1.4 Clifford Sifton

multi-cultural Canada?

John A MacDonald“On the whole, it is considered not

advantageous to the country that the

Chinese should come and settle in

Canada,” said Macdonald. “That may

be right or it may be wrong, it may be

prejudice or otherwise, but the prejudice

is near universal.”

National PolicyJohn A MacDonald’s re-election platform in 1878

1. Railroad

2. Western Settlement

3. Protective Tariffs

The railroad was finally completed in 1885, just after

the Northwest Rebellion.

The Railroad

Kicking Horse Pass

William Van Horne

Put in charge of the

C.P.R.

• Experienced boss

• Used cheap Labour

(China, FN, others)

• Given 25 million acres

of Prairie land

• Got Railroad done in

1885

Difficult Engineering

Chinese Workers• Thousands of workers

were brought from China to work on the railroad.

• Paid less than ½ wages, and given dangerous work.

• Expenses were deducted from wages.

• Many thousands could not afford to return to China.

The Last Spike• By 1885, the railroad

was completed.

• There was

o Infrastructure

o Land Available

o Opportunity

John A MacDonald“the Aryan races will not

wholesomely amalgamate with the

Africans or the Asiatics”

“the cross of those races, like the

cross of the dog and the fox, is not

successful; it cannot be, and never

will be.”

Wilfred Laurier

Clifford Sifton• When Wilfred Laurier

(Liberal) was elected

as Prime Minister in

1896, he put Clifford

Sifton in charge of

Immigration.

• Sifton had an “open-

door policy” to

immigrants of all

backgrounds.

Immigration Ads

Who Came?• Britons who had little land/resources

• Religious minority farmers from

Russia/Ukraine/Poland that were seeking a new life

• Americans looking to expand

• Poor immigrants from places like Ireland looking for

jobs in the city

Multi-Cultural Canada

BacklashPeople gave various reasons for resenting immigrants:

1. More workers dilute the job market, keeping wages

low and unemployment high

2. Fear that immigrants might change the dominant

culture

3. Fear that French-Canadians would become an

even smaller percentage of the population

4. Racial prejudice

Closing the Door• After 1905, Canada began to look for ways to close

the door to immigrants that were not desired.

• Over the next fifty years, immigration policy

became based primarily on race and religion.

Critical Questions1. How has immigration policy affected our country

today?

2. What is immigration policy based on today? Is this

fair?

3. Why is immigration such a “hot topic” today in the

media, and in American politics?