POL 129 Lecture Notes - Geneva Conventions, Mercedes-Benz 500K, Child Care
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18 Apr 2013
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October 15, 2012
October 22, 2012
Immigration Selection: Who gets into Canada
Recap
• We’ve Discussed Immigrant Selection to 1945.
• Selection by Discrimination: Wanted & Unwanted Immigrants.
• Would open the doors wide at sometimes and close them shut at others. We did this to
serve the needs of Canada’s economy.
• Door Open/Door Closed Pattern.
• Long Period of Minimal Migration, Since 1930s
• Coming in from a period of historically low immigration which is caused by factors such
as the Depression
What does the government consider when admitting immigrants into Canada?
Language:
More emphasize on immigrants who have English or French. You are favouring some countries
over others. Countries that have english or French as a mother tongue will have a major
advantage.
Health Check:
Don’t want to put too much of a burden on our health care system
No criminal record
Skills, age, education etc.
How did we move from old immigration admittance policies to the new point system?
Re-Opening Canada’s Immigration Doors After WW2
• Doors About to Re-Open (about to open in 1945)
– PUSH: Europe in Ruins; Displaced Populations
• 5 and half years of war
• Populations have been pushed and pulled all over Europe displaced
– PULL: Canada’s Economy & Population Needs
• Canada is coming out of 5 years of terrible death rate after the war and very low
immigration
• December 1945, canada’s economy is ready to take off while Europe’s
infrastructure have been blown up in the war.
• Who Should Be Allowed In?
– Legacy of Discriminatory Selection
• Canada has a history of selection immigrants based on discrimination.
– War Against Racism Ends
• We fought a war against racism. Canada went to war because of attachment to
Britain.
• We went to war due to Genocide. We just fought a war to free the world from
racism. What should Canada’s new approach to allowing immigrants into the
country?
Announcing Canada’s Post War Immigration Policy
Prime Minister Mackenzie King, 1947:
Canada’s longest serving prime minister. Served for 25 years
Who should Canada admit? He replies,
“The policy of the Government is to foster the growth of the population of Canada by the
encouragement of immigration(Canada is about to open the door because it serves our
interests)…Canada is perfectly within her rights in selecting the persons whom we regard as
desirable future citizens(no one is going to tell us who to select, that is our decision)…The
people of Canada do not wish, as a result of mass immigration, to make a fundamental
alteration in the character of our population(the one thing we don’t want immigration to change
is who we are as people) …Any considerable Oriental immigration would be certain to give rise
to social and economic problems(we are not going to allow in Chinese and Japanese people).”
Canada Still a British/White/Christian Imagined City
Mass Postwar Migration 1947-1960
• Large Numbers Arrive from Europe
• Huge Migration from Europe
• More Support for German than Jewish Immigrants
• UK, Western, Southern & Eastern Europe
• Italian, Portuguese and Greek migration
• This migration saved Toronto because these people moved into this city as the others
moved out to the suburbs.
• 1946-1947 Canadians said that they preferred to have Germans over Jews in this
country. This is odd because we just fought a war against Germany.
• Big Growth in Non-British European Pop.
• Because of these arrivals of eastern Europeans there is a huge increase in non british
population
• Hungarian Refugees: 1956
• Asylum seekers, new approach to more humanitarian immigrants
• Very few Non-Europeans & Non-White in Canada
• About to Change With the Point System
The end of Race Based Migration: 1960s
• Selection Based on Human Capital Not Country of Origin
– The first 100 years we based immigration on race and religion
– We are more interested in what skills you possess. HUMAN CAPITAL refers to what
knowledge skills and experience do you have to invest economically in Canada
• 1962: End of Countries of Preference
– Canada says we no longer are going to accept immigrants based on what country you
are from. This was only about 50 years ago.
• 1967: Adoption of The Point System
– Giving applicants who want to come to Canada points based on aspects that they
possess
• Why the Change?
– It was a combination of pragmatism(helping solving an immediate problem) and
principle (what are our ethically values)
• Combination of Pragmatism & Principle
– Labour Market Needs: Baby Boom Ending
– Traditional Sending Countries Stop Sending
• Europe no longer wants to migrate.