It states that every citizen is able to express their own culture in this country; but that doesn’t necessarily make it multicultural. Canada’s multiculturalism could be questioned as an ideology, based on the unfair treatment of minority groups. Aboriginals, who originated in Canada, have a unique and fascinating history that is completely neglected today. There is an obvious uneven socio-economic division of success, giving the typical Caucasian, European Canadian the upper hand. Also, there is a significant relationship between multiculturalism and anti-racism.
Many people considered Canada to be a well off country. Canada portrays and claims itself to be a country that is ethnically diverse, middle-class, egalitarian and democratic. Canada is seen as a mosaic in the sense that it is made up many ethnic group and classes. However, John Porter argued against this and agrees that Canada is a mosaic however, it is a vertical mosaic. He presented Canada as not the egalitarian country it claims to be but instead it is a flawed democracy due to the class inequality and the power of the elites.
The number of distinct regions in Canada can be detrimental to this process in that it hinders the development of a national vision for the country. It seems hard to imagine that a country as large as Canada can elect a majority government that effectively represents all multi-regional agendas, considering that each party’s agenda seems to favour the interests of a certain region above others. This is evident in the platforms of the parties and the beliefs of their leaders with regards to economic, cultural and social patterns present in Canada. The economic stability of Canada as a nation is greatly influenced, and reliant, on the regions of the country having strong economic bases. From 1867 to the mid 1950s, Canada’s government had no explicit policy of regional development, instead, it directed its economic policy solely on national development.
Racism is something that affects all people, something that comes in many different forms. Racism is known to people all over the world. Take our city of Edmonton for example; being a Canadian city we see people of all different races, because Canada is known for being one of the most cultural accepting places in the world. So you would assume that there isn’t racism in such an “accepting place” but that is a very wrong assumption. People would also assume that because places in Africa, like Cape Town, South Africa, over came the apartheid (which separated people based on the color of their skin) would not be socially biased when it comes to skin color but again that would be a wrong assumption.
The younger generation of the aboriginal culture was forced into residential schools, which isolated them from their culture, family, and their ways of life. Conflict theory is based on two principles: power is the core of all relationships and is scarce, making it unequally divided in society, and dominant groups promote their social values and ideologies at the expense of minorities (Ravelli & Webber, 2012, p. 48). The first principle can be applied to the fact that the government wanted to secure the land and follow the Anglicised method of individual property in Canada; the aboriginals were not allowing that to happen (McClinchey, B. Residential Schools, 2013). Conflict theorists would argue that this was a selfish act due to a power struggle.
A significant number of Canadians in Quebec wish to leave the country and form their own state. Their reasons being: they don’t believe that the Canadian government does support their cultural differences, and they believe Ottawa favours other provinces, and that they prefer English as the official language. 3 As a result, two referendums have been held in Québec asking citizens if they wish to secede from the country, and in 1982 we suffered through the October Crisis which involved a radical separatist party called Le Front de liberation du Quebec.) The FLQ used terrorist tactics to pressure the Quebec government to liberate itself from Canada. This hostility among different cultural groups suggests that, while Canada has made significant progress, it still has large cultural divides among ethnic and linguistic minorities.
In Marilyn Dumont’s “The White Judges” and Eden Robinson’s “Terminal Avenue”, Eurocentric mainstream society attempts to restrict experiences of Native and Metis culture. For both texts, bowing down to the oppressive European centre either behaviorally or mentally gives the characters a sense of embarrassment rooted in the loss of expression of their native cultural activities. The family in “The White Judges” sees efforts at marginalization that are implicit and unofficial, and deals with the problem that they have internalized both a sense of shame, and cultural aspects of the predominantly white population. Since the limits that the family places on themselves are mental, and there is no actual policy meant to implement conformity, their behaviors have not been forced to change. In turn, this allows them to have a great sense of familial and cultural togetherness, and for their isolation from society to have positive effects on the household.
In regards to the Aboriginal situation, they claim that the method in which the government has dealt with their citizens is inapplicable and ineffective to them. They have long sought after a system of self government or a kind of recognized distinct society within Canada. Many ethnic groups feel that separatism is the strongest form of politic expression and thus legitimizes the particular group (Horowitz 166). I believe that accommodation and tolerance is needed when discussing the aboriginal groups of Canada. Firstly, my paper will illustrate the many issues that arise with how communitarian scholars have approached the accommodation of this ethnic minority.
hat can you do to help fight for those whose rights are being abused locally, nationwide or even globally? Mahatma Gandhi says that when the law is unjust, it is only right to disobey. Many people around the world have their rights abused or don’t have any rights at all. If we don’t stand up for them, then we fail as human beings. Canada is a very great country because we practice equality and multiculturalism.
Through the laws and rights, which were created to ensure equality and wellbeing of every individual despite their race, gender, culture, religion and age has not been fulfilling to every community. There is an assumption that individuals can peacefully live with one another. Racial discrimination exists throughout the world in various communities against minority groups. Canada is known for its overwhelmingly large diverse population, although there have been many cases of racism throughout the country. In the past the establishment of treaties were to guarantee agreements between two parties.