Canadian Values

Why is Canada the best country in the world to live in? It is because our education and healthcare are so prosperous and thriving that it differentiates us from any other country.

Healthcare

Our healthcare is free which means Canadian citizens have access to all hospitals and medical services, when needed, without paying with their own money. “The roles and responsibilities for the healthcare are shared throughout the Provincial, territorial, and Federal government” (Government of Canada). Each province and territory has their own medicals plans, but the Federal government looks over all of it and supports health research, health promotion and protection, and disease monitoring and prevention.  The provincial and territorial plans must provide all their residents' reasonable medical access based on their medical need and not on their ability to pay.   Unlike the United States not providing equal care to minorities, Canada has health care available to all aspects of the minority including Indigenous Peoples living on reserves, Inuit, serving members of the Canadian Forces, eligible Veterans, inmates in Federal penitentiaries, and some groups of refugee claimants. This truly emphasizes that Canada is different than other countries and it is one of the many aspects that define Canada: multiculturalism, rights and freedoms, education, equality and diversity.  

Education

Along with our free healthcare, there is free education through the public school system. There is also adult secondary education programs available for those who have not completed their elementary or secondary education.  Some teach how to read or write and others get you a high school diploma. However, each province and territory has official criteria that students will be taught in each grade. By law, all children must go to school, and if “[someone is] enrolling in a Canadian school for the first time, the school or board will assess them and then decide what level they should be placed at and whether they need free support such as English or French language classes” (Government of Canada). Canada values equality even in the education part and this is why it is another thing that defines us and differentiates us. Even in most schools, there are mixed classes which means boys and girls learn together. In a few low economic countries, girls are not even allowed to go school or are separated from boys. We believe that everyone should have an equal opportunity to a greater future.

Overall Canadian citizens are very fortunate that we have a good education and healthcare system that are free and not discriminative. It differentiates us from many countries in the world as only a few have free education or health care while we have both. We are about equality, diversity, and having resources available to those who need it.

Works Cited

ASA Overseas Education Specialist. Canadian Education System. 2018. ASA Overseas Education Specialist, 2018, www.asa-edu.com/abroad-can1.php. Accessed 5 Jan. 2018.

Casale, Cecilia Rivera, Ph.D. “Disparities in Healthcare Quality Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups.” Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Oct. 2014, archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr10/minority.html. Accessed 4 Jan. 2018.

Government of Canada. “Canada’s Health Care System.” Government of Canada, 22 Aug. 2016, www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/canada-health-care-system.html. Accessed 19 Dec. 2017.

---. “School Life in Canada.” Government of Canada, 17 May 2017, www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/new-immigrants/new-life-canada/enrol-school/student-life.html. Accessed 4 Jan. 2018.

O’Mahen, Patrick. n Ontario Health Insurance Plan ID card. 2013. Blogger, Patrick O’Mahen, 9 Oct. 2013, themakeshiftacademic.blogspot.ca/2013/10/worthwhile-Canadian-initiative-health.html. Accessed 5 Jan. 2018.

My Ancestry

Just as Indigenous people and many other cultures learn their knowledge and history through oral tradition, I learn my ancestry through oral traditions: my grandparents tell me stories about their lives at a younger age. I believe their goals by doing this are that they have a way to share what they went through and to keep a good connection with us.

My genealogy is Dutch, Ukrainian, English, and a bit of Irish and Scottish. I am fifth generation Canadian on my dad’s side, and third generation on my mom’s therefore my families have been in Canada for a long time. My great great great great grandfather on my dad’s side, Anthony Turner Senior, came to Canada in 1834 aboard a ship from England. My Oma and Paka came from different ends of Netherlands to Canada in the 1950s, and my great Baba and great Gido were both born in Canada, but their parents came directly from the Ukraine. Also, my great uncle on my grandma’s side is in the Canadian football hall of fame and my other great uncle on my grandpa’s side has his name in the book of war heros at the Peace Tower in Ottawa.

This is my great grandfather who also fought in the wars.

I know about ancestry because I ask my grandparents and they tell me the events of their lives through stories. We sit together over tea or dinner and talk about their lives and how it was different for them. I love just sitting down with them and just listening to their stories, whether it be about the war they lived through or just how they learned to create the life they have. For the story of how Anthony Turner came to Canada, my grandma told me “ [he] almost died on the way over [here], he caught smallpox and almost did not make the trip over” (Tomlinson).

Family Tomb Stone of Great Great Grandparents. 

It took risks for my family to make their trek over to Canada, and those risks whatever they may be, are better than the odds of not heading over. The pull factors for each of my grandparents, to come here, were all the same: a chance for a better life for their children, more opportunities for jobs, money, etc, and an adventure.

I believe it is truly important to have that connection especially with the stories that grandparents tell. Their heritage is just as important to them as it is to me as my family is all very close.

Oral traditions can benefit people in the future and with these stories I can remember how their lives used to be, and usually there is a lesson involved. I love learning about who I am and where my roots were originally planted, and I plan to learn more and further the traditions and stories on to next generations.

Works Cited

Borsma, Lily. Interview. By Samantha Tomlinson. 24 Nov. 2017.

Koroscil, Marie. Interview. By Samantha Tomlinson. 26 Oct. 2017.

Tomlinson. Cutler’s Tombstone. 2016.

---. Navy Profile Picture. Sept. 1939.

Tomlinson, Norie. Interview. By Samantha Tomlinson. 22 Nov. 2017.

Ukrainian Christmas

Every year around January 7 my extended family and I, all 20 of us, get together for an evening to celebrate our Ukrainian Christmas.The table is filled with many dishes and candles are burning in delight. All of us gather around the large dining table and enjoy each other's company.  It is the one day we can all get together and celebrate.  

Ribbon Candy https://newengland.com/today/food/new-england-made/ribbon-candy/ Wheat http://www.claudiascookbook.com/2011/01/06/kutia/

The foods we have are borscht, which is a warm beet soup, kutia: wheat simmered with honey and poppy seeds, pudaha, perogies, cabbage rolls and pueshket, which consists of buns and creamy dill sauce, and many versions of fish: due to it being Christmas Eve, so we do not have any meat. When my great Baba was younger oranges and apples were very special as the only time she received them were on Christmas along with nuts, chocolate, and ribbon candy.

There was no December 25 only January 7 for my Ukrainian side of the family.

This dinner has started because my great great Baba had hosted it and my great Baba wants to keep the tradition going. She told me: “All my sisters decided to continue the tradition as well onto their families. I was never taught to cook all these foods as I could only watch as my mother made all of the dinners. I had to learn to make it all myself when I went off to start my family and everything used to be made the day of the dinner because we did not have any refrigeration available and to ensure freshness. Each dinner is different because I make versions of the dinner as my mother did with her own mothers. Also, for Christmas,  we would bring hay in the house and put it on or under the table, and put money in it for the children to find” (Koroscil).

  We, my family and I, all attend this event because it is important to my great Baba and great Gido and we look forward to it each and every year. Moments like these create lasting memories that we cherish for years to come.  

My Family 

Taken by Wayne Koroscil ( Gido)

Works Cited

Jamie, and Claudia. Kutia. 2012. Claudia’s Cookbook, 2012, www.claudiascookbook.com/2011/01/06/kutia/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.

Koroscil, Marie. Interview. By Samantha Tomlinson. 26 Oct. 2017.

Koroscil, Wayne. Family at Ukrainian Christmas. 6 Jan. 2014.

Tucker, Aimee. The Red and Green Variety Tastes like (what else?) Peppermint. New England Today Food, 2014, newengland.com/today/food/new-england-made/ribbon-candy/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2017.