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Social Studies 9

Social Studies 9 · Worksheets

Collective rights

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Collective rights. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Collective rights

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Use the space to note the reasoning or the source detail that decided it.

  1. Source 1, an Elder: "Our ancestors agreed to share the land, to live in peace, and to be looked after. They did not sell the land." Source 2, the written English text of the treaty: the First Nations "cede, release, surrender and yield up" their rights to the land. What do the two sources show?

    1. a) The oral and written understandings of the treaty differ
    2. b) The treaty was never agreed to by First Nations leaders
    3. c) Both sources agree the land was sold for a fixed price
    4. d) The Elder is mistaken, since only the written text counts

  2. A family from Québec visiting Banff National Park gets service in French at the Parks Canada visitor centre, but most shops in the town serve customers only in English. What best explains the difference?

    1. a) Alberta made French an official language only inside national parks
    2. b) Shops must use French only in towns where most people are francophone
    3. c) Federal institutions must serve the public in both official languages
    4. d) The Charter requires every business to offer both English and French

  3. A museum panel: "In 1899, as Treaty 8 was being made with First Nations in the north, federal commissioners offered Métis people scrip, a certificate for land or money. Many sold it to speculators for far less than it was worth." What does this source help explain?

    1. a) Why Métis people signed Treaty 8 as a separate nation
    2. b) Why Métis families were given reserves by treaty
    3. c) Why Métis people gained control of large territories
    4. d) Why many Métis families were left without land

  4. A summary: "Québec's Charter of the French Language, Bill 101 (1977), made French the language of work, business and most schooling in Québec. Most children of newcomers must attend French-language schools." Which view would a supporter of Bill 101 most likely hold?

    1. a) Only the federal government should pass laws about language
    2. b) Every parent should be free to choose the language of their child's school
    3. c) French needs legal protection to survive in English-speaking North America
    4. d) Québec should make English its second official language

  5. Which of these is an example of a collective right rather than an individual right?

    1. a) Every citizen's right to vote in a federal election
    2. b) An arrested person's right to call a lawyer
    3. c) Francophone Albertans managing their own schools
    4. d) Each person's freedom to practise any religion

  6. A history note: "Treaty 7 was made in 1877 at Blackfoot Crossing with the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, Tsuut'ina and Stoney Nakoda. The year before, Parliament had passed the Indian Act without asking First Nations to agree." How does the Indian Act differ from Treaty 7?

    1. a) The Act was imposed; the treaty was a negotiated agreement
    2. b) Both were agreements signed by First Nations leaders
    3. c) The Act was negotiated; the treaty was imposed by Canada
    4. d) The treaty replaced the Act for the nations that signed it

  7. A summary: "In R. v. Powley (2003), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that two Métis men in Ontario had a constitutional right to hunt for food." This ruling was based on

    1. a) Section 15, which bans discrimination based on race
    2. b) Section 35, which recognizes Métis Aboriginal rights
    3. c) The Indian Act, which lists Métis hunting areas
    4. d) Treaty 8, which Métis leaders signed as a nation

  8. A summary: "In Mahé v. Alberta (1990), the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that francophone parents in Edmonton had a right to a degree of management and control over their children's French-language schools." What was the most direct result in Alberta?

    1. a) French became an official language of the Alberta government
    2. b) All Alberta students had to study French until Grade 12
    3. c) Alberta used the notwithstanding clause to reverse the ruling
    4. d) Francophone school authorities run by francophones were created

  9. Why is Alberta's Métis Settlements Act (1990) significant?

    1. a) It gave Métis people status under the federal Indian Act
    2. b) It gave eight Métis Settlements land and self-government
    3. c) It created reserves for Métis people in every province
    4. d) It ended Métis hunting and fishing rights in Alberta

  10. A speaker: "Métis people aren't covered by the Indian Act or by the treaties, so they have no rights as a people in Canada's Constitution." Which fact most directly shows the speaker is wrong?

    1. a) Alberta passed the Métis Settlements Act in 1990
    2. b) Métis people vote in federal elections like other citizens
    3. c) Some Métis people speak Michif as well as English or French
    4. d) Section 35 names the Métis as an Aboriginal people of Canada

Answer key · Collective rights

Social Studies 9 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) The oral and written understandings of the treaty differ — The written text uses the language of surrender, while First Nations oral histories describe an agreement to share the land in peace. The treaties were negotiated through interpreters and spoken promises, and Canadian courts now consider that context, so treating the written text as the only record is the mistake.
  2. c) Federal institutions must serve the public in both official languages — The Official Languages Act (1969) makes English and French the official languages of federal institutions such as Parks Canada, which offers its services in both. The Act does not cover private shops, and Alberta has never made French an official language of its government.
  3. d) Why many Métis families were left without land — Scrip was meant to settle each Métis person's claim to land, but much of it ended up with speculators, leaving many families landless. Métis people were offered scrip as individuals rather than a treaty as a nation, which is part of why Alberta later set aside land for Métis settlements.
  4. c) French needs legal protection to survive in English-speaking North America — Supporters argue that francophones are a small minority on an English-speaking continent, so without laws French would lose ground at work and in school. Free parental choice is the position of Bill 101's critics, who see it as limiting individual rights for the sake of a collective one.
  5. c) Francophone Albertans managing their own schools — Minority-language education belongs to francophones as a group, because of their status as an official-language minority. Voting, religion and the right to a lawyer belong to each person individually, whatever group they are part of.
  6. a) The Act was imposed; the treaty was a negotiated agreement — A treaty is an agreement between nations, however much its meaning is disputed; the Indian Act is a law Parliament passed on its own. Both are still in force, the Act in amended form, so signing Treaty 7 did not free those nations from the Act.
  7. b) Section 35, which recognizes Métis Aboriginal rights — Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 names the Métis as one of Canada's Aboriginal peoples, and Powley confirmed that Métis communities can hold harvesting rights under it. The Indian Act does not apply to Métis, and the case arose in Ontario, far from Treaty 8.
  8. d) Francophone school authorities run by francophones were created — Management and control meant francophone parents needed a real say in running their own schools, so Alberta set up francophone school authorities in the years that followed. Alberta has never made French an official language of its government; New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province.
  9. b) It gave eight Métis Settlements land and self-government — Alberta is the only province with a legislated Métis land base: eight settlements, each with an elected council, under a General Council. Métis people are not status Indians under the Indian Act, and reserves are a separate, federal system.
  10. d) Section 35 names the Métis as an Aboriginal people of Canada — Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes the rights of the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples, and Powley confirmed that it protects Métis harvesting. The Métis Settlements Act matters a great deal, but it is an Alberta law, so it cannot show a right in Canada's Constitution.