Interview
Grade 10 History Unit 5 - 1968-Present Notes
- Course
- Canadian history
- Institution
- 2
Grade 10 History Unit 5 - 1968-Present Notes
[Show more]
Seller
Follow
Content preview
Activity 1: Challenge of Identity: MulticulturalismThe New Immigrants
In 1962, the Conservative government of John Diefenbaker introduced a new immigration policy
that did not judge immigrants on the basis of where they came from. Instead, they had to prove
that they had means of support, no criminal record, and no communicable diseases. This new
policy was meant to eliminate discrimination against identifiable national, religious, or racial
groups, which the Canadian Bill of Rights of 1960 had declared unacceptable. There was also a
strong belief that continued immigration was important to maintain economic growth, and this
new policy was seen by members of Diefenbaker’s government as the way to keep immigration
numbers up.
In 1967, Pearson’s Liberal government introduced the points system, which assessed potential
immigrants on the basis of a variety of factors, such as level of education and employable skills.
This was a further move towards a colour-blind immigration system, and the results were quickly
seen; in 1966, 87% of immigrants to Canada came from Europe, but by 1970, 50% came from
the West Indies, Guyana, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, and Indochina. Through the
1970's and 80's, the proportion of immigrants from Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin
America continued to grow. These new immigrants settled mainly in the major urban centres of
Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Other parts of Canada, especially the rural areas and the
Atlantic provinces, saw few of the new immigrants.
Multiculturalism as Government Policy
As Canada’s population grew more diverse, the question of what was Canadian culture became
more common. In the nineteenth century, when the majority of Canada’s immigrant population
originated in the British Isles, there were two main cultures in Canada: British and French.
Meanwhile, the Aboriginal Canadians were considered a success if they assimilated into the
mainstream cultures of Canada.
Following the large-scale non-British European immigration in the twenty years before World
War I, the attitude towards the new immigrants was that they should adapt themselves to the
majority culture (usually British), and relinquish the ties of language and culture to their home
countries. To that end, J.S. Woodsworth wrote Strangers Within Our Gates, advocating using
education as a tool to facilitate integration.
In the years after World War II, immigration continued to swell Canada’s population. Finally, in
1971, Canada officially adopted multiculturalism as official policy, with funding available for
,organizations dedicated to maintaining the cultural traditions of immigrants and their
descendants. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms confirmed this in 1982, affirming the
importance of “the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canada."
Thus, multiculturalism was enshrined in the Constitution. In 1988, the Multiculturalism Act stated
that it was government policy to “recognize and promote the understanding that multiculturalism
is a fundamental characteristic of the Canadian heritage and identity, and that it provides an
invaluable resource in the shaping of Canada's future.” Canada’s identity, in other words, was
not deemed to lie in a common culture, but in an identity shaped by common attitudes and
actions, rather than language or ethnic background.
Air India
In 1985, the multicultural nature of Canadian society was tested. On June 22nd of that year, a
bomb exploded on an Air India flight from Vancouver to India, which was carrying 329
passengers. Everyone on board died: 279 were Canadians, mostly of East Indian descent.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney phoned the Prime Minister of India to express his condolences
for India’s loss. The first prime minister to meet with the families of the victims was Paul Martin,
in 2005, saying, “The flight may have been Air India, it may have taken place off the coast of
Ireland, but in so many ways this is a Canadian tragedy."
The bomb was planted by Sikh extremists who wanted to exact revenge upon the Indian
government for storming the Golden Temple in Amritsar a year earlier. Certain members of the
Sikh community wanted a separate state from India, and were willing to use violence to achieve
that goal, much as the Irish Republican Army used violence to try to force the British
government to leave Northern Ireland. In both cases, innocent civilians were often the targets of
their terrorist activities. It seemed to many in the Indo-Canadian community that, as a result of
the Indian origin of the conflict, and of many of the victims, there was an attitude in Canada that
it wasn’t really a Canadian problem. “Had this been a tragedy that affected mainstream, white,
Anglo-Saxon Canadians, I think the response would have been very different,” said one woman
who lost her husband and both her daughters in the bombing.
On March 16, 2005, the two men charged with the Air India bombing were acquitted. On May 1,
2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a public inquiry into the Air India bombing.
, Activity 2: Challenge of Identity: Regionalism
Western Alienation
In 1980, Pierre Trudeau changed Canada’s energy policy, and managed to alienate much of
western Canada. The National Energy Policy, or NEP, had three goals:
a) To increase the Canadian level of ownership in the oil industry,
b) To make Canada self-sufficient in the production of oil, and
c) To share the Alberta oil profits more equitably with the rest of the country.
The policy involved taxing the oil revenues of established companies to fund the establishment
of a government-owned company, Petro-Canada, and make grants to other Canadian-owned oil
companies. As well, Canadian prices were kept below world prices. The policy was introduced
without the cooperation of the Alberta government or the oil companies, and they were angry. 80
percent of Albertans supported Premier Peter Lougheed when he cut the volume of oil and
natural gas flowing to eastern Canada in retaliation. The tax was removed within two years of
being imposed, but the damage to Alberta had already been done. Many foreign-owned
companies sold their investments because of what they perceived as too much government
meddling in their business, and the economy of Alberta went into a downturn. When Trudeau
died in 2000, many in Alberta still expressed deep resentment for what he had done in the
1980's.
It was not only Trudeau’s actions that led to an increasing level of discontent amongst
Westerners towards Central Canada. There had always been a sense that Ontario and Quebec
had dominated the decision-making in Confederation. In one instance, there was resentment
when Montreal got to be the host of the 1976 Summer Olympics, at the expense of the
Vancouver bid for the Winter Olympics, only a few years after Montreal got to host Expo 67.
Even the Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, elected in 1984 with widespread support
from Western Canada, was a disappointment to many Westerners. They felt that too much
attention was paid to Quebec’s demands at the expense of the rest of the country. This was
especially irritating at a time when the population of Alberta and British Columbia was increasing
at a faster rate than that of Quebec, thus meaning that they had a larger proportion of the total
population of Canada than did Quebec, without the representation in Parliament that they would
have if it was based solely on population numbers. They saw both the Meech Lake Accord and
the Charlottetown Accord guarantee Quebec 25% of the seats in the House of Commons,
regardless of the size of its population.
This was the sort of inequity that led to the establishment of the Reform Party of Canada in
1987, under the leadership of Preston Manning of Alberta. The party tended towards the
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller timeforminecraft2002. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for CA$5.00. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
82191 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now