Nowadays, when concepts of integrity, complexity, and globalization play a huge role in shaping our society, a concept of multiculturalism is common and widely accepted by most countries in the world, including Canada. According to Statistics Canada, as of January 2014, an estimate of Canadian population exceeded 35 million people and 20.6% of the total population are immigrants from other countries (Statistics Canada, 2014). These figures mean that on average every fifth person living in Canada was born in another country. This is especially relevant for Province of British Columbia, where, according to BC Stats, the population estimate equals to 4.6 million people as of July 2013 and BC was named one of the three Canadian provinces that accept most immigrants from all over the world (BC Stats, 2014). Unfortunately, the most recent demographics research on British Columbia population available was made in 2006. However, those numbers can still help to evaluate proportions of different ethnicities living in BC right now. As of Canada 2006 Cencus, minority population equaled to 24.8% and 10% of those immigrants were Chinese. Chinese people represent the biggest immigration minority in British Columbia, followed by South Asian (6.4%) and Filipino (2.2%) (Chui, 2006). While being the biggest diaspora in BC, Chinese population keeps growing as new working and studying opportunities provided by federal and provincial governments. The main aim of this research is to 4study historical reasons that led to given nowadays demographics. This paper is going to try to support an argument that historical events happened in Canada in the past and involved Chinese immigrants, especially the building of Canadian Pacific Railway, had a positive eff...
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... the country. Talking about CPR role in all of that, it became a special event that helped collective-oriented Chinese people to gather in their own groups in order to counter cultural differences and other difficulties of the foreign country. It helped CPR workers to become that foundation for other immigrants, which helped newcomers to assimilate and successfully fight against racist attitude, unfair taxes and bans from job positions. Railway construction was that key occasion that allowed Chinese to integrate and become a significant part of Canadian population. As the conclusion for this research, it seems possible to suggest that CPR construction gave Chinese a cause to overcome marginalization and exclusion by white majority of Canadian population and as, nowadays situation shows, that was beneficial and profitable for Canada, as well as for Chinese ethnicity.
The Canadian Pacific Railway was the first transcontinental railway built to connect Canada from coast to coast. (Canadian Pacific Para. 9) The construction almost delayed completely because of John A. MacDonald losing power, but it was finally continued with the help of a syndicate. (Canadian Pacific Para. 4) Due to the insufficient amount of adequate workers in British Columbia, Chinese contract workers were imported to help construct the track with minimal pay and harsh conditions. (Canada Para. 1) Chinese-Canadians were discriminated by being given the most dangerous job, no food or shelter provided, and the least pay. Unfortunately, when the track was completed, the Exclusion Act for Chinese immigrants was established to stop immigration from China, (Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre Para. 5) while also making it impossible for family members from China to immigrate. (Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre Para. 11)
There was a notable divide between Canada’s French and English-speaking population in the 1960s, as they each presented contrasting views of the country’s national identity. As the federal government faced what seemed like two separate nations embodied within a single country, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson assembled the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in July 1963. It was to evaluate the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism and recommend the actions needed to alleviate the largely linguistic and cultural divides in Canada. Pearson’s directive was given at a time when Quebec was experiencing a period of great social and economic development through the Quiet Revolution, while English-Canada was grappling with the re-establishment of the country’s identity as the British definition of Canada was becoming increasingly rejected. This paper will assess bilingualism and biculturalism as it challenged national identity, seen through the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCBB) and the influence of the Quiet Revolution; which resulted in policy – the Official Languages Act in 1969 and the Official Multicultural Policy in 1971 – that ultimately shaped bilingualism and biculturalism within what became a multicultural framework in Canada.
In “Canadian Multiculturalism: Global Anxieties and Local Debates” Keith Banting and Will Kymlicka challenge the understanding that failed multiculturalism in Europe will follow suit in Canada. Although Canada is not immune from the challenges that can come with multiculturalism, the way in which they tackle problems are country specific and do not necessarily reflect the practice or outcomes of other nations. As UK critic of multiculturalism Trevor Phillips, observes Canada to be ‘sleepwalking towards segregation’ (44) when the dynamics are far more complicated. TRANSITION SENTENCE REQUIRED
Vancouver currently maintains an image as a sort of maternal ethnic melting pot, a region rich in cultural diversity and with a municipality that is both tolerant and welcoming of various displays and traditions. However, upon closer examination of recent history, it becomes clear that the concept of the city embracing minorities with a warm liberal hug is both incorrect and a form of manipulation in itself. The articles Erasing Indigenous Indigeneity in Vancouver and The Idea of Chinatown unravel the cultural sanitization that occurred in Vancouver at the turn of the nineteenth century as a means of state domination. Through careful synthesis of primary documents, the articles piece together the systematic oppression suffered by BC indigenous people and Chinese immigrants, reformulating our perception of the interests of the Canadian government.
During the time period of 1880 - 1885 approximately 17,000 Chinese immigrants immigrated to Canada in the hopes of better work, and improved living conditions. These immigrants were sadly disappointed as they were met throughout Canada with resentment and racist views. After the completion of the Canadian transcontinental railway the mainly Chinese population that had been employed as works began to disperse throughout Canada. This dispersion created “Chinatowns”, generally located within British Columbia and Vancouver. This time period of prejudice and hate becomes extremely significant as it shows the way that Canada overlo...
Do you know that despite Canada being called multicultural and accepting, Canada’s history reveals many secrets that contradicts this statement? Such an example are Canadian aboriginals, who have faced many struggles by Canadian society; losing their rights, freedoms and almost, their culture. However, Native people still made many contributions to Canadian society. Despite the efforts being made to recognize aboriginals in the present day; the attitudes of European Canadians, acts of discrimination from the government, and the effects caused by the past still seen today have proven that Canadians should not be proud of Canada’s history with respect to human rights since 1914.
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
“Multiculturalism” entered public speech in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Canada that focused on unique cultural diversity, nationalities, and ethnicity across the nation. Multiculturalism and Immigration are important factors in the development of Canada to attain a strong multicultural example of economic stability, social and political growth which leads to the emergence of Canada’s identity and culture.
There has always been a problem for Canada with the definition of its national identity. In fact, it would almost be fair to say that an unease about the lack of such a collective identity is what defines Canadians the best. This page briefly considers some of the causes of this situation, and then goes on to consider some broad themes which might be described as distinctively and characteristically Canadian. Obviously, this is a very tricky area, as any discussion of national identities must be, with the twin dangers of oversimplification and essentialism. But the purpose here is merely to convey to the uninitiated a little taste of what Canada is and has been, in cultural terms.
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
In 2011, more than 200 ethnic origins were reported in the National Household Survey, and 13 of those different ethnic origins had surpasses the one million mark in Canada, thus showing much diversity, and with diversity comes benefits. A variety of ethnic restaurants, grocery stores and clothing stores add more “life” and brightness to communities and areas, which attracts more residents and tourists. Thus, benefiting society by attracting new residents and tourists, which also adds to the stability and strength of the community. Moreover, as Canadian schools develop a cross cultural learning, citizens learn about diversity and the world, which benefits overall understanding and their education. Another benefit of multiculturalism, is that as more immigrants settle, communities benefit from cultural celebrations and more diverse cultural music, arts and food, thus benefiting society socially. Continuing onward, as diverse people migrate to Canada, they bring along a desire for goods from their homes and original location markets and such, thus benefiting society by contributing to a 0.2 per-cent rise in the value imports, along with a more interesting and varied market overall. Accordingly, a diverse population makes a community more and colourful and full of “life”, evidently benefiting
In today’s world, you can easily recognize a Chinese man or woman while crossing a street in a busy town in the United States. The influx of Chinese immigrants nowadays has been straightforward acknowledged since many corporations established by Chinese men. This, however, was not a common scene you would see back in the late 1800s. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion passed by the government had restricted free-immigrants to the US and emphatically prohibited Chinese immigrants. The question has been given: “Why did Chinese receive so many negative comments and critiques from Americans, particularly the nativists, that strong enough to force them to flee out of the US? What happened? Did they deserve to be treated poorly and non-defensively?”.
Multiculturalism is a significant fabric of Canadian society that defines its unique identity among the rest of the world. Enactment of the Canadian multicultural policy (1971) affirmed government position and recognition of multiculturalism as a vital element of Canada. It is imperative to understand that multiculturalism is a static concept that keeps changing overtime and has a multidimensional entity. Canadians have always and will continue to revise the concept of multiculturalism to suit the ever expanding needs of Canadian society. In this paper, I will evaluate the reasons behind Canada’s adoption of multicultural policy and assess whether the policy should be maintained or not. I will defend the thesis that Canada’s multiculturalism
Mordecai Richler. These writers are not meant to represent any ethnic group as a whole,
Morton (1998) shows that Canada is not built by just Canadians, he shows that what Canada is made today is because of the help of immigrants and strengthens Canada as a whole in his essay “Introduction: I”. Morton (1998) says immigrants to come to Canada because of many reasons, such as job opportunities, want to get rich, or to be more realistic, escape poverty (Morton, 1998). Furthermore, Morton (1998) shows reasons how immigrants reshaped and enhanced Canada. First, he says that “To get rich, men and women trekked inland, hunting, for fresh supplies of fur, better trade routes, deeper forests, and more good land.” (Morton, 1998, p. xiii). This quote shows the struggles of male and female immigrants had to go through to achieve their dream.