Significance of Maintaining Ethnic Heritage in Canada

Significance of Maintaining Ethnic Heritage in Canada

Understanding a person’s cultural beliefs is a difficult task. This is because people of different cultures think and behave differently. Some of the ideas that people hold are absurd, and one would wonder why they believe or do things the way they do. This is why someone would wonder how people exist in a multicultural community. How do they cope with the beliefs and practices of other people? How do they manage to coexist with people whom they don’t understand their way of life?  However, people living in multicultural society enjoy economic, social, and political benefits that others do not have. Their lives are spiced and flavored with the creativity that comes from integrating different cultures. These are people who are tapping from the skills, knowledge, and expertise that is available in the whole world. I would, therefore, state that it is valuable for people to retain their original ethnic heritage in multicultural countries such as Canada.

There are a lot of benefits to be accrued from living in a multicultural country. First, is that it allows people to preserve their culture and heritage. By enabling people to maintain their cultural identity in Canada and not discriminating against them, they can protect their culture. Prejudice against a community’s cultural belief leads the members to be embarrassed in what they believe in. If members of a particular group have been made to feel that their culture is backward, they will quickly abandon or publicly refuse to be associated with it. Multicultural countries such as Canada enhance peoples’ cultural beliefs without feeling out of place. These cultural beliefs and practices can then be passed from one generation to another. If a child is born in Canada, the parents can teach them about their rich cultural heritage and beliefs. This child, when he/she is grown-up, can pass down the information. Despite the loss of information down the chain, children born even in the third generation will be able to understand their cultural background and their beliefs.

It is also valuable for people to maintain their cultural heritage because it promotes understanding and appreciation of peoples’ cultures. Since there are diverse groups of people, all from different places, it opens the room for learning different cultures and appreciating them. A person can learn from the Asians, the Africans the Jamaicans, and understand the various cultural differences. This will lead to increased diversity and creativity. People can learn from each other different skills that are practiced in their diverse cultures. Having people from various cultures will also enhance a county’s flavor. Restaurants, boutiques, supermarkets, and grocery stores will be filled with a diversity of commodities to accommodate people from various cultural backgrounds. A person can, therefore, enjoy the richness and variety from the different groups of people. This will have a positive influence and even reduce racism in the country. As people get to appreciate who other people are, they will stop viewing them as inferior, and this will promote unity.

Maintaining the original ethnic heritage in Canada has economic benefits. Being a multicultural state, Canada accommodates many people from all walks of life. These people provide skilled labor, leading to economic growth. This is by the creativity and innovation that culturally diverse groups can provide. People from different countries bring to Canada different skills and expertise, which, when nurtured, leads to economic development. Canada also allows immigrants to work in their country. They, therefore, have sufficient labor to run their various industrial centers. The immigrants from different regions bring with them the creativity and expertise for their various industries. By having adequate laborers, they enhance productivity and the county’s competitive ability worldwide. If Canadians were racist, this would discourage culturally diverse people from living there. Immigrants and other professionals from other nations would work for a short while, feel out of place, and migrate back to their own countries. However, because they are well-accommodated and allowed to maintain their original heritage without discrimination, they can retain immigrants and other professionals who go to work there. Preserving their heritage has also benefitted the culturally diverse people because they can be allowed to take up positions of leadership in the county. Currently, about 12% of the county’s leadership is composed of foreigners from various ethnic groups. They can, therefore, fight and champion for the rights of people from different ethnic groups.

Conclusion

It is valuable for people to retain their original ethnic heritage in Canada. As we have seen above, it is associated with very many benefits. Parents can preserve their cultural heritage and practices and pass it down to other generations. If people were not allowed to maintain their ethnic heritage, they would forget their cultural beliefs and practices and, hence, not pass it down. Children born two generations later would not have an idea of where they came from or what they believe in. Having a multicultural society enhances the understanding and appreciation of people from different backgrounds. This will reduce racism and promote unity in the country. Retention of ethnic heritage has been associated with economic growth because people from diverse places bring diversity, creativity, and innovative skills that enhance the growth of the economy. Retaining ethnic heritage has also been associated with political benefits as members of different ethnic backgrounds can now be represented in the various leadership positions. It is, therefore, beyond doubt that multiculturalism and retention of ethnic heritage have many benefits. Consequently, I suggest that more countries should be encouraged to adopt this approach.