“In this lesson I say that it should be clear that the discourse on nationalism is also about ethnicity and ideologies of “race.” If you trace the historical overview of nationalism in Canada in the CanLit guide, you will find many examples of state legislation and policies that excluded and discriminated against certain peoples based on ideas about racial inferiority and capacities to assimilate. – and in turn, state legislation and policies that worked to try to rectify early policies of exclusion and racial discrimination. As the guide points out, the nation is an imagined community, whereas the state is a “governed group of people.” For this blog assignment, I would like you to research and summarize one of the state or governing activities, such as The Royal Proclamation 1763, the Indian Act 1876, Immigration Act 1910, or the Multiculturalism Act 1989 – you choose the legislation or policy or commission you find most interesting. Write a blog about your findings and in your conclusion comment on whether or not your findings support Coleman’s argument about the project of white civility.”
The Immigration Act of 1869 began as a national policy by Prime Minister Macdonald to encourage open immigration to Canada in order to settle the Western portion of the country. The primary focus of this initial act was to ensure the safety of immigrants and protect them from exploitation once landing in Canada, guaranteeing a customer service standard that can be said to always be expected today. For example, captains of ships transporting immigrants were required to provide services such as: docking at reasonable hours, unloading luggage for no charge, and allowing passengers to remain on board their ship for up to 48 hours after arrival to allow them time to find lodging.
However, as immigration began to exceed emigration, Canada’s immigration policy began to become more and more restrictive. The open immigration policy was molded into a selective policy in order to limit the number of “undesirable immigrants” (Pier 21b) entering the country. This policy specifically was discriminatory on the basis of an immigrant’s cultural and ethnic origin, established on the fear that these new people would threaten the “preservation of Anglo-Saxon norms and [would be] incapable of assimilating” (Pier 21b).
This policy eventually evolved into the Immigration Act of 1910. The 1910 act further narrowed the spectrum of who could enter the country, preventing impoverished British immigrants from trying to find a better life and forcing immigrants of Asian descent to have very large sums of money in their possession before permitting them entry. These large sums of money turned into the Chinese Head Tax, ultimately transforming into the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1923. This new iteration of the act also gave the federal cabinet the power to arbitrarily prohibit an immigrant from landing if they were “deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada” (Pier 21c).
Fundamentally, the evolution of the Immigration Act in Canada went from a policy protecting new immigrants to one that turned away anyone not “fit” for the middle class, Anglo-Saxon life, therefore supporting Daniel Coleman’s “White Civility”.
The concept of “White Civility” is built on the initial belief in white superiority, which initially spurred the creation of the discriminatory immigration acts of the early 20th century. A popular imperialistic view existed within the English speaking population of Canada at the time, with many people believing that British people and principles were at the height of physiological and societal advancement. Therefore, Canada’s prominence as a nation was dependent on preserving the Anglo-Saxon heritage, and allowing non-Anglo-Saxon people (or people who in English Canada’s point of view would not be able to assimilate to the Anglo-Saxon values) would destroy the country. Therefore, the selectiveness and discriminatory principles of past immigration policies are guilty for establishing a white “fictive ethnicity” within Canada.
“Fictive ethnicity” describes how a nation is representative of “the narrative of its diverse peoples’ past and future as if they formed a natural community” (pg 7), and because selective immigration policies discouraged and prevented immigrants of specific ethnic backgrounds from entering the country, Anglo-Saxon values were normalized as English Canada’s cultural identity (pg 5). This is reflected in the literature of the time, which only further reinforced the white cultural normativity, eventually leading to “white civility” presently shaping English Canadians’
“perceptions of themselves, their families, and their relation to social legitimacy” (pg 3), and establishing white privilege as the norm.
The Immigration Act 1910 from Pier 21
References:
Chan, Arlene. “Chinese Head Tax in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. 8 Sept. 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chinese-head-tax-in-canada. Accessed 28 Feb. 2019.
Coleman, Daniel. White Civility: The Literary Project of English Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 2006.
Palmer, H & Driedger, L. “Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. 10 Feb. 2011. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/prejudice-and-discrimination. Accessed 28 Feb. 2019.
Pier 21a. “Immigration Act, 1869.” Pier 21. https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-act-1869. Accessed 28 Feb. 2019.
Pier 21b. “Immigration Act, 1906.” Pier 21. https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-act-1906. Accessed 28 Feb. 2019.
Pier 21c. “Immigration Act, 1910.” Pier 21. https://pier21.ca/research/immigration-history/immigration-act-1910. Accessed 28 Feb. 2019.
Hey Cassie! I really enjoyed how your article weaved together a new perspective with arguments based in this week’s readings of Coleman. I think it is important to acknowledge the reality of “white civility” in response to all races. The hierarchy of race was directed towards non-western settlers as well, and you emphasized that with the “Chinese head tax”. White civility is so present in the development of the Canadian Nation state, through narratives we are told predominantly from the white settler experience. Thank you for sharing these contrasting perspectives.
Lexi
Thank you Lexi for your comment! After reading what other classmates had to say on the topic and what you wrote, I almost wonder even now, to what degree white civility still exists in our present immigration policies. For example, I’ve heard stories of people with university degrees immigrating to Canada and then not having their degree recognized because it wasn’t considered to have been gained through a “Western” education. Immigrants are forced to either pay thousands of dollars to redo their education or take on jobs that they have too much education for. Obviously, current policies still favour certain individuals over others, I just wonder if it’s to the same degree as in the past or if the white civility present in the past has shifted into something new within our current policies.