Robert’s story did not occur in isolation and is, instead, is situated in the specific social, political and economic context of the late 1940s to 1950s. By this time, World War Two (WWII) had subsided, the economy was recovering, and Canada found itself fairly well situated to accept new immigrants (Hawkins, 1988, p.99). Fuelled by the expansion of certain industries (e.g. construction), this period “saw the beginning of a significant economic boom in Canada” (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.316; Troper, 1993, p.250). Therefore, what had previously been characterized by a relatively restrictive climate for immigration, due to the fear during WWII, was gradually replaced with more “libera[l]” (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.318) immigration policies …show more content…
Immediately following WWII, the need for labour was relatively indiscriminate; skilled and unskilled young men were recruited to remedy the labour shortage (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.318; Green & Green, 2004, p.114; Walsh, 2003, p.794). As Green & Green (2014) state, immigration was essential a way of “filling [the] skill gaps” (p.114) that existed in Canadian society at the time. However, as the labour ‘crisis’ waned in the 1950s, there became a greater emphasis on skilled labour in particular (Green & Green, 2004, p.114; Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.318). One manifestation of this economic focus in Canada’s immigration policies was the creation of a “contract labour scheme” (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.340) in the late 1940s; a program similar to the modern Temporary Foreign Worker Program (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.340). Immigrants who may have been previously viewed as undesirable (i.e. due to race or lack of financial security) were brought into Canada for temporary work to fulfill a need in a particular area of the labour market (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, pp.340-342). The sheer scale of Canada’s reliance on immigrants to bolster the workforce is evidenced by the fact that “from 1950-1995, immigration accounted for two-thirds of the total labour force increase” …show more content…
King articulated this impetus for immigration in his speech where he mentioned “the danger that [lay] in a small population attempting to hold so great a heritage as [Canada]” (King in Walsh, 2003, p.794). The large landmass of Canada in combination with the “low birth rate,” (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.340) particularly during WWII, required a larger population to ensure its prosperous future (Green & Green, 2004, p.113; Satzewich & Liodakis, 2007, p.42). This was particularly true for less desirable rural Canada, where the government specifically recruited Dutch farmers to occupy this relatively uninhabited area (Kelly & Trebilcock, 2010, p.340). Furthermore, Canadian immigration policies were created to encourage individuals to immigrate “as settlers rather than…temporary residents” (Walsh, 2003, p.795). The focus on growing Canada’s population appeared to be successful; by 1960, Canada’s population had nearly doubled in size from the 1940s to 18.5 million people (Kelly, 2010,
He pushed an ambitious agenda promoting industries, building railways and opening the west to immigrants from Europe. With that Canada started its way to multiculturalism. However, this plan didn’t present equal opportunities for immigrants. British people got jobs before others, and immigration threatened the survival of the natives.
MacDonald’s treatment of Aboriginals hurt the growth of Canada and set a standard of maltreatment toward Aboriginals that is continued today. While he was labelled as a friend and admired by Aboriginals, MacDonald’s actions reveal his true feelings and demonstrate his lack of regard for their wellbeing and rights. One can see that his mistreatment extends not just to those in Canada, but also those who are emigrating from other countries and regions, such as Asia. MacDonald was especially racist toward Asians, creating legislation that excluded the Chinese and Mongolian, marking them to be unfit for political office and representation. He felt that this exclusion was necessary to establish European dominance across Canada and
However, with the government of Mackenzie King’s decision to undergo these interments between 1941 and 1949, it is exceptionally clear that this reputation had been shattered, especially with his decision to deport many citizens to occupied Japan starting in 1946. Rao also notes, “The novel in fact problematizes the discourses of ‘official multiculturalism’ which sanctioned Canada as a 'cultural mosaic,' and underscores how in actual fact such policy glossed over the centrality of race in multicultural Canada. Multiculturalism simply ignored ethnicity and it was used to strengthen the dominance of Canada's two major cultures.” (Rao 2004) Basically, Canada’s multicultural society
This act resulted in diversity being brought into Canada because; now people from outside of the “British Nations” were granted permission to have a better life. This is one of the acts the Trudeau is well known for. Trudeau’s act still exists today and because of him many second generation families were able to establish in Canada. These acts of determination proved to the world that Pierre Trudeau was indeed an outstanding
Many Canadian citizens feel that their government betrayed the Chinese immigrants after the completion of the Trans-Canada railway in the late 19th century. However, Christopher Anderson argues in his article “The Senate and the fight against the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act” that the Canadian senate has never given up on the fight for the preservation of rights deserved by Chinese immigrants. In his article, Anderson depicts statistical data and explains legislatures imposed on the Chinese immigrants to strengthen his argument, and then he attempts to gain the reader’s support through employing a series of ethical and emotional strategies. Anderson begins his article by depicting a “full apology” made by the Canadian Prime Minister in hopes of seeking forgiveness for the restrictions imposed on Chinese immigrants.1 By employing this potent ethos statement, Anderson has already attempted to convince his readers about certain mistakes made by
Timothy Chua Candidate Number: Word Count: 3,076 Abstract: To what extent was the Act of Union a positive step towards peace for Canada? The essay introduces a very fresh British North America outlining some causes of the mass immigrants coming in, mentioning Loyalists, and Pioneers arriving from Europe.
Canada is a nation known for the multicultural population. It is seen as an attractive destination for the great social policies adopted by the charismatic leaders the country was able to create. Since the 1800’s, Canada’s immigration laws were severely restricted to non-whites, nevertheless, the country has now evolved to encompass all ethnicities equally. Canada’s identity, especially since the 1950’s and onwards, experienced rapid growth and change. This can be seen through the following examples: Immigration, Pierre Trudeau and the F.L.Q crisis.
In the article “Canada’s Immigration System Is No Kinder than America’s”, Adnan Khan speaks to the refocusing of Canada’s immigration system on short-term economic needs, rather than investing in high-skilled workers or ethical immigration policy. Khan documents ethical changes in immigration pathways such as Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker program, Refugee programs, and family reunification efforts which indicate the changing discourse around migrants from developing countries, Canada’s obligation to protect these migrants, and the sharing of resources and nationhood. This essay will critically analyze the examples and arguments presented in “Canada’s Immigration System Is No Kinder Than America’s” in order explore concepts of “worthiness”,
In the article “Newcomers Vote with Their Feet“ by Rudyard Griffiths, there is a lot of Canadians who have a negative attitude toward the newcomers, and the author suggested to resolve the Canadian immigration system problem. Canadians believe that they are able to choose the skilled immigrants just because they are one of the developed countries, and no one can resist Canada. Nevertheless, they are wrong beliefs. In addition, while Canada is the second destination of the new immigrants, 95 percent of the citizens who obtained the Canadian citizenship are unskilled workers. Furthermore, 20 percent of the spending of the federal goes to the language trainers.
Canada has a little piece of almost every culture in the world, shown through the large amount of people moving to Canada from every continent in the world. The multitude of cultures is displayed through the plethora of festivals held throughout the country every year, such as the Folk Fest, Edmonton Food Festival, Heritage Festival and the International Film Festival, all bringing in various cultures and traditions from around the world. Canada has all of these festivals due to the large amount of immigration that was even shown in Anita Rau Badami’s essay my Canada, when she and her husband had moved from India to Vancouver. Canada is one if not the most desirable countries to immigrate to, not only for the living conditions but because of the ability to keep your culture and not have to assimilate to a “Canadian” culture. Thanks to immigration Canada has become a great model country to look at for cultural diversity and cultural acceptance that any country can look at and try to model in their own
America is a country with a history founded on people looking for a new start and emigrating from the old world to fulfill their dreams. Immigration is not always happiness, rags to riches, and the American dream. Major immigration periods happened from 1607, 1820-1870 and again in the early 1900’s. Immigrant numbers were growing so exponentially that the National origins Act of 1921 and 1924 was enacted to put a quota limit that blatantly discriminated against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. Immigrants that made it in faced many hardships such as learning new languages, abandoning family, and accepting the American values.
Article Summary The article, The Colour of Poverty: A Study of the Poverty of Ethnic and Immigrant Groups in Canada (Kazempiur & Halli, 2000) sets out to answer the question of how different groups of immigrants are performing economically. Taking into account the ethnic origin, period and age at immigration and immigrant’s geographical location within Canada, the authors are able to examine each group individually and compare them. In publishing this article, the authors clear up the issue of why previous research involving immigrants ' economic performance have had mixed results.
The improvement of the rights of the Canadian Immigrants Canada, as one of the biggest immigration countries, welcomes people from all over the the world and forms a representative multicultural atmosphere in today’s society. Over these few decays, the country has always been consummating the laws to provide immigrants equal rights and freedoms, and better treatments they could receive. However, Canadian immigration laws were not unprejudiced and it eventually caused a “legal discrimination” before 1976. The legal rights of the immigrant groups have improved significantly because of the demands of developing the country, the influences of the wars, and the globalization of the world. Since 1880s, more immigrants and foreigners came to Canada because of the railway construction project.
Canada’s economy has undergone continuous changes throughout the years. Many of these developments include newly established acts, economical, and political reforms; the core of what has shaped the country into what it is today. More prominently, since the 1950s, Canada’s identity as a nation is stronger and more defined due to many of these growths. One can clearly see this from the following examples; the welfare state, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and NAFTA.
Immigration has been and will continue to happen all around the world. There are so many reasons for people who come from different countries and ethnicities to move from country to country. The reasons why these people immigrate is either they are simply forced to, due to violence and hostility or that they are in search of a better life for them, and or their family etc. Canada being rated number one in quality of life has been a goal for people wanting to immigrate. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act ( IRPA) was established by the Canadian government in the year 2002.