it’s almost universally understood that Canada is among the most free, most-prosperous, and most welcoming countries that exist today. Our population is almost entirely made up of people who’ve immigrated here, and we’ve been at the forefront of every “quality of life index” for as long as I can remember.
So why are some people convinced that racism and discrimination are embedded in Canadian society and institutions?
The answer is a lot simpler than most people would think: people have forgotten our history.
Like every Western country, Canada has never been a perfect place, but it has always been a place where good people can succeed in life. With the exception of a few thousand African slaves that were transported to Canada during the European colonial era, nobody was ever forced to relocate here against their will. Even before confederation, people often made the decision to move to Canada so that they can live freely. This was seen during the offset of the American Revolution when an estimated 50,000 British Loyalists fled the United States to Ontario, Quebec, and the Atlantic Maritime. This was also true in the 19th century when over 30,000 Black US slaves made the treacherous journey along the Underground Railroad into Southwestern Ontario to escape slavery.
From Confederation in 1867 until the end of the first World War, Canada continued to open the door to immigrants fleeing uncertainty in their homelands. There’s no denying that the Canadian government favoured allowing in European Christians during this period: too often we are reminded of the infamous Kamagata Maru indicent of 1914, as well as the head tax imposed on Chinese nationals in 1885. It is in despite this intolerance, though, that thousands of Chinese, Jewish, Japanese, and Sikh immigrants made the move to Canada in search of a better life. These settlers overcame societal and institutionalized barriers to lay down the foundation that the Canada of today would be built on: their sacrifices lead to the creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway, their drive to succeed led to the creation of multiple communities in Western and Northern Canada that still exist today, and their commitment to preserving their own culture led to community enclaves sprawling up in urban centres across our young nation. Their ability to overcome is a staple part of our Canadian heritage, and is something that ought to be remembered today.
By the end of the second World War, Canada’s immigration policy shifted greatly. By this time, immigration policies became less focused on where a migrant was coming from, and more focused on how their skill set can be used to further develop the country. This led to a post-war immigration boom that allowed for our population to increase almost tenfold. In addition to this, the government of Canada took great steps in order to ingrain the concepts of racial, cultural, and religious equality within our society. In 1960, the federal government, led by Conservative Prime Minister John Deifenbaker, enacted the Canadian Bill of Rights: a federal statute that outlined the rights and liberties of Canadians. In 1982, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau expanded on Deifenbaker’s statute and actually reformed the Constitution to include a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter very clearly indicates that all Canadians, no matter their creed or heritage, are equal before the law. The passing of these two pieces of legislation were instrumental in ensuring that Canada would always be a free, equal, and democratic society moving forward.
So if we fast forward to 2019, it doesn’t take a sociologist to see that there is a collaborative push to brand Canada as a country where institutionalized racism is allowed to flourish. At first I invited discussion that challenged my understanding of Canada’s free and fair society. I learned quite a lot from them, but overall, it has become apparent that no amount of logic will convince some of these people that we are actually living in the least discriminatory period in Canadian history. Despite this, there are still people out there who will try to convince you that if you don’t believe current Canadian society to be racist and discriminatory, well, it can only be because you’re a racist too! All these people need to do is pick up a history textbook and they will find hundreds of examples of times when Canadians united against racial discrimination.
Like I previously stated, Canada has never been a perfect country, but it has always been seen as a beacon of hope and a land of opportunity for people living abroad. This coordinated effort to undermine our national unity along the lines of racism will eventually come to pass, and like our forefathers, only those of us who are willing to rise up against this social and political adversity will prevail.