The world community most often perceives Canada as one of the most peaceful and peacemaking countries in the world, which has no violence, terrible mistakes, and hatred in its history. However, digging into the facts reveals that Canada has its dark marks in history. One of these marks, or rather a series of similar policies, was the unruly and often uncompromising attitude of Canadians towards other races and entities that lived in the country. Hence, this paper will examine the incidents of hatred and discrimination based on nationality that Canada has shown towards indigenous people, Canadian Japanese, and Ukrainians, to show one side of the dark history of the state.
The violence and brutality of the first European settlers in the United States and Latin America are known to most people; however, few recall the discrimination and injustice Canadians have against indigenous peoples. Most of Canada’s territory was formed in areas where the indigenous peoples of North America lived. Although the process of developing and expanding Canadian lands was less bloody and brutal than in the United States, the Crown infringed on the rights of indigenous peoples by taking land from them and hindering peoples’ healthy living.
However, the further development of Canada after the adoption of local government only exacerbated people’s attitude towards indigenous peoples. The Indian Act in 1876, which combined all laws considering indigenous peoples, exacerbated discrimination, as the Canadian government determined the blood status of “Indians” and provided them with some benefits, as well as multiple prohibitions (Neylan). The government restricted the cultural traditions of indigenous peoples, banned the wearing of traditional clothing in public places, strictly controlled trade and fishing, and virtually deprived them of their political and sovereign rights (Neylan). In addition, indigenous people without status were not eligible for many government benefits, living in protected areas, and using “Aboriginal Rights” (Neylan). Thus, although the government did not take direct violent measures against indigenous peoples, restrictions on their rights and freedoms, lack of adequate food, medicine, education, and cultural prohibitions led to their gradual extinction.
One of the cruelest and large-scale measures aimed at destroying the culture of indigenous peoples was the compulsory attendance of residential schools for children. The first residential schools were established in the 1830s and aimed at educating indigenous children according to the laws of the Christian Church (Miller). Initially, parents hoped that their children would be able to get an education to find work and get decent living conditions; however, schools were aimed at destroying indigenous culture.
Since 1880, education in residential schools for indigenous children became compulsory, so they were forcibly separated from families that could not see them for years (Miller). Children in schools were completely isolated from their culture, since they wore standard clothes and short haircuts, they were forbidden to speak their native language and even were given new English names (Miller). Thus, the authorities hoped that the next generation of adults would forget their traditions and customs and submit to their will. In addition, the children received poor education because they spent half of their day doing dirty work, and most of the teaching was aimed at religious lessons (Miller). This approach is one of the worst manifestations of the Canadian government’s violence, since children often suffered psychological and physical trauma due to separation from their families, teacher abuse, and poor living conditions. Thus, the government tried to destroy the culture of thousands of people, but at the same time did not allow them to integrate into society due to poor education and general discrimination against indigenous people.
However, this manifestation of discrimination applied not only to indigenous peoples but also to other nationalities in Canada; one of them was the Japanese Canadians. Before World War II, tens of thousands of Japanese lived in Canada, most of whom were born in Canada or were British subjects (Robinson). In other words, Canadian Japanese should have had the same rights as other Canadians because they contributed to the country as the rest of its inhabitants.
Nevertheless, since Japan allied with Nazi Germany and was Canada’s opponents in World War II, it caused unjustified fears in the local population and government. For this reason, thousands of Japanese Canadian families were forcibly relocated inland, and many men were arrested and sent to prisoner of war camps (Robinson). The resettlement was accompanied by protests, separation of families, and poor living conditions because the government did not provide any material support other than poorly built houses. In addition, the families’ property that remained on the West Coast was sold, and after the end of the war 4,000 Canadian Japanese were deported due to an unfair government decision, which, however, the court recognized as Constitutional (Robinson). At the same time, one should not place full responsibility on the government as it was guided by the fears and hatred of the population, which threatened violence against Japanese migrants. Nevertheless, hatred could have been avoided if a quality information policy had been implemented. In this way, Canadian bias and unfair government decisions have fueled ethnic hatred and injustice that have affected thousands of Canadian Japanese.
Another manifestation of discrimination on ethnic grounds is the internment of Ukrainians in Canada. At the same time, although the aggression against the Japanese was undoubtedly unjust, it was justified by the fears of the population sacred with the war; however, discrimination against Ukrainians was purely biased. McIntosh noted that discrimination against Ukrainians and some other nationalities of Eastern Europe began to manifest itself openly in society and newspapers as early as 1899. Thousands of Ukrainians moved to Canada as the state promised them land; however, most Canadians treated them as second-class people and considered them uneducated, dumb, dirty, and almost “animals” (McIntosh par. 3). In other words, discrimination was propagated at the household level but limited the opportunities of Ukrainian migrants to obtain normal living conditions. ,
The situation worsened during the First World War, as most migrants were perceived as enemies or aliens. The Government of Canada passed the War Measures Act in 1914, which resulted in all the rights and freedoms of foreigners being restricted. According to this act, thousands of Ukrainian migrants were interned or sent to labor camps, where they performed the hard work of laying roads and building in terrible living conditions. More than a hundred people died in camps due to infectious diseases, injuries, suicides, and during an attempted riot, and those who were lucky to return did not have their homes, as all their property was confiscated by the state (McIntosh). Thus, Canada has demonstrated how the prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination that dominate state policy have ruined the lives of many people who did not deserve it.
As a summary of the essay, it should be noted why the topic is essential for studying. Manifestations of discrimination and injustice are most often hushed up by governments and rarely discussed by the citizens of the countries in which they occurred. Canadians are no exception as, despite the apologies and retributions to the families of the affected indigenous peoples, Japanese and Ukrainians, this recognition of mistakes came after years of struggle of some people who were not afraid to tell the truth. At the same time, the fact that many people in Canada and other countries are still unaware of the dark side of Canadian history demonstrates that these topics are rarely discussed and covered by the media. However, as Richler notes, “Shame is a positive force because coming to terms with it engenders change and the better” (para. 12). In other words, the state, its citizens, and democratic principles can develop only when people recognize and are ashamed of their mistakes of the past to avoid repeating them in the future.
In conclusion, many facts show that Canada’s history has a dark side, which demonstrates its mistaken perception and attitude towards its citizens and discrimination against certain nationalities. This survey only reveals some of the darker elements of Canadian history; however, like many other states, it has many more facts that its citizens can be ashamed of and do not want to discuss. Nevertheless, learning, sharing, and understanding these facts are just as important as pride in the victories and achievements of the state. Society can develop and avoid fatal decisions in the future only by discussing the mistakes of the past and their consequences.
Works Cited
McIntosh, Andrew. “Ukrainian Internment in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2018, Web.
Miller, J.R.“Residential Schools in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020, Web.
Neylan, Susan. “Canada’s Dark Side: Indigenous Peoples and Canada’s 150th Celebration”. Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, 2018, Web.
Richler, Noah. “Canadians Must Recognize the Dark Side of Their History.” The Globe and Mail, 2017, Web.
Robinson, Greg. “Internment of Japanese Canadians.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2020, Web.