Minorities In Canada

I found myself thinking sociologically when I realized that equality in Canada is less practiced as what the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 claims. In this constitution, it is stated that every individual should be treated equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, colour, religion, sex, age, and any disability; however, in reality, individuals experience inequality in the form of racism throughout the Canadian society. For instance, a few months ago, a black male was asked to leave the St. Laurent shopping centre by the mall securities as the position of his pants were viewed as not family-friendly but this type of fashion is normal for teenagers who are influenced by the hip-hop culture. As the man did not want to cause any trouble,

Canada’s treatment to the Aboriginal people and other racial minorities is sadly something that it cannot take pride in, especially after all, Canada is commended globally as an exemplary of cultural variety and has a commendable repute for its liberal anti-racist policy. This essay will prove that today’s government should be held accountable for injustices of the past as first nations people were treated unequal for many years and other immigrants in Canada weren’t recognised and were made to be different and struggle. Canada is recognised for, and prides herself on, the abundant diversity of cultures, ethnic backgrounds, races and beliefs which live inside its borders. Therefore the government should be responsible for ensuring that all its qualities are met with high standard and the Canadian government should facilitate injustices of the past.

Canada before working towards becoming a just society was a very discriminative place. During the events of World War One,WWI black and Chinese Canadians were prevented from joining the war along with aboriginals. Women were treated the same at the time, it was common for most women to stay at home wives and take care of the children. This was the stereotypical family at the time and was believed to be the ideal family too. Canadians thought poorly of minorities and even claimed it was to keep them safe, the aboriginals were an example, Canadians claimed the enemies might believe that they are savages which was a reflection of how they truly felt. Minorities were clearly being treated worse than the majority, they were seen as inferior and only good for

What does being Canadian mean to you? Safety? Freedom? Maple syrup perhaps? Canada as a nation is perceived as a powerhouse of a country with a great humanitarian force. With the recent influx of refugees, a GDP of $51,958.38 per capita, and a humanitarian Prime Minster, one could definitely say and that Canada appears to be treating its citizens right, on the surface. But, underneath the surface of public perception is the dark truth that 's remained hidden for decades but never been acknowledged . That being, the staggering 1017 Aboriginal women and girls who were murdered or have gone missing between the years of 1980 and 2012, a rate that is 4.5 times higher than any other racial group of women in Canada that continues to grow daily

The Federal government is responsible for insuring equal distribution and accessibility of health care services to citizens though they are not the only party that shape the policies of Canada’s healthcare but also the influence of doctors, health professionals, political parties, and businesses are also used (Canadian Stakeholders, n.d., para 2). The 1984 Canada Health Act outlines the requirements that provincial governments must meet. However; since there is not a descriptive list mentioning insurance services in the Act, the insured services in provinces vary creating a power shift (The Canada Health Act, 2005). Provinces also control the licensing of hospitals as well as doctors,

Racism is very prevalent in today’s society against Indigenous people in Canada. They face many forms of individual and institutionalized racism. According to LaRocque, Racism is prejudice or discrimination based on the belief that one or one 's group is innately or genetically superior to another. Racists believe that “race” determines qualities such as intelligence, innovation, creativity and even morality” (N.D). People have been taught the stereotypes of Indigenous people whether it be from the educational system, health system, court system and many other institutions in Canada.

For this study, my research question is “does representation on the Canadian House of Commons affect likelihood of political participation of visible minority groups?” The Canadian House of Commons is not a mirror representation of the Canadian population, so underrepresented groups may not feel as if their voice is being heard in the Canadian government.

Canada’s first past the post system has failed to ensure gender equality and failed to ensure adequate representation for visible minorities and indigenous peoples (Weaver, 1997, p. 480). Moreover, visible minorities and indigenous peoples are underrepresented even in major urban cities as “urban centers with Canada’s largest concentrations of immigrant and ethno racially diverse populations have been systematically underrepresented in the House of Commons” (Trimble, 2011, p. 369). In fact, the elected members of Parliament do not reflect the populations that vote for them as major Canadian constituencies that are demographically diverse are still represented by the archetypal official who is “male, white, middle-class, middle-aged, Canadian-born and majority-language speaking” (Trimble, 2011, p. 369). Thus, visible minorities are under-represented more than any other group as visible minorities are overwhelmingly “marginalized in the ranks of elected politicians” (Trimble, 2011, p. 369).

The labeling of individuals and groups as ‘different’ is part of the process of creating social hierarchies, which represents the foundation of oppression (de Leeuw, Kobayashi, & Cameron, 2011). This story brings to light the denial of systematic racism of the indigenous people in Canada. It was established that although Canada prides itself in the great variety of culture and ethnicity and religion. However, despite such practices, racism is still a significant issue. Oppression is a contemporary issue for indigenous people because Canadians are still ignorant about aboriginal history. There is a misconception that aboriginals are either living in an idyllic utopian society or in a primitive world. “underprivileged” and “disadvantage”, lazy,

Canada is compared to America in almost everything, specifically racial inequality, and this Maclean’s article illustrates that Canada might have an even worse racial problem than America does. When discussing racial inequality in America, the treatment of African-Americans is highlighted, and in Canada the unequal treatment of Aboriginal people must be discussed. This article proves through many statistics, that the treatment of Canadian Aboriginals, is worse than the treatment of African-Americans in the United States, and yet this social problem is still ignored often by the masses. This article tries to figure out why this social problem persists in such a modern day society, and found that the inequality is represented in all different forms of Canadian institutions. Meaning that this social problem is perpetuated by the treatment, and sometimes lack of positive recognition, of visible minorities in the justice system as well as other institutions.

Racial inequality inside of Canadian prisons is shocking and sometimes unbelievable when taken into account the percentage a minority group takes up in Canada’s overall population versus behind bars. The injustices against Canada’s First Nations people are unfortunately not just historic, as their mistreatment is still evident today. Despite representing only 3% of the population, First Nations account for about 25% of the prison population in provincial/territorial facilities. More specifically, 31% of the female population, and 22% of the male population were First Nations in 2015. More than one in five admissions to men’s prisons are of Aboriginal descent, and one in three in women’s prisons. Although it can be said that more and more attention has been drawn to this issue by citizens and politicians alike recently, First Nations people continue to suffer from poverty, injustice, and a lack of opportunities compared to the average Canadian citizen. About one in four native children live in poverty, leading to criminal activity, and eventually

Racism can affect an individual’s mental health and well-being (Hyman, 2009). In Canada, visible minorities and immigrants who experience discrimination and unfair treatment are more likely to experience emotional/mental problems that manifest as feelings of sadness, depression, and loneliness (De Maio & Kemp, 2010). Moreover, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and low self-esteem are a few mental health conditions that have been linked to racialized immigrants in Canada (Nestel, 2012). For example, Afghan immigrant youth in Canada can experience low self-esteem, fear, and anxiety due to regular racism and Islamophobia (Nestel, 2012). More specifically in BC, there is evidence that racial discrimination against immigrant parents can have negative effects on

To what extent was Pierre Trudeau’s vision of a “just society” actually achieved in Canada in (and since) the 1970s? Canada is a just society because of the changes to women's legal rights, ethnic minority human rights, and multiculturalism.

Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several

Canada is routinely defined as the exemplar multicultural society with the most diverse cities in the world such as Vancouver, Toronto and Quebec. The concepts of integrity and complexity are being shaped in Canadian society because of its co-existence of different cultures. Indeed, multiculturalism has been a keystone of Canadian policy for over 40 years with the aim of pursuing Canadian unity (Flegel 2002). Accordingly, Canada is generally estimated a country where people are all equal and where they can share fundamental values based upon freedom. Diversity is sustained and promoted by governmental policy, however, there are still racist interactions, which are destructive to minorities integration, especially recent ethnic groups’ arrival (Banting & Kymlicka 2010). This paper will examine challenges that multiculturalism has brought society and residents of Canada.