Canadian Mosaic

Essay by majhoCollege, UndergraduateB+, November 2009

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When I arrived in Canada last year, I saw different people of different skin colors. There were white, yellow, black and brown. I got surprised cause I never thought about Canada like this. I never thought of Europeans, Americans, Latinos, Africans and Asians will ever settle in one place. But it is happening, right here where I immigrated to. It is a fact that Canada is racially diverse. The 250,000 to 300,000 residents of Canada are composing of about 50 societies belonging to twelve linguistic groups. Aside from the two prevailing groups co-existing inside Canada (Anglophones and Francophones), the presence of the minorities contributes in its culture, language and values (Burnet 66 and Bibby 158, 162-169). This gives out to a mosaic idea of Canada (Bibby 158, Burnet 71). The mosaic means putting together distinctive characteristics among the people leaving in Canada. This means every ethnicity, including English and French, must preserve their own culture and language in particular.

For me, this impression is not a hindrance in developing distinctive Canadian identity. In fact speakers and writers never get tired of praising the condition in which ethnic groups can preserve their uniqueness and yet live as a Canadian (Burnett 66). This mosaic idea will be distinctively Canadian as long as its two components, bilingualism and multiculturalism, will be accepted and appreciated by most Canadians.

Every move must start on the huge part of the mosaic- the Anglophones and Francophones. The conflict between them must be resolved first before anything else. According to Wardhaugh, the English- French conflict is an enduring trademark of Canadian history (Wardhaugh 13). Apart from their language difference, each group is tied up with different culture and values (Richer and Laporte 75). This may affect the relationship between the two groups. These two countrywide mindful individuals have...