"INVASION" OF THE "IMMIGRANT HORDES": AN ANALYSIS OF CURRENT ARGUMENTS IN CANADA AGAINST MULTICULTURALISM AND IMMIGRATION POLICY by P. SARADHI PUTTAGUNTA HBA/BA, Lakehead University,. 1990 MA, Dalhousie University, 1992 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department of Educational Studies We accept .this thesis as conforming to the "required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA March 1998 (c) P. Saradhi Puttagunta, 1998 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT This thesis is a study of the current backlash against immigration and multiculturalism policies. The author looks at current arguments against both policies, and compares them to evidence. These arguments are drawn from the media; the writings of critics like Richard Gwyn, and William D. Gairdner; and the policies of the Reform Party. It will provide a historical review of the experiences of immigrant groups in adapting to Canadian society. From this review, the author identifies several consistent themes in anti-multiculturalism and anti-immigration literature, which include: multiculturalism is little more than "flash and dance", the policy is unanimously unpopular among the general public, immigrants take jobs from Canadian-born, immigrants are a burden to society, and that immigrants are not needed to offset the ageing of the Canadian population. The author concludes that these criticisms are based on misconceptions and distortions of facts. In some cases, the criticisms reflect more of an attack on minority groups rather than on these policies, and reveal a movement to reverse the pluralistic nature of Canadian society. This research comes at a time when the debate over these policies is clouded with emotion. The author makes several recommendations as to how the public education system can help counter the use of these themes in the media. w, TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ' ii Table of Contents iii List of Figures iv Acknowledgement v Chapter One Introduction 1 Chapter Two Multiculturalism as a Concept 17 Chapter Three Multiculturalism as a Policy: History And Opponents 58 Chapter Four Arguments Against Multiculturalism Policy 77 Chapter Five What the Criticisms of Multiculturalism Policy Represent 111 Chapter Six Analysis of the Multiculturalism Backlash 165 Chapter Seven The Backlash Against Immigration: Arguments And Evidence in a Historical and Contemporary Context 194 Chapter Eight Economic Arguments Against Immigration 234 Chapter Nine General Themes in Contemporary Immigration-Bashing 263 Chapter Ten Conclusion 304 Bibliography 342 Appendix A 363 Appendix B 364 Appendix C 365 Appendix D 366 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure One: Immigrant Flows, by Region of Origin, Canada, 1901- 1990 363 Figure Two: Multiculturalism Approved Funding to Uni-Cultural Organizations, 1992-93 to 1994-95 364 Figure Three: Immigrants as a Percentage of the Population, Canada, 1901-1991 365 Figure Four: Average Earnings of Foreign-born Individuals Who Landed in 1981 and 1985 by Immigration Category, 1988 366 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT In 1994 I began this study out of concern for the image that was being portrayed of immigrants in the media here in Canada. The previous year was a federal election year, and some of the statements made by politicians seemed to be putting the blame on new Canadians for the economic and political woes the country was experiencing. Perhaps because I myself am an immigrant, I was very sensitive to what was being said, and clearly understood that immigrants were being used as scapegoats for problems they were not necessarily responsible for. I would like to thank Pradip Sarbadhikari, who pointed me in this direction years ago, and motivated me to follow my heart. In completing this research, I am grateful to many colleagues who provided very helpful comments and hints about my writing. Specifically, I would like to thank Timothy Stanley, Tony Arruda, Diane Purvey, and Gail Edwards. My association with the Canadian Ethnic Studies Association has put me in touch with many individuals whose own research and comments can be seen throughout this thesis. For their contributions, I owe a debt of gratitude to Marie McAndrew, Cornelius Jaenen, Jean Burnet, T.R. Balakrishnan, and John Berry. I would like to thank Ather H. Akbari and Donald J. DeVoretz for answering my questions about the economics of immigration. I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to the members of my committee, Charles Ungerleider and Kogila A. Moodley, who not only provided many helpful suggestions, but whose own work is quoted extensively throughout this paper. I hope my academic practices will come to resemble their own. But above all, this work could not have been possible without the influence of my dissertation advisor, J. Donald Wilson. His performance in this role has gone way above and beyond the call of duty. His role as advisor, mentor, professor, critic, disciplinarian, motivator, and comedian set a new standard for others to match. I cannot say enough good things about him. I hope that this research will somehow give him a sense that this his effort was all worthwile. I thank him not only for his advice and support, but also for his humour and for his ability to forgive my many mistakes, of which I am sure he will still be recovering from long after I leave this institution. v CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Many Canadians np longer support immigration because, rightly, they consider the immigration policies of the 1990s detrimental.1 -Daniel Stoffman, 1998 Now, English Canada is being, destroyed not only because non- traditional immigrants are failing to assimilate, but because they are encouraged not to do so by the government's ridiculous policies of multiculturalism. 2 -Doug Collins, 1979 In 1993, during a federal election campaign in Canada, Reform candidate for York riding John Beck stated that immigrants were bringing "...death and destruction to the people", and the time for Anglo-Saxons to assert themselves had come.3 Beck was subsequently expelled from his party for his remarks. While he was condemned by his own party's executive, it became clear that his sentiments were representative of a trend in the nineties of immigrant-bashing that was present not only in Canada, but around the world. The native- born populations of developed countries were growing uneasy in an era of recession and economic instability. With both resources and employment becoming scarce, immigrants and minorities within these nations were becoming the scapegoats for these troubled times. In Canada, the atmosphere of hostility towards immigrants was reflected in a 1994 poll by the Ekos Research Association which showed that 53% of Canadians thought too many immigrants were, coming.to Canada.4 As a result of this attitude towards newcomers, neo-conservative and ultra-conservative forces have been able to capitalize on this public fear of immigrants in order to promote their agendas of immigrant restriction and revocation of rights for minority groups. The Reform Party has stated that its 1996-97 official policy calls for reducing immigration inflows into Canada from its current level of around 215,000 newcomers a year to 150,000. Reform Party policy also calls for eliminating health and welfare benefits for new Canadians until they become citizens, 1 which takes about three to five years after their arrival, to deny Canadian citizenship to children of immigrants born on Canadian soil unless the parents are landed immigrants, and to use the "notwithstanding1 clause in the Charter of Rights in order to ignore constitutional rights when expelling those considered to be bogus refugees and illegal entrants. 5 The purpose of this thesis is to show that, rather than being about good economic and social policy, the contemporary attack on immigration policies is about halting the increase in immigration from non-traditional areas, and is thus implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) an attack on multiculturalism. This argument is based on the .following points. The first theme in this thesis is that recent arguments about restricting immigration repeat anti-immigration themes voiced throughout Canadian history, and are related to, and reflected in, attacks upon Canada's official policy of multiculturalism. I believe the term "backlash' accurately describes this current anti- immigration movement, as it connotes that the movement has an ebb and flow. That is,, anti-immigration, movements are not a constant part of Canadian history. However, when they do happen, the same arguments are used by immigration critics over and over again. Present-day criticisms of immigration are based on the belief that current patterns of immigration have either a negligible or negative impact on the quality of life in Canada. Critics such as journalist Daniel Stoffman stated that the era of "mass immigration' since 197,8 had not resulted in increased incomes for individual Canadians, nor had it eased the tax burden of Canadians.6 Immigration • critic Charles Campbell claimed that Canada's open door policy towards newcomers was costly to taxpayers and, as a result, immigration must be reduced to a minimum.7 Some observers suggested that a moratorium on immigration was necessary to assimilate "last decade's scarcely-restrained human flood".8 These critics claim that Canada should follow the leads of other nations such as the United States and Australia by reducing inflows 2 of newcomers.