The phrase, “You never hear anything bad about Canada” as mentioned in one of Arthur Black’s personal essays, is fortunately the unfortunate truth about this country. We’ve gained a reputation over the years for being an accommodating population willing to accept just about anyone into our country with open arms and now we’re forced to maintain it. This reputation makes Canada a prime destination, a land of opportunities, as many immigrants call it, for individuals all around the world wanting to start a new life. I don’t know if it is to repent for or to cover up for our long and dark past of forced assimilations, but we have become so humble and placid with time that it is actually becoming detrimental for us as a country. The majority of our population are or once were immigrants, so great importance and attention is given to make the transition from newcomers to Canadian citizens easier for our new neighbours. However, trying to maintain this accommodating reputation and avoid forced assimilations, our politicians seem to be stripping away the small but key aspects of being Canadian. …show more content…
Just a few weeks ago, John McCallum, the Minister of Immigration, released a statement promising “some radical changes” to our immigration policies. One thing they are considering changing is the current requirement for individuals between the ages of fourteen to sixty-four to pass an easy language test to prove they have adequate knowledge of at least one of our two national languages. Okay, let me rephrase that. They aren’t thinking to make some minor changes. They want to completely eliminate this requirement so that anyone can become a Canadian citizen without knowing a single word of English or