Dieppe And Quebec Referendum example essay topic

Since Canada became a nation, many thing have happened that have defined Canada as a remarkable nation in progress. People can recall things like: Vimy Ridge, the Persons Case, Dieppe, and the Quebec referendum. These four things have assisted in creating the Canada we now know. In 1917, during World War Two, Canadian troops fought at Vimy Ridge.

The Germans had been protecting the ridge, and had already defeated the French and British troop in 1915. The Canadians realized that they needed to outsmart the Germans, and use technology that had never been used in was before. The troops built roads, a railway track and buried 21 miles of signal cable. They laid out 66 miles of telephone wire.

They even laddered the wires. This was when they had separate lines with connecting links, this way a shell wouldn't be able to ruin the connection. Tunnelling companies dug 11 underground halls to help infantry get to their positions safely. On April 9th (Easter Morning) at 5: 30 am troops were awake and ready for battle.

Almost 1000 guns opened fire. "Imagine the loudest clap of thunder you ever heard". 1 We used the leap frog effect. Usually, after the shells stop firing, the opposition knows that your troops our now coming, however, we used out communication wires to tell the people at the base where we were located so the could fire the shells away from them. The troops made it to the enemies side, just as they were crawling out of the trenches.

20 000 men fought and 10600 were killed or wounded in four hours. This was a defining moment since the Canadians did what others thought couldn't be done. It lifted our sports for the remainder of the war, and encouraged us to go further, because we now knew we could do anything. Next is the Persons Case. This occurred in 1929.

Women were not legally "Persons". 5 women known as the "Famous Five": Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy and Irene Parl by signed a petition directed to the Governor General. They wanted the Supreme Court to deiced if women were able to become Senators un the BNA act. They however said that Persons were able to become Senators, and Women were not persons. The word persons had a strict legal definition and had excluded women from university degrees, voting, certain jobs, and holding in public office. 2 The five women realised that women were equal to men and they should legally able to do all things men can do.

After the "Famous Five " were told they were not persons by the supreme court they went t to the Privy Council and demanded support for women. There objective had been reached. This changed the role of women forever. Women could now finish school, try new careers and they changed their looks to. Women's arms and legs were being revealed.

Hair was cut short and women could now smoke in public. Thanks to the "Famous Five", the role of women had always been wives and mothers, now women have the same roles as men. Third is the battle of Dieppe. This was in August of 1942. Dieppe was a french port under the control of Germans. The allies new they need to find a way into Frans and win it back from the Germans.

They figured that Dieppe would be the easiest way in. The Canadian division had been selected to conduct an experimental raid at Dieppe. This attack would combine Naval, air and land operations. Canadians were enthusiastic since they had seen little action since 1940. However, the raid on Dieppe was not successful. Canadians had been out of practise since they hadn't battled in a long time.

They also had very little knowledge of the layout at the port. They also lacked artillery and were outnumbered by German troops. Since the raid took place on sand, the tanks all got stuck and were immobile, and many of the ships waiting for retreating troops were hit and sunk. Canadians had accounted for 4963 of the 6100 troops and 907 had been killed, and 1874 were taken prisoner. Canadians fought well and brave. Even though the raid was very unsuccessful the battle was a great learning experience.

3 It taught the Canadian troops to be more prepared, trained and informed. They took the knowledge that they had gained at Dieppe with them when they were in Normandy and had to fight at Juno Beach, and Canada had easily won the beach. The aim of Dieppe was to practise techniques for later in the war, even though they were unsuccessful, they learned many things that helped later in the war. Finally, The Quebec Referendum. In 1995, Quebec held a referendum to make the final decision on whether or not they should separate. The PQ leader Jacques Parizeau, promised a referendum on full sovereignty.

Parizeau felt that Quebec could easily enter the United Nations, use the Canadian dollar, and try to get a free trade deal with Canada. Only Quebeckers could vote in the referendum and Parizeau thought for sure that his side would win, and Quebec would be separate. However, after the vote, Parizeau was shocked. The side the voted no, won by a few votes. 50.58 people voted no and 49.4 voted yes for separation.

Parizeau decided that he could no longer stay in parliament, so he resigned, and Lucien Bouchard took his place. This was an important moment in Canadian history because it showed Canada's unity. This showed that Quebeckers truly feel like they are a part of Canada, and even though we don't always get long, we are a country united. In conclusion, I feel that Canada has had many moments that defined us as a nation. Vimy Ridge, Persons Case, Dieppe and Quebec Referendum were all moments that were important in our history.

These moments make up the great nation we have today.