ARCHIVED – Backgrounder — What’s changed in the updated Discover Canada?

The citizenship study guide Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship has been updated. Changes to the guide include:

• A new pull-out box called “Becoming Canadian” which emphasizes a newcomer’s responsibility to leave behind violent, hateful or extreme prejudices and embrace democratic principles such as the rule of law.
• Recognition that gay and lesbian Canadians enjoy the full protection of and equal treatment under the law, including access to civil marriage.
• The addition of forced marriage among the practices that are not tolerated in Canada, in the section called “The Equality of Women and Men.”
• Additions to the section on the War of 1812, whose bicentennial occurs next year, to provide more context and to profile popular heroine Laura Secord.
• Additional content on economic growth, Canada as a world leader and examples of Canada’s outstanding cultural contributors.
• New images, including:
  • The first woman MP, Agnes Macphail;
  • The gold medal-winning 2010 Winter Olympics men’s hockey team;
  • 2002 Winter Olympics gold medal-winning speed skater Catriona Le May Doan;
  • Paul Henderson’s Summit Series goal;
  • The new Governor General, His Excellency David Johnston; and
  • Quebec City Hall.

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