Nationalism And The Effects Of Multiculturalism On National Identity

Canada’s identity comes in many shapes and forms. Multiculturalism has been adopted and is at the forefront of Canadian identity. Following the Second World War, Canada’s multiculturalism policies became more acceptable and even successful in, not only accepting, but inviting multiple ethnic cultures in. In contrast to other countries, multiculturalism adaptation works for the Canadian culture. Canadian policies on multiculturalism have shifted over the past few decades; policies are now implemented for integration, not discrimination.

“Multiculturalism exists when people accept and encourage many cultures to thrive in a society. Multiculturalism can lead to many great outcomes, including racial and ethnic harmony, which simply means that people from different backgrounds get along well together. Living with and accepting different cultures helps us understand each other and discourage hatred and violence.” () Furthermore, various ethnic groups introduce their individual beliefs, traditions, as well as, religions to the Canadian society. Generally speaking, be part of an expanding multicultural society has impacted Canada economically, demographically and socially. Thus, the presence of the variety of different cultures, languages and heritages, results in the need for the county to adapt and change, based on the new reality of Canada.

A key challenge the idea of Canada as a racially-inclusive society are the events surrounding immigration policy throughout its history. Two periods of history which display this are the events regarding Chinese and Asian immigration, and Indian immigration. Each of these moments display how the Canadian government used its power to ensure Canada was a white supremacist state. In the case of Chinese immigrants, the state used rigorous measures to reduce immigration, and initiatives to ensure individuals to did immigrate were not successful.

Canada is internationally renowned for its commitment to multiculturalism. In fact, Canada was the first nation to officially adopt a multicultural policy. However, while the Canadian government has developed a broad-based multicultural mandate that includes a national human rights code and increased penalties for hate-motivated crimes, and most Canadians oppose overt forms of discrimination and hate, racism continues to exist in Canadian society, albeit in a subtle fashion.

It is important to effectively integrate immigrants, and get them participating in Canadian political affairs. This will help Canadian society in the long term as it allows for a clearer understanding on how it is that their marginalized immigrant populous desires to be represented. Canada’s diverse population has various needs, and ethnic minorities are amalgamated as outliers as they continue to experience various forms of persistent inequality in the shape of social exclusion (and more specifically, social capitol). The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate why social capitol is important to immigrants, identify immigrant voting patterns in accumulation to how social capitol influences them, in addition to proposing a solution that

The main purpose of this paper is to make an analysis of something of the major questions that arise in minds of the people pertaining to the concept of multiculturalism in Canada. We shall discuss in this paper, whether or not multiculturalism is working for Canada. Furthermore, we shall analyze

The Canadian identity is an ever changing idea that has drastically changed generation to generation to finally develop as what is known today as the “ethnic mosaic”. Canada has evolved from being a predominantly Caucasian country to one containing this “ethnic mosaic”; a mix of ethnic groups, and cultures that coexist within society. Here, Canadians, especially immigrants are free to express themselves and their culture without the fear of discrimination and have many opportunities to widen their horizons since this country has developed in this positive manner over the years. Contrary to Shastri’s beliefs, I believe that the ethnic mosaic is true and that Canada is a land of opportunities.

Canada has never acknowledged itself as a homogeneous nation but rather rooted in diversity . The government assume a neutral role in regards to religion and accommodation, keeping in mind the goal of integration based on differences . Immigrants are placed in a different situation where they are expected to adopt and assimilate elements of the Canadian culture and at the same time still try to keep their own cultural identity . Canada is known for encouraging diversity and has a positive perspective on minority group’s traditional practices . The Multiculturalism Act is supposed to give the same and fair recognition and accommodation for non-dominant groups .

Immigration and racial diversity have always been an important notion of the Canadian identity. Historically, matters pertaining to the aforementioned topics have been dealt solely at the Federal level. The article aims primarily to evaluate three notions that may affect how immigration and racial minorities are viewed by the native-born white Canadian population at a provincial level. Borrowed from the Canadian Election Studies, data collected over a twenty-year period,1988-2008, is utilized to determine if the economy, demographic, and culture impacts the native-white Canadian attitude towards said non-native groups in the respective provinces. (Bilodeau,Turgeon,Karakoc, 581)

The current collective vision of national identity in Canadian society is that Canada is a pluralistic society, where their is many members from all different types of ethnic groups and where Canada accepts all immigrants from around the world. Canada is also known as one of the most multicultural nation states, which allows individuals to practice and maintain their culture and traditions without fear of their rights being restricted. Canada is welcoming and open to the many different cultures and ethnicities from around the world, everyone is also equal under the law. Through Canadian history many members were excluded from our current collective vision. Some members of the current collective vision feel excluded, because of how with a

Canada is often referred to as one of the most progressive countries in the world for a multitude of reasons: being the first country to constitutionally enshrine aboriginal and treaty rights, the steady escalation of interracial Canadian marriages, and committing to the official policy of Multiculturalism, which is entrenched in the 1982 Constitution Act and the Multicultural Act of 1988 (Fleras, 2017). However, Canada is not the post-racist utopia as it appears to be as that Canada is not necessarily the same Canada “experienced by the disenfranchised such as Aboriginal peoples, racialized minorities, and the newest Canadians” (Fleras, 2017, p.7). The reality of Canada’s seemingly pristine reputation is routinely glossed over with “polite fictions of tolerance, fairness, and generosity” (Fleras, 2017, p.6). That is, there is a discrepancy between the ideal – what Multiculturalism says it is doing in combating racism – and the real – what it is really doing in perpetuating a racialized and racist Canada (Fleras, 2014, p.246). In my essay, I will be unveiling three inconvenient truths and how they are masked. First, I will describe how Multiculturalism is merely a system that manages different ethnicities in a way that allows white privilege to prevail. Second, I will debunk the myth of Canada’s near-non-existent colonial legacy. Last, I will explain the myth of meritocracy and how it is reflected in a vertical mosaic. Only through a series of polite fictions that mask

Canada is a country that sets an international standard for the acceptance of people of all cultures and ethnicities, that is why is not surprising that Canada adopted the official policy of multiculturalism in 1971. Canada became the first country in the world to officially adopt multiculturalism therefore linking all citizens and celebrating the multitudes of race, religion, and cultural ethnicities that exist throughout the country (Government of Canada 2012). The policy has been a topic of controversy amongst citizens and scholars due to the belief that it almost has a certain “un-nationalistic” quality that doesn’t put Canadian culture first when in fact, the policy is designed to incorporate all the varying cultures into one unified Canadian

Furthermore, she argues that Canada’s official multiculturalism policy was enacted as a solution to the crisis of whiteness that had emerged in the post-war era. It reconstitutes reconstituting whiteness as a culturally tolerant cosmopolitan whiteness, thus leading to the erasure of Canada’s colonial and imperialist history. She also maintains that the policy categorizes people of colour culturally and has thus led to the reconfiguration of race as culture and cultural identity – to the extent that minorities reproduce their own classification according to culturalism terms. She criticizes multiculturalism for the othering of immigrants in relation to the dominant white nationalist identity as well as for denouncing the claims and rights of Aboriginal

Multiculturalism is raised in section 27 in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Jonson). An instance where multiculturalism negatively impacts Canada, revolves around new immigrants. A problem raised with the introduction of multiculturalism is that “for some people, ‘multiculturalism’ is a descriptive term for demographic pluralism. Pluralism can stem from the coexisting of longstanding minority groups” (Bloemradd, Wright, 2014). This created issues of conflict between minority groups which related to “ethnic, racial, and religious diversity generated by immigrants and their decedents” (Bloemradd, Wright, 2014). The Charters regulations were often taken for granted by minority groups, where many “subnational minorities (…) often reject inclusion within a framework of multiculturalism since they argue got self-determination and sovereignty rights” (Bloemradd, Wright, 2014). Furthermore, these examples of minorities rejecting inclusion exemplifies how multiculturalism is threatened by the Charter. The purpose of the charter was “to enhance multicultural heritage of Canadians” (Uberoi,

A country built on immigration, Canada has long had a reputation of being culturally and ethnically diverse. While multiculturalism is meant to be built on equality and appreciation of different cultures, its concept has gained both support and opposition. On one hand, it allows for more assortment and the voices of minorities have a higher chance to be heard. On the other hand, loss of unity and conflicts may occur due to contrasting worldviews of the citizens. All in all, multiculturalism is a controversial policy that has both advantages and disadvantages, but has proven to be a successful strategy in Canada.