STRANGERS AT OUR GATES This page intentionally left blank STRANGERS AT OUR GATES Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy, 1540-2006 Revised Edition Valerie Knowles DUNDURN PRESS TORONTO Copyright © Valerie Knowles, 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted ir any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright. Copy-editor: Vasuki Bala Design: Jennifer Scott Proofreader: Alison Hirst Printer: Marquis Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Knowles, Valerie Strangers at our gates : Canadian immigration and immigration policy, 1540-2006 / Valerie Knowles. -- Rev. ed. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-55002-698-6 1. Canada--Emigration and immigration--Government policy-- History. 2. Canada--Emigration and immigration--History. I. Title. JV7220.K56 2007 325.71'09 C2006-906826-7 1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08 07 Conseil des Arts Canada Council ONTARIO ARTS COUNCIL du Canada for the Arts Canada CONSEIL DES ARTS DE CONTARIO We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publish- ing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program and the Ontario Media Development Corporation. Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions. /. Kirk Howard, President Printed and bound in Canada www.dundurn.com Dundurn Press Gazelle Book Services Limited Dundurn Press 3 Church Street, Suite 500 White Cross Mills 2250 Military Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada High Town, Lancaster, England Tonawanda, NY M5E 1M2 LA1 4XS U.S.A. 14150 CONTENTS Preface 7 Introduction 9 1. The Beginnings 11 2. Canada's First Large Influx of Refugees 33 3. British Immigration Transforms the Colonies 48 4. Immigration in the Macdonald Era 68 5. The Sifton Years 84 6. Forging a New Immigration Policy 105 7. Immigration Doldrums 127 8. Immigration's Post-War Boom (1947-1957) 155 9. Major New Initiatives 179 10. A New Era in Immigration 199 11. The Turbulent 1980s and Beyond 221 12. Developments in the Last Decade 247 Appendix: Tables and Figures 273 Notes 280 Bibliography 294 Index 305 This page intentionally left blank PREFACE T,HE IDEA FOR THIS BOOK originated with Kirk Howard, Dundurn Press's publisher, who asked me, in 1988, if I would undertake a 200- page survey history of Canadian immigration and immigration policy. When I agreed to take on the assignment, I little dreamt that, in 2006, I would be toiling away on a third edition of the book. At times, I have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task and by the challenge of compressing a wealth of material into a short history that touches on most of the key topics that should be raised in an introductory work of this nature. Fortunately, I have had a lot of assistance along the way, most of which has been acknowledged in earlier editions. I still owe a debt of gratitude, however, to several people who played a role in the evolution of this third edition. I am especially grateful to Christopher Moore and Mike Molloy, who read the entire manuscript and made valuable suggestions for its improve- ment, and to Martha Nixon, who suggested ways in which the final two chapters could be improved. I would also like to thank Charlene Elgee, head librarian at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Debbie Farnand of CIC, and librarians Veera Harnal and Louise Gibson for their help. To Daniel Jean, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and Craig Goodes, Canada Border Services Agency, I owe a special vote of thanks for provid- ing me with background material relating to their respective departments. Thanks are also due to editor/author Penny Williams, who did a prelimi- nary editing of the last two chapters, and to Vasuki Bala, who edited the final draft of the entire manuscript, and to Barry Jowett, who devoted a great deal of time to piloting the manuscript through its final stages. 8 STRANGERS AT OUR GATES And to James Bissett, my grateful thanks for taking time out of a hectic schedule to proofread the manuscript's final four chapters. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to my hus- band, David, who was called upon to resolve numerous computer prob- lems and to print chapters. Valerie Knowles Ottawa, November 2006. INTRODUCTION T HE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ROLE played by immigrants in Canada's history is underscored by an observation made by William Scott. In or around 1913, the superintendent of immigration from 1903 to 1924 observed: "More important than the drilling of armies, more important than the construction of navies, more important than the fiscal policy of this country is the question of who shall come to Canada and become part and parcel of the Canadian people" (William Scott, "Immigration and Population," Canada and Its Provinces, edited by Adam Shortt and Arthur Doughty [Toronto: The Publishers' Association of Canada, 1913], vol. 7,589). Closer to the present day, Richard Tait, chairman of the Canadian Immigration and Population Study, which issued the Green Paper of 1975, echoed these sentiments when he said, "A hundred years from now, I don't suppose people will care all that much whether we legalized marijuana or not. But decisions about who you let into Canada will decide the kind of country we have 100 years from now." The people who have come to Canada have, by their efforts and tal- ents, fashioned this country's institutions, political and economic char- acter, and cultural diversity. In short, they have made Canada what it is today. The purpose of this book is not to re-tell the important story of what these people endured and accomplished but rather to describe briefly the different kinds of immigrants who have settled in this coun- try over the centuries and the immigration policies that have helped to define the character of immigration in various periods. Special atten- tion is paid to some of the key policy-makers and moulders of public opinion. And, because racism frequently plays a role in the Canadian 10 STRANGERS AT OUR GATES immigration story, it is also discussed, as is the effectiveness of various policies in achieving Canada's immigration goals. The last part of the book touches on the realities of the 1990s and the early years of the present century that influence the framing of immigration policy, and tries to make some sense of the current debate about this country's immigration and multiculturalism policies. CHAPTER 1 The Beginnings THE BEGINNINGS T HE PREHISTORIC ANCESTORS OF CANADA'S present-day Indians and Inuit became this country's first immigrants when they journeyed to America by way of the Bering Strait, at a time when a land bridge, now vanished, still connected Asia and America. Centuries later, according to an unconfirmed hypothesis, Irish monks visited Newfoundland. Then, starting around the year 1000, Vikings made occasional stops, overwin- tering at points on Baffin Island, Labrador, and the northeastern tip of Newfoundland (L'Anse aux Meadows). Still later, in 1497, the Italian mariner John Cabot, sailing in the service of England, glimpsed the shores of Newfoundland while searching for the country of the Great Khan (Asia). After viewing the Grand Banks, he sailed back to Bristol with amazing tales of an ocean dense with schools of codfish. The European fishery, if not in existence in these waters before Cabot's sight- ing, certainly came into being shortly after. And, as it developed, knowl- edge of the resources and configuration of the northeastern coast of North America spread throughout the fishing ports of western Europe. Among the beneficiaries of this knowledge was a group of Portuguese who established a colony on Cape Breton Island between 1520 and 1524. Their exploits were eclipsed, however, by those of a remarkable Italian- born explorer who sailed in the service of France: Giovanni da Verrazano. In 1524, Verrazano struck out on a new route to North America, hoping that it would lead him eventually to the "blessed shores of Cathay" and the fabled riches of Asia. Although he failed in his mission, the Italian suc- ceeded for the first time in history in charting the Atlantic seaboard of the 12 STRANGERS AT OUR GATES North American continent from Florida to Cape Breton. On this spectac- ular voyage the explorer also conceived the name "Nova Gallia" envisag- ing a New France that would encompass all of North America from Spanish Florida to the far north. But it was Jacques Cartier, a Frenchman carrying on the exploration started by Verrazano, who paved the way for permanent European settle- ment in Canada. On July 24,1534, Cartier clambered up the Gaspe shore of the Baie de Chaleur, erected a thirty-foot cross and claimed the newly discovered territory for His Most Christian Majesty, Francis I. On his sec- ond voyage, made the following year, the French explorer journeyed up the St. Lawrence River and visited Stadacona (Quebec). Then he went on to Hochelaga (Montreal) before wintering on the Sainte-Croix River near Stadacona. When he returned to France in 1536, having lost a fourth of his crew to scurvy, the hard-bitten St.