Multiculturalism in Canada

[13] Canada has experienced different waves of immigration since the 19th century, and by the 1980s almost 40 percent of the population were of neither British nor French origins (the two largest groups, and among the oldest).

By the early 21st century, people from outside British and French heritage composed the majority of the population, with an increasing percentage of individuals who identify themselves as "visible minorities".

Despite the official policies, a small segment of the Canadian population are critical of the concept(s) of a cultural mosaic and implementation(s) of multiculturalism legislation.

[23][24] Additional, specific ethnic groups that did immigrate during this time faced barriers within Canada preventing full participation in political and social matters, including equal pay and the right to vote.

[25] While black ex-slave refugees from the United States had been tolerated, racial minorities of African or Asian origin were generally believed "beyond the pale" (not acceptable to most people).

[34] By 2006 Canada had grown to have thirty four ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each, of which eleven have over 1,000,000 people and numerous others are represented in smaller amounts.

"Analysts generally agree that federal multiculturalism policy has evolved through three developmental phases: the incipient stage (pre-1971), the formative period (1971–1981), and institutionalization (1982 to the present).

[47] A century later the compromises made between the English and French speaking Fathers of Confederation set Canada on a path to bilingualism, and this in turn contributed to biculturalism and the acceptance of diversity.

[52] Charles Hobart, a sociologist from the University of Alberta,[53] and Lord Tweedsmuir, the 15th Governor General of Canada were early champions of the term multiculturalism.

"[55] Adélard Godbout, while Premier of Quebec in 1943, published an article entitled "Canada: Unity in Diversity" in the Council on Foreign Relations journal discussing the influence of the Francophone population as a whole.

[19] The report of the Commission advocated that the Canadian government should recognize Canada as a bilingual and bicultural society and adopt policies to preserve this character.

Former Progressive Conservative Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, (who was now Leader of the Official Opposition after his government was succeeded by that of Pearson on April 22, 1963), viewed them as an attack on his "One Canada Policy" that was opposed to extending accommodation to minority groups.

[63] The Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism report dealt with the contribution of non-Indigenous, non‑French and non-English ethnic groups to the cultural enrichment of Canada.

[65] With this in mind, on October 8, 1971, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau announced in the House of Commons that, after much deliberation, the policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism would be implemented in Canada.

What the world should be seeking, and what in Canada we must continue to cherish, are not concepts of uniformity but human values: compassion, love, and understanding.When the Canadian constitution was patriated by Prime Minister Trudeau in 1982, one of its constituent documents was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and section 27 of the Charter stipulates that the rights laid out in the document are to be interpreted in a manner consistent with the spirit of multiculturalism.

[70] The Canadian Multiculturalism Act was introduced during the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, and received Royal Assent on July 21, 1988.

[71] On a practical level, a result of the Multiculturalism Act was that federal funds began to be distributed to ethnic groups to help them preserve their cultures, leading to such projects as the construction of community centres.

[74] Professor Alan Cairns noted about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms , "the initial federal government premise was on developing a pan-Canadian identity"'.

[81] At present, six of the ten provinces – British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, and Nova Scotia – have enacted multiculturalism legislation.

Ontario has an official multicultural policy and the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration is responsible for promoting social inclusion, civic and community engagement and recognition.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador launched the province's policy on multiculturalism in 2008 and the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills leads its implementation.

[81] This current legislation deals with discrimination in race, religious beliefs, colour, gender, physical disability, age, marital status and sexual orientation, among other things.

[81] The Ministry of Citizenship and Culture Act (1990) (s. 4) states its purpose:[88] Quebec differs from the rest of the nine provinces in that its policy focuses on "interculturalism"- rather than multiculturalism,[89][90][91] where diversity is strongly encouraged,[92] but only under the notion that it is within the framework that establishes French as the public language.

[97] In the 1980s the provincial government developed a Ministerial Advisory Committee to provide assistance to the minister of Business in New Brunswick, who is in turn responsible for settlement and multicultural communities.

[81] New Brunswick is Canada's only officially bilingual province, with French and English-language provincial government services and schooling made available equally to all residents.

Aga Khan explained that the experience of Canadian governance – its commitment to pluralism and its support for the rich multicultural diversity of its peoples – is something that must be shared and would be of benefit to societies in other parts of the world.

[120] The Economist argued that Canada's multiculturalism was a source of strength that united the diverse population and by attracting immigrants from around the world was also an engine of economic growth as well.

[123][124][125] In the introduction to an article which presents research showing that "the multiculturalism policy plays a positive role" in "the process of immigrant and minority integration," Citizenship and immigration Canada sums up the critics' position by stating:[126] Critics argue that multiculturalism promotes ghettoization and balkanization, encouraging members of ethnic groups to look inward, and emphasizing the differences between groups rather than their shared rights or identities as Canadian citizens.

[129] Professor Joseph Garcea, the Department Head of Political Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, explores the validity of attacks on multiculturalism because it supposedly segregates the peoples of Canada.

[130] Some pundits, such as The Globe and Mail's Jeffrey Simpson and Carleton University journalism professor Andrew Cohen, have argued that the entire melting pot/mosaic dynamic is largely an imagined concept and that there remains little measurable evidence that American or Canadian immigrants as collective groups can be proven to be more or less "assimilated" or "multicultural" than each other.