When you arrive in Canada, in particular, its capital Ottawa, for the first time you cannot but pay attention that this country resembles the US in many ways. The same roads, traffic lights, numerous Starbucks cafes, kind attitude of people, who are even ready to see the tourist to the place he is looking for. Most of the cars in the streets are of American production. And the Parliament of Canada is even located on a hill, like American Senate. Therefore the place on which the buildings of the House of Commons, Senate, Library of Parliament, and parliamentary committees stand is called Parliament Hill, and in the US, respectively, it is Capitol Hill.
At the same time, some differences are evident, too: there are inscriptions in English and French on all the governmental, to be more precise, federal buildings. However, this refers only to federal government buildings, wherever they are located, and each of 10 Canadian territories has laws of its own, with English being the state language in all of them, except for the francophone Quebec. In Ottawa-Gatineau, the National Capital Region, all signs are only in French.
Another difference from the US is that Canada has parliamentarianism, similar to the British one. The author has visited the public gallery of the House of Commons. Anyone can get there without any documents, but at the same time, cameras, mobile phones, and pens are taken away. The guards explained it is for the convenience of the MPs, who say the flashes of cameras bother them when they are working. It is not clear yet why it is forbidden to enter with a pen. The guards explained that they were standing at the gallery entrance because of rallies, organized by some visitors from time to time. Of course, they have to intrude, in order to provide the MPs with normal work.
It is also evident that on many squares and at the entrances of expensive hotels, there are flags of all 10 provinces and three territories and the flag of Canada.
It was in the Land of Maple Leaf that I for the first time heard the notion of Canadian values. Former assistant deputy minister of Canada Paul Migus, who has worked for 35 years as a state official and currently occupies the post of the President of Ottawa Ukrainian National Federation, delivered a speech on this topic at “Model Ukraine” Conference, which was held October 16 through 18 in Ottawa under the auspices of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Program.
In his quite extended speech entitled “Canadian experience in bringing up citizens” he explained how Canada managed to create its own brand of Canadian citizenship over 60 years. He reminded that the law on citizenship, which established the Canadian citizenship, was approved in this country in 1947. Thirty years later another law was approved, which allowed for a double or multiple citizenship, reduced the term of permanent residence needed for obtaining citizenship from five to three years, and also implemented a citizenship test, as well as a special educational program.
In his words, the governmental policy in this sphere is based on immigration and multiculturalism, which is directly connected with Canadian values and the way Canadians view citizenship. In particular, immigration in Canada is viewed as a cornerstone of nation building over the past 400 years.
Words of Minister of Citizenship, Immigration, and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney are by far the best explanation of this. He says that citizenship is a guaranty of status and certain rights, like the right to vote, and stresses the need to develop a deeper feeling of multiculturalism; a feeling of common obligations before one another, before the past and the future. He sees it as a kind of civic nationalism, where people understand the institutions, values, and symbols that take root in Canadian history.
Migus emphasized that in Canada citizenship and integration, which does not mean assimilation like in the US, in partnership with local organizations, is actively propagated. In particular, the newcomers go through the program “Discover Canada.” At the same time immigrants aged 18 to 54 must have adequate knowledge of English and French in order to become Canadian citizens.
“You must also learn about voting procedures, Canada’s history, symbols, democratic institutions, geography, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Canadian citizens enjoy many rights, but Canadians also have responsibilities. They must obey Canada’s laws and respect the rights and freedoms of others,” the study guide “Discover Canada” reads.
Speaking of language policy of Canada, Migus told The Day that Canadian citizens have the right to choose a language to speak, and federal government must provide such right for them. “Laws in provinces differ from the federal law. We don’t have a situation like in Ukraine, when a law is approved in Kyiv, and every oblast and raion must fulfill it,” he said.
In fact, only province Quebec is the only francophone province in Canada, and 27 percent of Canadians on the whole speak French. It comes to awkward situations, when a person cannot become a prime minister if he does not know French. Canadian mass media once published a caricature for one of the candidates for prime minister. It depicted a frog with an arrow, who asked: “Do you speak French?” So, in fact French-speaking people have an advantage for getting posts in federal government. Can equality be provided in such a way?
According to Wikipedia, Canada has the highest number of immigrants per capita in the world. It is explained by economic reasons and reunification of families. In fact, how can the lands, first of all, the resources of the second by territory country in the world, be explored without extra labor force? Namely with this aim Canadian values, such as multiculturalism, are being promoted – in order to attract more foreigners to the country.
But the question arises, why Canadian multiculturalism is blossoming and German “multi-kulti” has failed? And how does this multiculturalism differ from the American “melting pot”?
“We accept immigrants to Canada and provide majority of them not only with a job, but also with an opportunity to be part of the society, i.e., to build the country, like Ukrainians did in Canada’s West. Back then it was an empty land – just an open field. And they started there from scratch, to survive in winter they dug earth houses. Therefore I think today we have accepted all strata, which have arrived in Canada, either from Eurasia or Africa. The main reason is that we still need labor force, and even when we accept workers from abroad, we have found ways for them to get an opportunity of permanent residence. For example, in many EU countries you cannot apply for citizenship. There is a definition of citizenship, national identity, but others are not allowed to take part in the development of the country. I felt comfortable when I took part in the Canadian life and guaranteed for all 35 years on state service that these values and approaches would be continued in the future,” Migus explained.
He says that another feature that distinguishes Canadian values from the American ones is that the national healthcare system is available for all Canadians. “And for quite a while it has been a challenge for America. For example, our attitude to gun possession is totally different from that which exists in America. We have many disparities with the US. We are implementing multiculturalism and accepting the identity of immigrants, whereas America speaks about assimilation and accepts Spanish language quietly. They are facing challenges connected with providing equal possibilities for all citizens in all states and in the national sphere. I can see polarization of the states, which ended in a political crisis. I don’t think anything of this kind can happen in our country,” Migus said.
In his words, the national building of any country demands implementation of three stages:
1. Gathering of heritage. Efforts of individuals must be aimed at gathering linguistic, folklore, literature, and historical artifacts of Ukrainian people.
2. Organizational: promotion of knowledge about the cultural heritage by organizations, schools, and publications.
3. Political: participation in political life sometimes with an aim of getting autonomy or independence.
It can be said that Ukraine has practically passed through all three stages. In 1991 Ukrainian nation became a state. Another question arises, whether we have been able to bring up a Ukrainian over this period.
Den/The Day is actively involved in this for 17 years. And not accidentally did we offer as a topic of our speech “We have Ukraine, let’s bring up Ukrainians, and what Den has been doing for this for 17 years” at the “Model Ukraine” Conference in Ottawa.
Not only did the author tell about Den’s activities since the moment it was founded, but also showed books and magazines we publish with an aim to bring up a true Ukrainian. Moreover, the newspaper has proved that it can become a communicator between Ukraine and Ukrainian diaspora. And this can be done via the web portal “Ukraine Incognita,” large-scale and long-term project “101 Reasons to Love Ukraine,” which will create a new graphic image of Ukraine with the help of laconic and well-ordered language of the Web. Oriented at promotion of our cultural heritage, this extract of cultural achievements of Ukrainian history, ethnography, and anthropology, which envisages creation of 101 informative pictures, clearly fits in the second stage mentioned by Mr. Migus.
But, clearly, the efforts of one newspaper for such large-scale work are not enough, we need support from the state, which should be more actively involved in the questions of citizenship and maybe borrow some experience from Canadians. On the other hand, Ukrainian diaspora over the world may join this process. And newspaper Den offers its role of communicator for all Ukrainians.
