Canada's Multiculturalism and Its Benefits

Essay by ray83911University, Bachelor'sB+, April 2009

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Canadians and the government of Canada have always been proud of presenting themselves around the world as advocators and protectors of human rights and multiculturalism. However, at home in Canada, not all people are proud and agree that multiculturalism has had only positive effects on Canada because there are some drawbacks that are caused by Canada's policies on immigration and multiculturalism and Neil Bissoondath's article, The simplification of Culture, is one of the many writings that criticize Canada's multiculturalism policy. However, the purpose of this essay is to examine key points concerning multiculturalism in Canada, which proves that Canada's policies on multiculturalism have had mainly positive effects on Canadian society.

According to Satzewich, Canada was the first country in the world to introduce a multicultural policy (Satzewich, 1992). In 1969, the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and many other ethnic spokespersons argue that Canada should adopt the idea of a "cultural mosaic", where different cultures would each contribute to Canada, making the country unified through each culture's uniqueness.

The Royal Commission agreed with this proposed policy, and two years later, the policy was accepted under Trudeau administration, which helped to settle many racial and ethnic problems (Satzewich, 1992). One of the most important ideas behind the Multicultural Policy is that all people are equal, and can participate as a member of society, regardless of racial, cultural, ethnic, or religious background. Multiculturalism strives to preserve people's cultural identity, while at the same time ensuring that common Canadian values are upheld (Reitz, 1980). Also Canada's policy on immigration has changed accordingly over the years, reflecting social values and economical conditions. The immigrants coming into Canada are not only from European descent; rather, they are coming from other continents, such as Africa, South America, and Asia. According to Satzewich, 90% of the immigrants...