Canada as nation failed to assimilate the immigrants, minorities and Aboriginal individuals into society. Legislations like the Indian Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Immigration Act, and Multicultural Act were introduced to help reduce the more recognizable forms of racial discrimination. Canada may believe that they are a nation that is justice and diverse however it failed to fix the core issues that made Canada to what it is today. The laws and regulations are a temporary fix to the problem, and Canada national building was originated in a corrupt and immoral way. Each historical events in Canada are linked together that made up Canada`s identity. Though they seem to be unconnected it indicates the hidden agenda Canada
Jocelyn Letourneau’s is a history professor that wrote the essay “Reconstructing the Canadian Identity”. The author argues that if one compares the Harper government's idea of conservatism against Trudeau’s idea of multiculturalism, the reader can infer that multiculturalism is failing and Canada should go back to its monarch roots. By bringing back symbols of monarchy, a new Canadian perspective would form. Letourneau’s essay is structured in a very well and composed matter. His arguments and connections are structured in proper format where his whole essay can be linked and understood easily by the average individual. Although Letourneau’s essay is structured in a proper format, it is without its faults. The essay contains many fallacies that give his arguments a weak perspective on the topic. Also throughout his essay, the author appears to be taking a side within his argument. His bias viewpoint makes himself, and his work uncredible to the reader.
Canada’s identity is tremendously challenging to delineate, due to encompassing a vast population of various cultures, traditions, and values spanning an enormous landmass. From various historical perspectives, Canadian identity has changed over the course of the last century - valuing discrete ideologies through various time periods. Due to various government policies and acts, as well as reformed beliefs and ideas regarding large social issues, Canada’s identity has shifted and constantly renewed its identity over the course of the past half century.
Ever since Canada had become its own country in 1867, due to the confederation, there have been many movements to further build the nation as a whole to create an identity. The building of a nation is a process of a society where history, languages, cultures, traditions, and religions, come together as one to be a unified whole (Gounden, NATION – BUILDING). Many would argue that Canada’s attempts to nation building have been successful, while many would also argue that it has been unsuccessful. “Attempts at nation-building in Canada have been unsuccessful” is a valid statement and can thoroughly be argued and analyzed for the many reasons. Although Canada has made many movements to building the nation, many of the movements were successful
A lot of things and people pitch in to the Canadian identity. I think Canadian immigrants have contributed to the Canadian identity because they made Canada have different people besides Canadians. This also shows that Canada welcomes any culture and anyone from any country to Canada because they are open to anyone. By Immigrants coming to Canada, It made Canada be different, and a better country. If Canada did not let these immigrants into our country, it shows that Canada is not a welcoming country and other countries might not treat Canada well if they were not nice but thankfully, they are nice. Secondly, Canada would be pretty different if in world war two, if women didn’t start to enter the workforce. I think this contributed to the
The Canadian government portrays the country as a land of new beginnings, where people go to start a better life for themselves and their families. With much to offer to newcomers, including the promises of safety, security and healthcare, the vast selection of jobs and education, and an overall high quality of living, many immigrants have chosen and will continue to choose Canada as their new home country. Canadian officials take pride in accepting and embracing multiculturalism - as Canada is often referred to as a country of cultural mosaic in contrast to the idea of the American ‘melting pot’. This image of Canada overlooks the ill-advised past actions that have taken place, much the same way as it disregards the subtle discrimination that
It was not until the 1960s when previous assimilation and limited diversity began to change. The federal decision to move away from ethnic intolerance and assimilation saw the beginnings of diversity tolerance for Canada. The government was left with no choice but to tailor their mandates around the shifting opinions of Canadians. Increasingly, “Canadians found the old policy incompatible with the liberal and democratic values of Canada” (71) along with “increased disaffection with the policies of assimilation on the part of minatory ethnic groups themselves” (71). Social standards were changing amongst the general public.
The history of Canada is the era of where colonization all began towards aboriginal peoples. Over the past decades, aboriginal peoples have been mistreated and misused by the white-Europeans. They have been oppressed by Canadian society that we are known still by today and continue to live under racism resulting in gender and class oppression. The history of colonialism has been playing a big part in the way of how aboriginal people have been constructed and impacted on how aboriginal people are treated and viewed in Canadian Society. They have been dealing with the struggles, inequality, and discrimination that we have been putting them through for over three centuries, we’ve been also failing them with Canada’s racist policies
Canada as a nation is known to the world for being loving, courteous, and typically very welcoming of all ethnicities. Nevertheless, the treatment of Canada’s Indigenous population over the past decades, appears to suggest otherwise. Indigenous people have been tormented and oppressed by the Canadian society for hundreds of years and remain to live under discrimination resulting in cultural brutality. This, and more, has caused severe negative cultural consequences, psychological and sociological effects. The history of the seclusion of Indigenous people has played a prominent aspect in the development and impact of how Indigenous people are treated and perceived in today’s society. Unfortunately, our history with respect to the treatment of Indigenous communities is not something in which we should take pride in. The Indian Act of 1876 is an excellent model of how the behavior of racial and cultural superiority attributed to the destruction of Indigenous culture and beliefs. The Indian Act established by the Canadian government is a policy of Aboriginal assimilation which compels Indigenous parents under threat of prosecution to integrate their children into Residential Schools. As a nation, we are reminded by past actions that has prompted the weakening of the identity of Indigenous peoples. Residential schools has also contributed to the annihilation of Indigenous culture which was to kill the Indian in the child by isolating them from the influence of their parents and
Each year lots of new migrants enter the Canadian economy therefore Canada has been classified as a multi cultural country, and due to this our citizens are more socially and globally aware of what is going on around them. Canada’s immigration Act and system helps our country be more culturally diverse, it increases economic growth, and make’s Canada a safer place to be which we can call our home. Along with new migrants coming every year, therefore ethnic communities are massively increasing by population and size.
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
The original intentions for the residential schools were to “remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.” These two objectives make it clear that in the past we viewed the Aboriginals as unequals, we treated them as if we were superior, trying to rid them of their culture and spiritual beliefs. The motives of assimilation were wrong and have no place in Canadian identity.
To begin, an article featured on The Canadian Encyclopedia offers clear explanation as to why defining as a singular concept is so difficult. It states, “The question of what it means to be Canadian – what moral, political or spiritual positions it entails – has been a vexed one, so much that some people place the question itself at the centre of the identity.” (Blattberg, 2016). This quote highlights the idea that the topic of Canadian identity has become so intricate and conversed, that the struggles to define it have evolved to become part of it. The article identifies that several social divisions have occurred over time that can explain why Canadians are so disconnected from each other. These include the separation that exists between
Canada is a very diverse country consisting of several ethnicities however our nation is relatively unified through the appreciation of our differences. This is the opposite of ethnic nationalism. Furthermore, countries who organize themselves according to ethnic nationalism, are believed to have fewer rates of hate crimes and less racism, however the common ignored factor to ethnic nationalism is, these countries are blind to different ideologies that challenge their policies which may benefit them. The idea of staying with like-minded people preserves culture but allows slower rates of progression as nothing is challenged, thus everything stays the same in a fast-paced and flexible modern world.
Aboriginal persons in Canada have been facing oppression ever since colonization began. Even when Canada gained independence from the British Empire, the oppression continued and still goes on today. One major contributing factor to the oppression of Aboriginal people in Canada is the actions taken by the Government. The Government of Canada has in fact mistreated and found to be partaking in wrongdoing when dealing with the Aboriginal population in this country. With this ugly truth being revealed, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had to be tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government in the hope of resolving conflict left over from the past. (cite)
From the first contact between Aboriginal Peoples and European immigrants to the present day, the aim of Canadian government policy has been to assimilate the Indigenous Peoples of Canada. The attempted forced abandonment of their culture was perpetrated through a variety of strategies including force, aggression and legalities. While historians and politicians may disagree about the motivations of Canadian policy, the impact has been irrefutable. In efforts to create one unified nation, successive governments failed to recognize their destructive actions. In this failure, Canada has come close to shattering the sub-nations and peoples who comprise them. This paper will review the government’s effort to absorb the Indigenous peoples’ culture, their refusal to assimilate, and will also identify potential strategies for future relations.