Bare minimum

[humaira_abedin]

Mini rant before I answer a question: The presence of visible multiculturalism is the bare minimum. Having a room full of people who have different identities and letting them live is not something to boast about, or be proud of. Of course, different people can co-exist with people, and I do not need the Canadian government to affirm that the general public has the power to confirm that. Thus, I believe that given Canadian governmental powers and resources, they have the duty to expand the meaning of multiculturalism to something meaningful from their abilities, while the public does what they can.
Was the Canadian points system non-discriminatory? Based on this article, it still was because it still tended to favor European immigrants because they held more "civilized" or "perfected" skills in education and language, therefore they were quicker supplies to insert into the Canadian economy and uphold a "superior" lifestyle. Ugandan refugees had to appear as people who would need too much "special assistance" (p.91). This implies that Canada was open to being a humanitarian tool for Ugandans, but they had to fit the criteria of not being too much in need which would upset Canadians, and would not be able to help out the economy at their expectations of efficiency.

Also, this new identity they were trying to create for themselves involved ignoring "Canada's historical legacy of injustice" (p.82). Therefore, rendering vulnerable groups of people such as the indigenous peoples of Canada as insignificant to this mission of multiculturalism. The bare minimum to recognize them in this case was compromised.

In Das' reading we see there the divide between Francophone and Anglophone speakers created a unique effect on South Asians in Montreal. As many South Asians had a colonial past associated with the English language enforced on many by the British, the English language led them to benefit from economic opportunities with English-speaking businesses and populations. Those who did not know English or French would inevitably be doing less stable jobs which placed them in even lower socio-economic status. In this article, we see how Tamils used French to mobilize themselves in Montreal society, without letting go of their own language in the process. Intimate relationships still involve Tamil/South Asian languages. Even as newcomers to the province, they too had to tackle, navigate, and try to understand the complexities of Quebec history and language tensions.