Canadian essay-Collective and Individualist Values in Canadi

Zhibin Zhang
February 15, 2011
Collective and Individualist Values in Canadian Society

 In Canada, everyone was being treated in an equal and fair way. Canadian society mixed of both collective and individualist values in many ways. People can get their rights for individual rights, individual interests and collective cultural group. Use myself as an example; I have my equal rights as anyone else. I can still keep my original culture in Canada. The economics in Canada was being treated in a freeway, so I can have the chances to buy good products.

 Before I came to Canada, my first known of Canada is a multicultural country. Canada can be seemed as a big vegetable bucket includes varied vegetables that produced in different places around the world. In Canada, most people immigrated from different countries in the world and had their own ethnic and racial diversity and multicultural policy; they can still keep their cultural beliefs in Canada as both of their individual and collective values. Tim Reese, co-ordinator of Toronto’s Access and Equity Centre, has said: “We do not simply recognize and tolerate this diversity, but respect value and nurture it as an exciting and integral part of our collective experience and identity.” There are China Towns in many cities in Canada. Chinese people show their culture there. When the Chinese New Year coming, my parents bring me to the China Town and celebrate with other Chinese people. Keeping our own culture is becoming both of our individual and collective values. Having varied cultural elements is becoming a part of Canada.

 People pride of being a Canadian citizen or president because Canada is a fair and equal country. For individualist values, I think everyone should have equal rights. In Canada, I have my rights for being a student and having the education just like some other kids; however, this cannot possible in some places in South America. In some poor counties in South America, rich people can get education and become more rich, poor people stays poor. People have unequal rights there. To have equal rights for everyone is a part of Canadian Law. In the Equality Rights for Canadian Character of Rights and Freedom, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religions, sex, age, or mental or physical disability.” This Law help many Canadian citizens and presidents to gain their rights for their individualist values. I am proud of living in such a free and equal country.
 
 Economic competition can help the collective values by letting people to have individual interests. Create a competition is not always a bad thing. Let government get away from controlling economic development is good for individual interest, because people can hire more dependable and have more choices for their commerce. In the Soviet Union under Stalin, people did not have private business. People did not care about the economic development and customers could not get good products because the individualist values did not get protect. An economic competition can “improved quality and lower prices” said by Catherine England. I believe he said is true. If there are more companies been created, there is more competition. Companies will choose either improve the qualities of their products or lower the price. We as the customers can have better and lower prices products which is very good. In Canada, the economic business cannot be saying it’s totally free. People still need to pay the tax from their incomes. Government collect the tax and use them for the traffic, education, health care and etc. which are good for the collective values. Economic competition helps both collective and individualist values.

 People live in Canadian Society gained both collective and individualist values. Live in Canada, I can keep my cultural background, have equal rights and buy good quality products under the economic competition. These three vales also help other people who live in Canada to have more advances either for themselves or groups.