Write a response to the chapter Who We Are in the federal

governments official study guide for the citizenship test, Discover

Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship [located at the
followingwebsite,
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/discover/read.asp
According to Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of
Citizenships, Canada is known around the world as a strong and free
country. Canadians are proud of their unique identity. A belief in ordered
liberty, enterprise, hard work and fair play has enabled Canadians to build a
prosperous society. Together, Canadians with different ethnicities, religions
and backgrounds sharing a common Canadian identity, make up todays
multicultural society. (2009, 10) However, is this only a theoretical, ideal
definition of Canadian identity? I argue that this definition only represents a
prescribed and accepted version of Canadianness. This mythic and safe
version of Canadian identity has ignores Canadas immigrant population and
has contributed to the erasure of provincial and rural Canadian identities that
do not serve its bottom line.
To understand what it means to be Canadian, it is important to know about
our three founding peoples - Aboriginal, French and British. (2009, 10) It is
also important to understand their positions, responsibilities and rights in
Canada today, how they contribute to a well-rounded Canadian identity.
Aboriginals
First peoples were believed to have migrated across the Bering Strait
from 30,000 to 10,000 years ago. Before European contact, the Aboriginal
peoples of Canada were not a timeless and unchanging population living

before history. Transformation and accommodation to new challenges were

as much part of their lives as they are of ours. (Nelles, 1942, 3) Being the first
to build lives on the land of Canada, Aboriginals had created an image
through which Canadian sovereignty, security and peace have been
achieved and maintained over the span of some four centuries.
(Lackenbauer, 2010, 168) However, the loyalty and service of Aboriginal
people were mostly ignored and their rights are undermined in todays society.
It is with considerable irony that First Nations reflect on the line in our
national anthem O Canada: our home and native land. Whose land is it, and
at what cost anyway? (Jones, 2011, 14) The exploitation of Aboriginals land
and the violation of many rights is clearly illustrated in Windigo Faces:
Environmental

Non-Governmental

Organization

serving

Canadian

Colonialism. The case of 9 large environmental organizations announcing

Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement without the participation of Indigenous
peoples completely disregards Indigenous jurisdiction by negotiating the deal
without the consent or awareness of the Indigenous communities. Indigenous
community has been working at the international level ever since, forming
alliances with civil society organization legally but still has limited political
authority. () This and many other issues concerning Aboriginals rights
demand to be addressed and solved properly in order to avoid discrimination
and serious conflicts between the state and Indigenous peoples.
English and French
First arrived in the land of Canada since 1600s, French played a crucial
role in shaping Canadian politics and culture. Many European and Indians
encounters were recorded, but it was not until Jacques Cartiers three

voyages across the Atlantic to claim the land for king Francis I of France that
Canada was officially founded and named. Since Jacques Cartiers
explorations of Canada, it is believed that by possessing the place and its
occupants by naming and describing them, Cartier had attached Canada
firmly to Europe. For Canada, Jacques Cartier was the future, and it was
French. (Nelles, 1942, 16) Over the next century, Canada became
demonstrably British over the next century. Canada stayed British through an
era of revolutions, invasions, and insurrections, and at the end of the period
not only British inhabitants, but also French Canadians and Aboriginal
peoples too, professed allegiance to the British Crown and British ideals.
(Nelles, 1942, 45) Canadian society today stems largely from the Englishspeaking and French-speaking Christian civilizations that were brought here
from Europe by settlers. English and French define the reality of day-to-day
life for most people and are the countrys official languages. (2009, 11)
Today, there are over 18 million Anglophones and seven million
Francophones in Canada (2009, 11). Together, they have built a Canada
strongly characterized by the harmonious combination of English and French
culture. This notion has been presented in multiple forms, one of the most
intriguing is the example of Montreal comedian - Sugar Sammy. Incorporating
French and English in his bilingual show, Sugar Sammy finds the humor in
both culture, receiving great accolades from both targeting audiences:
francophones and anglophones. At a time when some might choose to
downplay even deny the bilingual character of this city, Sammy has
chosen to celebrate the richness thereof. (Brownstein, 2012)
Multiculturalism

An important trait of Canadian identity is multiculturalism. Canada is

often referred to as a land of immigrants because, over the past 200 years,
millions of newcomers have helped to build and defend our way of life. (2009,
10) As stated in Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of
Citizenships, Canadians celebrate the gift of one anothers presence and
work hard to respect pluralism and live in harmony. (2009, 8) However, this is
not always the case. Immigrants are still a separated groups, without being
integrated to Canadian community. While Kim Thuys novel, Ru, carefully
portrays exile as liberation and loss, culture shock as disparities and
similarities between two cultures that allows her to create a bridge,
and successful integration (), it only looks at the bright side of the story. In
fact, immigrants are still struggling to be recognized and treated equally
despite the differences in religions, races or backgrounds. Take the case
of Normes de vie de la municipalit dHrouxville for example. In January
2007 the small town of Hrouxville in Quebec, Canada, introduced a set of
codes of conduct called Normes de vie de la municipalit dHrouxville
(Standards of Living for Residents of Hrouxville). Despite the proclamation
that these rules do not target any particular religion or culture, the language of
the document suggests that the Muslim community was being targeted. () It is
also believed that the so-called multicultural democracy still holds deep-rooted
prejudices and hostile attitudes towards certain groups, in this case Muslims.
As immigrants contribute to the development of the country and to a diverse
community, they deserve to be treated with mutual respect.
Migrants admitted as residents are automatically protected by most
laws that apply to citizens, although in practice, of course, visible minority

immigrants in Canada, particularly women, often experience discriminatory

and abusive treatment. Due to the precariousness of their status, temporary
migrants, who are also often visible minorities, are even more likely than
resident immigrants to experience various forms of exclusion and abuse.
(Basok, 2010, 344) Migrants in Canada were and still are under maltreatment
of underpaid, unemployment and abuse by Canadian employers. Coming to a
new country, it is inevitable for them to experience culture shock, language
barriers or lack of proper education. It is more than a recommendation, but a
necessity for government to help them adapt well with Canadian life instead of
ignoring their basic human rights. Violation of human rights towards temporary
migrants should be taken more serious, as it is pivotal to maintain the parity
among people of all backgrounds, embracing the true meaning of
multiculturalism.