Franco-Ontarians have founded an array of institutions to ensure their long-term cultural survival. By patronizing them, Franco-Ontarians are communicating their desire to belong to the community, to distinguish themselves from the majority, and to be recognized as part of a distinct cultural entity. Based on Habermas' notion of the public space and on Breton's concept of institutional completeness, this study aims to explore how Franco-Ontarians regard the value of institutions as public spaces which affect the nature of Franco-Ontarian identity. Surveys and interviews were conducted with patrons of the francophone theatre centre La Nouvelle Scene, to gather information on motivations and expectations in associating with such institutions. This study's main finding was that Franco-Ontarians don't accredit their sense of identity to the substance of La Nouvelle Scene's activities, but rather to its very presence within the community's boundaries and to the consequences that this presence entails.

Abstract not available.

Abstract not available.

Neoliberalism and globalization have contributed to an environment of economic uncertainty in rural Canada, raising concern for the social well-being of its residents. Despite immense challenges, many rural communities possess positive elements of social cohesion that can be used by the community in the pursuit of their communal objectives. This thesis uses social cohesion as a theoretical framework to examine this rural social environment, its relationship with sport tourism and sport's ability to foster social cohesion. Using Plaster Rock, New Brunswick and the World Pond Hockey Championships (WPHC) as a case study, this thesis broadens social cohesion research to include tourists and other visitors to rural regions. In doing so, this thesis demonstrates how the social potential of sport creates a community around the event with its own social cohesion. The residents of the host community participate in the event's activities, which contribute to the achievement the common goals of all stakeholders, local and visiting. This research begins to examine the unique social environment which exists in many rural communities, as well contributes to a better understanding of sport and sport tourism's ability to foster social cohesion in these communities.

This thesis research contributes to the literature on Finnish Canadians, and in particular the second-generation, which has attracted limited scholarly attention. It examines how these individuals make sense of their Finnish ethnic and Canadian cultural identities, and the intercultural communication issues that emerge out of their sense of belonging to two cultures. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 second-generation Finnish immigrants in the Ottawa area following Rubin and Rubin's (2005) responsive interviewing approach. It was found that these individuals identify strongly with being Canadian but largely experience symbolic ethnic identity, acknowledging their ethnicity as important but not living day-to-day within Finnish ethnic culture. While some did not report difficulties as a result of their two cultures, others experienced intercultural communication issues with Canadians and/or Finns. These findings suggest that, in some cases, even symbolic ethnic identity may result in intercultural communication issues with both ethnic and broader cultural group members.

To better understand the relationship to Otherness, postcolonial translation theorists have examined cultures that are far away in space or time. This dissertation takes an alternative approach by examining a contemporary, nearby Other, that is Native People who have been dominated over in a system that has "translated" them. This study analyzes a set of institutional representations of Canada's First Peoples. Its goal is to shed light on how these representations create a frame of reference that impacts public discourse about these people. Particular attention is paid to movements of consolidation , displacement, or subversion exercised within these frameworks. The review starts by recalling the historical conditions governing the first representations of Native People. It continues by analyzing the representations produced among the spheres of greatest influence: the legal, educational, museological, and linguistic institutions. How do the earliest colonial representations continue to filter through in present-day legal texts? How to educate tomorrow's decision makers about historical and current Native realities? How do museums construct the population's views of these realities? What is the status of Native languages against that of the two "official" languages of colonization? What support do Native languages receive, to allow them to assume their role in education and the development of Native identities, or for defining what is modern? These are the questions that each chapter explores and answers. The creation of the Dominion of Canada put the last touch to the definition of "Indians" as persons. Henceforth, power relations between First Peoples and colonizing forces became asymmetrical, and Canadian institutions got considerable powers of influence, not only over representations of the Native Other, but also over the production and reproduction of these representations. It is important that the subject, who reads and interprets Otherness through the symbolic representations that impact his/her frame of reference, be conscious of the predominance, in public discourse, of representations projected by institutions. This dissertation has attempted to uncover the competing power relations that are at work in representing Native People, while focusing on the position of people who represent, and on the position of those who are represented. This has led us to foreground areas of possible intervention favouring the recognition of Native people in Canada.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.