One of the last aspects of multiculturalism in Canada immigration itself. Much of the government policies concerning culture and the Canadian mosaic involve this topic in one form or another as is it is impossible to have diverse ethnic population without it.
The history of immigration in our country is not a proud one. The policies regarding foreigners not of European origin have been harsh in the past. In 1885, the Canadian passed the Chinese Immigration Act due to growing anti-Chinese sentiments. The Manitoba Free Press wrote in an editorial on July 2, 1885, the following warning for the government:
If something is not done speedily it will be too late to consider whether the Pacific Province shall be given up to the Chinese or not. They will have solved the question by taking complete possession of it. The Celestial wave may be expected to roll eastward. The channel for it will have been cut by the Canadian Pacific Railway through the Rockies. Ten times more people than Canada now holds could be poured in on us from the teeming soil of China without being missed from that land.
(Con, 1982:57)
More than one-hundred years later the sentiments toward the Chinese have changed drastically. Where one time there was a “head-tax” on Chinese immigration and only two to three-thousand were allowed in to Canada a year. Now, over the course of ten years from 1981-1991 over 173,000 Chinese immigrated to Canada. Making the Chinese people the number one source of immigration to Canada in the world. (Statistics Canada 1994: 7)
Canada’s new immigration involves the Multiculturalism Act and all the support that goes along with it. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) spent several months during 1994-95 in Canada-wide consultations on our future immigration policy. The campaign sparked an unparalleled national debate about some domestic and international challenges
that Canada faces, and the role that CIC should play. Among other things, decisions about the total levels of each immigration category were influenced by the opinions that were expressed.
All CIC’s operational courses include some training in ethnocultural diversity. In addition, about 500 employees at CIC received cross-cultural awareness training in 1994-95. Given the nature of its programs, this training is integral to most officers’ work-related learning. This is especially true for people who deal directly with the public, which includes immigration officers, citizenship officers, investigators, escort and removal officers, and case-presenting officers. (Savisky 1996: 97)
CIC’s Settlement Branch funds a number of organizations across Canada to deliver services to newcomers on its behalf. This includes second-language training and the production of settlement aids-such as life-skills courses that might involve learning
about good shopping techniques, job skills and appropriate winter clothing, etc. Many ethnocultural ly diverse people are generally on the staff of these immigrant-serving organizations. Among many others, these include: Ottawa’s Catholic Immigration Centre; the Association for New Canadians in St. John’s, Newfoundland; the Metropolitan Immigrant Settlement Association of Halifax; and Regina’s Open Door Society. (Savisky 1996:103)
All of these groups and legislated organizations help smooth the process of immigration into Canada. Each policy of multiculturalism and amendment to government law creates a more judicial atmosphere in which to inspect the mosaic that is Canada.
CONCLUSION
Multiculturalism is a varied term in Canada. There are many facets of this concept; education, the attitudes of Canadians, the official policy, the economic dimensions and finally the question of immigration. Each facet has been laid out in the preceding essay. In a nation that’s growth rate is 50% made up of immigration from other countries, multiculturalism has a lot of meaning. Canada has always been a diverse country stressing the mosaic rather than the American ideal of the “Melting Pot”. Diversity builds strength, but it also can be hard to manage given the hate that sometime results when inter-racial communities are mixed.
The Canadian governments of past histories have made mistakes and passed unfair laws and legislation that has added fuel to the fire for splintering of our mosaic. With new Canadian polices, the Multiculturalism Act being just one of many that sets trends for a new Canada. The policies will set fourth an embrace of the concept of many cultures and instead of fear of change will make laws to increase diversity. Our country will become a whole created out of a thousand different pieces, held together by the policies of our people…a true mosaic!
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