Racism in Canada

Racism in Canadatraces both historical and contemporaryracistcommunity attitudes, as well as governmental negligence and political non-compliance with United Nations human rights standards and incidents inCanada.Contemporary Canada is the product of indigenousFirst Nationscombined with multiplewaves of immigration,predominantly from Europe and in modern times, from Asia.

Overview

In a 2013 survey of 80 countries by theWorld Values Survey,Canada was ranked among the most racially tolerant societies in the world.In 2021, theSocial Progress Indexranked Canada 6th in the world for overalltoleranceand inclusion.

Canadian author and journalistTerry Glavinclaims that white Canadians consider themselves to be mostly free ofracial prejudice,perceiving the country to be a "more inclusive society" than its direct neighbor theUnited States,a notion that has come under criticism.For instance, Galvin cites the treatment of theAboriginalpopulation in Canada as evidence of Canada's own racist tendencies.These perceptions of inclusion and "colour-blindness"have also been challenged in recent years by scholars such asConstance Backhousestating that white supremacy is still prevalent in the country's legal system, with blatant racism created and enforced through the law.According to one commentator, Canadian "racism contributes to a self-perpetuating cycle of criminalization and imprisonment".In addition, throughout Canada's history there have been laws and regulations that have negatively affected a wide variety of races, religions, and groups of persons.

Canadian law uses the term "visible minority"to refer topeople of colour(but not aboriginal Canadians), introduced by theEmployment Equity Actof 1995.However, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated this term may be considered objectionable by certain minorities and recommended an evaluation of this term.

In 2019, the English and Art departments atKwantlen Polytechnic Universitycollaborated to put on an exhibition calledMaple-Washing: A Disruption,which featured various works examining Canadian history from diverse perspectives. With "Maple-Washing" (portmanteau of maple and "whitewash" ) referring to the alleged tendency of Canadian institutions to sanitize Canadian history.Historical topics and events covered in the exhibition includedCanadian participation in the trans-Atlantic slave trade,theKomagata Maruincident,theinternment of Japanese CanadiansduringWorld War Two,and theChinese head tax,frequently "maple-washed" incidents.

Examples

Indigenous Peoples

See also:Gustafsen Lake standoff,Burnt Church Crisis,Grand River land dispute,Ipperwash Crisis,andOka Crisis

Canada's treatment ofFirst Nationspeople is governed by theIndian Act.The CanadianIndian Acthelped inspire South Africa'sapartheidpolicies. Many Indigenous people were forced intoassimilationthrough theCanadian Indian residential school system.From 1928 to the mid-1990s, Indigenous girls in theresidential school systemwere subject to forced sterilization once they reached puberty. The number of sterilized girls is not known because the records were destroyed.European colonizers assumed the Indigenous peoples needed saving, a form of "charitable racism".However, this attitude is not absent from modern Canada, for example, in August 2008,McGill University's Chancellor and International Olympic Committee representativeRichard PoundtoldLa Presse:"We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land ofsavages,with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European origin, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization ", implying that the First Nations people were" uncivilized ".

In 1999 the Canadian government created an autonomous territory,Nunavut,for the Inuit living in the Arctic and northernmost parts of the country. The Inuit compose 85% of the population of Nunavut, which represents a new level ofself-determinationfor the Indigenous peoples of Canada.

Slavery of Aboriginals and Black Canadians

Ku Klux Klan members, on foot and horseback, by a cross erected in a field near Kingston, Ontario, in 1927

There are records of slavery in some areas ofBritish North America,which later became Canada, dating from the 17th century. The majority ofthese slaveswereAboriginal,andUnited Empire Loyalistsbrought slaves with them after leaving the United States.

Segregation and Ku Klux Klan

Canada had also practiced segregation, and aCanadian Ku Klux Klanexists.Racial profilingoccurs in cities such as Halifax, Toronto and Montreal.Black people made up 3% of the Canadian population in 2016, and 9% of the population of Toronto (which has the largest communities of Caribbean and African immigrants).They lived disproportionately in poverty, were three times as likely to becardedin Toronto than Whites, and incarceration rates for Blacks were climbing faster than for any other demographic. ABlack Lives Matterprotest was staged atToronto Police Headquartersin March 2016.

Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324

Main article:Order-in-Council P.C. 1911-1324

On August 12, 1911, theGovernor GeneralinCouncilapproved a one-year prohibition of black immigration to Canada because, according to theOrder-in-Council,"the Negro race" was "unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada."It was tabled on June 2, 1911, by theMinister of the Interior,Frank Oliver,following mounting pressure from white prairie farmers who were discontented with an influx in the immigration of black farmers from the United States.It was never officially enforced or added to theImmigration Act,likely because thegovernment—led byPrime MinisterWilfrid Laurier—was hesitant to alienate black voters ahead of the1911 federal election.It was repealed later that year.

Africville

Main article:Africville

See also:Black Nova Scotians

InNova Scotia,a community which mainly consisted ofBlack Canadianswere forcibly removed and eventually razed between 1964 and 1967 after years of intentional neglect by thegovernmentinHalifax.

Greek-Canadians

Main article:Greek-Canadians

See also:1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot

The 1918 Toronto anti-Greek riot was a three-day race riot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, targeting Greek immigrants during August 2–4, 1918. It was the largest riot in the city's history and one of the largest anti-Greek riots in the world.

Jews

See also:History of Jews in CanadaandMS St. Louis

Jewish students were prohibited from studying at Canadian universities.Canada had restrictive policies towards Jewish immigration. In 1939, Jewish refugees escaping from WWII Europe aboard the MS St Louis were not allowed to enter Canada due to racist immigration policies.

While government policies have changed,antisemitismremains problematic. Jews are a tiny-and therefore more vulnerable-minority in Canada, comprising only 1.1% of the population, in 2018.Partially due to the small size of the community, hate crimes against Jews (also referred to as "violent antisemitism" ) is the highest per-capita form of race-based violence reported in Canada.

Black people

Main article:Black Canadians § Racism

Black Canadiansare discriminated in Canada.

Romani people

Main article:Anti-Romani sentiment § Canada

Asian Canadians

Indo-Canadians

See also:British Raj

In 1914, Indians arriving in Canada were not allowed to enter despite beingBritish subjects,leading to the deaths of dozens of immigrants in theKomagata Maruincident.

Chinese Canadians

Boarded windows and storefronts on Pender Street inChinatownafter the September 1907 riots

Starting in 1858,Chinese"coolies"were brought to Canada to work in British Columbia in the mines and on theCanadian Pacific Railway.After anti-Chinese riots broke out in 1886, a "Chinese head tax"was implemented to curtail immigration from China. In 1907, theAnti-Oriental RiotsinVancouvertargeted Chinese and Japanese-owned businesses, and the Asiatic Exclusion League was formed to drive Asians out of the province. League members attacked Asians, resulting in numerous riots.In 1923, the federal government passed theChinese Immigration Act,commonly known as theExclusion Act,prohibiting most Chinese immigration.The Act was repealed in 1947,but discrimination limiting non-European immigrants continued until 1967 when a points-based system was introduced to assess immigrants regardless of origin.

Japanese Canadians

ARoyal Canadian Navyofficer questions Canadian fishermen of Japanese descent as their boats were confiscated.

See also:Japantown, VancouverandInternment of Japanese Canadians

Although a British–Japanese treaty guaranteed Japanese citizens freedom of travel, they were nevertheless subject to anti-Asian racism in Canada, though a slightly lesser degree at the time than the Chinese before World War II, as an informal agreement between the Japanese and Canadian governments limited Japanese immigration in the wake of theVancouver anti-Asian riots.

In 1942, duringWorld War II,many Canadians of Japanese heritage—even those born in Canada— were forciblymoved to internment campsunder the authority of theWar Measures Act.At first, many men were separated from their families and sent to road camps in Ontario and on theBritish Columbia–Albertaborder. Small towns in theBCinterior such asGreenwood,Sandon,New DenverandSlocanbecame internment camps for women, children and the aged. To stay together, Japanese–Canadian families chose to work in farms inAlbertaandManitoba.Those who resisted and challenged the orders of the Canadian government were rounded up by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Policeand incarcerated in a barbed-wire prisoner-of-war camp in Angler,Ontario.Japanese–Canadians fishing boats were also seized, with plans to drastically reduce fishing licenses from them and forcibly redistribute them for white Canadians.With government promises to return the land and properties seized during that time period, Japanese Canadians left their homes. This turned out to be untrue, as the seized possessions were resold and never returned to the Japanese Canadians. Unlike prisoners of war, who were protected by theGeneva Convention,Japanese–Canadians were forced to pay for their own internment.

COVID-19 pandemic

In the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic,Asian Canadiansreported increased incidents of violent assaults, especially against women of Asian descent.According to an Angus Reid survey from 22 June 2020, up to 50% of Chinese-Canadians had experienced verbal abuse, and 29% had been made to feel feared, as if they posed a threat to public safety.Another survey of 1,600 adults conducted by ResearchCo and obtained by theAgence France-Presserevealed one in four Canadians of Asian descent (70% of whom were of Chinese descent) who lived in British Columbia knew someone within their household who had faced discrimination.The survey also revealed 24 percent ofCanadians of South Asian descentreported racist insults.Canadians of Indigenous originhad also reported discrimination.

Missing and murdered Indigenous women

Main article:Missing and murdered Indigenous women

The representation of murdered Indigenous women in crime statistics is not proportionate to the general population.In 2006,Amnesty Internationalresearched racism specific to Indigenous women in Canada.They reported on the lack of basic human rights, discrimination, and violence against Indigenous women. The Amnesty report found thatFirst Nationswomen (age 25–44) with status under theIndian Actwere five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as a result of violence.In 2006, thedocumentary filmFinding Dawnlooked into the many missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada over the past three decades. In September 2016, in response to repeated calls from Indigenous groups, activists, and non-governmental organizations, the Government of Canada under Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau,jointly with all provincial and territorial governments, established a national public inquiry intoMissing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Indigenouspeople still have to deal withracismwithin Canada and the challenges that the communities face are often ignored.There are still negative stereotypes associated with Indigenous people such as being freeloaders, drug addicts or dumb.Indigenous people are more likely to feeldepressiondue to several factors such as poverty, loss of cultural identity, inadequate health care and more.

In 2020, the staff at a hospital in theQuebeccity ofJoliettewere shown on video mocking and making racist remarks at anAtikamekwwomanwho eventually died.Indigenous leaders say the video exposes the grim realities of systemic racism that have long gone ignored or suppressed throughout Canada.

See also

• Racism in Quebec
• Aboriginal land title in Canada
• Act of Union 1840
• AmINext
• Anna Mae Aquash
• Anti-Quebec sentiment
• Burning of the Parliament Buildings in Montreal
• Canadian Aboriginal law
• Compulsory sterilization in Canada
• Continuous journey regulation
• COVID-19 racism
• Death of Regis Korchinski-Paquet
• Death of Tina Fontaine
• Fascism in Canada
• High Arctic relocation
• Highway of Tears murders
• Indian Health Transfer Policy (Canada)
• Indigenous food security in Canada
• Indigenous land claims in Canada
• Indigenous peoples and the Canadian criminal justice system
• Indigenous specific land claims in Canada
• Montreal experiments
• MVSun Seaincident
• Nativism (politics)#Canada
• Numbered Treaties
• October Crisis
• One Dead Indian
• Quebec City mosque shooting
• Racial separate schools (Canada)
• Redwashing
• Regulation 17
• Saskatoon freezing deaths( "Starlight tours" )
• Seton Portage
• Status of First Nations treaties in British Columbia
• Stereotypes of Indigenous peoples of Canada and the United States
• The Canadian Crown and Aboriginal peoples
• The Potlatch Ban
• Ukrainian Canadian internment
• 2010–2017 Toronto serial homicides