Canada -- Economic conditions; Canada -- Emigration and immigration
Already there is the keenest sense of nationality in the Canadian
people. There has grown up in recent years an interest in the history of
Canada which would have surprised the fathers and grandfathers of the
present generation. An illustration of this interest is the arrangement
by Dr. Lock (the very able Public Librarian at Toronto) of gatherings of
school children two or three times a week to hear stories from Canadian
history told in ways that will make the future citizens proud of being
Canadians. In talks that I had with public men in all the Provinces the
necessity of keeping the Anglo-Saxon type and Anglo-Saxon ideals
dominant was continually urged. Canada opens wide its doors to men of
all nations seeking a larger life and richer opportunities in the
spacious Provinces and the freer air of the Dominion. But there is the
firm resolve that in the composite nation now in its infancy the
Anglo-Saxon type shall not be swamped or weakened by the infusion of
foreign blood. This is why the Dominion and Provincial Governments give
the heartiest welcome to immigrants from the American side as well as
from Great Britain. At least 100,000 Americans are pouring yearly into
the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia. They bring with them
Anglo-Saxon ideas, Anglo-Saxon religion, the Anglo-Saxon spirit of
democracy, Anglo-Saxon energy and inventiveness in industry, and
Anglo-Saxon solid and scientific methods of agriculture. The Americans
in three or four years are blended with the native-born population, and
the blend is considered the finest possible from the point of view of
the development of the Dominion along Anglo-Saxon lines. As a matter of
fact, the Americans a few years after arrival are almost more Canadian
than the Canadians themselves—it is the Americans rather than the
Canadians who show jealousy at the flocking in of people of other
nationalities and raise the cry of “Canada for the Canadians.” There is
ample room, however, in the Provinces (most of which equal or exceed in
size the area of France or Germany) for immigration from every nation
under the sun, and there is no reason why the process of assimilation
should not be even more complete than it has been in the United States.
Canada believes in churches and schools. The Governments of the Dominion
and of the Provinces see to it that the schools are put up among the
first buildings that arise in the new towns and that they are richly
provided with all the equipment they need and all the funds that ensure
their being carried on in the highest state of efficiency. These schools
catch the children of the immigrants and manufacture them into citizens
with Anglo-Saxon democratic ideals. The people themselves provide the
churches. I was surprised during my tour in Canada to find how many
churches there are, and how fine are the church buildings even in cities
that cover what twenty years ago was virgin prairie. The Canadians are
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account