Since 1982 and the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canada has asserted itself in the promotion of multiculturalism and equality of all citizens. Canada is a democratic society which stands to address the needs and desires of individuals in a fair and open approach. In addressing multiculturalism, understanding how some specific groups may be at a significant disadvantage based on their perception in society. It is argued that the ideals and laws incorporated in the Islamic religion and culture make it challenging for individuals to successfully immigrate and adapt into a western democratic society. There are significant challenges in all aspects of their lives, that make them find difficulty in adopting a new way of living while still adhering to their faith and culture. Post September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks have left Canadian immigrants and citizens who are of the Islamic religion and culture, the most scrutinized members in a country that promotes multiculturalism. This is due to negative media connotations, the failure of the government perpetuating fear and allowing concepts like Islamophobia to be produced among citizens. Multiculturalism was the forefront for the creation of the Charter and the advancement of equality. Pierre Trudeau's policy was about ensuring the cultural freedom of Canadians. Cultural freedom as an expression is meant "to break down discriminatory attitudes and cultural jealousies. Attitudes and jealousies are rooted in cultural insecurity and this can be reduced by ensuring that individuals are free to be whoever they choose culturally" (Forbes, 2007). While understanding what the Charter was created to achieve, there are also challenges it faces such as backlash from cit... ... middle of paper ... ...se who commit such crimes, should not be associated with any religion at all" Nesbitt-Larking, 2007). A large population of Muslims recognize that they themselves also could do much more to connect with society on a bigger scale, to conquer the obstacles and difficulties that they experience and to take more accountability for integration. Nonetheless, commitment and involvement need also encouragement and support from the majority of society; there is a need to do more to provide accommodation for diversity and eliminate barriers to integration. Political members and the institutions have a meticulous duty to send an understandable message of respect to all communities and offer believable answers. Now more than ever they need to institute significant intercultural discourse and endorse practical policies that support integration and diversity among minorities.
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
Historically, Canada has held a world renowned reputation as nation with a magnanimous ideological approach to providing asylum to those individuals subjected to marginalization and persecution in their homeland – regardless of their nation of origin (Ismaili, 2011, p.89 & 92). Indeed, providing sanctuary to refugees who would otherwise experience significant hardships ranging from blatant discrimination and racism to torture and genocide, has very much become an institutionalized aspect of Canadian society. However, recent changes to Canada’s immigration policy delineated in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Bill C-31 may have perhaps put this ideology in peril (Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, 2001).
Canada is an ethnically diverse country. The notion of "multiculturalism" began circulating in Canada in 1971 and is a word that is now commonly used to define this country, unlike the word "melting-pot" which is used to describe Americans' loss of ethnic identity. The broadcasting system in Canada is pressured by the government to acknowledge the culturally diverse society by broadcasting a fair representation of the population in terms of ethnicity. This is achieved through the many acts that have been passed through parliament: the multiculturalism policy of 1971, the Canadian Multiculturalism Act of 1988, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982, the Ethnic Broadcasting Policy of 1985, and most recent, the Broadcasting Act of 1991. These legislative and policy frameworks have provided guidelines for the management of Canadia...
Today in Canada it is not uncommon to see people of various races, ethnic backgrounds or cultural groups living within a mutual society; commonly known as multiculturalism. Multiculturalism refers to the presence of, or support for the presence of several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society. As the topic becomes more more popular due to news events and social media debates, multiculturalism gets twisted and misunderstood. In essence, multiculturalism is not about dwelling on about our differences, it is about emphasizing our commonality. Diversity of the human race has the power to unify society and make it stronger. Firstly, innovation
The federal government is deeply concerned with protecting human rights, evolving new Canadian Identity, strengthening citizenship involvement, increasing Canadian harmony and participating in cultural diversity across the nation. These significant goals can help the policy of multiculturalism composed of four key objectives:-
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
Every year, over 250,000 people make Canada their new home. Attracted by its education system, economy and universal healthcare system, there are few other places in the world like it. All Canadians are guaranteed equality before the law and equality of opportunity, regardless of where they are from. However, some might argue that Canadian policy has not been put into practice as well as it should be. Is the concept of true equality a far-fetched idea? It seems that Canada has taken great measures to promote the integration of immigrants socially, but can the same be said for their integration economically? Politically? To judge whether or not Canada has been successful at promoting the integration of immigrants in these realms, a deeper understanding of Canadian policy must be considered.
There was a notable divide between Canada’s French and English-speaking population in the 1960s, as they each presented contrasting views of the country’s national identity. As the federal government faced what seemed like two separate nations embodied within a single country, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson assembled the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in July 1963. It was to evaluate the existing state of bilingualism and biculturalism and recommend the actions needed to alleviate the largely linguistic and cultural divides in Canada. Pearson’s directive was given at a time when Quebec was experiencing a period of great social and economic development through the Quiet Revolution, while English-Canada was grappling with the re-establishment of the country’s identity as the British definition of Canada was becoming increasingly rejected. This paper will assess bilingualism and biculturalism as it challenged national identity, seen through the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (RCBB) and the influence of the Quiet Revolution; which resulted in policy – the Official Languages Act in 1969 and the Official Multicultural Policy in 1971 – that ultimately shaped bilingualism and biculturalism within what became a multicultural framework in Canada.
Do you know that despite Canada being called multicultural and accepting, Canada’s history reveals many secrets that contradicts this statement? Such an example are Canadian aboriginals, who have faced many struggles by Canadian society; losing their rights, freedoms and almost, their culture. However, Native people still made many contributions to Canadian society. Despite the efforts being made to recognize aboriginals in the present day; the attitudes of European Canadians, acts of discrimination from the government, and the effects caused by the past still seen today have proven that Canadians should not be proud of Canada’s history with respect to human rights since 1914.
36 Fleras, Augie, and Jean Leonard Elliott. Engaging Diversity: Multiculturalism in Canada. Toronto: Nelson, 2002: 171.
Canada emphasises equality and inclusiveness for all of its people. The notion of multiculturalism is often referred to as one of Canada’s major accomplishments and a distinctive element of Canadian identity. Immigration has played an integral part in the development of multiculturalism within Canada. Diaspora refers to a large group of people with a similar heritage or homeland who have since moved out to places all over the world (“Diaspora” Elieser Ben Rafael). Many diasporas’ want to keep in touch with their homeland, this is seen with the hundreds of alternative media outlets that are created to counteract mainstream media. The Chinese diaspora is incredibly active in Canada due to the large population. For this reason, they have several
Multiculturalism is a significant fabric of Canadian society that defines its unique identity among the rest of the world. Enactment of the Canadian multicultural policy (1971) affirmed government position and recognition of multiculturalism as a vital element of Canada. It is imperative to understand that multiculturalism is a static concept that keeps changing overtime and has a multidimensional entity. Canadians have always and will continue to revise the concept of multiculturalism to suit the ever expanding needs of Canadian society. In this paper, I will evaluate the reasons behind Canada’s adoption of multicultural policy and assess whether the policy should be maintained or not. I will defend the thesis that Canada’s multiculturalism
... presence of religious diversity amongst the multiculturalist scene, multiculturalism and its relationships to ethnocultureal minorities, Quebec’s reasonable accommodation as well as the overlap of Aboriginal and multiculturalism issues, require research and development. This speak volumes about Banting and Kymlicka, as it places their work on a larger spectrum that will one day be surrounded by other impressive works that may compliment or challenge their findings. Canadian multiculturalism is completely different than what takes place in different countries. It goes without saying that not every picture can be painted with the same type of brush because the world is not full of the same picture that has a white washed idealized understanding. With that being said, the problems in other countries are not inherent to the multiculturalism picture in other countries.
Inside the Charter contains fundamental freedoms, which are the foundation for Canadian rights and freedoms such as freedom of religion and association. Add to this equality rights; which ensures the same treatment of all Canadians regardless of age, sex, race, etc. Together these allows Canadians to freely choose their religion and not be discriminated because of it. But some people in Quebec want to restrict the extent as to which immigrants can represent their culture and religion. This is because they think their culture will be shrunk in comparison to the influx of immigrants; but they are forgetting about the Charter while doing so. Immigrants must be granted the same rights and freedoms as Canadian Citizens, even if it makes Quebec culture smaller. To conclude our first point it is unjust to only uphold the Charter to certain people even if it makes Quebec culture a minority because every Canadian should be protected under the Charter of Rights and
In providing protections for freedoms, the Charter strengthens Canadian democracy by strengthening individual freedom and liberty. There is some significant evidence to support this position. The research shows that the Charter has had an impact on the court’s approach to various issues under review (Epp, 1996, p. 765). At the same time, it is clear that the Charter has only provided a “formal equality” for certain protected groups, who still face significant discrimination in many areas of their lives (Cossman, 2002, p. 223). Still, with the establishment of the Charter, fundamental freedoms and individual liberties have become enshrined in the law (Smith, 1999, p. 74).