RIPoets: Demand the Inclusion of Canadian Literature in Canadian Secondary Schools

The MAPL System radically altered the inclusion of Canadian content by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Prior to 1971, no rules existed to protect Canadian music and culture in radio-broadcasting communities; as of 1999, it has been mandated that a minimum of 35% of Canadian content must be broadcasted by Canadian radio stations. This new regulation has allowed the growth and development of the Canadian Music Industry, and has been beneficial to perfect and adapt the connotation of a 'Canadian'. 

Canadian education, on the other hand, has fallen flat. There are currently no laws in education, at the municipal, provincial, or federal level, that denote a certain percentage of Canadian literature be studied in secondary school English classes. Instead, teachers at various school boards educate students from a variety of European - primarily English - texts. We at RIPoets have no issue with the inclusion of traditional American or British literature, but demand that the Canadian government act to mandate a minimum of 20% Canadian content in the grade 9 to 12 English classroom. It is a travesty to the maintenance of Canadian culture that Canadian high schools do not implement or study their own prose and poetry in higher amounts. 

RIPoets is dedicated to spreading the word about the importance of Canadian literature: and the idea that Canadian authors should be celebrated rather than ignored. Klein, Purdy, Crosbie, Michaels, McGimpsey - those are only a few of the famous Canadian poets that should be studied in detail in our secondary schools, not left to a higher undergraduate form of education. RIPoets supports not only Canadian poets, but the inclusion of Canadian literature in all its forms, into the secondary school classroom environment. This is an urgent issue that has been largely ignored by the federal government, and needs to be addressed by politicians at all levels.