Multiculturalism vs. Assimilation

As Canada grows to become a more diverse ethnic nation, we need to consider how our current culture affects us and new Canadians. While many consider the current multicultural society to be fine, there are ways that it could change to improve the lives of all Canadians. Some options as to what Canada could strive to achieve would be multiculturalism or assimilation. On the one hand, some people believe that a society designed much like a mosaic would be ideal for Canada. On the other hand, others believe that a society with one dominant culture that everyone “melts” into is a better alternative. While both of these extremes may benefit Canada in some way, they are not the best situation for Canada to be in. Canada should focus less on strengthening our cultural mosaic and concentrate more on developing a society that incorporates every culture with guidelines to finally unite all Canadians.

For Canada to develop a society based on integration, immigrants can invite others from their country of origin to live in Canada. New immigrants will contribute to Canada culturally and economically and help create a stronger nation. Some people would believe that immigrants may take us farther away from a unified Canada because they will come here and only socialize with those of their own origin without contributing anything. What these people fail to realize is that immigrants come to our country to get away from the tragedies of their own so they will make an effort to become a Canadian and contribute to our society. In 1978 Pierre Trudeau introduced the Immigration Act which allowed immigrants to come to Canada based on a class system. This system prohibits people that would provide a threat to Canadians and allows those who would benefit the country as a whole. The policy also helps bring in a wide range of ethic backgrounds to add to Canada’s culture while at the same time bringing in people that will assist our economy. The integration society depends on immigrants to survive and therefore these people will become a positive attribute to the overall prospective Canadian society.

Cultural traditions are often extremely important within a family. In an integrated society these important customs can be kept and passed down within a family as well as adapted to conform to the overall society that has developed. Some people who oppose of a mosaic-type culture would argue that this would cause each family to separate from the society because they would be focused on preserving their own culture without absorbing some parts of other ethnicities. Nevertheless, these people fail to see that even though families are the rocks that we base our lives around, we also have to create a balance for our lives, therefore associating ourselves with other’s backgrounds and reducing the possibility of becoming segregated. A great example of this would be that a couple months ago one former Nigerian man and his family felt that it was extremely important to become Canadian. They came here for a better life, but not to discard their original heritage. They continue to express being Nigerian by wearing all the Nigerian garments, but are strongly involved in their Canadian community. This shows us that an integrated society will survive while keeping family heritage as well as a Canadian heritage.

With such an ethnic variety in our nation, Canada could become one of the most unique countries in the world. In the ideal cultural situation, each culture would contribute part of their heritage to create one incomparable ethnically varied society. There are those who would argue that building one culture out of many would take away one’s individual identity because all of the society would then be of the same heritage and no one person would be different from another. However, we all need to consider that being one culture would bring us closer as a nation, therefore strengthening our national unity while at the same time not entirely taking away individuality. When all different cultures come together to express individuality and unity, it is a celebration. A great way to express culture and celebrate of this is Heritage Days in Edmonton. For a few days each year, all the different cultures have sections of a park where you can experience what it is like to be a part of their life. People walk from stage to tent and feel connected to the vast range of customs and traditions that exist in our society today. If Canada were to be somewhat like Heritage Days, each expressing their culture to create one, than our nation would extremely diversify and differ from any other country.

Canada should prevent anything that will lead us into the direction of a mosaic society without guiding us toward an assimilated nation. We are already starting to see what may happen if we don’t take control of this situation. People in Quebec feel that they are too different from the rest of the country and many feel very strongly that they should separate from Canada. In the past, people in Western Canada have also felt this way. If we are going to become a strong nation with more national unity, than we must head in the direction of an integrated society. As quoted by Rais Khan in the Canada Today textbook,”Immigrants come here to become Canadians; to be productive and contributing members of their chosen [Canadian] society.”