According to economist Tony Fang, Chair in Cultural and Economic Transformation at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada has one huge advantage over other countries suffering from population aging.
He said that "In Canada we are a little bit blessed
because we are one of the traditional immigration countries. Without
immigration our population is going to decline or stagnate."
Canadians have a willingness to bring in immigrants from
around the world and share our good fortune. This attitude helps to assure that
the good fortune will continue as 2021 is the 50th anniversary of multiculturalism
in Canada.
Canada’s federal multiculturalism policy was adopted in 1971
by Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal government. An unexpected by-product of the Royal
Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (1963–69), multiculturalism was
intended as a policy solution to manage both rising francophone nationalism,
particularly in Quebec, and increasing cultural diversity across the country.
Canada was the first country in the world to adopt a multiculturalism policy.
The policy acknowledged that Canadians come from a wide
variety of cultural backgrounds, and that all cultures have intrinsic value. In
a speech in the House of Commons in April of 1971, Prime Minister Pierre
Trudeau introduced it as “a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual
framework,” a policy that would complement the Official Languages Act by
facilitating the integration of new Canadians into one or both of the official
language communities. “Although there are two official languages, there is no
official culture,” said Trudeau.
Most Canadians think of multiculturalism as a demographic
reality that acknowledges the diverse ethnic makeup of the Canadian population.
However, there is ongoing debate over the message that multicultural policy
conveys to Canadians, particularly to immigrants.
Over its first 30 years, the principal challenges
confronting multiculturalism involved reconciling support for ethnic diversity,
the preservation of the French language and the promotion of Canadian identity.
While such debates have persisted into the 21st century, they’ve largely given
way to the view that the message of multiculturalism promotes excessive
accommodation of cultural and religious diversity at the expense of promoting
social cohesion and common values. A minority of Canadians see the
multicultural message as discouraging newcomers from adopting Canadian values.
This, in turn, they argue, makes them less likely to participate in the
mainstream culture and society and encourages the creation of ethnic ghettos.
In recent years, there has been a greater acknowledgement
and acceptance of mixed and multiple identities in Canada. Most Canadians
appear favourable to the ideal of multiculturalism, which is helping our
country deal with increasingly difficult problems.
