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Chinese Immigrants In Canada

1148 Words5 Pages

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the Canadian government developed several racist and discriminatory policies to contest the settlement of Chinese immigrants in Canada. Following the government’s reaction to Chinese immigrants, a Canadian moral panic evolved. In particular, Chinese immigrants faced extreme prejudice socially, physically, and morally. The first Canadian Prime Minister, John A. MacDonald (1867–1873, 1878–1891) had a vision for the ideal “white” European dominant Canada, and his successors continued with this Aryan vision. MacDonald’s initial discriminatory policies would be followed by and continued by Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier (1896-1911) and Prime Minister Lyon Mackenzie King’s (1921-1926, 1926-1930, …show more content…

They depicted the Chinese as the embodiment of the lower class and a menace to society. The Canadian labour leaders argued that the Chinese were stealing jobs. Furthermore, the labour leaders suggested “Chinese standards were not a result of low wages but a cause of them ”. In other words, the appalling conditions Chinese workers were exposed to, was viewed as a reflection of the immorality that was engrained in their way of life. Canadians therefore, needed to be protected from the corrupt toxicity of the Chinese. The Chinese were sojourning in Canada, which contributed to the view that they were mere visitors to Canada and not true citizens. Sojourning was interpreted as being entrenched in Chinese culture, and was seen as consciously refusing Canadian ideology . Particularly, Canadians viewed Chinese migrants as mere parasitic consumers taking money out of the economy and reprehensibly giving it to China . Canadian labour leaders were instrumental in pressuring the federal government to enact anti-Chinese immigration to protect white labour. White Canadians believed the Chinese would ruin Canada financially. Thus, MacDonald sympathized with Canadian labour leaders and politicians. In 1885 upon the completion of the national railway the Chinese Head Tax was …show more content…

The foundation of the legislation was to impede and discourage the entry of new Chinese immigrants into Canada. Therefore, the process of racialization or what John A. Macdonald termed “biological racism” commenced . Anyone entering Canada could be questioned, confined, or refused entry based on color of skin, or other Chinese physical characteristics. Importantly, the definition of Canadian was now defined on racial terms. Canadians from coast to coast agreed the Chinese could never be equivalent to them, therefore large numbers of immigrants were not welcome

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However, John A Macdonald introduced Canada to many controversies. Macdonald was deemed a racist when he stripped the First Nations (FN) people from their land and rights and used starvation to make them more compliant. He became a fraud when he used the railway he built his campaign on to steal money from the Canadian people. Finally, he became an enemy of the Metis

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1421 Words | 6 Pages

Canada is now known to be a diverse, multicultural, bilingual and inclusive nation largely as a result of his work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau also believed in an equal Canada for all, he is primarily the one to introduce rights and freedoms to the citizens of Canada. While some view Pierre Trudeau as impulsive, for enforcing the War Measures Act, Trudeau enacted this for the protection of Canadian citizens against radical extremist and his actions were more rational than impulsive for the situation that had suddenly occurred. Pierre Trudeau was one of Canada’s greatest Prime Minister’s, who’s impact fundamentally changed the course of the nation by introducing multiculturalism, for introducing the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and for paradoxically upholding democracy by strong action during the October Crisis.

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809 Words | 4 Pages

Many Canadian citizens feel that their government betrayed the Chinese immigrants after the completion of the Trans-Canada railway in the late 19th century. However, Christopher Anderson argues in his article “The Senate and the fight against the 1885 Chinese Immigration Act” that the Canadian senate has never given up on the fight for the preservation of rights deserved by Chinese immigrants. In his article, Anderson depicts statistical data and explains legislatures imposed on the Chinese immigrants to strengthen his argument, and then he attempts to gain the reader’s support through employing a series of ethical and emotional strategies. Anderson begins his article by depicting a “full apology” made by the Canadian Prime Minister in hopes of seeking forgiveness for the restrictions imposed on Chinese immigrants.1 By employing this potent ethos statement, Anderson has already attempted to convince his readers about certain mistakes made by

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816 Words | 4 Pages

From 1867 to today, Canada has had twenty-three prime ministers, each of whom helped build and improve Canada. An analysis of former prime ministers William Lyon Mackenzie King, Lester Bowles Pearson, and Pierre Elliott Trudeau of Canada during the WWII, the fifties and sixties, and contemporary Canada, respectively, shows that Canadians should be proud of their nation and the people who led and shaped Canada to what it is today. During WWII, the leader seen as the greatest Canadian prime minister by scholars and academics in Maclean’s surveys guided Canada through the turbulent time. William Lyon Mackenzie King made many accomplishments during his time as the longest-serving prime minister, from 1921-1926, 1926-1930, and 1935-1948, and

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695 Words | 3 Pages

This impacted the white Canadians because the tragedies killed people and affected their families with grief and confusion. This incident of the train seats impacted the Chinese, but perhaps the head tax did even more

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788 Words | 4 Pages

Essay Outline The human race that inhabited the lands earlier than anyone else, Aboriginals in Canada had conquered many obstacles which got them to what they are today. In the past, Canadian Aboriginals have dealt with many gruesome issues that primarily involved the Canadians opposing them or treating them like ‘‘wards.’’ The Indian Act is a written law which controls the Indian’s lives and it is often amended several times to make Indian lives either peaceful or cruel but especially, cruel. Aboriginals found the Indian Act a massive problem in their lives due to it completely controlling them and how they lived on their reserve.

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208 Words | 1 Pages

Lastly, the Multiculturalism Policy of 1971 has impacted the evolution of the social-cultural identity overtime for Canada. Multiculturalism was first introduced to Canada after the second world war when two key European ethnic groups, the British and the French, joined the aboriginal peoples in Canada. This caused Canada to rethink the role of other ethnicities within the society and became the start of multiculturalism. The Multiculturalism Policy was a way for Canada to no longer be a white country, but to be more diverse, with different ethnicities within the society. Canada’s laws and policies recognize Canada’s diversity by race, cultural heritage, ethnicity, religion and place of origin as well as guarantee to all men and women complete

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1574 Words | 7 Pages

Macdonald often called the father of Confederation, he is the first and second longest serving prime minister in Canada for that many consider him the best leader in Canada. For example said Wilfrid Laurier, said in the House of Commons, June 8, 1891: "It may be said without any exaggeration whatever, that the life of Sir John Macdonald, from the time he entered Parliament, is the history of Canada. " Conservative Senator Hugh Segal said “Macdonald 's legacy to the country is the country itself,” Macdonald shaped the modern Canada and wanted to see it united. He foresaw the expansion of Canada “from sea to sea” and during his leadership, aside for the four original province, Manitoba, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island joined Canada.

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1054 Words | 5 Pages

William Lyon Mackenzie King, a man of glory, forever changed Canada’s constitution during the tumultuous nineteenth century and resolved all difficulties Canada faced on its way to becoming a strong, independent, and autonomous nation. His contributions and sanctions targeted all factors at the time and had interrelated effects on the construction of Canada. Unlike other Canadian politicians, King handled every crisis with thorough planning and achieved promising outcomes from unsolvable problems. It is without a doubt that King was the most influential figure in Canada’s development. His role in the autonomy, economic development, and social stability stands as solid evidence of the pioneering impacts he had on Canada’s advancement.

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1515 Words | 7 Pages

Institutional and historical analysis often portray the motives of governments, especially in the cases of Quebec separatism and Aboriginal mistreatment. History describes attempts at compromise to rectify the problems by altering political institutions to provide more autonomy to the provinces, witness in various accords and the methods described previously. However, in regards to Aboriginals a historical relationship of exploitation and eradication sheds on the systemic issues that Aboriginals cope with and the institutions that caused them. As scholars of Canadian politics, it is important to consider historical and institutional analyses when looking at any issue, as it reveals the underlying motives of actors in regards to the cleavages that comprise a state.

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160 Words | 1 Pages

A big part of Canadian history is the internment of Japanese Canadians and the effects that these events have had on Canada's Japanese citizens both emotionally and economically. During world war 2, there was 2 sides of the war: the axis powers, and the allies. Unfortunately, Japan and Canada were not on the same side of the fight, and this resulted in a streak of abuse and racism towards Japanese Canadians living in Canada during the war. Due to Japan being situated closest to Canada's western front, Japanese Canadians living on the western front of Canada during the war were “relocated” to internment camps due to Canada's belief that if Japan were to raid Canada from the western front, that Japanese Canadians would help the attackers. Canada

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678 Words | 3 Pages

As a result of European dominance over China after the Opium War, many Chinese immigrated to the United States for a better life. Upon arriving, the Chinese worked in mining and constructing railroads, they faced discrimination from workers in the American economy, and the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to limit the future of Chinese immigration into the United States. Due to all these obstacles that they encountered, the immigration to the United States for a better life did not go as planned for the Chinese. When the Chinese first came to the United States, they had to scramble to find a way to earn a living wage. However, an extensive majority of the immigrants had very little education and work experience.

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533 Words | 3 Pages

Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau was against the distinctive status for any group of people, and desired to eliminate Aboriginal people as a separate group (Coates, 2008). He also wished to have them involved into the broader Canadian political society. He proposed to incorporate Aboriginal people into the Canadian society, thus eliminating any special status and treatment to the Aboriginal people (Coates, 2008). Furthermore, in 1969, the Government of Canada produced a policy paper generally recognized as the White Paper. This paper called for abolishing the Indian Act.

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950 Words | 4 Pages

“Despite a lack of rights, these early Chinese immigrants were not coolies. They were voluntary immigrants who made their own arrangements and paid their own passage” (Kennedy). Americans had labeled the incoming Chinese people as coolies, contract laborers. The reality around this time however, was the Chinese immigrants

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2289 Words | 10 Pages

This has been and continues to be pertinent to Canada’s economic growth. When Pierre Trudeau’s administration implemented multiculturalism as a policy in the early 1970s, many have pointed to it as a way to establish immigration as a positive and to emphasize the social importance of respecting differences in religion, race, and culture (Wayland 1992, n.p.). Many interpret Canada’s multiculturalism next to the United States’ assimilation, with Canada’s approach being deemed as a ‘cultural mosaic’ while the United States’ policies have been described as a ‘melting pot’ (Burgess & Burgess 2005, 31). The cultural mosaic is an effective way to see the aspirations of the Canadian government towards multiculturalism. A ‘cultural mosaic’ wishes to respect each member’s culture within a larger collection of cultures which serves as a unified identity.

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