Essay on The Canadian Mosaic Vs. The U.S. Melting Pot

Multiculturalism" is the existence of a culturally diversified society where people from different backgrounds and races come and live together. However an insight of this integrated society reveals that everyone seems to have a different opinion on the issue of how this diverse community should operate. One of the countries of North America called "the mosaic" is Canada. It has earned this distinct name because of the mix of races, cultures and ethnicities residing in it. Canada's geographical features and its harsh climate became a disadvantage to its population growth many years ago. Compared to its size, the population of Canada was not sufficient a few decades ago. However, when immigrants wandered about searching for a better

Beginning at the time of the Confederation, Canada has worked towards defining its own identity. Slowly, but surely, Canada has built the foundations for its path to prominence. From a colony of Great Britain, to the country it is today, Canada has achieved much on the long road to a unique Canadian identity. Whether it be through external or internal affairs, Canada’s people have endeavoured to instill the feeling of nationalism deep inside the hearts of both the present and future generations.

"The Canadian mosaic" is a term that reflects reflect the homogeneity of the Canadian population at the present time.

Canadian history has been profoundly shaped by numerous events. The fifteenth Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau remains one of the greatest citizens to define the nation’s identity. During his fifteen years in the position, he makes multiple decisions and contributions of great importance towards the growth and prosperity of Canadian society. As a result of his ambitions and efforts, widespread popularity known as “Trudeaumania” begins as a phenomenon that had existed like no other before his time (Gwyn 14). “He touched the dreams of an entire generation of Canadians” and his fame will continue for future Canadian generations, as his accomplishments positively affected the country, leaving an enduring legacy that propels a still-flourishing Canadian ideal of peace and perseverance (Gzowski Peter and more 50). Further to his overall popularity amongst Canadian citizens, Pierre Trudeau is a defining figure in Canada’s rich history, as he unites Quebec with the rest of Canada, he is responsible for the passing of both the Constitution Act in 1982 and the Multicultural Act in 1971.

Pierre Trudeau`s legacy presents evidence that indicates he was the most influential figure in Canadian history. Throughout his career, his belief of a distinct Canada apart from Britain has grown and has developed into many important decisions for Canada to solidify Canada`s reputation among the world (Bibliography par. 1). Moreover, he strongly believed in a unified country with Quebec, thus completely rejecting the idea of Quebec separatism, which helped develop Canada`s multiculturalism (1980 Referendum par. 3). Lastly, he believed in full acceptance of culture and language, therefore he played a significant role in the creation of official bilingualism. (Bibliography par. 1). Clearly, Pierre Trudeau has powerfully impacted Canada by prominently

Every community in Canada, whether it is large or small, is a gold mine of diversity, tradition, culture and much history. It’s the familiarity, knowledge of their heritage, and sense of belonging at school, work, home, or their place of worship, that strengthens their identity or who they are as Canadians. If someone identified as Canadian, it means they are a part of Canada’s society. To be Canadian means freedom. Canadians have the freedom to think for themselves, speak what they believe, and live their life with no limits. Because of this freedom, they have certain character traits and qualities. Simply, Canadians contain a certain Canadian attitude, the recognition of Canadian multiculturalism and prominently, Canadian pride.

Canada as nation failed to assimilate the immigrants, minorities and Aboriginal individuals into society. Legislations like the Indian Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Immigration Act, and Multicultural Act were introduced to help reduce the more recognizable forms of racial discrimination. Canada may believe that they are a nation that is justice and diverse however it failed to fix the core issues that made Canada to what it is today. The laws and regulations are a temporary fix to the problem, and Canada national building was originated in a corrupt and immoral way. Each historical events in Canada are linked together that made up Canada`s identity. Though they seem to be unconnected it indicates the hidden agenda Canada

Being a Canadian is a blessing. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that garners protection against low wages, provides a platform propelling diversified learning environments and functions under a democratic government system operating for the common good. Adopting a pretentious framework, being able to acknowledge Canadian identity within the following context is the actual blessing. Canadian identity itself is submerged within an array of events, individuals and time periods that have significantly contributed to her development and fundamentally, idealization as a unified nation. Nevertheless, the idea of unity was not a matter of immediate occurrence; the journey to cultivating a unified nation was plagued by measures accentuating plurality.

The term "multiculturalism" has been used by the Canadians in two different perspectives. The first use of this word is descriptive; meanwhile the other one is normative. The former sense implies the description of various religious and cultural groups that the Canadian population consists of. The nation of Canada is based on people from various races, religions and cultural backgrounds and there is a general acceptance of cultural pluralism in the country. Since the nineteenth century, Canada has experienced various waves of immigration (Wayland, 1997). Moreover, it has been reported that by the 1980s approximately 40 percent of the people were of origins other than British and French; the two being the largest and oldest groups of people in Canada (Troper, 1989). The history of Canada gives a great deal of importance to the relationship that existed between the French and the British people. According to the statistics, the major population of the country at the beginning of the 21st century was composed of people from outside French and British heritage; meanwhile there were many people who presented themselves as "visible minorities".

Undoubtedly, one major component that represents Canada is the Canadian identity. Today, many would use certain words such as “diverse” and “bilingual.” However, before WWI, there wasn't much of a Canadian

The Canadian identity is an ever changing idea that has drastically changed generation to generation to finally develop as what is known today as the “ethnic mosaic”. Canada has evolved from being a predominantly Caucasian country to one containing this “ethnic mosaic”; a mix of ethnic groups, and cultures that coexist within society. Here, Canadians, especially immigrants are free to express themselves and their culture without the fear of discrimination and have many opportunities to widen their horizons since this country has developed in this positive manner over the years. Contrary to Shastri’s beliefs, I believe that the ethnic mosaic is true and that Canada is a land of opportunities.

After the confederation, instead of unity, many Canadians felt diversity was too strong of a sentiment to ignore. It has proved that the “passage of time did little to mute cultural differences and [perhaps] deepened and intensified [the divisions].” It was apparent that “appeals to a common language, a common cultural tradition, or a common religion were simply impossible for Canadians.” This then prompted many people in Canada to find a way to establish Canadian nationalism, or simply define what “being Canadian” means.

The current collective vision of national identity in Canadian society is that Canada is a pluralistic society, where their is many members from all different types of ethnic groups and where Canada accepts all immigrants from around the world. Canada is also known as one of the most multicultural nation states, which allows individuals to practice and maintain their culture and traditions without fear of their rights being restricted. Canada is welcoming and open to the many different cultures and ethnicities from around the world, everyone is also equal under the law. Through Canadian history many members were excluded from our current collective vision. Some members of the current collective vision feel excluded, because of how with a

Inextricably related to both international and domestic perceptions of Canada is an inherent multiculturalist society, primarily due to the anterior development of Canada as a composite state between British and French cultures and the ‘progressiveness’ and subsequent benefit (without logical substantiation) perpetually postulated by large segments of Canadian politics and a considerable quantity of Canadian

Many opportunities are associated with a culturally diverse workplace and global expansion may have potential to provide just such a diverse work group. Cross-culturalism in business can provide leaders and employees with a wonderful opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds and cultures. In addition, “the more opportunities for business leaders to interact with people from different cultures, the more likely they will be to have positive attitudes from different cultures and identify, learn and apply diverse culturally-appropriate business behaviors” (Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012, p. 614). Culturally diverse environments offer a multitude of benefits including “the variety of perspectives, skills and personal attributes” (Matveeve & Nelson, 2004, p. 254). Moreover, multicultural teams have potential to “generate more ideas of higher quality in brainstorming tasks” (Matveeve &