Social 9 Final Project

Running the Campaign

Congratulations, you have nearly completed the
politicians in training course here at St Francis Junior high.
You should now have a broad understanding of the various
issues that affect political and economic decision making
here in Canada, and you have had a chance to decide where
you stand on many of these issues. Now you have the
opportunity to apply what youve learned to ensure a good
quality of life for all Canadians.
You will be placed into political parties, based on the
beliefs and values you hold. You will work with your party to
develop a personal political philosophy, and a political
platform that your party will run on during the election.
Each party will also participate in a leaders debate. Your
party will select a leader who will be the main speaker, and
who can choose speakers for particular topics. Questions for
the debate will be drawn from issues that we have discussed
over the course of the year.
After the debate the class will vote for the political
party that they would like to have run our country for the
next five years. For the sake of ensuring there is a clear
winner, and no cheating, you are not allowed to vote for
your own party, and you must have your name on your
ballot in order for it to be counted.
There will be a prize for the party that gets the most
votes, and forms government.
Where do you stand?
As a class we will go through the quiz at
www.politicalcompass.org. Now some of the terms and ideas
go a little beyond the scope of what we talked about this
year, but thats ok. I will describe the questions as we go,
and answer any questions you might have. Your job is to
answer with your gut and as honestly as you can. I will plot
our classes scores on a grid and use the information to
place you in your groups for the final project.

Assessment:
Each section will be graded out of 5 marks based on
level of detail and quality of reasoning.
Individual Work: Personal Political Philosophy
(30 Marks)
What does being a Canadian citizen
mean to you?
What are the main responsibilities of a
Canadian Citizen?
Stance on the justice system
How you would support or improve
minority/collective rights?
What you would do to improve the
quality of life for Canadians?
Stance on the education system
Group Work: Party Platform
(50 Marks)
Party Name, Slogan and Logo
Description of party beliefs and values
5 Specific Key Issues with rationale
Social Programs
Taxation Model
Economic Systems
Stance on Labour
Consumerism and The Environment
Immigration Policy
First Nations Rights

Total: 80 Marks

Your Personal Political Philosophy

Even though you are part of a political party, you are also an individual
politician with your own points of view on various issues.
Format:
Your choice! Select whatever medium you think will best be able to
inform your constituents about your personal political philosophy.
Possible formats include: An open letter, campaign speech, TV or Radio
interview (talking points), slide presentation, etc. Feel free to be
creative but please run any ideas by the teacher before proceeding.
Each individual party member is responsible for their own personal
political philosophy.
What to Include:
What does being a Canadian citizen mean to you?
o Discuss what Canadian citizenship and identity mean to
you. How do you view this country? How do Canadas
laws and political structures shape individual and
collective identity in Canada? What are the best and
worst things about being Canadian? What makes your
country unique and special?
What are the main responsibilities of a Canadian Citizen?
o What kind of responsibilities do Canadian citizens have?
What are Canadians legal and political responsibilities?
What are Canadians social and environmental
responsibilities? What are Canadians economic
responsibilities? What are Canadians responsibilities as
global citizens?
Stance on the justice system
o To what extent does the justice system meet the needs
of all Canadians? To what extent are we too tough on
young criminals, or not tough enough? To what extent do
citizens play a meaningful role in the justice system? To
what extent is the justice system fair and equitable for
youth?
How you would support or improve minority and collective
rights?
o Canada is a multicultural nation, how should we go
about ensuring that everyone is free, and treated fairly
by their fellow citizens and by our government? How do
we ensure a fair society for all Canadians including First
Nations/Metis/Inuit peoples, Francophones, and other
minorities
What you would do to improve the quality of life for
Canadians?

o What aspects of quality of life do you think are most

important to Canadians, and what ideas would you
promote to make sure that those aspects improve or are
protected?
Stance on the education system
o Describe your experiences with the education system in
Canada. To what extent does it meet the needs of
students? What would you do to change or improve it?

Group Party Platform

Your must work as a group to develop well reasoned responses to the
following topics. You may need to do reading and research as a group
in order to provide adequate responses. These responses must reflect
the perspective of your entire political party.
Format: Responses to the following topics should be typed up and
submitted as one report, with all party members names on it.
What to Include:
Party Name, Colors, Slogan and Logo
o Your party needs a unique brand that people can identify
with; you must choose a name for your party that reflects
your beliefs and values. You must also have a catchy
slogan, for example, Here for Canada, is the current
Conservative party slogan. Also, create a unique logo, and
choose (a) color(s) that people can identify with your party.
Description of party beliefs and values
o Political parties share a set of beliefs and values, which
guide their actions, and shape their policies. Choose and
explain 7 core values for your party, and give 7 beliefs
related to those values.
o Values are concepts, which we hold important: security,
peace, freedom, honesty, stewardship of the environment
etc.
o Beliefs are statements about things you think are true.
They are based on and shaped by your values. For example
if you value education, you might believe that educated
citizens are necessary to a working democratic society.
5 Specific Key Issues with rationale
o There are a variety of specific issues that are important to
Canadians. Throughout the year you have had a chance to
examine many of them. Choose 5 specific issues that
Canadians care about and write a paragraph explaining
your partys stance on each issue.
Social Programs
o Canada provides a variety of social programs to combat
the effects of economic inequality. Select four social
programs provided to Canadians, and give a reasoned
explanation of why your party would expand, contract or
keep that program the same.
o Social programs include things like: Health Care, Housing
Assistance, Income Assistance, Old Age Pensions

o Read more about social programs in Canada and the

United States on pp266-277 in your Issues for Canadians
text.

 Taxation Model
o Governments must take in taxes to support the processes
of government and the social programs that are provided
to citizens.
o Create two pie charts. One showing where your
government will draw taxes from (income tax, corporate
tax, sales taxes, etc.). One showing where your
government will spend the taxes it collects.
o Write a paragraph or two explaining and justifying the tax
model you show in your charts.
Economic Systems
o What direction will your party take Canadas economy? Will
you shift it right and take a free market approach? Will you
shift it left and move it towards a mixed economy
approach? What actions will you take to change the
economy? What will these changes accomplish, and how
will they improve quality of life for all Canadians?
Stance on Labour
o What is your partys stance on organized labour (unions)
will you support unions as champions of workers, or
combat them for holding society and our economy
hostage?
Consumerism and The Environment
o How will your party balance consumer economics and
environmental concerns?
o What will your party do (if anything) to address Climate
Change
o You can examine general issues in your text on pp302-306.
Climate change is covered on pp307-317
Immigration Policy
o How will your political party ensure that immigration is fair
and equitable for all people involved; immigrants,
Canadian citizens, and First Nations
First Nations Rights
o What will your political party do to support First Nations
rights and improve the quality of life for FNMI peoples
across Canada?

Leaders Debate:
On the last class we will host a leaders debate.
Each party will select one person to be their leader.
Each leader will give an opening speech explaining what their
party is all about.
Parties will take turns answering questions about the various
topics you covered in your political platforms.
Each party will have a chance to respond to every question.
The leader can respond on behalf of the party or choose an
expert from the party to speak on a specific topic.
Based on the leadership debate the class will cast their votes and
choose a party for form government.
Election:
Each person gets to vote for one (1) political party
You must put your name on your ballot
You CANNOT vote for your own political party
There will be a prize for the party that gets the most votes
In the case of a tie we will have a run off election. All students
will vote again, but must choose from one of the tied parties.