By asking this question, I don't mean legally - I mean in terms of acceptance. This was a question asked by a co-worker when we were talking about the racism we've both encountered from other White Canadians. We (myself included) look at someone's skin, headgear, listen to their language and identify them as "immigrants", even if we have no idea if they, their parents or their grandparents were born here or elsewhere. And then we have discussions on how 'immigrants' buy too many houses, take too many jobs, don't work enough, are a drain on the economy, don't speak English, don't 'fit' in with the rest of us. We track how many of "us" vs. "them" there are in the country and (some of us) fret endlessly about how the 'wrong' people are coming to Canada.
This question was really brought home to me when I watched a video of the Remembrance Day parade in Surrey. When the cadets marched past, most of them were from a 'visible' minority. In Surrey, the split between visible minorities and Whites is close to 50/50, but in the parade it was more like 90/10. Perhaps not all of these kids will go on to become part of the system that protects "Canada" and "Canadians", but I think it is significant that they outnumber whites by quite a bit at this early recruitment stage. And I think once people demonstrate a willingness to put their life on the line to protect Canada, then they should perhaps be allowed to become "Canadians" and not "immigrants".
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A line here, because this is sort-of related, and arises from a video I watched about how population is slowing around the world and if current trends continue will peak at around 11 billion in 2100, and level out. There will be about 1 billion people in the Americas, 1 billion in Europe, with the remaining 9 billion spread over the Asias/Africa and Middle East. Clearly, the "White European" contingent will be at a significant disadvantage in terms of population. Add to that the expectation that developing countries will also experience a growth in wealth and education, how much longer can the (White) Western world expect to maintain the global dominance they now enjoy?
I know that many people believe that as Canadians, we should protect and promote "Canadian" culture. But it seems to me that cultures change over time, that they do not remain static and unchanging forever. So when I think of the future of Canada as a country and a culture, the inevitable result of falling birth rates and immigration to at least maintain our current population, I wonder what we will really protect and promote for our future Canada. I think this goes beyond turbans and head scarves, to what we share internally regardless of how we look on the outside. And this brings me back to the question: When do immigrants become "Canadians"? When do we accept their customs as part of Canadian custom, similar to the way in which pagan festivals have become part of the Christian Church? When do we accept that people can really be Canadian even if they speak different languages or wear different clothes?