Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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TRINITY COl.l.EGE SCHOOL. RECORD 3 No one can claim that he or she is free from or immune to dis- crimination because that is basically untrue. Discrimination is always with us! Discrimination is not only dangerous at an international lcvcl but at all other levels. Discrimination has intensified the rift in relation- ship between the English Canadians and French Canadians in Canada, Many people in our country try to dismiss the ideas of separatism and the success of the Social Credit in Quebec as being the work of French Canadian crackpots. However, these movements are an ex- pression of the feeling of the French speaking people in Canada against the discrimination we have practised for years. The trouble with most English speaking Canadians is that they are not taking serious notice of what is going on in Quebec or endeavouring to look more deeply into the reasons for these movements. Therefore, I feel that it is necessary for all of us English-speaking Canadians to take a deeper interest in what is going on and to see what we can do to bring about better relations. First. we must realize that the French Canadians have a different culture than we. There is certainly a difference between the pace of life. the attitude towards work and the general outlook towards life of the French Canadian as compared to the English Canadian. In many parts of Quebec, modernization has wrought very few changes in the lives of the people. We te.nd to attack this attitude as non-progressive. In the eyes of the Anglo-Saxon this is laziness but not so in the eyes of a Frenchman. However, we have failed to see the viewpoint of the French Canadian who feels that to be progressive is not always essential to the enjoyment of life. He may be perfectly content to remain living the way his forefathers did. In this case, it may well be argued that it is not necessary to be progressive materially to be a good responsible citizen. We English Canadians judge too much on a basis of material progress. Secondly, the Roman Catholic church in Quebec receives a great deal of criticism from the rest of Canada on the premise that it is keeping the people ignorant and teaching them hatred of their English speaking brothers. However. once again the Anglo-Saxon fails to see the true role of the Church. This role ras most French sneaking Roman Catholic clergy will tell youl is to protect the French language and culture from being destroyed by the tremendous English influence found particularly in the mass media. Furthermore, we must realize that interest in and devotion to the Church are once again part of French Canadian culture. The Church. since it controls most of the education in this province, has been successfully able to do a reasonable iob of preservation although there are definite invisible effects of a growing English influence. However. there is a genuine fear among most French Canadians that their way of life might easily disappear unless care is taken to prevent it. Third, the French Canadians, although numbering a few million. are a minoritv and are conscious of this. Being a minority group they have been pitted against the large English-speaking maioritv and naturally through the Dassage of time, have developed an inferiority complex. In spite of the fact that they control their provincial government. they do not have a great deal of power in the federal government. This has allowed the French Canadians to become political tools in the hands of the various parties who seek domination at the federal level. This has led to an intense distrust of the federal government and the rise of

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD Vol. 66 Trinity College School, Port Hope, December, 1962 N0. 1 Editor-in-Chief - S. E. Traviss School News Editor - H. J. Birks. Assistants: N. C. Bradley, C. D. P. George, D. A. G. Hampshire. D'A. P. Martin, A. N. Robinson, N. P. Trott, J. R. Watts. Features Editor - M. Laing. Assistants: C. D. Hugill, R. M. Matheson. Literary Editor -'-' J- U- Bayly Sports Editor - J. E. Fordyce. Assistants: R. K. Arnold, D. R. Doolittle, R. K. Everett, D. M. S. MCG. Greer, D. G. Price, M. G. C. Sherman, B. B. Stack- house, J. A. Stikeman. Photography Editor - C. H. Brown. Assistants: J. F. Angus, D. Dustan. S. Gros- venor, M. V. Helm, D. Laing, D. R. Lindop. Business Manager - G. R. Grynoch. Assistants: T. M. Birks, R H. Gibson, C. H. Hassell, D. R. Martin. Head Typist -- R. B. L. Henderson. Assistants: M. W. Cooper, C. S. Chubb, R. L. Harvey. C. S. W. Hill, A. H. Ion, J. R. C. Irvine, D. E. MacMillan., R. G. Matthews, R. H. MacLaren, S. G. Smith, R. G. Staber, J. S. Stewart. G. A. Wardman. Art . J. A. Reford Staff Liaison .. R. F. Ellis Photography Adviser -. P- R, Bishop. Esq. Official Photographer A. J. R. Dennys, Esq. Treasurer D. B. Wing, Esq. Old Boys J. W. Kerr, Esq. Staff Adviser A. H. Humble, Esq. The Record is published three times a year - in December, April and August. Printed by The Guide Publishing Co. Ltd., Port Hope, Ont. EDITORIAL Today, with the tremendous developments being made in the world of science, we have a tendency to say, Look how much progress has been made by man. However, when an incident occurs in the field of human relations that is distasteful to us, we try to ignore it or dismiss it, attaching very little significance to it. A very good example of this type of incident recently took place in Mississippi over the admission of a negro to the university. This is a repetition of the centuries old problem of discrimination. Discrimination is not only confined to race but as we all know to religion, nationality, political beliefs and personality. It is not necessary to point out examples of each, as patterns of these respective types of discrimination can be traced throughout history right up to the present. Because we have still not advanced in this field, there is in the world today a great threat of total destruction by atomic power. Are we not comparable to the cave man? He practised discrimination: do not we? We may have made spectacular advances in science but we still have been unable to control the emotions of fear, hatred, and sus- picion by replacing them with love and trust.

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TRINITY COLLEGE SCHOOL RECORD provincialisin and thus an indifferent attitude by many French Canadians to the rest of Canada. This has a great deal to do with the rise of men such as Duplessis in Quebec, who have used the peopleTs suspicions of Ottawa to keep themselves in power. This has also given rise to separatism, which preaches that Quebec should become a separate country. Marcel Chaput in his book t'Why I am a Separatistn outlines very clearly many logical reasons why there should be separatisin. When English speaking people read this book they should hang their heads in shame. In this book are revealed' various facts that show the tremendous discrimination we have practised against our l rench-speaking brothers. Therefore, it is not hard to see that by our own selfish actions we have given the Separatists one of their greatest grievances and motivations. Although many people do believe in the theory of separatism, few believe in its practicability. Luckily. the French Canadian press headed by 'ALE DEVOIRM has called attention to the fact that Separatism would not work and that the only solution to the problem is for better French-English relations to come about through mutual understanding. Therefore, we English-speaking Canadians should not criticize the recent trend of the Quebec provincial government towards public ownership of utilities. This has been done in several of our pro- vinces and has been relatively successful. Many students will ask What can I do? The student may do a tre- mendous amount to improve these relations. He may do this by learning the French language, by reading about French Canada, by having French Canadian pen pals, and best of all by visiting Quebec itself and by ex- change visits, getting to know the French Canadians and their way of life, Today, the opportunities to learn about French Canada are many. Let us take advantage of them. It will depend on the young people of this country to develop more friendly relations between the two cultures in the days to come. Let us get rid of our Mississippi. S. E. T. .. f if! '-,- - ,few Q 421, 1535? Tl ff-. . . 1 'ff E7 , ll 41 in q 11,1-' 4 - Ill U 0 a 'QJ19 LQ ' lm i HH --1-zK 4 v -Q :ff- f .i , ll Ill an ,KA I 'Zf.E., it., ' T' l-7 -- ' my , ' is -T-fgsinh slew .wh st--