The Origins of Canadian Multiculturalism Policy, 1945-1974

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The Origins of Canadian Multiculturalism Policy, 1945-1974 Re-branding Canada: The Origins of Canadian Multiculturalism Policy, 1945-1974 by Lee Blanding B.A, Mount Allison University, 2003 M.A., University of Ottawa, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of History Lee Blanding, 2013 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. ii Supervisory Committee Re-branding Canada: The Origins of Canadian Multiculturalism Policy, 1945-1974 by Lee Blanding B.A., Mount Allison University, 2003 M.A., University of Ottawa, 2005 Supervisory Committee Dr. P.E. Bryden, (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Eric Sager, (Department of History) Departmental Member Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross (Department of History) Departmental Member Dr. Herman Bakvis (School of Public Administration) Outside Member iii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. P.E. Bryden, (Department of History) Supervisor Dr. Eric Sager, (Department of History) Departmental Member Dr. Jordan Stanger-Ross (Department of History) Departmental Member Dr. Herman Bakvis (School of Public Administration) Outside Member Canadian multiculturalism policy is often said to have come about in 1971 because of factors such as the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, the multicultural movement of the 1960s, or the more liberal political and social climate of the postwar period. While all of these played roles in the emergence of “multiculturalism within a bilingual framework,” this dissertation takes the approach that the federal civil service was the most important factor behind the adoption of a federal multiculturalism policy in Canada. The author makes the case that the Canadian state had adopted multiculturalism policy and programs as early as the 1950s. A small branch of Government, known as the Canadian Citizenship Branch sought to integrate members of ethnic minority communities into the mainstream of Canadian life, but also sought to reassure native-born Canadians that these “New Canadians” had vital contributions to make to Canadian culture. This dissertation shows how this state discourse intersected with the more familiar elements associated with the rise of multiculturalism, such as the multicultural movement, and ultimately coalesced in 1971 with the announcement by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau of a “new” state multiculturalism policy. iv Table of Contents Supervisory Committee ...................................................................................................... ii Abstract..............................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents............................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................... 1 Historical Scholarship..................................................................................................... 5 Ethnicity and the State ................................................................................................ 6 Cultural and Intellectual Histories of Multiculturalism............................................ 10 The “Bi and Bi” and the Multicultural Movement ................................................... 15 Pierre Trudeau and Multiculturalism........................................................................ 19 Multiculturalism as Ideology .................................................................................... 23 Rebranding Canada....................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2: The Citizenship Branch and early discourses of cultural pluralism, 1945-1963 ........................................................................................................................................... 31 Introduction................................................................................................................... 31 The Nationalities Branch .............................................................................................. 34 The Citizenship Branch in the early 1950s................................................................... 39 Shifting notions of “Canadian”..................................................................................... 44 “In Search of Citizens” ................................................................................................. 49 Brussels World’s Fair, 1958 ......................................................................................... 55 “Free to conform”: Defining integration....................................................................... 62 Analysis......................................................................................................................... 65 Chapter 3: Biculturalism, multiculturalism, and “unity in diversity,” 1957-1963............ 71 Introduction................................................................................................................... 71 The Quiet Revolution, neo-nationalism, and “biculturalism” ...................................... 73 The Mosaic and “multiculturalism”.............................................................................. 78 Political Parties and ethnic minority communities ....................................................... 87 Preliminary Hearings, November 1963 ...................................................................... 104 Multiculturalists at the Preliminary hearings.............................................................. 108 Media reaction ............................................................................................................ 115 Analysis....................................................................................................................... 119 Chapter 4: “Neither rigid biculturalism nor loose multiculturalism will hold its complex elements together”: The multiculturalism debate, 1963-1965........................................ 123 Conferences and Questions......................................................................................... 124 French-Ethnic Divide.................................................................................................. 131 Preliminary Report, 1965............................................................................................ 141 Lesage Summit of 1965 .............................................................................................. 145 The Citizenship Branch and the RCBB ...................................................................... 149 UN Seminar ................................................................................................................ 153 Royal Commission-Citizenship Branch Summit........................................................ 155 v Conclusions................................................................................................................. 160 Chapter 5: The Multicultural Movement, 1964-1969..................................................... 161 Divisions in the Ukrainian Community ...................................................................... 163 Ukrainian-Canadian scholars...................................................................................... 170 Jewish Canadian community ...................................................................................... 179 Inter-ethnic co-operation............................................................................................. 185 Thinkers’ Conference on Cultural Rights................................................................... 194 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 200 Chapter 6: “One Canada, bilingual and multi-cultural”: Continuity and change, 1964- 1970................................................................................................................................. 203 The Liberal Party of Canada, 1964-1968.................................................................... 205 Public Response to “Multiculturalism” ...................................................................... 213 The Citizenship Branch, 1965-1968 ........................................................................... 218 Trudeau and Ethnicity................................................................................................. 228 “Participation”............................................................................................................. 232 Conclusions................................................................................................................. 239 Chapter 7: Re-branding Canada: “Multiculturalism within a bilingual framework,” 1970- 1971................................................................................................................................. 241 Reaction to Book IV ................................................................................................... 243 Ministerial Consultations............................................................................................ 248
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