Posted: April 13th, 2023

Canada: A Cultural Mosaic essay

Canada: A Cultural Mosaic
For thousands of years, the land that is known as Canada was inhabited by indigenous (native) people. Europeans called these people Indians because they wrongly determined that their first explorers were landing in India (Southwest Asia). All the indigenous people who inhabited the land of Canada first, built unique cultures as they adapted to Canada’s environment in order to survive. They had unique languages, cultures, and were primarily hunters and gatherers. Some indigenous groups met their food needs by farming small plots of land.
The Europeans who settled Canada came mainly from Great Britain and France. The English and the French explored and established settlements across North America. They brought their languages and religions with them. Conquered native American tribes were pushed aside, destroyed or isolated in less desirable areas. In time, Canada came to be ruled by and was a colony of Great Britain after the 7-year war in 1763. The French were defeated by the British, but many French speaking people ended up staying in Canada and settling in the province of Quebec. Religion was different in Quebec too as many French speaking people practiced Roman Catholic Christianity, while the British people who lived in the majority of Canada practiced Protestant Christianity.
Great Britain ruled Canada into the 20th Century and many different diverse people settled the continent. Great Britain was the colonizer of Canada, so most of the people who came to settle in Canada were English-speaking. English is one of the official languages of government and business in the country.
The effects of the 7-year war between the French and the English has had lasting effects still today. Many French settled in Quebec, and although only 20% of the population speaks French as a first language, 81% of the people in Quebec have French as their first language. Only about 8 percent of Quebec’s citizens speak English as their first language. French is the official language of business and government in Quebec. However, the English portion must come after the French part, and the English words must be a smaller size. Due to the distinct society of French-speakers in the country, French is an official language of Canada too, making it a bilingual country. All government documents are written in French and English. Canada’s government has made compromises to make sure that the French people are happy and build Canada’s nationality.
Religion in Canada is a result of its history too. The French settlers were Roman Catholic and the English settlers tended to be Protestant Christians. Today, approximately 80% of the people in Quebec are Catholic, but over all in all of Canada the percentage that practice Catholicism (the Catholic faith) is about 44%. Although other religions are practiced, the main religions are those that were brought from the mother countries of France and Britain.
The government of Canada has passed several laws to help Quebec’s citizens preserve their language and culture. In 1971, Canada’ multiculturism policy was adopted by the Canadian government. The policy acknowledged that Canadians come from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, and that all cultures have intrinsic value. In a speech in the House of Commons in April of 1971, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced it as “a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework,” a policy that would complement the Official Languages Act by facilitating the integration of new Canadians into one or both of the official language communities. “Although there are two official languages, there is no official culture,” said Trudeau.
-research paper writing service