Canadian Government and Politics
The story of Canada since 1867 is, from multiple points of view, a fruitful one: For about one century and a half, individuals from different cultures, languages, and backgrounds, thrown together in the massive, northern reaches of North America, established a free society in which regional communities had equal opportunities to grow and prosper, connected by the common thread of the emerging national identity. There were various false steps along with them, such as struggles of the Aboriginal people for survival and frequent tensions over federal unity. However, despite these challenges faced by the nation, Canada is an example to the world of a modern, workable nation-state. When it comes to immigration, Canada can be divided into two regarding World War II. Before the war, immigration primarily understood within the context of establishing an agricultural giant and collecting many workers to cut down forests and excavate minerals from the belly of the planet. After 1945, many people, many people, migrated from the devastated continent.
In Britain, the refugees were fleeing towns and cities damaged by the onslaught and diet stunted by rationing; there were about 41,000 women and 20,000 children fathered by Canadian soldiers posted to the United Kingdom during the war. Refugees also poured out of Germany, mainly when the nation was being partitioned into Soviet and Western Germany zones. Refugees also poured out of countries such as Netherland, Italy, Belgium, France, and Austria. Canada played an important role in providing settlement areas for these refugees. Ottawa was dedicated to welcoming a significant number of healthy refugees, though Canadian anti-Semitism acted as an obstacle to survivors of death camps and Jewish refugees. The centennial year showed a further transformation in the immigration policy. During this period, Ottawa accepted refugees from the United States, the British Isle, and Western Europe (Edmonston, 2016). In the era of centennial immigration, immigrants were provided with a reference list if they understood either English or French, they were non-dependent adults or not too old adults, if they were interested in settling in parts of the nation with high needs for laborers or if they were trained or received an education in the area of demand. In the 1960s, many American men and women migrated to Canada to avoid being recruited into the United States Army for duty in the Vietnam War. Canadians from Africa started increasing in the 1990s, and most of them settle in urban areas.
The immigration of refugees from different parts of the world to Canada since 1867 has played an essential role in the growth and prosperity of the nation. Economic growth was slow and varied from region to region. Industrial development gradually helped Southern Ontario, part of the Maritimes and the upper St Lawrence River Valley. However, Quebec rapidly lost population because of modern farming techniques, soil exhaustion, and increases in American agricultural tariffs allowed fewer farmers to make a living through agriculture. Emigration from the Maritimes was caused by the weakening of the traditional shipbuilding industry. The Maritime economy was also affected by the weakening of mutual trading connections with the New England states, resulting from Ottawa’s Protectionist National Policy. About 1.5 million Canadians migrated to the United States and other foreign countries between the 1970s to the 1890s. Fortunately, Canada started experiencing prosperous times. The number of immigrants began increasing, and in 1901, the nation received about 50,000 immigrants, and the number increased rapidly. The prairie wheat boom was an essential part of Canadian success. Wheat production increased from 8 million bushels in 1896 to 231 million bushels in 1911.
The prairie population increased rapidly, forcing the government to create the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. The completion of two new cross Canada railways, the Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific, created a breakthrough for western cities such as Vancouver and Winnipeg because the trading and the shipping centers developed rapidly. About 30% of new immigrants went to Ontario, and Toronto took a more significant percentage of new immigrants (Edmonston, 2016). These immigrants provided labor to Toronto’s factories, stores, shipyards, and construction gangs. Canada developed into an urban and industrial society; the family-related social-assistance and self-help practices were outdated. The dynamic social gospel movement among protestants and the multiplication of social-assistance activities by Roman Catholic orders and agencies instituted a remarkable response. However, it was inadequate. Governments, especially at the provincial level, extended their duties in education, welfare, and labor. Through immigration, Canada became a multicultural society, especially in the significant developing industrial cities. About a third of immigrants originated from non-English speaking European nations. Italians, Scandinavians, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Dutch, and Russian Jews were the dominant groups.
From my point of view, Canada’s diversity plays an essential role in shaping the country’s identity. The benefits of diversity in a country can always be taken for granted. However, Canada is a stronger, more successful, and better country because of its difference. Many Canadians use the terms we are open, accepting, progressive, and prosperous while defining the state. There is a direct connection between these attributes and the nation’s success in establishing a more diverse and inclusive society. Diversity works well for Canada because the government understands that difference is not a challenge to be overcome or a problem to be tolerated. However, it is an excellent source of strength. Canadians also accept the fact that the nation’s diversity is an excellent source of power, and Canada has succeeded economically, culturally, and politically because of diversity. Canada’s story is a confirmation that inclusion and diversity work not only as aspirational values but also as a verified path to prosperity and peace. Like other countries, Canada has also been experiencing debates between individuals who support Canadian immigration policies by reminding the citizens that Canada is experiencing growth and prosperity because the nation is inclusive and diverse, and individuals who oppose the immigration policies. Immigration is undoubtedly among the nation’s strengths.
Many Canadians are immigrants because settlers on native lands established Canada. Therefore, having in mind that Canada is a nation created by settlers, we need to recognize the primary challenges created by multiculturalism, inclusion, and diversity, and find solutions to these problems and challenges. About a quarter of the Canadian workforce is comprised of immigrants, and a diverse workforce is always innovative. Therefore, organizations can use the labor force diversity to solve the challenges experienced by the various firms. Some of the different challenges created by differences include increasing costs of living in major towns and cities and well as the relocation of individuals to rural areas. The movement of people to rural areas could disturb the local environments. The main challenge lies in the interaction of cultures and ideas. For people living in Canada, immigrants can present new and challenging ideas different from their way of life and people arriving in Canada, and they may be under pressure to conform to Canadian identity (Momani & Stirk, 2017). The stress and anxiety to follow may make the new immigrants isolate or feel alienated from their social confines. Furthermore, many minority communities living in Canada always think that both immigrants and Canadians threaten their cultures and identities. This challenge can be overcome if Canadians decide to create a respectful community based on the diversity of cultures and opinions.
Some of the issues I will analyze in this essay include how diversity and the changing notion of citizenship have affected the idea of Canadian national identity and whether it is possible to use a singular definition for Canadian identity. The question of what it means to be a Canadian is a challenging question and a much-debated one. For over a long period, Canadians have never reached an agreement on a single, unified conception of the nation. Most notions of Canadian identity have changed between the concepts of plurality and unity. They focus either on a vision of a “nation of many” or “one” Canada. A current view of Canadian identity views it as marked by a combination of both plurality and unity (Blattberg, 2013). The pluralist approach tries to respond to the tensions of the national, ethnic, religious, political, and regional composition of Canada. In many old nations, the name of the dominant ethnic group is synonymous with the state’s identity — for example, Germans in Germany and French in France. However, Canada had many First Nations and numerous ethnic groups from the beginning. This makes it a significant challenge to pin down a Canadian identity in the traditional sense.
Questions concerning what it means to be a Canadian has been a difficult question to answer because some people see the problem itself as central to that identity. After all, Canadians have never reached a single, unified agreement. According to various observers, the failure of Canadians fails to reach a separate unified agreement because primary social divisions prevent such beginnings from taking shape. First, there is a separation between Indigenous people and the European colonists and their descendants. Second, a significant separation between the two solitudes. Solitudes refer initially to colonists with either British or French ancestry. Widespread immigration since the Second World War has created a poly-ethnic society. Some people believe that as unsuited for a unified concept of the nation.
The unified concept of the Canadian identity has taken numerous forms throughout history. It usually depends on the authority given the final word over issues of deep disagreement. Initially, there were two primary views on the idea of Canadian identity. Monarchists based their opinions on the crown and the close ties between Canada and Britain. Mercantilists, on the other hand, supported protectionist economic policies to improve exports. There are also two candidates on the duty of Canada unifying concept. One states that in a democracy, the people have the final authority. This view depends on the American republican model. It stimulated the unsuccessful Canadian rebellion of 1837-38. It additionally mirrors the different populist developments and gatherings that have been persuasive now and again. These incorporate the Social Credit parties in the west and Quebec, Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and the Reform Party. The second philosophy of a just society established the foundation of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s opinion of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He embedded this into the Constitution during its patriation from Britain. The former Prime Minister’s “Dream of one Canada” calls for consistently regarding the individual rights of all Canadians. This is the reason he so emphatically restricted the unsuccessful Meech Lake Accord. It would have perceived Quebec as a “distinct society” and permitted its residents to be dealt with uniquely in contrast to other Canadians.
There are many threats to Canadian society. Some of these threats include untamed nature, as indicated by the harshness of winter, the wilderness, or Aboriginal people, the separatist movements established by Québécois nationalists and the balkanization of the nation because of the multicultural policy that some critics argue that has created ethnic ghettos instead of the assimilation of immigrants. This view has driven its advocates to take an aggressive position towards these alleged dangers. The pluralist origin of Canada can be the best answer to the tensions such as regional, ethnic, national, and political differences in the country. As indicated by this view, the rights contained in the Charter do not frame a unified entirety. Or maybe, they should be adjusted against one another. This is entire concerning Canadian customs. The perspective on Canada as a profoundly differing network focuses on the significance of settling clashes by utilizing discussion rather than negotiation (Blattberg, 2013). This view accepts that dialogue works toward the benefit of all by concentrating on tuning in and attempting to universal comprehension. Consultations, interestingly, include rival sides trying to get the best outcomes for themselves.
Some of the sources that I would use to develop and support my arguments include Canadian Identity & Canadian Identity and Language. Canadian Identity” and” Canadian Identity and Language,” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Toronto: Historical Dominion Institute, 2013) by Charles Blattberg. This article is an excellent source of information concerning the issue of Unity in Canada. The article discusses the various challenges that the country has experienced why trying to establish its true identity. The author has also provided multiple ways through which the issue of a unified Canada can be achieved. The author, Charles Blattberg, is a professor of political philosophy at the Université de Montréal. The article was last updated on 4th December 2019. Therefore, it covers the most recent issues concerning Canadian identity. I will also use the article “Diversity Dividend: Canada’s Global Advantage,” written by Bessma Momani and Jillian Stirk, published in 2017. The authors indicate the as other nations formulate and implement strict policies to prevent the entry of immigrants into their country, Canada has always opened its doors to refugees. Now it is self-assured to enjoy the fruits of favorable immigration policies. The article talks about in length about the various immigration policies implemented by Canada. They also discuss events of the past, such as immigration after the Second World War, which played an essential role in shaping Canada’s future. I will also support my arguments by using the book “Canada’s immigration Trend and Patterns,” written by Barry Edmonston. The author argues that people started the migration to Canada a thousand years ago. The French and British settlers arrived in the nation in 1600, creating room for other groups of people to migrate and settle in Canada. This book provides a great source of detailed information about Canada’s immigration patterns. I will use these three sources to present and defend my points of argument.
References
Blattberg, C. (2013). Canadian Identity & Canadian Identity and Language. Canadian Identity” and” Canadian Identity and Language” in The Canadian Encyclopedia (Toronto: Historical Dominion Institute, 2013).
Edmonston, B. (2016). Canada’s immigration trends and patterns. Canadian Studies in Population, 43(1-2), 78-116.
Momani, B., & Stirk, J. (2017). Diversity Dividend: Canada’s Global Advantage