases, available through e-resources at Robarts
library, are excellent sources of material on contemporary Canadian issues and events.
You can use these databases not only to find media reports, but also academic journal
articles and government documents. You are also strongly encouraged to regularly read
Canadian newspapers and news magazines.
WRITING RESOURCES
Do make use of the writing resources that are available on campus. As a student enrolled
in a University College course you are entitled to use the excellent University College
Writing Workshop for your assignments in this course. This is a free service that provides
individual consultation with highly trained tutors: they will work with you on writing
skills (but will not edit papers). You should make an appointment as early as possible—
not at the last minute—so that you have a chance to work on the paper as it evolves. To
make an appointment call 416 978 8090 between 9am–12pm and 1pm–5pm. For further
information about the UC Writing Workshop see their website at
http://www.utoronto.ca/ucwriting/
FORMAT AND DUE DATE
Your essay proposals should be between two and three pages in length, type-written and
double-spaced. All essay proposals are due at the beginning of class February 15, 2006.
Assignments submitted on the due date, but not at the beginning of the lecture period,
will be penalized by 1%. A penalty of 2% per day will be deducted for each day
(including weekends) that the assignment is late.
UNI320Y: UNDERSTANDING CANADA TODAY
Winter Term 2006 — Second Essay Questions — Course Instructor: Emily Gilbert
Second term essay proposal (2-3 pages)
Second term essay (2500 words)
5%
25%
February 15, 2006
April 05, 2006
A late penalty of 2% per day will be assessed for late assignments. Late assignments
should be date-stamped and left in the instructor’s mailbox in Room 173. Students are
responsible for retaining copies of their papers and of their notes and drafts. You are
welcome to consult with me or our TA during our office hours, or with a tutor at the UC
writing centre while planning or drafting your essays.
The topics outlined below are very general in their scope. They are designed to provide
you with food for thought. Your essays will need to provide much greater clarity of focus,
with a strong thesis statement. Also, you must make sure that the direction that your essay
takes resonates with this terms’ course themes, that is with the theme of citizenship.
Also, as you will see from the way the essay questions are framed below, the consultation
of web materials is encouraged as part of your essay research. Most of the topics outlined
below deal with issues that are recent and ongoing, and web materials are often a
valuable source of information. Research in newspapers and newsmagazines is also
encouraged for similar reasons. Always make sure, however, to carefully assess ALL of
the materials that you are consulting, and to think carefully about what kinds of biases
they may contain. Moreover, it is essential that your essay not be based solely on either
web or media resources: you MUST also consult at least 6 conventional academic
resources, such as journal articles; books and book chapters; and/or government
documents (including two sources from the Winter term course reader). If you have any
questions about this, please do not hesitate to ask the course instructor.
1. While the rights and responsibilities of citizenship are meant to apply equally to all
citizens, scholars have shown that citizenship rights, responsibility and sense of
belonging are experienced differently by marginalized groups such as women, various
ethnic groups, sexual minorities, etc. What is the impact of being treated as a “secondclass” or even as a “third-class” citizen? Or what are some of the issues facing noncitizens? To address these questions you could draw upon a range of topics including:
temporary workers in Canada (eg in agriculture, construction or domestic workers);
refugees or illegal immigrants; the debates over same-sex marriage; women’s and/or
children’s citizenship; the privatization of social services, such as education or health
care; etc…
2. Public space is becoming increasingly regulated. In Toronto relevant examples include
the passing of the Ontario Safe Streets Act, the move to ban homeless sleep-outs at City
Hall, the attempts to ban postering on telegraph poles, and the securitization and
surveillance technologies in places such as Dundas Square or in (quasi-public) malls.
What impact do these initiatives have on our understanding of public space and the public
sphere? What is their implication for citizens and citizenship, eg in terms of questions of
accessibility, belonging, participation, community and responsibility? You might wish to
focus on one or two case studies, from Toronto or elsewhere in Canada. Or you might
also focus on initiatives to challenge these incursions on public space, such as the new
magazine Spacing (http://www.spacing.ca/), the Toronto Public Space Committee
(http://www.publicspace.ca/) or the new collections of essays, uTOpia: Towards a New
Toronto, edited by Alana Wilcox and Jason McBride (Toronto: Coach House Press;
2005).
3. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, numerous security measures
have been introduced including: Bill C-36: The Anti-Terrorism Act; Bill C-27: The
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; the Smart Border declaration with the US; etc...
Many of these initiatives involve the further regulation of movement across Canadian
borders, while others work to intensify the security state. How do these policies emerge
out of both domestic concerns and an eye to international relations, particularly those
between Canada and the US? What impact do these new policies have on what it means
to be a Canadian citizen? How are these border constraints reconcilable with an
increasingly globalized world? What are the advantages and/or disadvantages of moving
to a continental or even global understanding of citizenship?
 Bill C-36: The Anti-Terrorism Act: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/anti_terr/act.html
 Bill C-27: The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/irpa/
 Smart Border Accord: http://www.cbsaasfc.gc.ca/newsroom/factsheets/2002/sep/smart-e.html
4. It is increasingly possible to get access to a wide array of genetic information on
individuals. While surely there are advantages to the ability, for example, to determine
risks associated with developing a hereditary disease, revealing this information is also
problematic. Who gets access to this information, when and for what reasons? How is
this information controlled by private industry, and how do they regulate its acquisition
and use? What impact might widespread genetic testing have on the rights and
responsibilities, even the sense of belonging that we associate with citizenship? To
provide your paper with some focus, it is recommended that your essay draw upon at
least one specific example of how genetic testing has been used. Alternatively, you might
ask similar kinds of questions of genetically modified foods, and particularly the debates
around labelling. Sources to get you started in your research include:
 Genetic Testing website of Industry Canada:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/SSG/tc00024e.html
 Public Forum on “Genetic Testing: Promise and Peril” held at the Museum of Nature
(Ottawa, 2003): http://www.nature.ca/genome/06/062/0621/0621_11a_e.cfm
 Health Canada website on Genetically Modified Foods: http://www.hcsc.gc.ca/english/protection/biologics_genetics/gen_mod_foods/.
5. The First Nations Governance Act (FNGA), introduced by the Minister of Indian
Affairs in January 2002, is perhaps the most controversial legislation introduced on First
Nations in the last several decades. What are the main principles of this Act? Why did it
incite so much opposition from some First Nation groups across Canada? Why were
some Aboriginal peoples in favour of the FNGA? Is the FNGA an example of what
Kymlicka calls “differentiated citizenship”? See the FNGA:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/common/bills_ls.asp?Parl=37&Ses=2&ls=c7
6. In 1995, the federal government set out Canada’s foreign policy priorities in a
statement entitled Canada and the World. Three pillars were set forth: security;
prosperity; and values and culture. In January 2003, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bill
Graham, initiated a public discussion on renewing these concerns with the document, A
Dialogue on Foreign Policy http://www.foreign-policy-dialogue.ca/. Over the following
months town-halls and meetings with various groups were held across the country, and
citizens were also encouraged to contribute to web-based discussions. The reasons for
this initiative were to encourage forms of deliberative democracy and citizen
participation. Does this kind of process offer a mechanism for renewing citizenship in the
political process? Who are the citizens that are targeted with this kind of initiative? What
kinds of citizenship are encouraged and/or discouraged? What are the pros and cons of
moving towards forms of “cyber-democracy”?
7. You may devise your own topic. Any of the Winter term’s weekly topics could be
turned into an essay topic. You might also look at the additional materials included on the
week-by-week websites. Make sure, however, that your essay expands upon the issues
discussed in class. Also, your topic must relate to some aspect of this term’s course
readings and discussions around citizenship. Canada, or the Canadian dimension, must be
a central focus of your analysis. If you are choosing your own topic, you are encouraged
to consult with the course instructor before submitting your essay proposal and annotated
bibliography.