Canada and DiasporaCanada and DiasporaAS/HUMA 1300 9.0A

Faculty of ArtsApril 29, 2009

Canada and DiasporaCanada and Diaspora

1. Immigration and the Construction of a Canadian National Identity

2. Post-1960s Immigration Programs 3. Multiculturalism and National Anxiety

Mackenzie King (1921-1948)Mackenzie King (1921-1948)

“I wish to make it quite clear that Canada is perfectly within her rights in selecting persons who we regard as desirable future citizens. It is not a fundamental human right of any alien to enter Canada. It is a privilege. It is a matter of domestic policy…[T]he people of Canada do not wish, as a result of mass immigration, to make a fundamental alteration in the character of our population.”

Early Twentieth-Century Early Twentieth-Century Migration to CanadaMigration to Canada

Most Wanted:English

French

Anglo-Americans

Acceptable:Belgians DutchScandinaviansSwissRussiansGermansPolesUkrainiansAustro-Hungarians

Early Twentieth-Century Migration Early Twentieth-Century Migration to Canadato Canada

Discouraged:Italians South SlavsGreeks SyriansJews AsiansBlacks Gypsies

Immigrant Flows Into CanadaImmigrant Flows Into Canada

1956-1976

UK and Europe64%

Asia12%

2000

UK and Europe 19%Asia

53%Africa/Middle East 18%LA/Caribbean 7.5%

Skilled Worker ProgramSkilled Worker Program

1. permits Canada to pursue maximum social, cultural and economic benefits of immigration;

2. supports the development of a strong and prosperous Canadian economy;

3. enriches and strengthens the cultural and social fabric of Canadian society.

Canada’s Point System 67/100Canada’s Point System 67/100

Education: MA or PhD (25 points); BA (20); high school (5)Language(s): High proficiency in English (16); moderate proficiency in French (8)Experience: (maximum 21)Age: 21-29 (10)Arranged Employment: Recruited nurses(10)Adaptability: Spouse’s educ. (3-5); study in Canada (5); employment (5); family (5)

Business Class ProgramBusiness Class Program

1. Encourages the entry of experienced business persons to Canada who can make a substantial investment and thereby create employment and contribute to the economic well-being of Canada;

2. Develops new commercial opportunities and improves access to growing foreign markets by "importing" people who are familiar with those markets and their special requirements and customs;

3. Business immigrants represent nearly 10% of total new immigrants.

Live-In Caregiver ProgramLive-In Caregiver Program

1. Equivalent of a Canadian high-school education;

2. Six-months full-time training or 12 months paid experience in the field (early childhood education, geriatric care, etc.);

3. Competency in English and/or French.

Refugee ProgramRefugee Program

Conventional refugees are persons who, by reason of well-founded fear of persecution, for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, are unable or unwilling to return to their countries of birth or habitual residence.

Bharrat Jagdeo (2002)Bharrat Jagdeo (2002)

“Guyana is not alone in a situation where our skilledpersonnel, especially teachers and nurses, are being recruited by developed countries. As a result, the issue of skilled migration will continue to be on the agenda of the Heads of Government of CARICOM at every encounter we have with the US, Canadian, French and British governments . . .On the one hand you are recruiting nurses and teachers and other skilled people and then sending back criminals to our country on the other hand.”

Negative Impact of Skilled Negative Impact of Skilled MigrationMigration

1. Reduced number of educated workers detrimental to productivity and economic growth;2. Caribbean countries lose an average investment of US$50,000 on every university graduate who migrates;3. Loss of educated elite leads to hiring of expensive foreign expatriates;4. Increasing poverty and criminalization.

Canada’s Three “Forces”Canada’s Three “Forces”

First Force: aboriginal peoples including status Indians, non-status Indians, Métis and InuitSecond Force: the Charter groups, both theFrench- and English-speaking communities constitute this forceThird Force: those racial and ethnic minorities who fall outside the Charter groups

Defining MulticulturalismDefining Multiculturalism

1. Descriptively (as a sociological fact);

2. Prescriptively (as ideology);

3. Politically (as policy); and

4. Socially as a set of inter-group dynamics (as process).

Aims of the 1971 ActAims of the 1971 Act

1. Assist cultural groups to retain and foster their identity;2. Assist cultural groups to overcome barriers to their full participation in Canadian society3.Promote creative exchanges among all Canadian cultural groups; and4. Assist immigrants in acquiring at least one of the official languages.

Canadian Multiculturalism Act Canadian Multiculturalism Act (1988)(1988)

1. acknowledged multiculturalism as a fundamental characteristic of Canadian

society;2. sought to assist in the preservation of

culture and language;3. sought to reduce discrimination and

enhance cultural awareness and understanding; and 4. Sought to promote culturally sensitive institutional change at the federal level.

Critiquing MulticulturalismCritiquing Multiculturalism

1.Contemporary racism in Canada can hide behind a veneer of multiculturalism that is both culture blind and race neutral;

2.Mono-multiculturalism—all cultures are not equal;

3.Depoliticized “pretend pluralism”—integration remains its highest priority.

Multicultural RacismMulticultural Racism

1. Multicultural fundamentalism miniaturizes othercultures even while celebrating diversity.

2. A pervasive Euro-centrism normalizes an Anglo-Canadian identity and culture as the universally assumed norm.

3. A subliminal cultural racism exerts an invisible hegemonic effect without drawing attention to itself.

Quebec village of Hérouxville bans stoning of Quebec village of Hérouxville bans stoning of women, veils, and excision, January 2007women, veils, and excision, January 2007

“Referring to Quebec’s policy of encouraging immigrants to settle outside Montreal, Drouin says it was important to inform potential immigrants of the village’s cultural norms: "We must ensure that people who come here want to live as we do,” he told La Presse. "The Muslims who wanted to impose Sharia, had they known that we do not stone women here, maybe they would not have come.”

Quebec village of Hérouxville bans stoning of Quebec village of Hérouxville bans stoning of women, veils, and excision, January 2007women, veils, and excision, January 2007

“Along with the bans, the Hérouxville document states that Christmas trees are a Quebec tradition, that swimming pools are mixed, and that pork meat and beef are displayed on the same shelves. Asked whether he fears being labeled a racist, Drouin answers: “We are not racists, we are explaining our culture.”