Chapter 4: Categorizing the Data -- Late 20th Century Documents -- Introduction

4.4

Categorizing the Data -- Late 20^th Century Documents -- Introduction

   The late 20^th century Canadian public education documents for this category are generally published after 1984 and compare with the Baldwins' “Trudeau Era.” I closed the previous era with the 1982 Northwest Territories’ document “Learning: Tradition and Change in the Northwest Territories,” a document in the tradition of 1970s documents particularly in respect of presentation, but merging with the late 20^th century categorization in terms of First Nations/Metis/Inuit education history and involvement with public education and/or education policy. The “Late 20^th Century Documents” grouping is also marked by a significant downturn in the economy in 1982, a deep recession felt in advanced industrial countries. 

    The mid 1980s to mid 1990s documents could be defined as particularly “hidden” in terms of a review of public education policy reports of the 20^th century.  They are “hidden” because these documents are not accounted for in any type of collation. Goulson stopped his list in 1983. Additionally the mid 1980s to mid 1990s documents are not electronic since such archiving did not begin in earnest until about 1994. There is a tendency now in the 21^st century, I think, to refer to the more recent electronic resources and overlook the policy documents that these electronic commission reports, according to linear provincial and territorial historical analyses, derive from. The linear history of public education policy productions are known internally to experts in each system, but there is no overall Canadian documentation for the late 20^th century set for a period of about ten years, in terms of documenting and listing Canadian public education policy documents produced across the systems. Therefore, a search for public education policy documents from across Canada that define the post-1983 era, particularly those documents that are not digital, was added to the challenge of this research project.

   The early to mid 1980s show an increase in reports on computers in the schools – in 1981/82 Prince Edward Island appears to be first out of the gate with such a report. Ontario produced a review of the financing of elementary and secondary education in 1985.  

   A Maritime treatment appeared to be lacking in for this era with exception of a Royal Commission document entitled, “Report of the Royal Commission on Post-Secondary Education.”  This report falls outside of the purview of this dissertation as it was necessary as a consequence of the challenge of the research undertaken, to limit the study to K to 12 documents, in the main. (In some cases the documents reviewed cover post-secondary education as part of the commission.) Without the aforementioned Maritime document, a Maritime perspective for the late 20^th century document grouping is noticeably lacking. Manzer refers to a New Brunswick document in this time frame.

   Three 1980s documents I have made available to the reader in digital form are considered. They emerge in the years 1987 -- Yukon’s 1987 First Nations report, Ontario’s 1987 Radwanski Report, and British Columbia’s 1988 Royal Commission Report begun in March 1987.  These three are particularly noteworthy for the range of perspectives they offer. Ronald Manzer provides a comparative of the Radwanski Report and Sullivan Report towards the end of his book covering the 1990s time frame. Manzer does not cover a 1993 Alberta report "Toward 2000 Together" that includes education. The familiar 1994 Ontario commission "For the Love of Learning" is not included. Manzer's treatment excludes the Northwest Territories' 1994 report "People: Our focus for the future" on the basis of the constitutional arrangement that the Canadian Territories are under control of the federal government. 

    The focus of review following here are the aforementioned 1993 Alberta document as well two 1994 documents -- the transcribed the Northwest Territories’ 1994 document “People: Our focus for the future,” and Ontario’s 1994 Commission “For the Love of Learning,” with a link to it. This is technically the first overarching Ontario royal report on public education since 1950 (since Hall-Dennis was a “departmental” document, a product of the Ontario Ministry of Education).”For the Love of Learning” was commissioned under an NDP government headed by Bob Rae elected in 1990 after Peterson’s Liberal government, and serving five years.

    Following from these, the above mentioned documents appear in the mid-1980s and 1990s, Quebec moves back into the picture with a series of late 20^th century documents from 1995 to an overview of Canadian 20^th century public education policy. In 1995 Quebec began a process with the federal government to bypass the constraints of section 93 of the Constitution of Canada in Quebec. Quebec preferred to construct a provincial system along English and French language systems or ministries of education. The traditional divisions separated Protestant and public Catholic schools in the province of Quebec, and this separation was in large measure a product of Quebec culture and its cultural relationship with Catholicism. This relationship has changed enormously in terms of public education in the late 20^th century era. The protection of minority Protestant rights in Quebec and minority Catholic rights in English Canada was a product of 19^th century politics (this history is summarized in Ontario’s 1950s “Minority Report” as well as in Quebec’s 1961-66 “Parent Report”). It does appear that this traditional dichotomy is redundant in late 20^th century Quebec due to preference to placed on humanism and language. I would argue that Quebec’s model ideally should translate politically and in policy to English Canada, particularly since the stipulation of denomination in Section 93 of the Constitution Act of Canada was a consequence mainly of French Catholic and English Protestant rivalry and enmity a consequence of a particular era in Canadian history. Quebec’s 1995 shift from religious to language dichotomy in legislation lends to the idea of future change in section 93 of the Constitution Act of Canada particularly in respect of denominational preference and protection.