Today's Readings

Canada

Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world according to land mass, but it has a relatively small population of about 32 million people.

Canada is a very diverse society, with many cultures represented because of the years of immigration from all over the world.

Canada is very welcoming to its diverse cultures.  In fact, in 1987 Canada passed a law called the Canadian Multicultural Act.  In it, the government is required to respect all cultures within Canada, and allow people to express themselves in accordance with their cultural beliefs.

Canada’s government is a Parliamentary Democracy. This means that Canada has a representative government, where individual citizens elect their legislators, and the Prime Minister is appointed by them to run the government.

Canada has a mixed economy. They believe in a free market, with private ownership of businesses. 

Unlike the US, the government of Canada does own some businesses, and Canada’s government manages the national healthcare system so that all citizens receive health services without paying directly.  

Canada was colonized by Great Britain and France. So there are many French speaking citizens in Canada.  Canada has two official languages: English and French. The province of Quebec is the home to most of Canada’s French speakers.  Even though France once occupied large parts of Canada, the British defeated France in a war. As a result, France’s territory in North America was divided between Britain and Spain.  A large number of Canadians today have British heritage; The culture traits of the English language and Protestant Christianity come from this heritage.  Canadians also inherited the English legal system and type of government.

 

Mexico

Mexico is the third largest country in North America by land area, but at 128 million people, it is the second largest in population.

Mexico does not have the kind of diverse population that its northern neighbors (Canada and the US) have. Instead, most of the Mexican population represents the dual heritage of Europeans from Spain, and natives of Mexico.

Until 1821, Mexico was part of New Spain.  Spain had colonized much of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America.  Accordingly, the area is often termed as the culture region of Latin America.

Unlike the US and Canada, where English is the most widely spoken language, Mexico is a Spanish speaking country.  And while all three countries are Christian, Mexico is distinct from the others due to the dominance of its Roman Catholic followers.  Both the language and religion were traits implanted in Mexico by Spain from its days as a colonizing country.

Like its North American partners, Mexico is also a mixed economy.  Unlike the US, Mexico offers universal healthcare to its citizens.  Thus, the government collects taxes from the citizens, and pays the medical professionals for their services.  Individual patients do not have to pay the doctor. This makes healthcare more easy to obtain in Mexico.  Canada has a very similar system.

Mexico has a representative democracy and, like the US, the citizens directly elect a president every four years. Mexico struggled through a long period of time with unstable governments, including several dictatorships.  But modern Mexico is a very democratic country.

Mexico, Canada and the US have had long standing trade agreements with each other where they do not charge an import tax.  There are other benefits in the trade agreements as well, so Mexico’s economy has been slowly growing over the years (though it is not nearly as large as the US or Canadian economies.)

United States

The US has a long history of representative democracy. Even before the US constitution was adopted in 1787, the states had their own democratic governments in place.  Today, the US has a Presidential democracy similar to its southern neighbor Mexico.  US citizens vote for senators, house members, and the President every four years (and sometimes more frequently).

The US was colonized by Great Britain, and like Canada, has many culture traits in common with its British ‘parents’.  English is the primary language spoken in the US (there is no official language), Protestant Christianity was installed by the early Pilgrims and remains the largest faith in the nation. The English heritage shared with Canada has caused the US and Canada to be very similar nations culturally.  Together, they are a culture region because of their shared British heritage.  Mexico on the other hand, has more in common with South American countries, and is part of the culture region of Latin America.

Like Canada, the US has experienced population growth throughout the years largely due to immigration.  Immigrants from all over the world have resulted in a very diverse US population. Thus, like Canada, the US is considered a multicultural nation.  Unlike Canada, the US does not have any specific legal protections like the Canadian Multicultural Act.

The US economy is mixed, but leans heavily toward a Free Enterprise / Market economy.  Businesses are privately owned and can be easily started by US citizens with little government interference.  The US government does not own any significant industries (unlike Canada and Mexico). Because it values Free Enterprise so highly, it has been difficult to convince many Americans to adopt a universal healthcare system similar to those in Canada and Mexico. Americans have a strong bias toward keeping the government out of business.