Canada Between 1945 and 1982 Essay Example

Between 1945 and 1982, Canada experienced significant social, economic, and political change. After the Second World War had ended as well as the Great Depression, Canada realized there was not enough measures in place to help those in need of medical care, so the Medical Care Act was introduced. The war had also ended the Great Depression and the economy in Canada was doing very well in the post-war years, which lead families and individuals to feel more comfortable consuming large amounts of products. The United Nations was also formed at the end of WWII, in hopes to keep the peace and prevent a third war from occurring. The following essay will summarize these three notable events from this period and demonstrate their significance to Canadian history. 

A social change that Canada experienced was the Medical Care Act in 1966. This act started when the prime minister at the time, Lester Pearson, appointed Allan J. MacEachen as his new Minister of National Health and Welfare, who then introduced the Medical Care Act into the house of commons on July 12, 1966. The purpose of this act was to reimburse one-half of the provincial and territorial medical services provided by a doctor outside hospitals. The Conservative and Social Credit groups accused the government of overriding provincial authority, being irresponsible with taxes, and undermining the relationship between doctors and their patients. Rob Thompson, the federal Social Credit leader, thought that the government had a responsibility to aid citizens of Canada that cannot provide their own needs. He also believed that if the government were able to do this, they would be meeting their responsibilities to help the citizens of Canada. The leader of the New Democratic Party, Stanley Knowles, believed that the government could be doing more than just providing medical care insurance. For example, he thought the government life insurance, dental car, etc. The daughter of the NDP founder said that she had been looking forward to getting this legislation passed and that she hoped that healthcare could be turned from a business for profit, into a service for Canadian people. With the help of the NDP party, the liberal government was able to get this bill through its first reading. The Medical Care Act was significant to Canada because it was the start of free healthcare in Canada. It introduced the idea of free healthcare to Canada and put it into action when it was passed. It showed that the Canadian government wanted to look out for the people that could not afford to take care of themselves medically. 

An economic change that occurred in Canada during this time was the rise of consumerism. In the twentieth century, consumerism became extremely popular, especially the 1950s-1960s, which are referred to as the “golden age of consumption”. Products were able to sell in large quantities during this period because of the excellent marketing campaigns that made them significantly less expensive. Marketing has been a popular method of selling a product for an extended period of time, but it was not until the mid-twentieth century that it became so influential. Many of these ads made people feel like a product should be part of their identity, which can cause them to associate their social identity in society with their consumption level and quality. Magazines were used to advertise to Canadians. These magazines were about what products Canadians should consume and why they should consume them. The postwar years are referred to by historians as a critical period in the transition of citizens not having much and making do with what they do have, to spending substantial amounts of money, buying on credit, disposability, and obsolescence. Canadians went from learning how to budget, to learning how to purchase. Personal identity shifted away from what was made (at home or in a factory) and towards what was bought. Family responsibilities were reinvented, and gender distinctions were reconfigured around the axis of consumerism. The emphasis on consumer items was countered by instructions to budget and set realistic expectations: a mortgaged home, a car, labour-saving technologies purchased on an installment plan, book clubs, and record collections were all depicted as the products of normal Canadian dreams. By the 1960s, higher earnings, increased credit availability, and lower pricing for certain products allowed middle-class Canadians to be more active in the consumer goods market. Managing money had become a way to make sure that each family's income was directed towards the things they need and the things they want. This was a significant moment for Canada because before the war, Canadians were experiencing the Great Depression and an extremely low economy, and they were unable to spend as they please. They were barely getting by with what they had. Being able to freely spend after the war was a big change and allowed Canadians to live how they wished. 

A political change that happened between 1945 and 1983 was the start of the United Nations. The United Nations came into existence on the 24th of October 1945. Before that, representatives from around 50 countries, Canada among them, gathered in San Francisco, CA from April 25th to June 26th to draft and then sign the UN Charter. These countries hoped that this organization would prevent another world war. Members of the UN elect a secretary-general as its leader, but the Security Council of the United Nations has the most power. The security council has five permanent members from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States and 10 non-permanent members that are selected by the permanent ones to serve two-year terms. Canada has been selected six times, the most recent being 1999-2000. In the United Nations, Canada is most known for the contributions it made to UN peacekeeping operations. Lester B. Pearson, one of Canada’s prime ministers, was the one to introduce the idea of peacekeeping to prevent Egypt from gaining control of the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Pearson received a Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for founding UNEF (the United Nations Emergency Force) and for playing a key role in ending the Suez Crisis. Canada also played a role in the Korean War, where they sent 26,000 troops to aid South Korea. Canada being a part of the United Nations organization is significant because it was one of the founding members and had a significant impact on UN strategy when a prime minister of Canada introduced the concept of peace-making.  

The Medical Care Act, consumerism, and the creation of the United Nations are just a few examples of how Canada changed in the post-war years. The Medical Care Act was the start of free healthcare for Canadian citizens. Consumerism helped Canadians live normal lives after the war and, for the most part, not have to worry about running out of their needs. And the UN has helped in many crises across the world and Canada took part in aiding them a number of times. These were social, economic, and political changes that occurred and are very significant to Canadian History.