Greg Lee Assignment 13: How have we done so far?

November 2, 2014
When people think of Canada as a country, they usually think about how kind and generous we
are. Throughout the years we have gained this reputation of being very nice people who understand
everyones point of view and are inclusive of everyone. In the political world we are seen as being a
nation who is fair to all of its citizens and involved in humanitarian efforts all around the globe whether
it be aiding areas of natural disaster or helping develop third world countries. However if we look
internally at our policies regarding immigration, multiculturalism and welfare of state, there is room for
debate on whether or not our reputation of being a fair and humanitarian country is justifiable.
Canadas reputation as being a fair and humanitarian country is justifiable in its multiculturalism policy,
but is not as justifiable in its immigration and welfare of state polices.
Canadas reputation as a fair and humanitarian country is justifiable in its multiculturalism
polices. Canada is a place that is full of different cultures and peoples. According to The Canadian
Govenrnment, Canada is home to over 200 different ethnicities, and diversity varies greatly from
region to region. According to the 2006 census, visible minorities, for example, accounted for 16.2% of
Canadas total population. This has be achieved through the Canadian governments multiculturalism
polices, which have been built into its legislative framework at every of government throughout Canada.
The government has approached this issue of multiculturalism throughout the past couple of decades
with a two pronged approach: encouraging integration and ensuring that our society is welcoming and
accommodates diversity. According to a report that was done by CBC in 2010, the youngest generation
of Canadians are said to be Colour-blind meaning that they see people as humans before they see race
or gender. Through the Canadian governments polices, Canada has become a country with many ethnic
groups happily living cohesively as one, happy nation. Even the new generation of Canadians are seeing
people as Canadians rather than seeing their race or gender. This evidence supports Canadas reputation
as being a fair and humanitarian country in its multiculturalism polices.
Canadas reputation as a fair and humanitarian country is not justifiable in its track record of our
immigration policies. Throughout the past century, Canada has changed its immigration polices multiple
times. The reason that this policy has been changed multiple times is due to the fact that it was very
discriminatory for many years. One example of this was the Chinese head tax that was first introduced in
the early 1900s and was not abolished until the 1940s. That is a span of 40 years in which every man,
woman and child who was of Chinese origin had to pay $500 head tax along with a $25 landing fee just
to get into this country which is supposed to be inclusive of all people regardless of their ethnicity. A
more recent problem that has risen in the past decade is the amount of people who come to Canada
falsely claiming refugee status and when they are denied this status by our government, they end up
staying in Canada and the government does very little to force them back to their home country.
According to Historica Canada, in excess of 10 000 persons sought to short-circuit normal immigration
procedures by resorting to claims of refugee status [from 1986 onward]. the Canadian government
throughout the past century has discriminated against different ethnicities through the uses of head
taxes and fees. Furthermore, it has failed to create its policy so that refugees that are denied refugee
status are removed from our country swiftly. For these reasons, the Canadian government does not hold
a fair and humanitarian reputation when it comes to its immigration policies.
Canadas reputation as a fair and humanitarian country is not as justifiable in its welfare of state
polices. Welfare of state refers to a countries social security, which provides economic assistance to
individuals and families who need it and social and welfare service programs, which respond to personal
and social and emotional needs. Canadas polices on welfare of state have been lackluster, since the 70s
there have been cutbacks made to social services and welfare programs across the country.
Furthermore, according to The Canadian Government, in 2005, roughly 10% of the population was living
under the poverty line and those numbers remain constant because in 2008, 9.6% of our population
were living under the poverty line. Based off of these numbers, the need for social welfare and social
services is significant, however the debate in recent years has been, whether social welfare and social
services should fall under the responsibility of the private or public sector. This evidence clearly shows
that social welfare is needed in this country, but the governments polices are not changing the fact that
roughly 10% of our population lives below the poverty line. Furthermore it seems as if no one wants to
deal with the issue due to the fact that the government is debating whether it should be a private sector
or a public sector responsibility. Since the government doesnt want to deal with this issue and cutbacks
have been made to the funding to social services and welfare since the 1970s, a reputation of being a
fair and humanitarian country on this matter is not justifiable in our welfare of state polices.
In closing, Canada is a country that is very including of all of its citizens, regardless of race or
gender. The Canadian government has rightfully earned a reputation of being a nation that is fair and
humanitarian in terms of its multiculturalism polices through its integration of its multiculturalism
polices into its legislative framework. However, the same cannot be said for Canadas immigration and
welfare of state polices. Its immigration policies were discriminatory for almost half a century and fails
to deport people who do not belong in the country and the Canadian government has failed to provide
the proper funding for its welfare of state policies.

Bibliography
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"ARCHIVED Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2010-2011."
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Canada, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
CBC. "Multiculturalism In Canada." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
Dirks, Gerald E. "Immigration Policy." The Canadian Encyclopedia. The Canadian Encyclopedia, 19 Feb.
2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
"Field Listing :: Population below Poverty Line." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency,
n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
"Poverty in Canada." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.
"Welfare State." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Feb. 2014. Web. 02 Nov. 2014.