A Study of Pakistani Canadians' Experiences in Toronto During The

McGILL UNIVERSITY A Part of and Apart from the Mosaic: a Study of Pakistani Canadians’ Experiences in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s Tanya Sabena Khan A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History McGill University Montreal, Québec November 2012 © Tanya Sabena Khan, 2012 ii ABSTRACT A Part of and Apart from the Mosaic: a Study of Pakistani Canadians’ Experiences in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s Tanya Sabena Khan Supervisor: McGill University Professor John Zucchi This thesis examines the experiences of the first wave of Pakistani immigrants to arrive in Canada after the immigration reforms of the 1960s and 1970s. It focuses largely on the Pakistani community in Toronto. Its primary thesis is that while the immigration reforms and accompanying national policy of multiculturalism of this era were intended to foster democratic, humanitarian, and egalitarian principles, Pakistanis, like other immigrants of colour, actually saw their efforts to join the social and economic mainstream thwarted by discrimination both at the hands of government officials and within Canadian society. The thesis makes extensive use of a wide range of primary materials, including government documents, municipal records, commissioned reports, symposia proceedings, mainstream and Pako-Canadian newspapers, community newsletters, and interviews. Individual chapters examine: the background, social characteristics, and immigration and settlement experiences of Pakistani immigrants to Canada and Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s; the establishment and administration of immigration reforms and multiculturalism policies during these decades, with an emphasis on the ways that discriminatory government policies and traditions toward Pakistanis and other immigrants of colour carried over and continued to impact the era of progressive reform; the growth of intense anti-immigrant attitudes and the rise of “Paki-bashing” and other episodes steeped in discrimination and violence in Toronto during the 1970s; prejudice and other challenges faced by Pako-Canadians as they attempted to make a living within Toronto’s economy; and issues of gender and the experiences of Pako-Canadian women in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s. iii ABSTRACT A Part of and Apart from the Mosaic: a Study of Pakistani Canadians’ Experiences in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970s Tanya Sabena Khan Supervisor: McGill University Professor John Zucchi La présente thèse traite du vécu de la première vague d’immigrants pakistanais au Canada, soit celle qui est postérieure aux réformes du système d’immigration canadien des années 1960 et 1970. Elle est principalement focalisée sur la communauté pakistanaise de Toronto. Cette thèse soutient essentiellement l’hypothèse suivante : en dépit du fait que les réformes du système d’immigration, ainsi que celles apportées aux politiques nationales afférentes sur le multiculturalisme, bien qu’elles étaient destinées à étayer des principes démocratiques, humanitaires et égalitaires, les pakistanais, à l’instar d’autres immigrants de couleur, ont vu leurs efforts destinés à s’intégrer à la classe moyenne canadienne contrecarrés par des pratiques discriminatoires émanant tant de la part des fonctionnaires du gouvernement que de celle de la société canadienne elle-même. Cette thèse s’appuie sur un vaste éventail documentaire issu de sources primaires, comprenant des documents gouvernementaux, des dossiers municipaux, des rapports produits par des commissions, des comptes rendus de symposiums, des articles de journaux torontois à grand tirage, des bulletins communautaires de pakistano-canadiens et des interviews. Les divers chapitres qui la composent ont pour objet de scruter les thèmes suivants: les antécédents, les caractéristiques sociales ainsi que le processus d’immigration et l’établissement d’immigrants pakistanais au Canada, tout particulièrement à Toronto, durant les décennies 1960 et 1970 ; la mise en œuvre et l’administration des réformes de l’immigration et des politiques afférentes au multiculturalisme à cette époque, en mettant l’accent sur les manières dont les politiques gouvernementales discriminatoires envers les pakistanais et les autres immigrants de couleur se sont perpétuées et ont continué d’avoir un impact significatif sur l’immigration et ce, même pendant l’ère des réformes dites progressistes ; l’intensification d’attitudes négatives envers les immigrants et la montée d’un ressentiment anti-pakistanais, couplées à d’autres évènements qui profilèrent l’entrée en scène de la discrimination et de la violence à Toronto pendant les années 1970 ; la discrimination et les autres défis auxquels étaient confrontés les pakistano-canadiens alors qu'ils tentaient de gagner leur vie au coeur de l'économie torontoise de l’époque ; les problématiques particulières reliées à leur sexe et les expériences de vie des femmes pakistano-canadiennes de Toronto au cours des années 1960 et 1970. iv PREFACE This thesis was inspired, in part, by a phone call I received in the early 2000s. I was at my parent’s home in the Laurentians when I received a call from a government agent asking to speak with Akhlaq Khan. I informed her that my father was not available and offered to take a message. She asked if I was a relative and I confirmed that I was his daughter. She seemed pleased and proceeded to ask me personal questions about my father. I reminded her that my father would be back shortly and she should communicate directly with him. She was surprised and said “It’s just that many of these immigrants designate a family member to answer questions, since they don’t always speak or understand English very well.” I quickly informed her that my father has an excellent command of English not only because he has lived in Canada as a citizen for the over 30 years, but one of the reasons he was selected as a “desirable” immigrant was for his language skills. She was dismissive of this information. I found her comments or misinformed ideas of immigrants disturbing. Growing up with a father who had immigrated to Canada in the late 1960s as a qualified accountant exposed me to a certain understanding of these immigrants. It was always a joke among my siblings and I that if our parents introduced us to a new “aunty or uncle”- a term used indiscriminately for anyone of my parent’s friends or acquaintances-that he or she was either a doctor, engineer, or accountant. Indeed, the majority of those in my parent’s social circle were professionals who immigrated to Canada with established credentials; many would go on to enhance their educations by attending Canadian universities. My brothers, sisters, and I thought that this was normal and that all immigrants to Canada were like my father and his friends. To a great degree we were right. The majority of v independent immigrants, particularly immigrants of colour, who came to Canada from Pakistan during the 1960s and 1970s, were affluent, urban and professional. As a student of Canadian history I was often drawn to the stories of immigrants and was especially interested in learning how immigrants such as the Ukrainians, Germans, Italians, Macedonians, Chinese, Japanese, and Sikhs were incorporated into to Canada. What was missing in these historical accounts, however, was how my father and his fellow Pakistanis fit into this picture. Disappointed by the lack of works that dealt with my own family and community, I decided to study Pakistani immigrants, to explore their lives and experiences within Canada. My examination of the experiences of the first major wave of Pakistani immigration to Canada during the 1960s and 1970s led me to a central conclusion, a realization that there was a basic contradiction between what Pakistani migrants expected to encounter and what they in fact did encounter as they established new lives in Canada. During these years, Canada fundamentally changed its immigration policies, adopting progressive reforms and a formal national policy on non-discrimination and multiculturalism. These reforms opened the door to immigration from Pakistan and many other regions of the world that had previously been closed to Canadian immigration. The first wave of Pakistanis arrived in Canada enthusiastically embracing the new policy of openness and equality. They were optimistic about their ability to adapt to and find a satisfying place within Canadian society, believing themselves to be ideal candidates for rapid integration and looking forward to contributing to Canada’s social, cultural, and economic development. In reality, however, they often found that the actual administration of national policies was not always in line with their stated progressive ideals. Often they encountered forces such as discrimination and suspicion, both at the vi hands of the government and Canadian society itself. These forces undermined their sense of hope, impeded their economic progress, and worked against their integration into the mainstream of Canadian society. Hence, the title A Part of and Apart from the Mosaic: a Study of Pakistani Canadians’ Experiences in Toronto during the 1960s and 1970ss.1 This thesis has been a long (a very long) and winding journey filled with triumphs and tribulations. Like any life journey, one seldom travels alone. I have been fortunate and must offer my sincere gratitude to the many people who have helped. First, I would like to acknowledge my supervisor Professor John Zucchi for his years of patience, understanding, and insight. Professor Leonard Moore has also been an absolute beacon of support and encouragement and must be recognized for his keen advice, many suggestions, generously extending his time, and being dedicated fully to helping me with this project. I am also grateful to Professor Brian Lewis, Professor Jarrett Rudy, Professor Ratna Ghosh, and Professor Joseph Rochford for the interest they have shown my work and serving on my committee. The final version of this thesis has been improved significantly by the comments, suggestions, and efforts provided by Professor Hugh Johnston. I am deeply indebted to the time and attention he has given this work.

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