Reflection on the Diversity in the 1990s and 2000s
The influx of Chinese in Toronto in the early 1980s could be attributed to several factors, especially from the political aspects. Being a communist state, China imposed harsh and punitive martial laws whenever it got confronted with calls for democracy. Such instances even called for brutal use of force when the need arises through the quelling of chaos, confrontation, and dissent, as evident in the case of Tiananmen Square. Thus, the agitation for democracy and the subsequent brutal suppression of such calls in communist China could have significantly contributed to the surging number of immigrants in Toronto. The excerpt highlights that as a result of the massacre, the then Prime Minister of Canada responded with a 1990 measure known as OM IS 399, an immigration program that allowed 4500 Chinese international students to attain immigrant status in Canada” (1). Thus, the democratic space in Canada gave rise to multiple aspects of the Chinese culture as religion, diverse groups of people, Chinatowns, social spaces, and media outlets affiliated to the Chinese culture arose.
The haven that Canada provided to the Chinese immigrants owing to its respect for human rights gave rise to unmatched diversity in Canada, overcoming the past white supremacist ideologies. In the wake of the Immigration Act in 1885, Canada adopted more stringent immigration policies aimed at curtailing the influx of Chinese immigrants. However, in the 1990s, the Canadian government passed a humane approach, which led to the rise of various aspects of the Chinese people. In that regard, people such as astronauts, satellites, and parachute tags for immigrants arose too. Such definitions were also accompanied by the rise of several hotspots such as Chinatowns in Toronto, a development initiative “that was mostly funded by the City of Toronto since it was an avenue for tourism and gave the city the much-needed diversity” (6). Thus, to a great extent, the Canadian government aided the rise of Chinese immigrants after historically discouraging it.
Though the influx of immigrants in Canada from the late 1980s was well-intended, it brought ills such as human trafficking, souring numbers of adopted daughters, and runaway crime in the Chinese community. From a personal perspective, such troubles could have emanated from the infiltration of the criminal gang in the immigration programs that the Canadian government initiated. The excerpt highlights that some immigrants from East Asia were affiliated to criminal networks that concentrated their illegal activities such as extortion and robberies, in the Chinese community“(5). Such aspects could be linked to human trafficking, which was also rampant by then. The struggle by the Canadian government to correct the wrongs it committed against the Chinese immigrants in the 19th century could have motivated such permissiveness in Canada.