Canada s early immigration history

Transcription

1 Canadian Immigration Introductory notes (from the Issues for Canadians Teacher Guide) Canada s early immigration history Early immigrants The earliest immigrants in the 17th and 18th centuries were the French who settled in New France (Lower Canada, now Quebec). In 1760, when the British conquered the French, there were about residents. Canada s early Immigration History In the late 1700s and early 1800s, thousands of Loyalists fled the United States after the American Revolution to settle in Ontario. In the mid-19th century, Canada encouraged immigration from England, Scotland and the United States.

2 Canada s early immigration history The great Irish potato famine from forced thousands of Irish to come to Canada to avoid starvation. Many of them died on the journey, and from disease, such as typhoid, on the quarantine island of Grosse Île, in the St Lawrence River, east of Quebec City (now a historic site) Immigration after confederation Canada s major policy was to attract farmers and domestic workers to settle the Canadian west. Many farmers came from Britain, the U.S. and northwestern Europe. Discrimination in immigration Chinese migrants were used as cheap labour, of them being involved in the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s through B.C. s mountains where 700 of them died. They were paid half as much as white workers. Thousands of labourers were laid off in1885 following the last spike that completed the CPR from coast to coast.

3 Modern immigration Why do people want to come to Canada? People apply to come to Canada as immigrants: to find work opportunities; to join family members; as part of a refugee or other humanitarian program. Immigrants and rights Canada welcomes immigrants no matter the language, ethnicity and culture. Section 27 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms supports this plurality by stating that the Charter shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians. Canada and Refugees Canada s commitment to refugees is based on the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, an international agreement signed in 1951 in response to the legacy of the Second World War.

4 Canada and Refugees Con t Canada, as a part of this United Nations agreement, cannot refuse people seeking refuge where their lives or freedom would be threatened because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. The Singh Decision 1985 the Singh case. The Supreme Court of Canada decided that the Charter protected refugees rights in the same way it protected those of Canadian citizens. The Court concluded that a refugee has the right not to be removed from Canada to a country where his life or his freedom would be threatened without due process of law. The Singh decision continued To deny this right would threaten the security of the individual protected by Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a right that applies to every person physically present in Canada, whether a citizen or not. In the Singh case, the Supreme Court said that every refugee claimant had the right to an oral hearing.

5 Big questions on immigration Should Canada take in more immigrants? More refugees? Should we favour one over another? What are the arguments for and against taking in more immigrants and refugees? Even more big questions Describe Canada s point system. What are push factors in immigration? Pull factors? How has Canada s immigration policy changed over time? Terms Refugee, persecution, Immigrant/immigration, Emmigrant/emmigration, economic immigrant/emmigrant, national economic needs, labour force, Canada s point system, the head tax, overqualified labour,