Advancements Within Society

 Bilingualism in Canada is a given thing, with the federal government providing services in both languages, as well as New Brunswick, where bilingualism is also part of official policy.

There are French speaking areas throughout the country, in fact.

The next thematic area looks at social issues in the country. Multiculturalism, a policy of recent decades, has added to the mosaic that is Canadian culture.

The rights of women has for many years been a prevailing theme in Canada. This display case looks at sobering matters- such as the incident report rate for sexual assault, or one of the darkest chapters in Canadian history- the Ecole Polytechnique massacre in Montreal, where women were murdered by a lone gunman with a grudge, a man who also wounded more women and some men before turning the gun on himself.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was entrenched into law in 1982 as part of the Constitution.

This dual display is the work of an artist, Laila Binbrek. Mirror, Mirror shows the dual nature of her background, with Western items on the left, and Middle Eastern items on the right table.

An RCMP uniform tunic is seen here, with a turban above it. Back in the day there was great controversy about the idea of a Mountie wearing a turban. Now the question would be, what was the fuss about? At lower right, a photograph of Viola Desmond, a civil rights pioneer who, years before Rosa Parks, would refuse instructions in a movie theatre that had segregated instructions, and be charged for it. Today her picture graces the ten dollar bill.

Disabilities and the ways to adjust to it are examined as well. This display case features a model for a playground that can accompany wheelchairs, hockey sticks for disabled players, and a glove that belonged to Rick Hansen. He was the Canadian who did a round the world tour in his wheelchair, raising money for spinal cord research and rehabilitation. During the epic journey, his gloves regularly wore out. Hansen remains one of the country's most admired people.

Moving along, the next thematic area looks at Canada on the world stage, particularly since the end of the Second World War.