ESL FOR NATION-BUILDING: THE ORIGINS OF FEDERALLY-FUNDED ESL IN CANADA

S ilMna B eatriz Ciccarelli

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the

University of Toronto

O Copyright by Silvina Beatriz Ciccarelli 1 997

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ESL Fur Nation-Buü&ng: me OrigULF ofFederol&-Funded ESL in Cm&

M e o f A r i s , 1997

Silvina Beatn'z CimareIli

Depwûnmt of Tkeory m d Poiiq Sîudies h Education

OLSWT

The purpose of this thesis is to study the origins of federally-fundeci ESL in Canada and to

argue that political etites played a definitive role in the introduction of the classes as part of a

post-war nation-building strategy. Nation-building in Canadian history has consisted of the

exclusion and margïnalization of immigrants and the perpetuation of the dominant Anglo-saxon

culture. I show that ESL instruction was introduced in 1947 not as a tool for ESL fluency but to

preserve Canadian '%alues," "norms7' and 'bur way of rie." Poiitical elites regarded this form of

instruction as a parantee of national unity in the post-war era. Understanding the limitations of

current federally-funded ESL programs necessitates examinhg the interconnections of ESL,

citizenship and federai nation-building strategies. This thesis relies on a system for i d e n t a

covert racist discourse to analyze these interconnections.

Dedicat ed to

David Skafiason

Gloria Gomez Ciccarelli &

Naareno Ciccarelli

This thesis required a great deal of work on my part and on the part of those who guided

me through the process. I wodd like to thank the members of my thesis cornmittee first. 1 am

privileged to have had Sherene Razack as my supervisor. Her guidance and insistence that 1 read

"one more boo7% and "one more articleyy were indispensable to my writing. in addition, her

creative cnticisrn and comments inspired me to delve deeper h o the questions 1 raised. Thank

you so much. Alison Rentice, my second reader, provideci me with a dosage of realiîy when 1 felt

overwrought with anxiety. Her words of encouragement became my mantras. Now living in

Victoria BC, she will be greatly rnissed at OISE.

My niends have been invaluable to me for the past two years. Their words of

encouragement and helped me through the darkest stages of the thesis-writing process. Kerrie

Kennedy desemes special mention. 1 benefited tremendously from our chats and her insights. We

began as feUow students and have become strong fnends. Joama Cohen has been an unfailing

advocate of my education. I am grateful to her for her empathy and wiiiingness to spend long

hours with me at the Robarts library . Awad Ibrahim's enthusiasm for this project gave rny ego an

incredible booa. He believed in this thesis and prornpted me to '%te it all down." Words cannot

express how much 1 appreciated his advice and weii wishes. Lisa Alexandrin gave me her t h e and

ears when 1 needed some one to talk to.

The staE and Librarians at the OISE and Robarts libraries at U of T helped me h d all

those documents which 1 mi& otherwise have given up on. Special thanks to Isabel Gibb of

hterlibrary Loans at OISE and the staff of Interlibrary Loans at Robarts. 1 must also thank the

librarians at Government Publications of Robarts who often used their intuitions in helping me

locate obscure pamphlets and 0 t h federal publications. One final word of gratitude to Kadesh

Sharma of OISE'S Circulation Dept.: the best boss 1 have ever had and great champion of higher

education.

Lady, 1 wish to express rny debt of gratitude to my famiy. I want to thank those who

stopped asking when 1 would finish writing my thesis. My parents have been the source of

inspiration behind this thesis. Their hard work and perseverance humbled me and caused me to

dedicate myself to the shidy of education and immigrants. 1 am grateful to them for beiieving in

S V

me and for nipporting me every step of the way with their love. 1 could not have finished this

project were it not for the emotional and practical aid of my partner and niend, David Skaftason.

This thesis was not completed without cost to him. He provideci me with clarifications on SLA

theov, a critical ear, usefùl pointers, discriminating editing and unswerving love and patience. 1

hope to one day repay hmi by giving him as much as he has given me in the past four years. This

thesis is dedicated to him.

Dedication

Contents

Preface

Cngpter One Federaïfy-Fun&d ESL: A Strcdegy for Ndun-Building Racism and Elite Discourse Nation-Building and Racisrn: A Canadian Perspective Post-war Nation-Building

Chapter Two Tke bterconnedions of Nation-Builditzig, Citizenship m d E S . Second Language Acquisition: Foundations Liberal Theories of ESL A Feminist Approach to ESL ESL in a New Light: Critical Pedagogy Critical ESL

G q t m Tkree Politid LXscourse and Nation-BuiIdïng: Tke Urigins of Fedealiy-Funded WC ESUCitùenship Instruction The Enemy Within Nation-Building: Behind the Scenes Covert Racist Discourse and Nation-Building ESL and Post-War Nation-Building

Cnapier Four ESL and N&on-Building in the 1990s Federaily-Funded ESL in the 1990s Covert Racist Discourse in the 1990s Conclusion

1 remember that wfien 1 was between ten and thirteen years of age 1 was the major

comrmunicator between my parents and Toronto Society. 1 was their ears and their voices. They studied

long hours, they practiced verb drills, they went to English as a Secood Language classes, yet it seemed

that they were not learning English fàst enough or adequately enough. One of their priorïties upon

amid in Canada was to leam English as soon and as wd as possble. There was never any do& in

my mhd that my mother and Mer studied wilhgiy and diligentiy. The cornedon between the

acqiiûition of En@ and a good job was patently clear to them and by extension to me. ûfparticular

interest to my parents were the federaily-bded English as a Second Language (ESL) classes available

through the Manpower offices.' As a womq my mother was not eligible for these classes because

or@ (male) heads of households were qualifieci to attaid . My Mer was p l a d on a waiting hi.

Counseilors at the Manpower Centre tried to persuade my M e r to withdraw bis name nom the ESL

waitbg list t e h g him that his knowledge of English was adquate enough for the construction work

he was doing at the time. He, howwer, wmed to put his degree and job skills to work here in Canada.

He regardai construction work as a temporary job un14 he d d learn to master the English language

and pume a better-paying Meer. He waited for six months to be d e d for the ESL classes. F d y , in

desperation, he feigned an accident at the construction site so tbat he could take time off fiom work

and be granteci a seat in the ESL classes. Most of the ESL my parents learned was self taught. Because

my mother had been a teacher back home she prepared class p h replete with verb drills, new

vombulary, idioms, sentence structure and so on ûiven the importance of ESL they couid not

understand why the federai ESL classes were so Uiaccesst'ble. The supply wuld not keep up with the

demand.

That was in 1978. Wrthout the necessary linguistic skills their chances of practicing th&

professions again were severely limited. For a long time they worked in low-paying, hazardous, dead-

end jobs. E v e d y they worked their way up to jobs related to th& meers, yet nather of them mer

regained the professional status they enjoyed in their homelands. Presently, there are thousands of

immigrants in c a . d a who lüce my parents More them are desperate for ESL sMs. However, under

the present fedgay-fùnded ESL program they camot leam as much ESL as they would Mce. Little has

1 The federal gavernment's "Maqxmd offices have been renamed "Canada Empiqment Centres."

been done to make ESL classes more accessl'bZe for mmiigrarxts. For example, eiigibi to ESL classes

is more open to women but there are stiU many obstacles women nnist overcome on the way.

Chiidmincimp is stiU quite M e d and very féw women can af50rd to pay for a private caregiver. Mary

immigrants also h d that they must choose between work and ESL instruction because thq m o t

collect unemployment insurance while emolied m classes. W&out ESL fiuency the job prospects of

non-Engiish speakmg immigrants are poor. Being forced to chwse between ESL instruction and other

f h i i y and financial obIigations leads to what some &CS have d e d the 'ficious cycleyy of ESL. The

r d is the ghettokition of non-English spealang immigrants in the margins of society and the Labour

market. The image of the nation is that it is divided amongst those who speak English and those who

do noi, who are not seen, who are not heard. Lack of EngM language skilis is but one of the many

obstacles f à d by immigrants on the road to fd participation in Canadian Society. However, t is one

of the first and most obvious barriers an immigrant mut overcome.

If immigrants are not leaming adequate ESL, it is not because they have fàüed to leam, rather

the Wern of ESL provision has fàiled them. The reason it has Med them is because ESL, as it was

origmUy introduced by the f e d d govenrment, was not meant as a tool for ESL proficiency but as a

m e m to acdhirare immigrants to Canada's 'taluesi', 'horms", and "way of Me." The impenis for this

snidy came fiom the disillusionment I aperienced with the gaieml aahiation of ESL programs thus

far. Canada's present immigrant language training policy was introduced as a means to do away with

the inequahes of preceding programs and to remove barriers to access to ESL. However, a close

examirüiton of LINC and LMLT revealed that the agendas of Canada's ESL leamers' had gone

moticed, old issues have been left unaddressed and new hwes and barrien were created. In

additioq ESL critics failed to see ESL in a historicd context. I fdt that to understand LINC and

LMLT it was necessary to trace the roots of federaUy-hded ESL to their source: a movement for

national Unay and pst-war &on building.

This thesis l o c h at the historical roots of federally-fùnded ESL instruction in Canada and

argues that politid &es played a decisive roie in their Unplementation. The chapters are ammged to

guide my argument. Chapter one serves as an introduction to the topic and an outline of my

metfiodology. The point here is to show tbat Canada's immigration policy har been used to exclude

certain immigrants on racial grounds. PoIiticai eMes legrtmnzed a system of selective immigration by

arguing that raciaiized immigrants were unadable and undesirable for Canada's fubire. ni& overt

racîst discourse focused on the inferiority of 'C~thersyy and the superiority of Angio-Canadians.

Followïng the Second World War, immigration officiais continued to discriminate against raciaiized

immigrants but th& discourse was more subtle and covat. The sWt to covert racist discourse was the

result of a pst-war movement for nation-buiIding. T b movement invoived the ope* of the

immigration gates to accommiodate a pater demand for labour. More importady, the shai to covert

r& discourse was part of the movement to promote national unity. The question of uriity and

seairity during the war developed into plans to introduce Canada's Citizenship Act. The imity of

Canada and the idedication of non-Anglo inmi- to the dominant nilture was to be assured

through Basic ESUCitiIaiship instruction Teun A van Dijk's system for i d e covert racist

discourse is the basis for my methodology and is exploreci in detail here.

C h p t a two explores several theoretical perspectives of ESL in an effort to examine some of

the assumptions theorists make about the objectives of ESL instruction It also tries to argue in kvour

of a theory of craical ESL. The theory of Second Language Aupidion (SLA) initiateci the study of

ESL nom the point of view of iioguistics. SLA remaios a major field of shidy but its f- is on

improving teaching methods in order to improve ESL leaniing. Urdil recently7 linle attention was given

to the effect lack of ESL has on immigrants' hes. Libaal ESL critics expanded on the work of SLA

theorists by adyzhg this cause and e f f i relatioriship. Their approadi connsts of fjnding solutions to

the stn~aural problaris in ESL prograniniing but problem-solving soIutions cannot address the

problems which originate in ESL poticy. Feniinists working in ESL see the problems in ESL

progmnmhg as arising ffom sexist and racist ideologies supporteci by social structures of domination-

They do not view ESL as a panacea to mmtigrams' social, econornic and political rnarginaiuation and

dismiss such a notion as a myth. Criticai Pedagogy theorists insia that education plays a role in

maintahkg and kgihkhg inequalrty. They aiso believe that ~ ~ U & O R is a fùnction of myth-rnaking

because certain dominant realities are reproduced at the expense of 'C~thef' reaIities. This view of

&cation is crucial to my theory of ESL for nation-building-

Chapter th= is dedicated to d y i i n g the polibcal text/talk which led to the introduction of

federaily-fûnded ESL m Canacia. Here we trace the bureaucratie road to the adoption of the Ciazenship

Act and Basic ESUCitizniship instruction in 1947. On one han4 politicians worked b e b d the scenes

and conceived ESL as a means to preserve the dominant language and cuiture of An&-Saxon Canada.

They belïeved that by providing immigrants wàh Basic ESUC'rnzenShip instruction they were taking a

step towards securing pst-war national umty. On the other hanci, Members of Parliament lent

medence to the national-unity movement through their talk in the House of Commons. Van Dijk's

W e m for analyzhg covert racist discourse is instrumental to understanding how political ehes

- -

arviaoned pst-war Canada The result was the establishment of an ESL policy aimed at the

preservation of the status guo.

Chapter four is not mer* a conchision to the thesis. Hae 1 argue thai plitical elites continue

to employ covert racist arguments to legitmiize the exclusion of immigrants f?om Canada and that ESL

is stül regardai as a tool for nation-building. The prerogative ofthe programs introchrced in 1992 is to

orient immigrants to the 'laoadian way of lifé", "ou? values and "oui' customs. The programs are

not geared to hency m ESL and the struchiral baniers which existed in the past are sti l l in place. ESL

aitics in the 1990s conrinue to recommend problem-solviog solutions to the flaws in ESL

progranmiing. LlaeraI ESL critics disregard the intercomections of ESL programs, ESL poiicy and

immigrittion in the process of building a &on and presening the donMant language and culture of

Canada 1 end by spenilating on the p o t d of nitical ESL instruction and making recomendations

for fiutha reseatch.

Cha~ter One

Feddv-Fuunded E X : A Siratew for Nation-BuiCdinp

In J a n v 1997, Canada celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Canadian Citizenship

Act. The Act symbolized a break fiom Britain and the emergence of a new post-war Canadian

identity. January 1997, also marked the fiftieth anniversary of federally-funded English as a

Second Language (ESL) instruction in Canada The fderal governent introduced ESL classes in

conjunction with citizenship training. There were six conditions that prospective Cauadian citizens

had to meet before ajudge granted them citizenship.

adequate knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship adequate knowledge of one of Canada's official languages

0 five years of residency in Canada be of good character

a minimum of twenty-one years of age a intent to reside pennanently in canada'

Government sponsored Basic EnglishKitizenship classes became avdable throughout Canada in

1947 and were airned at helping immigrants meet the fint two conditions listeci above. The

Citizenship Act came about as a result of a govemment movement to promote national unity

during and afîer the second world war. This thesis is a midy of the origins of federaliy-fundeci

ESL and argues that poiitical elites played a definitive role in the introduction of the classes as

part of a nation-building strategy. ESL was conceived as a tool for national unity because it

worked to preserve the dominant culture of Canada as white, Enghsh-speakuig and Anglo-saxon.

In this chapter we will look at the theory of rack covert discourse which is central to my analysis

of racist nation-building. Before the war, politicians used overt rack arguments to exclude

racialized immigrants fiom Canada and Canadian society. Conceptuaiizations of Canada as a

white man's land were based on rack ideologies and relied on discourse for legitimization.

FoUowing the war, a shifk to covert racist dixourse allowed poMcal elites to continue to exchide

immigrants based on race while creating the image of post-war openness. This shift was the result

of a movement to promote nationai unity.

Canada Deparbment of the Sefmary of State, Roud to be Canad&(OMwa: Minister of Siipply and Services, l987).7.

Benedict Anderson acplains that nations, nationality and nationalim are cultural artifacts

that can best be understood in terms of history: how they corne into being and how their meanings

change over the . Nations are imaginai because "the members of even the smaiiest nation WU

never h o w most of their feilow-members, ...y& in the minds of each Iives the image of their

The poiitical debate on national unity during the war centred on Canadian identity

and the place of nonBritish immigrants and in particular non-white immigrants within the

"imaginecl c o r n 4 that was Canada. The meaning of national unity and the identification of

Canadians were under greater scrutiny during the war. Politicians identified strongly with the

Baish war effort and considered it the duty of Canadians to enlist. However, the war also

provided ar. oppomuiity for political elites to express their racism and demand that action be

taken against "enemy aliens." Enemy aliens were those immigrant Canadians whose homelands

happened to be at war with Canada. Those political elites who had regarded non-white and non-

-&@O Canadians as undesirable and outsiden now found cause to express their hostility and claim

that Canada needed to get tough witb immigrants and unite the nation behind the war. The

rhetoric in favour of the reguiation of minority Canadians centfed on the claim that unless

controlled, Canadians and Canada (white, Anglo) risked the possïbiiity of ethnic disloyalty and

sabotage. This classincation of non-Anglo Canadians as possible traitors was unfounded

considering the high enlistment record of minority Canadians.

The govemment employai two strategies for building a united war effort. On one han&

the War Measures Act allowed the govemment to take any steps necessary to eradicate al1 threats

to national security and Canadians. Some of those measures Kicluded the internent a d o r

deportation of enemy aliens, fascists and communists, as well as those suspected of sabotage and

espionage. On the other hand, the govemment charged the Department of National War SeMces

with the responsibiiity of promotïng loyalty to Canada arnongst mhority groups. The Nationalities

Branch, the Committee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizenship (CCCC) and the Bureau of Public

information, al1 branches of the Department of National War Senices, relied on public ducation

to promote national unity. The work of the Department of National War SeMces was to promote

national unity by encouraging WC and racial mhorities to i d e n e with Canada and persuading

'Benedict Andmon, imagined Communities: Rdiections on the Ori- and Sacad of Nationalism, Msed ed (New York: Verso, 1991), 3-7.

Anderson, 6.

Anglo-Canadians to accept minonty ~anadians.~~olitical elites imaguied that Canada's

depended on the identification of non-Anglo Canadians with the dominant Canadian group.

As the war neared an end, the government of MacKenzie King foresaw the benefits of a

united nation for economic growth in peacetime. The work of the Department of National War

Services developed into a discussion wnceming post-war nation-building. The heads of the

CCCC studied the issue of citizenship and recommended that the govenunent instiMe a

Citizenship Act which would recognize all immigrants as Canadians regardless of country of

orîgin. These politicians recommended that public ediication for national uni@ be carried over into

peacetime. Citizenship training, they suggested, would teach prospective Canadian citizens the

value of democracy, the rights and privileges of citizenship, the Canadian way of We, and provide

those who spoke neither English or French an opportunity to learn these languages at the basic

level.

1947 was thus a monumental year for Canadian nation-building. The Citirenship Act

became law, a new immigration act was passed, and for the first time in Canadian hiaory the

governrnent sponsored ESL classes. Another reason why this was a monumental year for nation-

building was that politicians now identined Canada and Canadians in dif5erent ternis. MPs

followed the lead of the politicians and civil servants responsible for the Citizenship Act and

adopted a new politicai discourse. Overtly racist references to ethnic and racial minority

Canadians were less cormnon. The nation was no longer described as one plagued by srnaller

nations6 but as a nation made up of diverse but equal elernents loyal to "one cornrnon

country."' ~ather than being labeled foreigners and aliens, politicians spoke of minority Canadians

as 'he~comers. '~ No longer did the government concem itself with assimilatingg immigrants.

See LesLie A Pal, "Identity, Citizenship, and Mobilization: The Nationalities Branch and World War TWO.~ Canadh Public Administrati . .

'on vol 32, no. 3 (Fail) and NE. Drekiger, " The Rise of a Ehmmmq for Mniti-: The Origins of the Naîionaiities Branch. 1939-1945." in On Gnard for Thee: War. Ethnicitv, and the Canadian Staîe. 1939-1945, Norman H W e r et. al. eds. (Oaawa: Minister of Snpply and Senices, 1988), 1-29. 'Nationai Archives of Robert England. Report of the RmrPiini7irtion of the Nationalities Branch, Demrtment of National War SeMces, (12, June, 1944). 6 George E m n Lloyd, "Immigration and Nation-Building," Empire Revim (Feb. 1929), 105-106. ' National L~kral Federation of Canada Redutions: National Ll'beral Conventioa 1948 (Ottawa: National Liberal Federation of Canada, 1948), 6-7 'Canadian Cfienship &uncil, Another Stm Forward: Canadian Citizemhi~ Council Annuai Remn 1950-51 (Ottana: CCC, May 22 195 1). 3. canada House of Commons Debates (Onawa: King's Rinter. Feb. 17. 1938). 588.

Policy papers now outlined ways of helping immigrants integrate10 into Canadian society and

ailuded to Canada's long history of tolerance. ' ' According to Teun A van Dijk, political eïites have the power to change public perception

because they have access to the public mind and the tools with which to manufacture

consent.'* The purpose of the SB in political discourse was to create an image of a post-war

uniteci Cana&. In 1948, the govemment assured Canadians that the c o u n t ~ ~ would remain as

united after the war as it was during the war and that Canadians were United in their

diversity. l3 However, the problem with perceptions of national uni@ is that they can be d e c e k g .

Creating such an image of iiaity, first of a.& required that political elites omit the dininities which

had existeci during the war. The issue of conscription had divided Canadians and had severe

consequemes for Onawa-Quebec relations. In addition, the shift in politicai discourse acted as a

camouflage for the continueci application of racist ideologies in policy and law. For example,

changes in immigration law did not preclude the continued exclusion of racialized immigrants. The

passing of the Citizenship Act and the introduction of Basic ESL/Citizenship classes, did not stop

political elites from identaying Canada as an outpost of British traditions. This chapter will

attempt to show that Basic ESUCitizenship instruction was shaped by the racist ideologies of

political elites. Moreover their covert racist discourse contained within it a vision of ESL as a

means for the "Ang1iciang/Canadianizing7' non-British immigrants. Basic ESLKitizenshi p

instruction was a tool for the preservation and reproduction of the dominant laoguage and culture.

The post-war nation that the political elite envisioned was not much different from the one they

bu& before the war.

I believe that to understand the hnhtions of current federally-fundeci ESL programs we

must first, place ESL in a historical context and secondy, examine the vision of Canada held by

the political elites responsible for its introduction. Their vision of post-war Canada is evident if we

analyze th& politicai discourse. Teun A van Dijk's system for identifjing covert rack arguments

will provide the backbone for my methodology. Van Dijk's work helps to explain my hypothesis

that Basic ESUCitizenship instruction reflected the racist ideologies of the political elite. 1 will

rely on House of Commons debates, annual departmemal reports, pamphlets and other federal

--

l0 (hnadkm Citizenship Coucii, From Immimt to Ciken- 1949: b r t of the Sacond National Conference on the Citizenship Problems of the New Immigtant (Montreai: Canadian Citizenship C o u m U h y 5. 1949). 22. " Dep of CitiZenship and Immigration, Our Land (Ottawa: King's Rintcr, 195 1). 1 2 ~ e u n ~ ~ ~ i j k ~ ~ - - and Racism London: Sage PubLication, 1993),45. I 3 National Li'beral Feration of Canada, Resolutions: National Liberai Convention 1948.6-7

publications to show that politicians made use of van Dijk's seven covert racist arguments to

shape the fom Basic ESLKitizenship instruction would take. In his book Elite Discourse and

Racism, Teun A van Dijk &tes that covert racist politicai discourse d e s t s itself in men

argumentative strategies.14 They are:

Positive Seif-Presentation: Nationalistic Rhetonc hIairners and the Denial of Racism Negative Other-Presentation F h q but Fair For Their Own Good Vox Po@ or White Racisxn as Tbreat The Numbers Game

Racism has and continues to be an integrai part of nation-building. Throughout Canada's

history political elites have portrayed the nation as a land of opportunity. Seldom do we look

beyond the politicai rhetoric or andyze the ways that political ehes have discursively legitimized

the exclusion, exploitation and marginaiization of "raciaiized'' immigrants in the process of

building the nation. However, before we examine the role of racism in Canadian nation-building,

we must dedicate some time to van Dijk and his work.

Rm&m and E l . DiScourse

According to van Dijk, elites do not see thernseives as peptrators of racism. They see

themsehres as mord leaders and will disassociate thernselves f?om racisrn as they dehe it .15 Van Dijk

defiaes racim as a social systern of group d~rriinance.'~ The actions of the dominated group are Limned

by the actions, inûuence and perceived wishes of the doninant group. Donmiance d&ed as social

control has both a cognitive and a d dimension- Dominant groups control access to valueci social

resources and they incürectly mntrol the min& of othns. Donmÿmt groups do this through persusive

discourse and by others means (news reporting) *ch linnt the acquigtion and use of howiedge

necessary to act in one's own interest. Van Dijk focuses on this discourse dimension of dominance as a

means to shape ethic coosenais about the legitimas, of white group dominance." Ifthe çocial mhd is

formed by public discourse, and ifpubiic discourse is largely controiled by various eiite groups, than it

warrants searchg for some of the rwts of raami among elite groups themse1ved8

Polnical e k are involved in the reproduction of a system of ethnic and racial dominauce, but

thqr do ttris in seemingS innocent way~.~~Their mcist discourse is persuasive because their text and

talk tries to cornmice the audience that a parti& position is well founded, reasonable, and acceptable, . .

wfiereas the opposuig one is n~ t .~Rack t discourse may incorporate egalitarian and

mnns, it rnay be subtle and indirect, and may f a on so d e d negative characteristics of the "othet"

group while assumbg the pogtiveness of in-group nomis.*' Discourse both r&ects and iduaices

popilar as well as other ehe concems. There are four ways in which discourse is interconnected. F i

white politicians are members of the white-middIe cias goup. As such they share social

repfesentations and receive feed-back corn th& constituenîs. Secondly, plaicians are iduenced by

academics and other skite bureaucraties who fom the opinions which are the bans of everyday

legisktion, and political debates. Thirdiy, polGticians are iduenced by the media as a source of

hwiedge and opinion formation Finally, politicai discourse i d u a ~ e s other eIites, organkations and

both rnajow and minority populatiom at large. The thrusi for the process of influence is t o p d o m

'In ethnic and raciai affain, it is prhady admùiistration and polmcians who defhe the ethnic W o n

and set the ternis and boundana of public debate and opinion f~rroation.'~

Van Dijk's e s of racisn and elàe dûcourse is applicable to my theory tbat ESL was

introduced as a tool for nation-building. F i van Dijk d e s that when elites act as decision-making

bodies they define and constrain the life chances of the groups for whom they have created

policies.uSecondiy, van Dijk believes that central to the continurty of a system of racimi is its

reproduction. Racism continues as long as there are members of dominant white group or instituaons . S .

that miplexnent the system, share ethnic prejudices and engage in discnminatory practces.24 Thirdly, 1

agree wÏth van Dijk that the argumentative moves of poiitical elites reveal their underlying

ideologies as welI as their social, cultural, and poiitical role in the reproduction of racism2%

chapter three 1 wïii show that the political tex& and talk which preceded the passing of the Citizenship

Acî betrayed the racisî ideologies of political elites. Their covert raast discourse infhienced the shape

Basic ESU Citizaiship would take. As a resdt, the classes worked to define Canadiamess for

immigrants, fàiled to ranove social bZlITiers, and reproduced racist ideologies.

7

Here in greater depth are the argumentative and semantic moves and fietoncal ploys which

van Djk used to i d e covert racist politicai discourse. 1 wiIi use these to id- the racist

ideologies behmd the uitroduction ofBasic ESUCitiIembip and ESL policy thereafter.

1. Pasdh S e r l i ~ t p t i i o r t : NatiOuidWk Rkelaic, cunsists of arpressions of pnde, self-

glorification and positive oomparisons with other comtries. A5mations about Our p a q , Our

courrtry, ûur people beïng humane, benevolent, hospitable, tolerant and modern are a seKdefence

tactics. These afEmitions hct ion as a defènce agahst potential doubts or possible objections."

I . 2. hrlmmers and Dar* qfJbcih; are sometimes uttered in respome to negative accusations

and other times when no accusatiom have been made at A. Hence, they are o f h a clear symptom of

underiying prejudice or a sure sign of racism. The moa cornmon structure of a disclaimer connsts of a

positive seKpresentanon, foiiowed by BUT, followed by a negative other presentation An aüuiiple

wouid be ' We are tolerant, BUT they abuse our to~eratlce.'~~

3. Neg& mer Presentatùm; overtly racist talk such as "lazy" has been replaced with buzzwords

such as '¶es motivated." This is a subtle and indirect way of disparaging otheis. However, the intent

remaios the same. In order to reproduce a systern of ethnic inequality, immigrants and minorities must

be represented in negaiive ternis. This in tum creates legkhhhon for policies thaî might othewise be . - opposed on more humarntanan temis. Negative 0th- presentaton also inchdes "culturai threat

rhetoric" &ch speaks of the h e a t of cultural Werences. It aiiows drawing upon age-old prejudices,

for example the thrat of Islam, while simuhaneousty denying racisn28

4. F m brt Fe, is a paternalistic strategy which is contradictory but quite effective. Fum can hardly

be positive, but when it is combined with fair the me- changes to a positive portraya1 of a political

strategy. It implies that thos who are fair without king firm are unrealistic. This is a disclaimen tbat

fiinctions as part of a m e g y of positive d-presentation. however, finmess, and not £@mess, is

actually being pursued and i m p l e m d . "

. . - - . - - -

26 an DiJk 72-76. '' van D i , 16-84. " v a n ~ i j k W - 9 3 . 3, Di* 93-95.

5. For h W, another paterdistic strategy which works on the same premise as firm but

fik- It displays empathy but the result is harshness. For instance, it might be argued tbat immigrants

shouid go back to their own country and help build it up. In addition, it is assumai that the govemment

is bekg cormon- sensicd Therefore, strict immigration is for the good of the indigenous population

and immigrants.30

6. V a P m OP mite Roeian crr a ? n e , works to wam against motivatmg the intoleraflce, . . .

discnmuiation and mcism of "the people." The preteme of listaimg to the voice of the people conceals

the fkt thaî m c h of the resentment against immigrants is not fonmilaed at the grass-roots levei, but

rather by conservafive &es themseives. Hence a party mi@ c h public support while at the same

tirne prehbricatiog the conditions which help create the state of mind that gives rise to such support in

the first

7. Tiie N u m h Gmne, is a rhetorical use of qusi-objective figures to produce smre tactics in the

public opmion Figures may not be lied about or exaggerated, iî. is the way that they are presented that

makes them mipressive. The result is that the immigration process is presented as "out of controI."

Hence, famiy r d c a î i o n and the birthrate of immigrants are used as arguments to suggest that à is

not mereiy large nirmbers, but also the explosion of a demographic time bomb that must be feared. In

addition, it is not the numbers per se, but the numbers of non-~mpeans .~~

Nation-building and political discourse go band in hand as it is politicians who draft, debate,

and legislate policies which affect the direction a country will take on a given issue. This could not

be truer for Canadian immigration and citizenship policies as part of a nation-building. In the pre-

World War Two yean, the Canadian political elite used overt racist discourse to legitimùe the

exclusion of "raciaiized" immigrants in preference for those &om Britain or other ?NorthemY'

countries. Following the war, racist ideologies remaineci entrenched in nation-building strategies

but a new covert racist discourre disguised the goverment's agenda. F i a shift to covert racist

discourse carnodaged the continueci application of racist exclusionary practices in immigration

policy. Secondly, citizenship Iegislation was introduced as a method to promote national unity.

Cititenship bewne an element of nation-building because Basic ESUCitkenship instruction

became the covert method of acculturalizing immigrants.

Daiva Stasiulis and Rhada Jhappan argue tbat nation-building in Canada has cosisted of

clonhg the British identity13 Stasiulis and Ni Ywal-Davis define Canada as a ' d e r Society'; a

society in which Europeans have settied, their descendants have remained politically dominant, and

whae a heterogeneous society has developed in class, ethnic and racial terrnsuThe problm the

political eiite fàced was how to build a white nation mirroring the cultural., ideological and political

institutions of Bntain while sirnultaneously meeting the economic needs of an expandiog

e~onorny.~~Vic Satzewich explains that the niling group deah with this problem by dividhg

immigrants mto IWO groups: those who were desirable future citkms and those "C~thers" who provided

cheap Iabour and never became cit i~ms.'~ Immigration and citizenship policies becme crucial as

mechaflsms for the ~cchûiodmclusion of immigrants in Caaadian Soaety. 37

Accordmg to Philomena Essed, there is in all nations an ideology of Werentiating 'bs'' (the

dominant group) fiom "them" (the domhateci group) which is utilized to create a sense of group

membenhip. The cohesiveness of the group depends on the ailtivation of an ideology which supports

the idea of inme group differences based on race and ethr~iaty.~~ In the , of Csnada, Anglo-

Canadiaas identifiai themselves and th& culture as the nom and createâ myths for the reproduction of

Angio-Cdan national The myth of Canada as a white man's land '%leachesY' our coioMaI

past. F i Nations peoples had inhabiteci Canada long More any Europeans set foot on its shores. Yet

in the process of creating a Canadian identity Natives were diffêrentiated fiom Canadians. ELKO-

Canadian c'classilïers" ccclassified" Natives as uncivhxi, exotic7 and prirmtive."The r d of

- - -

' ) ~ a i ~ Stasulis and Rhada Jhappaq The Fractitiou Politics of a M e r Soicety: Caoada* in Dana StaSulis and Nira Ywal Davis, eds., Ilnse~iing Settler Societies: Articulations of Gender. Race. Ethnicitv and Class (London: Sage Publications, l989), 97.

DanTa Siasuilis and Nira Ywal-Davis, "Introduction: Beyond Dichotomies- Gender. Race, Ethnicity and Class in W e r Societies," in Daiva Stasiulis and Nira Yuvai Davis, eds., Unsetthe; Settler Societies: Articuiations of Gender. Race. Ethnicitv and Class (London: Sage Publications, l989),3. 3 s ~ ~tasiuîisandRbada Jhappan, 111. " Vic Satzewich,"Caprtal Accumiaiion and State Formation: ï h e Contradictions of International Migrationw in Social issues and Contradictions in Canadian SocietvB. Singh Boiaria. ed. (Toronto: HArcourt Brace Jovanmich, 1991),303-305. 37 Stasiulis and Yuvai-Davis, 23. 38Philomena Essed Understandine. Evervdav RAcism: An Interdiscipiinam nieon. (London: Sage PubLications. 1991), 41. 39 Stasiulis and Y w a l - b i s , 23. "Lama Fbth, '(De)Rornancing the North: RefIections on Absences. Misrepresentations and Stemtypes of the Canadian North and iis PeopIes." BorderLines 36. (1995) 37.

discursiveiy fiaimDg fint peoples m this mimer was that it facilitad the maintenance and reproduction

of hierarchicai social and politicai relations. In addition, the discourse worked to gain the consent of

~uro-~a~dïans .~ 'The "Tme North Strong and Free" was appropriated as symbolic of Canadian

n a t i o ~ c discourse but did not include the Inuit and F k t Nations peoples. Soon Native peoples

were forced off th& lands and into reserves to rnake rwm for white settlers; people with the p o t d

for becoming 'Carutdk''

The myth of the Canadian North encompasses the notion that Noitherwess equais racial

suprtmacy beaaw very few d d endure its cold wimers. Those acaistomed to m e r climes were

regarded as effémmate and iazy. Southemers could not measure up to ~ortherners."~orth became

synonymous with strength, self-reliance, and moraiity. Canada drav a cormection between itself and

the peoples of Northem Europe but h a dwn remaineci closed to immigrarrts fkom warmer

lands." Cliffird Sifkon, Miaister of the Imerior h m 1896 to 1905, is regarded as the d e r of the west

and the founder of the concept of s e l d e immigration4 In an d e d e n for Mc~cLem's magazine

Sifton related the merit of sorting through immigrants and drawing out the best ones amongst

them4'He stated that the highest quaiity of immigrants came h m the United States. Under the

Amerîcans were ranked the northern English and Scots. The rimk of third was occupied by oorrtinental

Europeans which inchideci Nom- Hunganans, Swedes, Damsh and ~elgians? Under Saton's

direction, the bonuses of immigration agents were doubled if they reauited Northem

immigrants.070ther Canadian poiiticians aiso spoke opedy about their preference for '%hite'' and

British immigrants. In th& min& building a white nation demanded that Canada's character not be

contarriinated by weaker races fkom Southern chnates where moral h e s s and decay prevailed.a In

1910, political ehes incorporateci the chnate argument into immigration law. Section 3 8 of the 19 10

Immigration Act prohibited immigrants belonging to "any race deemed unsuited to the climate or

requirernents of ~anada'*~The c h Ï t h i o n of imrrigration requirements effectively closed the

immigration d w n to any rac iahd group in the Southern hemisphere.

" 'th, 37. " Rob Shields, Plaas in the Mar*: Alternative agap phi es of modeniiw (London: Routledge, 199 1). 178- 179. j3 Freda Hawkins, Criticai Years in I m m i d o n : Canada and Australia Co& 2nd ed. (Montreal: Mffiili- Queen's University Press, 199 1), 25. "Canada, Manpower and Immigration A RaPn af the Canadian Immidm and Poailation Sm& vol. 2. The ïmminratim Roman (Ckma: Giivernment af laaada, 1 9%),6. " Sir Clifford Saton The Immigrants Canada Wax&" MacLean's 1. m. 16 (ApriL 1922),32-34. 46 Sifto9 32-34.

Hawkk,S. H&&Is 16-17.

4 g ~ 16-17.

David Theo Goldberg writes that racism is structural becaw it is embedded in state

imitutio11~~ At the root of structurai raQsn lies fjrst, an ideology which d e s t acceptable to exclude

and d d and secon@, a *disansive method for the repromiction of racism" In Canada, immigration

poficy has been the means to exclude catain immigrant groups and politicai racist discourse has been

the means for the legitimization of this exchsion In 191 0, Supaintendent of Immigration, Wüliam J.

White Wed that it wodd be wise to praterit more Oklahoma Blacks 60m immigrating to Canada He

stated that "there is so mch Indian blood in the wIowed man of Oklahoma, carrying with t all the evil

traits of a life or rapine and d e r , that it would not be e d y aSSimiIated with agrark l i f e . 3 * 2 ~

coments illustrated the racist notion that B k k s and Natives had a lower standard of moralÏty.

References to immigrants and morality were comrnon and not even cMdren were spared. Chinese

workers were descnibed as evil and dangero~s~~ and their cMdren a threat to the mords of white

children?

Racism is histo~cally specinc because the fonn that d takes is dete-ed by the econoniic,

political, social and organizationaI conditions of s~ciety.~~In the case of Canada, exclusionary

immigration policies were flexible depending on the dernographic and economic needs of an emerging

nation Desperate for f'armers to settle the weq the m e dowed imassimilable (but white) Mewonites

to settle in Canada and maintain their distinctiveness and separatena. Political elites were more

concenieci with the benefits of Mennonite setdement and labour than keeping the land

ud&itedM ~ h e n cheap labour was needed non-Europeans imniigrants were also pamhed to enter

the count~~ . 57 For example,

In the Charter granted to the Grand Trunk Pacific, provision was made by the Dominion Pariiament to prevent the employrnent of Orientais mning the construction of the road. Some years ka, in view of the disinclination of the Canadian-bom to navy under the conditio m... guarded suggestions were made that Chinese coolies be

--- -

SOaacid~GoldxrgRaànûiltuR:PhîlosoiihvardthePbliricsafMeaniag(Camlni4ge:BbdrwelL 1993),55. " G o l c b g 41. 12Hamld Tmpr, Oirh- Famers Need Apdv: Oflïcial Canadian Govenunent Enwuragemens of Immigmition h m the United States. 18%-19 11 (Toronto: Griggin House, 1972). 136. 53Ebwkq IO. " Jean Buniet. Cumina Canadians: An Inttoduction to a Historv of Caiiada's Peoples (ïoronto: McClelland and Smrirt, 1989), 107-108. 55Esse4 12. =EK Francis? In &rch of Utopia: The Mernoaites in Manitoba (Altona, Manitoba: D.W. Friesen and Sons. 1955). '' Stasiufis and Jhappaa 99.

adrnitted tempomily...to complete the delayed work on the mouritam section of the new road."

This was dangerou work that Caoadian men had refiised to do. in 1909, James Woodsworth, wrote

that there was no objection to immigration h m the Ment as long as t was Iimited to a few odd

Chinamen to do the work white m m found distaslef~l.~~

Ethnic and racial fhgnentation became a central feahie of the d e r Society's labour

market.% The Bunkhouse Man, Edmuiad Bradwin acpiained that above ail the ethmc and racial

labourers stood Canadiakborx~, British, American, Scandiriavian and German immigrants. To the

'bitiite men fèll most of the positions which connote a 'stripe7 of some kind., officiais of one capacity or

another."% contrast, Slavic "YoreignersYy whom he descn'bed as "slow and immobile, lachg

iniaative; rather careIess about personal appearance," provided "the human material for a camp boss to

driveeA2 Like Chinese iabourers many Slavs died as a result of industrial ~ n i s h a ~ s . ~ ~

Undesirable immigrants were expected to retum to their homelands when their work p-s

expired. Despite occasionai exceptions to immigration regUlatiom, the final &or in the seiection of

permanent settlers and futlire Caaadian atizens conbnued to be race. As emly as 1872 the governent

passed the Lmmigrant Aid Society Act f i c h provided seMces airned at helping immigrants settie

permanently on the land? B~ the 1920's the government had introduced the ''3000 Fadies Scheme7',

'The Dominion-Provincial Land Setdement Scheme" and 'The Dominion-Provincial Trainuig F m

Plan," which provided immigrants with financial assistance for thek passage to Canada and settlement

upon amval. These schemes the direct resuit of a collaborative effort between Canada and

ri tain^' The governent also recnrited the help of orgamzation such as the YWCA, Canadian

Council for Agriaifaire, Neighborfiood Workers' Association, and the Young Women's Christian

Association of Canada to help desirable immigrants ' b m e e~tablished.'~ 66 ~ncontrast, any Mwt

who was considemi either a threat to or incapable of assimilaihg to Canada was not panmied into

58 Edmmd B M i a The Bunkhouse Man: A S e of Work and Pav in the Cam= o f Canada 1903-1 914 (Nm York: Ah4S Press), 128. 59 W O O ~ S W O ~ Straneiers Within C h Gates (Toronto: U of T Ress. 1972).142.

SfaSiuliS and Jhappaa, 99. Brabwin, 100-101

" Amhoiiy Rasponch, For a Bnler me: A Kisuw dthe C r d a m in Canada (Toronto: McCIellarcd and Stewat 1982). 54. Q ~ & w @ 118. "Canada, Manpower and Immigration. A Remri of the Canadian unmimation and Poudation Sm& Vol. 2. The Immimaîion Progra~ 5. 6S Wawkins, 26-27. 66 Dominicm of Canada. Remrt of the Deoaitment of I m m i d o n and Colonimim ( m a : King's Rinter. 1926). 53- 54.

Canada or exchided fiom Canadian ~oc i e ty .~~~or instance, MacKenzïe King acknowledged the

contributon of Indian labourers but did not believe that Indians were suited or adaptable to Canada

because they were acaistomed to a tropical climate and possessed mi~nners and aistoms unlike 68

Just as the goverment could make exceptions to immigration niles, it could ais0 d e adry

into Canada more dBcuit. For example, the definition of Asia was expanciable. When eues spoke of

"CAsiatics7' they included p&Cany aII nationalities in the eastexn hemisphere outside of Europe.

"'Asiaticn encompassed the southeni border of the Soviet Union and the Black Sea and around the

eastem and soutbem coast of the Mediterranean, ail of Turkey and the counûies around it and by

association and extension the whole of ~ ~ a . ~ ~ ~ m n i g r a t i o n regdations could also be mmipulated to

bar parti& groups. In 1908 ûttawa sought to put an end to irrimigraton h m India. At the time,

steamships amWig in British Columbia fiom Asia refieled in Hawaü. An order-in-council was p d

to Trohiit the landing in Caoada..of any immigrant who was to corne to Canada otherwise than by

continuous journey fiom the country of which he is a native and naturalized citizen..'" writing

retrospectiveiy in 1941, Stephen Leacock wrote: '%du irmriigraîion to British Cohunbia was

ingeniously sidetracked by the 'oontinuous joumey' nile, as snart a piece of legislation as any that ever

dkedianctiised Negroes in the ou th.'^^^ Cbese i m m i e were subject to a head tax which steadily

increased and f kdy dropped in 1921 only to be repIaœd by the stricter Chinese unmigration

~ c t ? ~ h e Japanese, did not have to pay a head tax but were only allowed to enter Canada in

accordance with the Gentlemen's Agreements bnween Canada and Japan. These agreements limitai

Japmese immigration to 400 per year."

Canadians felt that the nation was the inheritance of the white settlers who had pioneered

it-74 ~obert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada between 19 1 1 and 1920, insisted on keeping

Canada white and British. He said, % B n h Columbia mus& remain a British and Canadian

province, inhabited and dominated by men in whose veins runs the blood of those great pioneering

6iHorviird Palmer? "Attituda Tm& immigration and Immigration Polit).." in Tmmimtion and îhe I 3 . k d Wti- Howard Palnmer ed (Tonmîo: Capp 1975), 17.

Peter Ward, White Canada Forever: Poailar Aîtitudes and Public Policv Tmard Orientais in British Columbia (Montreal: MdSill-Qneens Press, 1978), 83. 6 9 ~ 21. ' O ~ a w i a n s , 16-18.

Ted Fergnsoq A White Man's Land: An Exercise in Canadhn Reiuciice (Toronto: Doub1eday? 1975), 6. 72Hany Con, et al. From China to Canada: A Historv of the Chinese Communities in Cana& (Toronto: McCIeIland and Stewart l982), 14 1. 73 Ferguson, 7. -4 rimkins, 22.

- -

races which built up and developed not ody Western but Eastern ~anada.~"'Borden's words

dismisseci the reality of Native civilizations present in Canada before colonization as well French-

Canadian society prior to the conquest of 1759. In addition, he disregarded the rnany other non-

British c o m m ~ e s throughout Canada which had played a major role in the building of the

nation. One example is the large number of Black communities in Nova ~co t ia . '~~o i in A

Thomson writes that BIacks were not included in the emerging national character because eiites

regarded Blacks as unsuitable and unassimilable to Iie in Canada. A 191 1 issue of Madean's

magazine read that the 'Vitimate Canadian Race" was bred frorn the best 'stocks' and did not

include Blacks. Even if the assimilation of Blacks were possible, it would lave a 'tinge' of

wloured blood on the ulhate race?

As a process, racism begm with the classification of othemesddifferenices to create a racial

hierarchy. This ordeIing of gmups makes it justinable to assign those at the bottom l e s worth. As

"'other'' a group is not entitled to the same privüeges as those who belong." Canadian cititeaship was

guarded and reserved for those wfio wae selected to d e here permanently, embodied the culture and . .

vahies of the dommant group, or were a~9milable.~ Any group considered undesirable or UnasSmilable

faced obstacles on the road to beconiing mturakd or practiQng his (wornen did not enjoy the federal

sufhge imtil 191 8) citirenship rights. For exampIe, between 1915 and 1930, only 349 Chinese were

natiiralized. In 193 1 m h d h i o n became more diflicult to obtain because Chinese applicants were

required to acquire the consent of the Mimstry of the Interior of China. Mormver, nanimlized and

u m h d k d Chinese were aibjected to the same anti-Chinese legislative bills because the definition of . * . .

a "Chinaman" was any native of the Chinese Republic not born of Bribish parents. The

aga* Chinese-Canarlians was in direct conflict with the Dominion Naturalization Act of 19 14 so t h a ~

they were reduced to second-class citizm~.~'

In contrasf to Chinese-Cansdians British immigrants held a privileged position over non-

British immigrants in regards to Citizensbip. British subjects enjoyed the same citizenship rights as any

Canadian-bom British subjects' However, a problem arose in regard to racialued British subjects of

"~awkins, 21. 76 Headfey Tuiiock Bladc C a n . -- -

: A L o n ~ Line of Fi- (Toronto: NC Press. 1975),76-82. ' ' Colin A Thomson, Blacks in D e e ~ Snw: Black Pioneen in Canada (Toronto: J . U Dent & Sons. 1979). 2 1.

&ldmrg 50-53. Starnilis and Yuvai-Davis, 1 5.

m ~ . Singh Bolaria and Pcter S. Li R a d ODOiesion in Canada,Znd ed (Toronto: Garamond Ras. 1988). 108- 109.

WiUiam Kaplan The Evolution of Citizenship Lebslation in Canada (0pawa: Multicultudism and Citizenship Canada, March 1991). 13.

Commornwedth ~~ULltries. By law al1 Br* subjects were entitIed to a priviIeged status of immigration

within the colonies. The Caaadian goverment was deteRInRed to lïmit immigration fiom the West

indies. In 1923, West Indians were stripped of their prefefential immigration stahis. The term British

su- was limiteci to nations with predominanty white p0~ulati011s~"~he~e coutries were South

Afii,ca, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Newfoundland, Irish Free State, Nonhem Ireland and

Great ~ntain" white Canadians were also of the opinion tbat Blacks should not be admitted as equal

partners in Confideration, sit in Pariiamenf or becorne enhncbised." These were privileges that were

Stasiulis and Jhappan add to Anderson's theory of irnagined communities by saying that

national coiIectMties are 'imagllied communities' which are 'culnually fabricated.' That is,

nations share in historidy specific myths of cornmon ongin and common destiny. In addition,

coIIectiMties conceive their irnagimy mity against other possible ~nities.~' niis is mie of

Canada. Fust., the nativist movement in Canada claimed that the country was plagued by little

nations withui the nation. In an article entitled '?mmigration and Nation Building," George Exton

Lloyd wrote, 'The question for Canada is this: C m we build up a great nation while racial groups

with different traditions, instincts, and ideals are being poured into the country?" He went on to

cfaim that hyphenated Canadians would demoralize "our British institutions.'* In 190 1, Frank

Oliver, later Minister of the Interior, targeted Slavs as a hindrance to Canadian nation-building:

'There is nothing [Canadians] more earnestly resent than the idea of settling up the country with people who wiü be a drag on Our cdkation.. . We want to build a nation. .we could enjoy, be proud of and transmit to our children; and we resent the idea of havuig the millstone of this Slav population hang around our n e ~ k s . ' ~

Secondly, myths of cornmon origin and destiny legitimized the reproduction of the

dominant culture via immigration policy. Arguments of racial inferiority were aimed at excluding

racialirecl immigrants wMe claims of cultural infèriority were used against immigrants other than

British and northern European. S o u k and Central Europeans, for example, were considered

82- 37-38. " Hawkhs, 20.

Cotin A Thomson, 22. 85 Siasinlis and Yuvai-Davis, 20. "George Exton Lloyd 105-106. "Canada, House of Commons Debates (Apnl 12.1910). 2939.

culnirauy infirior, their ody value being their brute strength and manual labour.% 1928 southeni

Euopean immigrants were rejected in preference for Norwegbq Swedish, Danish, F i Ge-

Swiss, Dutch, Belgian and French inmiigrants.."

Thirdiy, an ethoocenmc view of the past and fiture of Canada resulted in feelugs of

entitlement amongst Canadians who believed that it was their destiny to bear the fniits of the land.

During the Yukon Gold Rush, white diggen expressed resentment of Asian speculators: "a totally

different race, with a different language, clothing, customs and way of Me [was] cutthg in on

their territory and taking a share of their fb~dings...~'~~ White veterans of the First World War also

expresseci sentiments of entitlement as well. They demandeci that non-Anglo immigrants g k e up

their jobs to them. Accusations of communism were used to fire up public opinion against erhnic

and racial mùiority labourers and thus force them to lave their jobs.91

Canada experienced a peak in immigration just before war broke out in 1914. Between

1907 and 1916, 2,227,245 immigrants entered Canada War and depression in the 1930's cause

immigration levels to drop considerably, the years of the Second World War being the lowest at

193,314.92~oth wars intensifid the racism and ethnocentrism of Anglo-Canadians against

minorities in Canada. The internment, dispersion and repatriation of Japanese Canadians during

the Second World War is often cited as the worst case of racism during the ~ar.~' AM Gomer

Suoahara believes that the war against Japan gave the Canadian govemment, and in particular

British Columbia politicians, the opportunity to be rid of Japaoese-Canadians forever? Although

immigration levels had fallen considerably during the war Canada continuai to practice a

racist/ethnocentric/anti-Semitic immigration policy. For example, political elites refiised to admit

Jewish refugees. In 1938, a group of Cwchoslovakian Jews had beai refùsed admission When they

applied once more as Chrishm and were &en e~trance visas. In 1940, a senior immigration offim

"Jean Leaoard Flliott and Augie Fieras, 'Immigration and the Canadhn Ethnic Mosaic: in Race and Ethnic Relations in Canada, Petez S. Li, ed (Toronto: Cbcford University Press, 1990), 55. 8 9 ~ k i n s , 27. gOHawkins, 10. 91 Donald Avery, Dawerous Foreimers: E- Immigrant Workers and Labour Radicalism in CanaQ. 18%- 1932 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1979). - %kewich, 303. 93 AM Gomer Suabara, The Politics of Racism: The Umootin~! of Ja~anese Canadians Dnring the Second World

(Toronto: James Lorimer and Company), 198 1. "SU- 161.

wodd not admit Pohh Jewish cMdren but conceded to adnmting 'Roman Catholic Jewish

childrrn*

Immigration levels jumped again in peacetime. Between 1947 and 1956 1,3 1 5,457 entered

~ a n a d a - ~ ~ e a c e allowed the government to plan for post-war reconstruction. Reconstruction

involved two concurrent nation-building strategies. Fist, nation-building necessitated meeting the

labour needs of a boomhg economy. Secoodly, nation-building required a new post-war Canadian

identity. It is no coincidence that a new immigration act and the Citizenship Act were introduced

the same year.

Post-WQI Nation-BuiI.np

There are several "conventional theorie~"~'exp1aining why the Canadian govemment re-

opened immigration following the war and introduced citizenship legislation as a tool for nation-

building. The most cornmon explmtion for the rise in post-war immigration is that a shortage of

workers and lobbying from labour-intensive industries forced Ottawa to open the

doors." Nevertheless, accordhg to Harold Troper immigration ofncials refused to abandon their

hierarchy of racial preferences."Asians continued to face legislative bars against their entry. In

addition, immigration officiais made use of what Troper c d s "administrative tinkering" to make

the entry of southem and eastern Europeans more difficult. "Administrative tinkering'' was used

to select 'Nordic' Displaced Persons, to restnct famiy reunincation, and to Mt the number of

immigration offices in nonduropean countries. lw

There is no consensus for why the Citizenship Act was introduced. Paul Martin Sr.,

Secretary of State in 1945, credits his visit to a Dieppe cemetery as the event which prompted him

to retum to Canada with the idea of a new Citizenship Act. The many racial ongins of the dead

soldien impressed him. He wrote, 'Wothuig has since epitomized the concept of our nation more

poignantly than that cemetery. Of whatever ongin, these men were ail anad di ans."'^' Burnet

95 inhg Abeiia and Harold Troper, None is Tm Manv: Canada and the Jews of Euro~e. 1933-1948, (Toronto: Lester and Orpen Dennys, 1982), 1-2, 77-78. % Satzewich, 303. 97 K.W. Taylor, "Racism in Canadian lmmigration Policy," Canadian Ethnie Studies (XXIII, 1' 199 l), 4.

~arold Troper, "Canada's Immigration Policy Since 1945," International Journal (Spring 1993, XLVIII), 258- 261. 99 ~roper? "Canada's lmmigration Polis. Since 1945." 259. 'mHarold ~roper, "Canada's Immigration Poiicy Since 1945." 260-261.266. '"Paul Martin, 'Citizenship and the PeopIe's World' in Belonging: The Meaning and Fuiure of Canadian Citizenshib, William Kaplan ed (Montreai and Kingston: McGill-Queen's Univeristy Press, 1993).66-67.

writes that as a result of the fight against Nazism, policy makers grew aware of tacimi in

immigration policy and society and attempted to address issues of discrimination.1o2 ~rlliam

Kaplan, on the 0 t h hand, attributes post-war nation-building to common Canadians who came

out of the war with a stronger sense of themselves. 'O3 Jack Granatstein asserts that Canada went

inîo the war a feamil colonial people and emerged a na t i~n . '~~o~owiug ahng these lines, a 1987

govemment document explains that Canadians were proud of their achievements and felt that

giwig people the right to cali themselves Canadians was the nexi logical step in nation-building.

The government in power agreed with common Camdians and began drafhg a citizenship

a d o 5 These arguments rely on naive asnimptions about the goodness of Canadians as a whole

and politicians as individuals and their patriotism. The passing of the Citizenship Act was a

compiicated process which began in the eariy yean of the war, started at the top in the

bureaucratie branches of government and gaineci legitllnacy in the House of Cornmons.

Troper is correct in asserting that the Unmigration administration continueci to apply racist

mechanisrns for the exclusion of immigrants. Later on the point system would be introduced

acting as little more than an updated version of the %ad tax." The reason for this is that

immigrants classifieci as entrepreneurs are admitteci to Canada on the promise that they will invest

money in canada.Io6 In contrast to Burnet and Martin, Taylor is critical of the theory of that

"enlightened" policy-rnakers were responsible for post-war changes in poiicy. He writes that in

view of the long established tradition of racial exclusion, it was udikely that racisxn would

disappear ovemight by administrative decree. 'O7 ~ a ~ l a n ' s ~ Granat st eh's, and the govemment ' s

assertion that cornmon Canadians were responsible for launching a citizenship movement and

changes to immigration is aiso flawed. This theory ignores the certainty that policies emerge &om

poiicy-rnakers who are mernbers of an elite class of decision-makers. Their decisions are based on

supposedly universal practices which in fact onginate in the dominant class and becorne

naturalized. 'O8 Po licies reflect the interests of elites w ho dominate the state apparatus. log

115. 'O3 William Kapian, 14. lW J.L. Gmnatsteùl, Canada's War: The Politics of the MacKenzie King Government 1939-1945 (Toronto: U of T Press, 1975), 419-424. '05Proudtobecanadian, 6. '"~aylor. 11. 'O? Taylor, 4. '" Norman Fairc10ugh, Language and Power (New York: Longman, 1989). 33. 'OS James W. Tollefson Planniag Language. Planning; IneQualitv: Language Poli- in the Communitv (Nm York: Longman. 199 1 ), 203.

Taylor b ~ g s up the idea that changes in immigration regdation were only cosmetic

because the removal of racist language still left the racist agenda intact.'" Howwer, he does not

explain what overt racist language was replaced with nor the role that political elites played in

sustaînjng a rack nation-building agenda. Racist language had not disappeared afler the war, it

became more cornplex, subtle and covert. Nation-build'ig now relied on covert racist arguments

for the exclusion of immigrants into Canada Gone were phrases nich as undesirability and

unassimilability as the legitimization for exclusions based on race and ethnicity. The promotion of

idea of national mity demandeci that political elites adopt a new discourse. The focus of political

discourse was now on inclusion based on adjustability, adaptabiity, and absorption so that

exclusion based on race or ethnicity was not apparent. Post-war nation-building also relied on

covert racist discourse for the promotion of citizenship. Nationai unity becarne the ratiode for

the acculturation of immimts. Basic ESUCitizenship instruction became the covert method for

A speech made by Pxime Minister MacKenzie King illustrates the shift to covert racist

discourse. On May 1,1947, MaclKenzie King announced that the govemment would foster the growth

of the population by the enco@g immigration. l l1 He lamentai that transportartion by s t e m ship

Eom the UK was still scarce in 1947. Shortage of shipping meant that Canada must choose &ch

immigrants be selected with care, and that their numbers be a d . e d to the absorptive capacity of the

country.""' The priontization of immigration was completely justifiable, he asserted, because 'Canada

is perfèctiy within h a nght in selecting the pemns whom we regard as desirable future citizefls-ii 1 14 Kùig conceded that in the past Canadas immigrarion policy had ''seerned" to place

Chniese immigrants in an infèrior category. The Chiriese Immigration Act wouid be repealed and

Chinese residents wouid now be naturalized . I l 5 However, the govemment would not go as fàr

ebmdng dl the bars on Chinese immi@on King closed his speech with these words:

There will, 1 am sure, be general agreement wàh the view that the people of Canada do not wisb, as a result ofrnass ÙMiigration, to rnake a hdamentd alteration in the character of our popilation. Large-sade immigration fiom the Orient would change the fùndamental

- - -

110 Taylor, 4. " ' Canada House of Commons Debates (May 1.1947), 2644. "'Canada Hcmse of ~ommoar &tes (May 1,1947). 2644. '13 M Hase o f ~ ~ m m m ~ebsrrr (May 1, l947), 2645.

Canada House of(2ommms ~ebaer ( ~ a y 1. lW), 2646. '15 Canada House ofcommons Debna (May 1.1947), 2646.

composition of the Canadian populaiion Any considerable oriental inmigration, would moreovery be certain to give rise to social and econoniic problems ... The g o v e m m ~ thedore, has no thought of d g any change in imniigration regulations which wouid have consequences of the h d . l l6

King made use of several of van Dijk's covert racist strategies: T h but Fair," Tositive Self-

R d o n ' : 'Vox Popdi," ''The Numbers Game'' and "Negative Othe r -P rdon" MacKenzie

King spoke opering the immigration gates but pnoritizing i-grants in Mew of a shortage of people

from the UK He iosisted that t h was fair beonw t was Canada's right to select fùture àtizens (Fm

but Fair). He pnded himself in the aboiition of the Chuiese Act and the extension of dkemhip to

ChineseCanadians (Positive Self-hsnîation)). Howevery he spoke on behalf of Canadians (Vox

PopuIii and declarecl that '¶arge-de" immigration of "Oriaitals7' (The Nmbers Game) would affect

the %damental composition of the population" By referring to the "Yùndameotal composition of

Camda," King implied that Asians codd threaten Canada's raciai make-up and dominant culture

(Negative Ohm-Presentation)). On the air$çe, it appeared that Canada was prepared to change N

immigration policy and -p regulatom. However, a closer W s of the political rhetoric

reveak that Canada was not completeiy willing to abandon t s policy of ettinic and r a d prefèrence.

The whiteness of Canada and the domuiance of the Anglo-Canadiatl culture wouid be preserved. One

way to preserve the "Canadian way of Mei' was through citizenship training.

In Canada there are three theories which have dominated discussion on immigrant

adjustment. First, Angio-conformity demands the rejection of immigrants' culture and traditions

and the adoption of the behaviour and values of the dominant Anglo-Cmdian group. Secondly,

the melting pot, envisions a biological merging of settled communities with new immigrant groups

and a blending of their cultures to rnake a new Canadian type. Finally, cultural pluralism calls for

the preservation of some aspects of immigrant culture and communal Me within the context of

Canadian citizemhip and the political and economic integration h to Canadian society."'The

'Melting Pot" was disdainecl by Canadians as an Arnerican experiment not suitable to Canada, and

pluralism did not gain any popularity util the 1960s. Non-Anglo immigrants were expected to

adopt the culture and values of Anglo-Canadians because those values and n o m were

established and because immigrants chose to corne to Canada. Anglophone Canada saw itself as

"an outpost of British institutions ... AndeCanadians were in North America but were not

" 6 - ~ ~ a f ~ommons~ebates(~a)- 1,1917), 2646. "' Howard Palmer. 4Moo9icVerais Melting Pot,* hternatiomi Journal vol. 3 1 ( 1976). 589490.

Amerïcans -they were British nibjects resident in Canada. The national identity myth fixeci on

Canada as an integrai part of British imperid de~tin~.""~

The Department of the Secretary of State wrote that the Citizenship Act was introduced

to "impress upon Canadians the value of citizenship and to promote national ~nity.""~ However,

the Citizenship Act was also an opportunity for the goverment to do more than that. Basic

ESL/Citizenship classes became a covert pedagogical tool for the preservation and reproduction

of the Anglo-Canadian way of Me. In chapter three we will see how the House of Commons

debates leading up to the passing of the Citizenship Act influenced the shape that Basic

ESUCitizenship instruction wodd take. Political elites relied on covert racist discourse to argue

that national unity depended on the transformation of immigrants into "Canadians." The result of

the political debates was that Basic ESLKitizenship classes embodied the political elites' racia

concephi~t ions of Canada.

Rather than providing immigrants with the Imguistic tools to participate in the democratic

process, Basic ESLICitizenship instruction taught immigrants '8abits and attitudes." lm wcourse

immigrants also received instruction in the responsibilities and privileges of citizen~hi~'*~ and

instruction in Canadian geography, history and govemment.l"~owever, great effort was also

placed on teaching immigrants proper pronunciation because "How words are pronounced is

ahoa more important than what words when a person is living in anew The

Canadian CitLenship Branch was of the opinion that proper instruction and acceptance corn

'hative Canadians" would help immigrants become Canadians "bath in status and

attitude."12d~inally, the Department of Education of Ontario wote that its programs were

designed to give immigrants ''essential information about Canada and our way of life? These

descriptions of the goverment's goals for Basic ESUCitizenship concur with the theory that

'" HaroId Troper. Unitv in Diversi@: The Historiai Roou of Cauada's Multicdturaiism (Poiicy Paper pr-nted a Faces of Diversity Conference, Cleveland Ohio, Apnl 14- 1 5, 199 1), 8. ' ' 9 h u d to be canadian, 6. ' " ~ a t a r i o Dept. of Education, ReDort of the Muiister 1947 (Ontario: Ontario Government, L917), 1 5 . "' W.J. Linciai, Canadian Citizenshib and Our Wi& LoMIties (Winnipeg: Canada Ress Club, 1946), 147. '= Canada Dep of Citizenship and immigration, Rsa of the Department of Citizenship and Immimation for the Fiscal Year Ended March 3 1. 195 1 (Onawa: Governent of Canada, 195 l), 1 1. lUCanadian Association for Aciuit Echaîion, This is Canada (Ottawa: Department of Mines and Resources. 1948), 80. 1 2 4 ~ Dept of Citizenhip and Immigration. Annuaï Re~ort of the -ent of Citizenshii, and Immimtion: Fiscal Year Ended March 3 1. 1952 (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1952), 1 1. lZS Ontario Dept of Education R m r t of the Minster: 1949 (Ontario: The Government 1919). 35.

citizenship is as much a rite of passage as a measure of the assimilation and.or adjustment of

immigrants to the Canadian environment. Iz

The Citizenship Act of 1947 did not introduce a new Canadian identity. The political eIites

controlling policy and nation-building continued to identfi Canada as an extension of British

colonialisrn. However, elites succeeded in creating the image of a new post-war united Canada.

At the National Liberal Party convention of 1948, the governent made clear its commitment to

the idea of unity in diversity. Nationai unity would be achieved through the recognition "in the

spirit and in the letter, of the rights and privileges of the diverse elements which d e up the

population of Canada." A trdy Canadian spirit would be fostered by developing Yoyalty to the

common countxy." The Liberal Party stood "for the effective participation of ail the people of

Canada in the national We as emphasized by the enactment of the Citizenship ~ c t . " ' ~ '

The political rhetoric was only a screen. Canadian citkenship did not cut the ties with

Britian and the Anglo-Canadian ideal. Citizenship continued to i d e n e Canadians as British

abjects. In additioq the content of Citizenship/Basic ESL classes showed that immigrants were

expected to adopt the culture, values, noms of the dominant Mo-Canadian society. The classes

were compulsory for all immigrants. The exception to this rule were those who inmiigrated fiorn

Britain. The rationale was that British immigrants did not need citizenship or language training.

However, any perçon wishing to partake of the classes was free to do so. British immigrants were

dso pnvileged in that they neither los or gained anything by becoming &kens of Canada. Thq

could vote in elections and nui for office as British citizens. In contrast, non-British immigrants

were required to renounce their allegiance to their homelands upon becoming Canadian-

Moreover any immigrant who did not have an adequate knowledge of the rights and

responsibiiities of citizenship and adequate laiowledge of ESL were not granted citizenship.

Judging fiom the importance that the classes placed on teaching immigrants the 'Canadian way of

Ne" we are led to beliwe that acceptance into the Canadian community went beyond meeting the

conditions for citizenship. Did immigrants give up their identities, culture, values, noms and

ianguage upon becoming Canadian citizens? Sherene Razack explains that when culture and

acdturation are the fiamework of schoohg, the focus of schooling is away fiom 'the host' and

. -- - -.

126 James S. Frideres, S. Goldberg J. DiSanto, J. Homa, "Becoming Candian: Citizen Acquisition and National Identity," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationaikm (m. 1, 1983, 105. '" Reduiions: National Liberal Convention. 1948 (0uam-a: National Likral Foundation. 1918),6-7.

L3

on the 'foreigners.' Immigrants' foreignness than becornes the problem to be s~lved.'~~The

problem to be fked through Basic ESL/Citizenship instruction was, as Fnderes et al put it, how to

"transfonn immigrants into anad di ans."'^^ in the next chapter we will look at the philosophical interconnections between citizenship,

ESL training, and nation-building. Chapter three will show that there was a shift in political

discourse to covert racism. However, racist ideologies remained intact and the elites' belief that

Canada continued to be identifid as "Angle-Canadian" shaped the final look of Basic

ESUCitizenship classes. In chapter four we will tum our attention to the federaily-fhded ESL

program introduced in 1992. W e will examine the continued use of covert racist discourse in the

legitimïzation of ESL policy and the enduring role of ESL in nation-building.

128 Sherene Razack "Schooling Research on South and East Asian Students: The Perils of T h g anout Culture." (UnpubIished Document 1995). 6. '"James S. Frideres, S. Golcûxrg J. DiSanto. J. Homa. "Becorning Canadian: Citizen Acquisition and National Identity." 105.

Chwter Two

In chapter one, 1 argued that Basic ESUCitizenship was introduced as a key stnrtegy in

nation-building. In the pre-war years, political elites openly articulateci the idea of Canada as a

white, Anglo-Saxon nation. In the post-war years, the official hetoric changed to one of unity in

divenity. As 1 suggested, this change of rhetoric merely disguised and re-packaged the vision of

Canada as white and Anglo-Saxon. ESL was regarded as a tool for the integration of this new yet

old Canada. This vision of ESL made an important comection between ESL, citizenship and

nation-building. In this chapter, 1 examine theories of ESL which help me show these

interconnections. In additioq 1 provide a critique of ESL theories which fail to see these

i.ntercomections and which make racist assumptions about immigrants and their in/abitity to leam

a second language. ConceptuaLizations of the immigrant as other are particularly evident in

traditional ESL theories.

The dominant theocy in the study of ESL has been Second Language Acquisition (SLA)

theory. Devised by hguists, SLA is a multi-branch theory used to explain how people Ieam a

second language. Because SLA is dominated by Luiguists the focus has been on developing better

ESL teaching for better ESL learning.' In recent years, Liberal ESL scholars, practitioners and

researchers have given more attention to the consequences of inadequate programs for

immigrants. Critical pedagogy and feminist theories encompass an analysis of politicai and social

structures to better understand the effect of power relations on education. 1 chose to review these

different approaches to ESL because they provide an overview to how the field has evolved and

much farther it can still grow. My theoxy of ESL for nation-building c m o t be supported fiom a

SLA or Liberal ESL perspective. The problem wiîh these theories is that they are focused on

problem-solving and on the improvement of teaching strategies. 1 view the problems of ESL as fàr

more complex and historicd. In addition, 1 do not accept that education is neutral but beiieve that

it is value-laden. Critical pedagogy af5ords me with the theoretical foundations to argue that at the

root of Basic ESUCitizeaship instruction lay the belief that education could be used to perpetuate

the dominant view of Canada and Canadiamess.

Second Lanmrnpe Acouilsifion: Foundations

E3e@mhg in the lWs, the field of ESL was kfluenced by theories of fïrst language

acguisition The difkence between language l e a m and language acqirisifion is that acquisition is a

subconscious and intwtive process of constnicting a language, mch k e a child 'Picking up" a

laquage. Language learning, on the other hand, is a conscious process in which learners attend to

fom, des, and are aware of their own pr~&ress.~The debate in ESL has been whether immigrants

leam or aquire ESL and how to improve upon the lemhg process. These are valid points for

discussion but in the jumble of ideas scholars ofien ignore the social, politicai, and mnomic &on

which anect the learmng/acqriigtion process. It is important that we look at the O- of SLA theory

to understand why criticai anai* ofESL has been so slow in coming.

In 1945, Charies ~ned revised the Contrasthe Am@& Hypothesis which held that a more

effective second laoguage pedagogy would resuh if points of difkence and d a r i t y between the

native language and the target language were idded4Contrastive Aoalyss theorists, d e d

'Behaviorists", held that language acquisition was the product of habit f o d o n and that lemers

mut ovmcme the habits of th& native tongue in orda to acquire a second language. This, they

believed, was to be accomplished through sich techniques as memorization and imitation; the goal

king aut~maticity.~ In 1959, Noam c h o w 6 begm hk ana~k on the behaviorist school of thought.

Chomsky argued that language acquisition was not the product of habit forniaton but of d e

formation. He claimeci that humans possess an irmate predisposition to inciuce the des of a target

language fiom the input to &ch they are exposed. He discovered that second language learners and

fkst language tearners cornmit M a r developmental mon that are not due to interlanguage

irrterference. Chomsky Meved that SLA was, like fint language acquisition, a process of nile

f o d o n . ' Chomsky's ideas Ied to Error Analysis, which in ban led to much debate about Intertanguage.

Interianguage is the term used to d e m i the language system that a learner uses wtiile advancing fiom

lis native language towards the acquisition of the second language.81t was beliewd that the first

'H. Douglas Brown, Prirn.i~les of Language Leaniine. and Teaching 3rd eci (New Jeruy: Prentiœ Hal& 1991). 279. Chari- Fnes, Teachine. and Leamhg En&& as a Foreign Lan- (Ami A h r . U- of Michigan Ras, 1945).

h - ~ r e e x n a n and Long, 52. * ~ - ~ ~ a i d h g , 5 5 6 Noam Chomsky, "Re!view of' VesW Behavior' by B.F. Skimer," Lanmqg 35 (1959). 26-58. ' Larsen-Freeman and h n g 57-58. L- khder. "Interlanguage." Imanational EWim ofAa*ed Linexnstics 10 (1972). 209-3 1.

26

language mtdered wtth the second ianguage thereby produckg aror~ .~Yet by the niid 1970fs, this

theory also began to fàll înto didiwour. Scbachter and elc ce-Murcial*contended that foaisiag on

errors alone was not enough. They argued that by paying so much attention to mors researchm

ignored what leamers did corredy. In addition, they asserted that identaying a umtary source for an

error was imposs~ible." ~ r r o r analysis was not abandoned as a legitimate theoretical perspective.

Mead it was incorporated h o Performance An&m wbich sought to understand second language

acpuisition in the process of devdopment. There were four major theories within Performance A d p s

wfiich studied: morpheme usage7 ' 2 dwelopmental ~equence,'~ leaming strategied4 and fomnilac

ut ter an ce^.'^ These adyses acted as modes of insuiry which lead to the emergence of many fhidùl

careers. Under the broad umbreila of NatMst theories in SLA was Krashen's Monitor Theory. The

Fundonal-Typologid Theory of Givon came &om the Interactionist side. ScLnunaim's Acculturation

modei was part of the Environmeritalist camp.

SLA theorists did not express overt d-immigrant sentiments, however, during the eariy yean

SLA theory was wvertly racist because the foais was on unleaming the first hguage. Immigrants

were srpeaed to learn how to "overcome th& h t language habiîs", 'Tmitate the target language",

and "prevent the fint language kom uiterfèring" with the second language. Fii languages wae

chssified as cCothef beouise irmriigrants' native tongues were portrayed as undesirable, produchg bad

Mi and mipeding leaming. In contrast, the English language was depicteci as the degrable means of

c o d c a t i o n in "our country" and theorists claimed that i m m i m shouid strive to miitate it and

embraced it as their own. SLA theories, therefore, rdected the ethnocentridracist belief'i of the

theorists. SLA's disregiild of the social environment in *ch ESL leamhg took place leads us to

betieve that SLA theorists viaved ESL 1e-g as ta* place in a vacuum.

It looked like the introduction of Schumami's A d t u d o n Mode1 in the 1970s mi& SM the

fms of SLA away h m the leamiog process to the social conditions in whïch second language

J. RicbarQ "Ermr Adys is mi Secmd- Straregies," Sciences 17 (1971), 12-22. 'O 1. Scliadner and M CelceMinaa "Some Resenatio~ls Comermng Error A d y s k " TESOL Ouarterh- 11 (1977), 441- 51. '' iarsen-~rseman andhng, 61. "M Ekm, H Du@, aad E. Herrianda-C- B i h m d Snmc Meram (New York: HaraMt Brace l~.anovich 1975). l 3 H Wode, J. Bahnr H B e , W. Fr& "Developnental !kpence: An Ahematk Appmch to Morpbane ûder,"

LRarning 28 (1978). 175-85. I4IC Hakm, "A ZWimhq Report on the Datelopnient of G d c a i Morpbems in a lapanese Girl Leaming Engbshasa Seumdhguage," WorkingPar#rsanBilinpahm3 (1974), 1-3. "L. ~ c m g ~ i l l m o ~ , T h e l h e ~ & o i d i A m u m t C c e r n f i v e a a d ~ o a a l ~ t r a t e g i e s i n S e a m d ~ ~ o n Phi). Dissertation. Stanford Univas@. 1976.

leamhg takes place- However, Scinrmarm's hypotheses did not veer fàr enough h m the dornmant

ideologies of the the. He contimied to view the individual leamer as the sngle most importani dement

in SLA success. In 1973, Schmmm was imrolved m a project &ch studied the una~fored acquisition

of Engiish amongst Sx Spamsh speakers in Cambridge, Massaclnisetts. There were six subjects in his

study two children, two adolescenis, and two adults."Once the project was fished Schumami

contheci wodang with Aiberto, a thirty-three year old Costa Rican immigrant hbg in the United

States. Aiberto had been the least suCCeSSfiil lemer in the study and Schumarm believed that had

Albert0 tried to achieve greater social and psychologid pro- with his target Ianguage group

(native speakers of English in Cambridge) that his Eoglish mi@ have beai improved. Schumami's

critinSn of SLA dieoiy was based on his beiief that that psycho10gid &ors aione could not be held

accomtable for second language acquisition He wrote:

The of aptitude and motivation on proficiency in second language leaniing have been sraniined, but relatively Me has been said about what s d &on might iufiuence the degree to wtiich a second language is learned. Within the coastnict of d distance, this paper e x p h societal fkct0x-s that either promote or m h i social solidarity between two groups and thus affect the extent to which a second language leaming group acquUes the language of a particuIar target language group.''

The Acculturation Model asserts that the extent to which a learner integraies into the host

Sonety âffects the d e g m to which the second language is ~ea~led.'~~ccordin~ to Schumann,

immigrant groups p d c e one of three integrative strategies: asgrmlation, adaptatioq or presenation

Assimiiation ocairs when a second Ianguage leamhg group @es up its own litè style and d u e s and

adopts those of the target language group. Adaptation is used to descnk wtiat happens when a second

language group adapts to the Me styie and vahies of the host society but mamtains its own Mie styie and

vah~es for intragroup use. In the case of p d o q the group decides to mairnain its values and

Histyle whiie SimUItaneousiy rejecting those of the host sociedy. Each strategy has a Merad &êct on

the amount of a contact that is likely to take place between the second language group and the target

language group.lgCo~ently, the degree of integdon affects the degree of second language . .

acquistion experienced by the second ianguage group. Assmiiation is the favoued mtegrative strategy

. - Mdhhmi DRtelOOmerrt 7. no. 5 (19%), 379. l9 Sctnuriann Thzuch on the -on Model for Seamd Language AcquM~oa" 381.

La

because it x m x h k s contact between the two groups and therefore enhances second laoguage

acquisition Adaptation is l e s preferable becauçe it yields vasring degrees of contact and thus produces

viirying degrees of -et language acquigriox~ The least productive strategy, pmewatïoresenatioq m e s

d distance wfiich makes second language acquisition hi&@ unlikefyY"

In the 1970% Scln~marm's work was considered ground-breaking. However, there are several

k w s in bis interpretation of the role of soaal and psychological mors in the second language learning

process. F I Schumami assumes that immigrants can control the "d and psychologid distances7"

*ch divide them fkom Engiish speakers. To prove tbis, Schumann cited s e v d exampies of how

Amerto haci chosen to reject the lité style and vahies of "Am&cans." Amato did not own a television

(a mechankm for language learnhg)II only played Spamsh music on his new stereo* worked day and

night indead of making t h e to anend ESL classes, made no effort to make fiends with English

speakers in cambridge2'and lived in a Spanish neighboi~riiood.~Schumann contested that Alberto7s

pidginized speech was the resuit of hk umdïqpess to ccclose" the psychological distance between

h h 4 . f and native speakers of Englisb in Cambridge. Schumann was so convùlced of th that he

refused to b e k e Alberta's assertions that he wanted greater contact with English speakkg Americans.

When Alberto responded to a quesiionmire rrgarding motivation and attitude, Schumami stressed that

AIberto 'Yended not to Wre to displease and therdore his m e r s rnay d e c t what he thought the

expimenter wanted to hear7'%mmiami deduced tbat by rej- to close the social and

psychologid gaps betwem himself and American Society, Alberio must have also '%hosen" not to

leam Engiish adequately.

Secondly, Aoailhtration Mode1 presumes that immigrants are in a position of power which

may or may not est. Sch- believed that any immigrant group wtio stubbomly chose to preserve

its ide* couid only blame M f o r its Mure to integrate hto the hoa society and not lem the new

language. Schumann's social factors did not inchide the structurai and ideologicai barriers *ch are

mamdhmd by a m5st society. For acanq>le, it is doubtfiil that A k t o could have afforded to live in

an affluent white neighbourhood. If Alberto could spare no t h e to attend ESL classes, it was probably

because he needed to work day and ni@ just to make ends meet. Nor did Sc- take into account

that racist cCAmericans7' might not want contact with Aiberto. The closest Schumann came to admitting

that immigrants may not be able to clos the gap between themselves and Eiiglish-speakers occurred

'O o on the ~cailtumion~odel for s e c o n d ~ ~ c q r i l s t i ~ " 381. J O ~ ~ H ~dnmiam~ *---

. .. The Pidginizatim Hypksk," Lan- Leaming 25, 303. 1 ~ " s e u , ~ ~ ~ ~ m ~ d m n i ; l a t i o n ~ n 4 0 0 . " SchmnamL " W i g u a g e Acqmtim: T h e i ? i ~ O l l ~ * m.

when he wrote: "American Society in general expects them [Lafin American innmgrants] to assimilate

as it does all immigrants, but it does not make the assiniilaton easyYd4 Schumann did not question why

immigrants were expected to asbilate to the American way of life nor the role that he, as an elite

member of dernia, piayed in 'hianufacturing cons&" for this idea.

There are several points that I wmt to make about Schumann before we move on to more

recm developments in ESL scholarship. First, the notion that there exïsted "Social and Psychologïcai

Distancen between immigrants and the host Society is Yiiportant because it resembles the arguments

used by Canadian &es to rationalke the inequalib:es qmienced by raciahd minorities in Canada

For arample, immigrants are o h blamed for their low job s t a t u because they supposedly chose not

to leam Engiish, have not lemeci to Speac it Buemly, or refiised to assinrüate to Canada Secondy,

Sc- never dehes int@on but we *ui assune that t is limited to dturai integratioa Ln

Canada, as in the United States, cumual integration hinges on asimiMon imo the myth of W'

sociw, "oui' We style and " o d vahies. Integration for immigmnts does not comprise economic,

social or political equality to the dominant group. Finailyy despite Schumann's disdain for other SLA

researchers, bis work camed on the tradition of placing cornpiete responsi'biiay for the success or

Mwe of lemhg a second language on the leamer. This is egualS tme of C h a n research, Ln

Caaada, Iittle thought was @en to inadequate programnillig and its e f b t s on immigrants lives until

the 1980s. The tradition amongst ESL critics in Canada has been to se& remedies to the £iaws and

fidures of ESL pro&rams. However, men this strategy has its problems, as we WU see below.

Liberal l%eories of ESL

Since the 1970~~ the analysis of ESL has gone beyond problems of &ective 1eaRnngJteac-

to inchde questions of social, political and economic sîrat%cation caused by Mequate ESL . * . programs. For arample, critics are hcIuding such issues as discnmuiatory admission cri te^

inaccessiile educational fàcilities, hadequate assessmerrts, poor Meral hdmg, and insdtici-

learnuig hours into th& researcher. This liberal approach is based on the belief that bmer ESL trahing

mut provide immigrants with the linguishc tools to open the doors that wouid othenvise be closed off

to them I d this approach h i because the foais is on worlang within the problem-causing system

to find sohrtions to the problans. This approach suggests that the acquisition of ESL is the panacea for . .

inmiigrants' problems. The margmaluation of immigrants in Canadian Society is a historical realr?y

" Schumann "Second hguage Acquisition: The Pidginidon Hypokss" 4-00.

consequenthl there is no easy way to 'W the problem Attempts at trYmg to sohe the politicai,

econornic ad social obstacles faced by immigrants through betîer ESL doue shows the disregard

some schoiars have of history and the mechamnos for the legitimirijtion of the excIusion of racialized

immigrants fiom miety. I want to ilhistrate the liniitations of a hiberai approach to ESL by pointing to

two reports of TESL (Teacting English as a Second Language) Canada The views of TESL Canada

desave attention because as an national organization, its iduence is wide, t represaits a large number

of Canada's ESL pracationers and researchers. Co~lse~uentiy, TE3L Canada rep- the dominarit

view of those involveci in the ESL profession.

The amval of South-East Asian refbgees m 1979 forced ESL providers to question the &cacy

of ESL provision TESL Canada c h e d that the problem of immigrants not receMng ESL had aiways

existed, but never so giaringi~.~ Their response to the criZs in ESL was to host a coderence d o s e

purpose was to find problern-so1ving solutions for the struaural barrien in ESL programs. Soon der,

TESL Canada pubWed a position papx entitled The Provision of Enelish as a Second Lanmwze

ESL) Training to Adult Newcomen: Sa P~ciples Toward a Natiod P ~ I @ ~ ~ The report i d d e d

the aims of ESL as the provision of ESL for citizenship and funaional literacy. Because citizenship is

the main focus of ESL programniing., students rmist be knowiedgeab1e of and conversstnt in: the rights,

privileges and responsiLbiiay of the individuai vis-à-vis other individuals, the govanmait and the

community7 the implications of becoming a Canadian; and the ri@ and respons'biiities of Caoadian

dzens in regard to the vote, enurneration and so on2'The report dso stated that without fimctiond

knowledge of Engiish, immigrants could not mercise thar ri@ of citizaistnp (dernocratic hght), they

would be discnrmnat . . .

ed against in the labour market (MOLK ri*), be daiied access to job aaining

(education right), and be handicâpped in obtamïng quai access to federal and provincial services

(@fy nght)." TESL Canada recornrnended the establishment of a national ESL policy comprisùig

six principles: acceçsibility7 flexibihty and sufnciency, coordination, settlement support services,

Canadian content, and professionalism. The recommendations of the TESL Canada report were

forwarded to the f e d d govenmient.

The intentions of the TESL report of 198 1 were cl-, to reafnmi the objectives of

federally-funded ESL and to inculcate the idea that Canada needed a national ESL policy which

TESL Canada Action Commatc+ Pasition Tbe h i s i o n of Engiish as a Second Lan- - (E-SL.) Training - m Adult Nmamem Six R k b k Toward a Natkmai Policv (1981), 2. ' 6 ~ ~ ~ ~ Canada Anion Cornmitees, (1981). " iESL Canada M o n Conimia& (198 1). 66.

canada Action ~ommitree (l981), 18.

would address the most obvious structural problems in the deiivery of ESL programs. However,

by fiamhg ESL policy in tenns of problems and solutions TESL Canada Meci to address broader

issues which might have explaineci the ongins of those structural problems. In other words, TESL

Canada did not consider that the problems in ESL programming may in fact have been part of a

strategy to ensure that Canadian society remaineci stratitïed dong, racial, gender, class, and

language lines. The result is a report replete with contradictions. For example, TESL Canada

msisted that the prime goal of ESL training is citizenship p r e p d o n and that ESL lemhg rmist be

'Welong, second chance ~earning.'~The discrepancy here lies in the fact that ftnctiond ESL

provided by the govemment is indiCient for immigrants to do linle more than subsist in the

margins if society. Read and MacKay exphin thai fùnctional literacy enables leamers to read

unf;lmiliar matenal, perfionn problan sohhg transfer knowledge to new wntexis aml write

adequately. A leamer who has achieved fiindonal beracy can "cope" with the deman& of society and

'hiay be" able to ackeve individuai goals.30Functional iiteracy, therdore, is not a guarantee that

immigrants wiU achieve the ESL proficiency needed to meet the demi~~lds that TESL Canada has in

niind. TESL Canada treated fimctional ESL as the precunor for citizensbip. We do not expect

Canadian-bom citizens to practice their labour, educationai, and equality nghts with hctionai literaq

alone. TESL Canada's welduig of citizenship and fùnctional literacy reduces immigrants to second

c h citizens.

Ten years later TESL Canada produced another report aiggesting that the govermnent had

continued to neglect the inadequacies in ESL programming. The aVn of the 1991 Magahay report was

to promote the idea that ESL should lead to participation in society. This report stated that there were

three phases in s u d immigrant seetfement: orientatio4 integmion, and participation Magabay

claimed that at the oiientation level ~ g r z t n t s were taught enough language M s to suMve dwing

the initial period of adjustrnent. Integration programs helped immigrants fit h o Canadian Society as

productive members. The emphasis here was on rapid integraiion into the labour market. The finai

stage, participation, would encourage immigrants to take part in the full spectrum of economic,

political, social and cuhrd Me of canada."

" TEX cana& Action Commiag (l981), 19. "Caiherine Read and Ron MacKa), IUi- Amone. Aduit Immi-ts in Canada (Monneal: Cornordia University, DeCernber. 19841, 5-7. " W e d y Ma*, Meeting the Needs: A A Reliminarv af E S Rr>eram Dclivcrv to Adult

2L

Magahay mglected to note tbaî the fideral govermnent of Canada is not obfigated to provide

q î h g beyond ESL for o r i d o n because it is bound to a long4lished ESL policy of ESL for

dknship. Nevertheless, Magahay demanded that the state provide a higher level of ESL. We cm

praise Magahay fbr her conviction, but her report was marred by covert racist remarks. Magahay

doubted that an immigrants had the c a p e to p a s through aU the stages of dement. For

insbace9 she remarked on the Vetnamese Unmigrants fiice in mtegrating into Canadian

Society. She wrote that there was no consistent answer to how long the settlement process would take

since much dependeci on a learnefs motivation, background expience and goals.32 This staternent is

rammsCem of Schumami's ide. of social and psychologid gaps between the inmigrant and the host

society, and presumed choice. How wdd Magahay make demands on the federai govenunent when

she herseIf questioned immigrants' ability to become cumirally integmted in Canadian çociety? The

m e r here is two fold. F m the answer lies in the covert racist notion that somehow cultural . .

infkriority is to blame for inuni-' -on Secondly, Magahay is a member of the ebe

group whch mates consent for and reproduces these exchisionary notions. The report showed that

despite the heightened awaréness of the marginaiization of immigrants in society, ehes such as

Magabay continued to think of irmnigiams as "outsiders." Magahay aiso stated that senlement must be

thought of in tenns of survrval, pro$uctMty, and employment. The implication here is that immigrants'

faiure to becorne settled leads them to become an economic burden on Caoadian society. Her

commeut is rneant, I am sure? as a conderxmation of the govermnent. Yet the implication that

immigrants are potentiai econonric bwdens and non-immigrants are not is inescapable. The Magahay

report, therefore, supports the notion that immigrants nnist be econornically independent nom the host

soQety as soon as possible. What type of work immigrants rnight h d without adequate ESL is not

@en much attention here.

Ofaurse the two E S L Canada reports above do not represent a comprehensive sarnple of

hiberal ESL ideology. Howewr, thqr are miportant considering the prestige of the orgamzaàon. The

problem-soiwig aadiàon bas remained the bedrock of ESL scholarshp. The problem with this

approach is that t is limited because theorists and critics try to find solutions to the problems in

ESL programming rather than questionhg the social and polmcal structures which produce those

problems. Consequently, in the long terrn ttiis is an inenective methodology. Every newly elected

goverment has a vison of ESL programs. The pattern has been that a new program is uitroduced and

the ESL professon reacts to t and d e s recommendations for its iruprovement. 1 c d thû the 'Band-

Aid syndrome": one bandage covers another and another and the wound û never exannined. ESL

programs carmot be repaired wiîhout s<an8mng the policy behind them or the social structures and

ideologies behjnd the policy.

A Femini'sf Apvroach to ESL

Neither SLA or Liberal ESL took a political stance or Iwked beyond the syrnptorns of

inadequate ESL to ask how the problan-causing system works. In ment years more and more ESL

scholars have paid attention to the unequai power relations which shape ESL policy and wrrtn-bute to

the subordination of immigrants. Feniinisn, in particular, has made a great contribution in this

direction, Feminist methodoogies examine ESL f?om the peqecûve that patRarchal and sasst

ideoIogies place women in a position of inferiority. Race is oflen aiso added to the equation beauise

wtnie imxnigrarits in general aiffer d.umma& . . .

'on it is women and women of coIour who fixe the

additional aunulative &ects of mcisn and sexkm The problems that women fàce m accessing ESL

are particular to ttEm because of the sacism inherent in ESL pobcy. I believe that nation-building

necesSitates an undaclass of labourers to do the work the domhant group refiws. This has been the

role of immigrants in Canadian history. When one ad& gender, colour and ladc of fiuency in the

dominant language the result is an segment of Society which is vulnerabie and exploitable.

Wenona Giles writes that immigrant women's inaccessi'biiity to ESL can be traced back to

Canada's immi@on policy. Canadian immigrant women seldom enter Canada as 'kdependent" or

'Read of f h d f ' immigrants. Most often, immigration authorities classify women as ''dependents'' of a

male immigrants. Immigration reguiations defhe dependents as childm and &es of males. This

subordmate classfication resuits in mequal access to ESL for women Under ESL access~Ib'dity d e s

the %ead of the household" (predominady d e ) is &en prionty elig'biiiîy to ESL programs.33 Giies

claims that without ESL women becorne part of the exploitable labour r d e t and are made all the

more Milnerable by their inabi i to speak ~nglish. '~ Giles does not jua state this as a matter of fàct,

but chalienges the institutions which profess that we live in a just society. She writes thai if Canada's

muhicufturalism policy purports to provide equal access to society than mufti-sm is discredited

by imrnigrm women's mabilby to srpress their needs in ~nglish.~' This is an important point because it

33 Wenolia Giles. "Language Ri* are Wo&s Righu: D' ' ' ition Agakt lmmigrant Women in Camdkm TraiMng Policies," Resources for Fengnist Eùsad 17, no. 3, 129.

iles es, 131. 3S Giles. 129.

4-r

sets the rrmzticultural myth against the reality of contimed inequaldy in ail its fom. Inadequate and

iaaccess'ble ESL are an &nt to the mutb'aimua ideal which presumes that barriers outside of

langriage ami nilturr are nomexistent. C Ï p as an ideology and an insbtution makes the same

assumptions about Iiving in an equiîable and just society. However, this myth fàlls apart ifwe consider

that and fhency in ESL plays such a large role in pfacticing our democratic ri@ and pmiieges.

Milagros Paredes' approach to the &iws in ESL relies on Pierre Bourdieu's theory diat there is

an rmequal distriiution of liaguistic resomces in society. She claHns that (non)access to ESL structures

the hes of womem by organioiig their pattems of ernp~oyment.~~Canada's official languages are

of hqpistic capita because they provide access to society and the economic processes

that create material capital. elig'b*ty criteria in ESL is a means to mm01 access to liaguistic

capital."~aredes believes that the role of the state has been to rnairdam an unequal distniiution of this

d resource. She echoes Giles in sa* that these resources have not been distn'buted equaily

amongst inmigrant men and w0rne11.~~ Unequai distnibution of resources has been a staple of Canadian

nation-building. The inclusion of adequate howledge of one of Canada's official ianguages as a

condition for citizenship cornbinecl wÏth inadequaîe and inaccessi'ble ESL is a means to ensure the

unequal distnbuton of a linguistic capital ami the continuation of a stratifed society.

ESL trammg is the teachhg of the transformation imo "the Canadian identUy": the fiuniehg of

different cultures hto one partiailarty white Anglo-saxon mold. Kathleen Rockhill and Pafricia Tomic

wrÏte that ESL trainhg is a mechanism for creaiing this cL~themessn because the process of acquiring a

second language involves the los of identity for immigrants. The leaming of English requires the

subpgation of entire identities, knowledges, cuitures7 and histories. This process of id- los is

dmown to the privileged members of Society be*iuse they are caugh up in their arrogance of white

supremcy. They need never have contact wah immigrants because kck of ESL results in the

segregation and ghettoization of 'f~reigners.~~~~nglish fiuictions to dominate and Stream immigrant

36 Milagros Paredes, "Znimigra~it Women and Second-Lanpage Educatimi. A S~I& of Unequai Access to Linguistic Ikmrc&' Resources fa Ferninid Research 16, no. 1 (March 1987), 23. 37 hmk. 23. 3a paredes, 26. ''Kathleen FbdWi and Patticia Tornic 3ihiating ESL Between Speech and Silence." J. Gaskell and I. W i , eds in Gender Moorms Curriculum: From Enrichment to Transformation, (New York: Tacher's College Press: 1994). 209-2 10.

* . - women into Iow payhg and low status positions." In addition, discnmmatory ESL policies deprive

immigrant women of opportuuities to acquire ~agüsh.~'

Rocktnn and Tomic also argue that the institutional denial of Language aaining is a screen for

racisn and classimL The denial of langmge rraimag resuits in isolation, dependency, and bad

empl~yrnerrt.~~ Their shidy is a departure h m traditional analyses of ESL because they claim that the

act of immigrahg is intertwined with the sudden onset of rack , changing c h positions, "shock" of

departure, and the crisis of language. These changes cause feeiuigs of vulnembility and psychological

srpaiences of devaluaiion and Iow self-esteem Tomic and RockhilI do not blarne immigrants for these

feeliogs, but assat that these psychological &ors are a direct consequence of living in a mist, sexist

and classist environment. In 0th words, immi&rants are not hdd responsble for producing these

psychological conditions themsehes. The onus is M e d to the iarger Society and its ideologies of

aibordbation Rockhül and Tomic also insist that howiedge of ESL is not enough to break the

vicious cycles whkh affect inmngriuds iives because mcisn continues d e r the acquisition of ESL.

In-grants often meet accent discrimmation or the unwillingness of employen to rem- k i r

foreign degrees. Accart cimumm * . - 'on is used by the dominant society to justiSr segegated spaces. It is

a subtle forrn of ra- and a process of devaluation"

Feniirrist ESL &ers debunk the myth that acquisiton of ESL wiil sohe the problems

imniigmts fice because there are other stmchiral fonns of racimi and sexism which ensure th&

immigrants are shxtified in the lowest ranks of society. The application of f e philosophies to the

critique of ESL has been particularly hdpful in reinforcing rny belief that ESL is a fùnction of nation-

building. F i f e d critics of ESL understand ESL differentiy nom SLA or Li'beral schoiars. As a

theory, fèminimi studies systems of subordination, co~l~equedy they do not attempt to stop at hding

soiutions to ESL programming or s t a h g the ment status of thereof Ferriinisn h e s to envision an

equitabIe h e by challengiiig the sources of inequality in the pre~em. Secondly, fnmmsts do aot view

the aqu.%tion of ESL as the panama for innnigranîs socid, econoinic and political problems. They

dismss this notion as a myth Nation-building relies of myth-making: the myth thai a nation is unifed

and tbat ESL wiU lead to participation in Canadian society.

m ~ ~ ~ a n d ~ & ~ ~ ~ ~ a c s a o p ~ ~ ~ : ~ 1 1 ~ 0 1 1 i m o t b e E n a s s d I n s t i t u t i o n a I i z e d ~ a n d Saosm in Shaping the LicPes of Latin Aniencan I m m i a and RefiiPree Womm in MetroDolitan Toronto (OISE: &p?n=tofArhilt Eüucatioq 1992), 33. 4' Kathleen R o m and PaaiPa Tomiç h x s i n ~ ESL, 2. 42 RodsbiU and Tomic. Assessitis ESL. 17-18. Rockhill and Tomiç Assessing ESL 20.

My theory that ESL was ùitroduced as a tool for dorr-birilding relies on the notion that &es

played a role in the introduction of Basic ESUCitizeaship mshuction. Feininist ESL critics haw

not drawn a comection between politid discourse, citizenship, ESL and nation-building. The theory

of Critical Pedagogy helps draw these links because t works to explain fh, the role of political

eiïtes in producing a particular history/vision of Canada and secondly, how they used

CitizenshipBasic ESL instruction to reproduce it.

ESL in a New L&he Crificd Pedopo~~

In chapter three 1 wiil show t h . federaUy-Wded Basic E S U C i i p instruction was

conceiveci by political ehes to prornote national unity. By ernploying van Dijk's system of id-

covert racist discourse 1 hope to show thaî politicai elites believed that national umty depended on the

presavation of the English language and the reproduction of the do- cutaire. The question 1 want

to tackle here is how education is manipulated by political &es to perpetuate a particuIar view of the

nation The theory of critical pedagogy has iu mots in the literacy movement but its key concepts help

support my hypothesis. We will look at ESL in ternis of hegemony, howledge and power, discouse,

identity, myths, critical citizenship, the idea that education is not neutrai, culture, dencing of voices and

the omission of histones.

I beiieve that a critique of ESL founded on the leveis of instruction immigrants reeke is

redmcbt since fededly-fiinded ESL more about culture than it is about language slalls. When the

govmen t introduced federally-fhded ESL in 1947, it was clear that the main f m s was on teachmg

immi&ranrts the noms, vah~es, and aithdes of ''Canadians." The presumption was that immi&rants'

knowledge of the dominant group's culture was a4 they needed to feel Canadian themselves.

Lankshear and ~ c ~ a r e n ~ are critical of the concept of dhiral literacy as devised by E.D. Hirsch,

~ r ? Lankshear and McLaren write that ailtural Literacy is synonymous with acquiruig the meanings,

values, views and historical mfomiaton necessary for informed participation in the political and cultural

life of the nation They disagree with Hirsch that ailtural literacy is a guarantee of automatic

membership as a fidl citizen. Hirsch, they daim, fàils to view the dominant d a u e as that which has

" Colin rnnkshear and mer L. McLareq 'Introduction" in Criticai Litem: Politics, ixaxis and the D o s t r n a h ~ Colin L a d s h r and Peter L. McLaren, eds. (New York: State University ofNew York Press, 1993). "E.D. Hùsfh Jr., Culaval Litexam: What Everv American Needs to Km>w (Bonon: Houghton Mialin Corn-. 1987).

prevailed in a process of stniggle between cornpetmg groups possessing unequal positions ofpower, to

establish domhant meamngS, values, knowledges, relations and practices."

Cuitural litefacy is essenrial to aatio~buîiding. Lankshear and McLaren write that culairal

literacy denies cultural diEsences, thereby demonizing and den@ the CCother." It bolsters an un@

and oppressive d order because it serves as a mechankm for immersïng the economically, socialy

and politicaily disadvantaged into a particular view of the wodd. This worid view leads them to accept

as beMtable the social pTaCtices and relatons that disadvantage them. The nation becornes the

prendhg order f i c h consisis of hierarcbes, denid of opportunities and repre~sion~~Immigrants

oflm intemalize the idea tbat th& Saiatom are unchangeable. Women in pdailar blarne themselves

for not having the ailairal and linguistic capital to acquire wd-payhg jobs or c o d m e with their

English-speakuig children" In her study o f Puerto Ricans and the imposition of the English lauguage

by the United States, I(atherine Walsh assats that the dominant (wlonizing) Ianguage is seen as

primary. Other languages, in this case S p a are regarded counterproductive and nationally M e -

Io addition, students are told that their cultural and Linguistic realities are of little importance and that

tbeir past d impede ttieir h u r e success and i r i t e g r a t ~ n ~ ~ ~ h i s is comparable to the asmnJatiomst

arguments that the Canadian government and educators used to legitimize the English-only education

of immigrants childrenS0 However, Walsh also points out that wMe the English language is portrayed

as a national d e r it does not preclude e q d relations of power.s'

Che of the basic tenets of critical pedagogy is that educaiion is not neunal. Hemy Glroux

writes that schools provide students wdh a sense of place, worth and identity by offéring them selected

repreSentatons and values that presuppose parti& histories and views of tbe worid. Schools are not

neutral institutions because they are implicated in f o m of inclusion and acclusion that produce

p d c u l a r moral tniths and vahres. They also produce and legitimate culniral Merences as part of a

project wnstnicting particular Imowiedge/power relations and producing speclfic notions of

~itizenshi~.~~This is pertinent to Basic ESUCkendip because the classes provide prospective

* lankshear and McLaren, 15-17. '' f ear and McLarem, 18-19. j8 See Kathieen Rockhill and Patricia Tornic, Accessinn ESL.

Catherine E. Waish, Pedagop;v and the Stru&e for Voiœ: Issues of Lanmiage. Power. and SchooLin~ for Puerto Ri- (Toronto: OISE Press, 1991), 58-59. "Sec J.T.M. Anderson, The &cation of the Nm-canadian: A Treatise on Canadadas Greatest Educational Pmblem, (Toronto: J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd, 19 18). w* 4.

'*Henry Ghax uLiteracy and the politics of difference." in Cnbcal Litaacv: PDLmcr Rmk and the PamnodenS Cdin Lmkdxzx mi and P. McLaren eds. (New York S m UNversity of New York Press 1993). 373.

J O

Canadiaos with a sense of place and identity via &kendip. However, Basic ESUCitizenship

instruction is not neutraI b e c . the c-cuium is selective. Certain histories, realities and voices are

omitted, and the dominant culMe is represented as the only tme Canadian culture. Giroux a h says

that sch001s are cccorrîradict~ry agencies.''53Basic ESUCitkdip instruction is a h contradictory

because t promises membership in Society, participation in the dernocraîic process and equality to d

Caoadians. On the other hand, it does not provide the Iinguistic skiUs to guarantee all these things., it

does not tackle broader issues of inequalis, is not adequate for critical Citizenship, and citizenship is

linnted to medxrship in the form of acahmhon It is because of these wntradictiom thaî we need to

ask what is the purpose of Basic ESUCitkdip and d o m does t speak for.

Diaiectid theos, may heip m e r these questions because it focuses SimUItaneousIy on both

sides of a contradiction. Dialectid thmkmg teases out the histories and relations of acceptai me*

and appearances.54 If we think of citkahip in regards to the French and Amaican Rwolutions we

know that the original language of &kenship was radical. French revolutionaries chose the word

citfren to show that people were no longer subjects, goyai f ù n d a m d ri- of M o m and

equality and were iwolved in Nmmig the cummunity. " However, in spite of nationalists' beliefi that

nations existai of th& own volition, it won became apparent tha~ naiiom had to be created, histories

taughs ianguages formalized, Iiteraîure estabiished, traditions mvented, riimonties assimhed, and

loyahes created." LikevYiSe, political elites spoke of Canadian citizenship as a break fiom Britaiq and

as the dawn of a new Canadian i d e . Basic ESUCitizaisbip instruction was the tool needed to

create a particular view of the Canadian nation and citizens for that nation.

The view of Canada that BaSc ESUCitizenship instruction helps to perpetuate becornes

apparent ffom the perspective of '%egemony" as concaved by Marxist theorkt Antonio

~iamsci."~arxist anaiyses of education insists that schooling does not take place in a vacuum, but

BBsts with other insbtutions in a social setting, fidl of eçonomic, political and cultural meanings. In a

society chcter ized by political and economic UiequaliSr, schooling plays a role in mhtahbg and

legkhhhg inequaiity. Moreover, structural inequality is integral to capitalism, and its strength relies on

- -

53 GiTDU)S 373. "mer McLaren, Lifê in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedamm in the Fmdations of Education, (Los Angeles: Longman Publishing Grnup, 1994), 76. 55 Ken &me. Teaching for Democratic Citizewhiv (Montreal: Our SchooWOur Selves Education Foundation, 1991). 5,21. %en Chborne, 5,21. "Antonio Gramsci. Seleclions kom the Rison Notebooks Q. Hoare and G.N. Smith trans. (New York: International Wlishers. 197 1).

the fact that people see inequality as natural and inevitable. They blame t h m e s for not 'malsng

t.'** G d defines hegemony as the power of one class to articulate the interests of other social

groups to nS own. This power is not necemdy the result of brute force but ideologicai contrd used by

the dominant group to subordinate the other group. ûramsci believed that the domination of one class

over another is exercised by popuiar consensus. He understood the state as not simply ïmposing

dombation, but transforming beliefk, values, cultural traditions, and s o d practices to mask the "real"

and to peqetute the akthg order5' In chapter one 1 arplained that politicai elites 'inainrfactue

consaa" for their policies through disnirsive strategies th make the order of diings appear wmmon

sense and nahual. RacÛt dûcourse is used to justaY the subordination of the other Hegemony is

another way of explain how &es reproduce systems of inequality through education

Federally-hded Basic ESYCitizenship is not education like that provided to chiidren in

provincial school systerns. However, just as children are "sorted" to fit certain niches in society, 1

believe that ESL does the same to amilt immigrants. F e d e - h d e d ESL is language nainmg at the

basic level for the purpose of preparing immigrants for cifizensbip. When federal policy-rnakers

wriie/çay that ESL leads to the equal participation of immigrants in Canadian society they imply that

ESL is commetlsurate to ernpowennent, equaiity, and possi'b'i. We how that this is not the case.

Yet we cm borrow nom critical pedagogy to imagine a more radid ESL which allows ininiigrants to

becorne critical citizens.

Crifical ESL

Roger Simon believes that education presupposes a vision of the future? The idea that the

acquisition of ESL will lead to a Mer future is promoted by the government and Canadian society at

large. Simon also believes that in order for education to be anpowerhg it must enable those who have

been silenced to speak, to counter the power of the dominaut group to rnake them 'mute.'61 Simon is

rderring to more than the act of acquiring literacy7 but the act of finding one's voie. He d e s that the

idea of a pedagogy of possibility is '10 irrtroduce a counterdiscourse which provides the possiiility for

students to understand who they are in ways that are different fiom identities in-fond by the

dominant a i l n ~ e . ' * ~ ~ e m y Giroux believes that literacy must aüow leamers to govern and Sape

-- --

sa Osborne, 4547. s9 walsh, 32-32.

Roger Simon, "Empowerment as a Pedagogy of Poss~Mïty,' Laomüiae Arts vol. 64. no. 4. (April 1987). 372. 61 Simon. 375. 6' simon 378.

hïstory rather than behg consigneci to the margin~.~~ Schwis produce and legitmiate ailturd

differences as part of a broader project of constructing particular howledgdpower rekions and

pmducing specific notions of c i t i zeas1 i ip ."~~~ and racial difkrences are regarded as threatamip to

the imegrative chamter of the nation and nationai

The fedwl goverment is more concemed with teacbg immigrants cuhral literacy than

givhg them the tools for d c a l atizenship. Basic ESUcitizeaship instniction does not allow

immigrants to speak of thBr real wodd and challenge the dominant discourse. In addition, it

perpehiates the notion that immigrants' '%dure" to rnake d is personal. Culhlral literacy also assumes

that the umty of the nation demands that immigrants acculairate. Ali this takes away from what ESL

could reaily be. It could provide immigrants with the p o t d to challenge the ves, ideologies and

institutions wbch work against their '%iberati~n'~ESL programs are not nnictured to encourage

immigrants to find th& voices, rehïte the irmnigrant history for themsek and challenge the

domhant view of Canada as a land of equal opportunities. I state this not as a matter of fact, but in the

hopes that ESL practitioners mi* be hduced to apply criticai pedagogies in th& cIassrooms. Critical

ESL d d provide immigrants with the knowIedge and ddls necessary for self and social

empowerment. However, in order to understand the pote& that ESL might have in the fimve we

need to understand the rwts of federaUy-fbnded ESL and the way that political elites used ESL as a

means to perpehÜite their view of Canada. The next chapter is dedicated to proving this point.

63 ~ e m y A Girouy 367. Girouy 373.

6s Giroux, 371. Paoio Freire, Peda~om of the OwreSSed Myra Bergman Ramos. naris. (New York: Herder and Herder. 1972).

Cha~ter Three Politkai Discourse and Norion-Building:

The Orimns of FedeaUv-Fun&d Basic ESUCiritemkw Instruction

'Ihe process leading up to the introduction of federally-fhded ESL began with an intent

to unite the country in the face of war. At war's en4 the government passed the Citizenship Act

dong with Basic ESUCitizenship training. In the past, poliacal elites had relied on overtly racist

discourse and policies to select immigrants and thus build a white nation. During and foiiowing

the war, the govemment wouid continue to use immigration regulations to prevent cenain

immigrants nom entering Canada. However, in the intexwar years the adoption of a movement to

of national wity and post-war nation-building forced political elites shift to covert racist

discourse. They nipponed national unity but also argued to preserve the their racia vision of

post-war Canada. The debate on post-war nation-building reached a c h a x on April 27, 1944

when the House of Cornons debated the reorganization of the Nationaiities Branch and the

Cornmittee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizenship. This reorganization was the result of a report

which recommended the creation of a Citizenship Division which would deveiop a citizenship act

and provide ESL and citizeoship training. ' The process leading up to the introduction of Basic ESUCitizenship is iliustrative of the

power that political &tes hold over nation-building policies. First, ministers and civil servants

worked behind the scenes in developing a strategy for post-war nation-building. Secondly, MPs

discussed, argued and debated the detaiis in the House, thereby lending legitimacy to the

programs and rnanufacturing consent amongst Canadians. The outcome was the introduction of a

prograrn which provided Canadian immigrants with Basic ESUCitizenship instruction and worked

to reproduce the dominant cultural n o m . The objective of this chapter is to ident@ and analyze

the covert racia discourse of political elites to determine how they argued in favour of the

perpetuation of a racist vision of Canada. 1 begin with a look at the problem of public s e m i t y , the

identification of the "enemy aliens" and the ways the government dealt with this problem.

' National Archives of Caoada, Robert England. Report of the R e o r e o n of the Nationalities Branch DeDartment of National War Services, ( 12 June, 1944).

1 wrote in chapter one that the debate on national UNty centred on the place of non-

Anglo-saxon Canadians in the 'Tmagined communitf' that was Canada. The irnagined community

had regarded non-Anglo Canadians as outsiders in peacetime but the implementation of the

Defence of Canada Regdations (DOCR) made this an even hanher reality. DOCR's was

introduced under the War Measures Act in 1939 aiiowed the cabinet to govern the country

without reference to Parliament. The objective was to allow the cabinet to make quick decisions

to protect Cartada and Canadians without delay. The Royal Canadiau Mounted Police (RCMP)

was instrumental in carrying out DOCR Soon after Canada declared war on September 30, 1939,

the RCMP was commissioned to work with the Department of National Defence in invedgating

alien enemies in order to protect public security. Public security consisted of establishg a register

for al enemy aliens, mesting and intemhg of all knom Nazi agents, the confiscation of d - w a r

and defeatists propaganda, cooperation with large industrial organizations to secure their

proteaioq and guarding strategic and vulnerable points throughout the ~ountry.~ 0f ail the

W C R measures enforced by the RCMP, the internment of enemy aiiens best illustrates how

political elites identified Canadians as white.

In Canada, alien was the terni used to describe aii immigrants to Canaaa who were not of

Anglo-saxon descent. Enemy aiïens were those people resident in Canada, Canadian-boq

naRualued or immigrant who were of the same raciaUethnic origin as the coumies with which

Canada was at war. The inclusion of "aiien7' into Canadian naturaikation law originates in

Britain's Citizenship law and its identification of citizens of foreign aates resident in ri tain.^ This

classification was extended to Canada and served as the means to differentiate Canadians dong

racial lines. ''True Canadians" were considered the direct descendants of those British immigrants

who fht settled Canada. The implications of differentiating Ltniey7 Canadians (Anglo-saxon) and

"others" in at a t h e of war were great. Canada's close ties to Bntain and its conflicting

relationship with other European countries brought into question the loyalty of "other" Canadians.

DOCR worked on the rationakation that it was the govement's duty to protect Canada and

Canadians from ''theq" the outsider ethnic group. Conversely, "other" Canadians were the

subject of suspicion and repressive government actions.

'Dominion of Canada RCMP, Report of the Roval Canadian Mounted Police for the Year Ended March 3 1. 1940 (Ottawa: h g ' s Printer, 194)) 8-10. 'William Kaplaa The Evolution of Citizeilshi~ Legislation in Canada (Ottawa: k p L of Multiculniralism and CitiZenship. 199 1 ).S.

The war would provide "other" Canadians with an opportunity to prove their loyaky to

Canada. Their high enlistment records were a challenge to the notion that Canadiamess and

loyalty to Canada was the reserve of the dominaat Canadian group. In some regions, the

entistment of ethnic Canadians outnumbered that of Anglo-Saxon Canadians. A government

pamphlet read that these soldiers insisteci that they were Canadians and "%ho shall venture to

contradict thern when they sign for their citizenship with their blood?" An Ml? reported that in his

Saskatchewan community, Ukrainian and Jewish Canadians proved their loyalty through sadice

and acts of bravery. However, he was distrased that a ChineseCanadian had been given the

"run-around" when he atternpt to eniist in the armed forces.' Nevertheless, ethnïc civilians were

subject to disaua. For example, the RCMP investigated Bulgarian and Roumanian Canadians as

soon as these countries entered the war on the Ans side! On the other hanci, the RCMP ignored

the fact that membenhip in the Communia and Nazi movements was largely Angio and French

Canadian. Scots were the most aggressive members of the Communist Party and the Nazi

movement was headed by Adrien Arcand in Montreal and by Sir Oswaid Mosley in Toronto and

winniPeg.'

The work of the RCMP did not stop at investigation of enemy aliens. DOCR provided for

their inteniment as well. In its annual report of 194 1, the RCMP stated that internent was

directeci specificaily "at enemy aliens and persons known to have engaged in subversive or a h -

British activities." The report also emphasized that "No person other than an enemy alien may be

intemed except on the order of the Miniaer of Justice.. ." Between March 1940 and March 1941,

375 Gemians and other Nazi syrnpathizers, 558 Italians, 96 Communists, and 29 memben of the

National Unity Party and were intemed. Gerrnan intements were dealt with on an individual

basis. Two hundred and ninety-five 1talian.s were interned as soon Italy declared war on June 10,

1940. The internent policy suggests that those of Anglo-saxon descent were protected nom

wrongful internment. In additioq difTerent ethnic groups were treated difîerently, as if there were

a hierarchy of severity in the implementation of public security measmes.

AU enemy aliens were interned under Regdation 25 (8) of DOCR with the exception of

Japanese Canadians who were intemed under Regdation 2 1. In 1941, the RCMP reported that

Watson Kirkcomell, Euroocan Elements in Canadian Life (Monmai: James Fischer Company. Ltd. 1940). 16. Canada House of Gommons Debates (Apd 27. 1944), 2419-2120. ' Dominion of Canada RCMR Reuort of the R d Canadian Momted Police for the Year Ended March 3 1. 194 1 (Otta-a: King's Printer, 1941). 15. ' Watson Kirkconneü, Canadians AU (Ottawa: Director o f F'ublic information 194 1). 14- 15.

the Japanese situation had been closeiy watched and made easy since the larger portion of these

nationals were resident in one province. The report stated that 'Tt is likely that the re-registration

of ail Japanese in Canada will soon be undertaken." Soon d e r Japan entered the war on May 7,

1941, the government of Canada had ordered the removal of aU Japanese fkom the coastal areas

of British Columbia and the confiscation of their, cameras, radios, cars and other

commo~iities.~ ~a~anese-canadians were intemed under Regdation 2 1 of DOCR because they had

refuseci to evacuate the "protected areas of British Columbia" and had failed to comply with the

orders of the British Columbia Security Commission. Japanese-Canadiaos were only released fiom

detention if they agreed to accept proffered employment. No such conditions were placed on

other imemed g r o ~ ~ s . ' ~ ~ ~ august 1944, the government annomced three measures to help

British Columbia with its "racial problem " Fim, Japanese-Canadians judged disloyal to C d

would be deported to Japan. The Prime Minister announce this while also stresshg that no

Canadian-bom Japanese had been chargeci with disloyaity or sabotage thus far. Secondly, the

dispersal program which had gone into effect in 1942 would continue to "spread the loyal

Japanese throughout Canada, and so avoid undue concentration in any one place." Thirdly, the

federal government would agree to stop ail immigration fiom Japan. These aeps were describecl

as 'Ykir and just to all concemed."" The role of the RCMP was to canvass and accept applications

for repatiation to J a p a n L 2 ~ o other enemy aben group was deported en masse. Nation-building

had not included Japanese immigrants before the war, great efforts had been made to control their

immigration into Canada. Their dispersal and deportation at war's end ensured that this goup of

non-white Canadians remained apart from post -war nation-building .

In war, it is the government's responsibility to protect its citizens but the way the

Canadian government went about doing this is telling of how poiitical elites identifid Canadians.

DOCR divided Canadians rather than united them. The treatment of Japanese-Canadians during

the war best iilustrates the division of Canadians into those that beionged and the outsiders. Some

of the Japanese intemed were third generation Canadian-born yet they were forcibly removed

- -- -

* Dominion of Canada RCW, Rcmrt of the R d Canadian Momted Police for the Year Ended March 3 1. 194 1. 9-15. &minion of Canada RCMP, b r t of the Ruval Canadian Mounted Police for the Year Ended March 3 1. 1942 (Ottawa: King's Printer, l942), 9. 'O ~ominion of Canada RCMP, Report of the Rwal Canaàian Mounted Police for the Year Ended March 3 1. 1943 (Ottawa: King's Printer, 1943), 36. 11 George F- Dnimmond, British Columbia (ûtîawa: Wartime Information Board 1944), 1116. "Dominion of Canada RCW, R m r t of the Rovai Canadian Mounted Police for the Year Ended M a . h 3 1. 1945 (Ottawa: King's Printer, 1945), 36.

from their homes and scattered through Canada. Since the early, 1900s British Columbia had

denounced the immigration of f ians . The Second Worid War gave BC the ideal opportun@ to

be rid of the Japanese forever." An excellent account of the uprooting, dispossession, deportation

and disperd of Japanese-Canadians can be found in Ann Gomer Sunahara's The Politics of

~acism. l4

The question of the loyalty to Canada of enemy aliens was raised in 1938 by the

Cornmittee on Enemy Aliens and Enemy Alien property. This ammittee generated suggestions

for restrictions on aiiens in the event of war. Some members pushed for the wholesale intement

of enemy nationals. M e r s such as Norman Robertson of Extenial aEairs felt that DOCR had

been too hanh and called for government prograrns to promote the integration of immigrants into

Canadian s~ciety.'~Robertson was not alone, f ier aIl, the government could not intem every

Canadian suspectecl of disloyaitytY The alternative was to use propaganda and education to unite

the nation. Political etites played a major role in developing the programs which eventually led to

the passing of the Citkenship and the introduction of federaily-fiindeci ESL.

Nation-BuiCllng: Behind the Scenes

According to Gordon Selman, citizensfiip education is the great tradition of Canadian

adult education. He believes that the Canadian Association for Adult Education (CAAE)

contributed greatly to the mobilization of Canadians during the Second World War. Before the

war, the CAAE had been a clearinghouse for adult education and continuiq education university

progmms. By 1939, E.A Corben, Director of CAAE, had established ties with the Canadian

Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and National Film Board ('WB) because he believed that

citizenship education was vital for the fight against totalitarianism. Building a single nation and

promoting a Canadian national consciousness were Corbett's major c~ncems.*~The CBC in

conjunction with the CAAE produced the "Citizens' Fonun" series which was dedicated to the

discussion of issues ficing the nation during and aiter the wu. I7 The CAAE also assisted in the

work of the NFB. According to John Gnenon, head of the NFB, propaganda and education were

l 3 sunaharzt, 161. ls S- IS N.F. DreisPger, 4. 16 Gmbn SelmaqCitizenshi~ and the Adult Educaîion Movement in Canada (Vancouver: Centre for Continuhg Education, University of British Columbia, 1991), 21,3646. " Isabel Wilson Citizens' F o m : Canada's Nationai Platfonn (OISE: Department of Amilt Education 1980).

one. His documentaries were circulateci around the country so as to assist educators in

interpreting the war, providing issues of discussion and promoting action. The main objective of

the NFB was to unite Canadians in the fight against fasci~m.'~ The CAAE's work was targeted at

English and French speaking Canadiam. The govemment made use of other agencies focushg

specincally on non-EnglishFrench speaking Canadians.

The govenunent's plan to unite Canada for war and postwar nation-building began with

repressive measures against enerny aliens (DOCR). Slowly a w e w o r k was established to mate

UlZity through a Citurenship act and citizenship and ESL instruction. By 1944, a Citizenship

Division was established within the Department of Secretary of State for this purpose. This

bureaucratie process began in the Department of National War Senices and was accompanied by

a great amount of debate in the House of Commons. While MPs debated and cxiticized the work

done by the bureaucrats, both MPs and bureaucrats knew that at stake were Canada's unity and

national identity.

The Department of National War SeMces was established in 1940 and charged with

mobilizùig consent for the war effort amongst Canadians. Propaganda work was done under the

auspices of the department's Bureau of Public Information (BPI), Iater renamed Wartime

Information Board. The first responsibility of the BPI was to monitor ethnic presses for N@

Fascist, or Communist propaganda. The fear that grassroots ethnic presses were flooded with

anti-Canadian propaganda caused the govemment to enforce the closhg of these newspapers. J.F.

MacNeill, of the Department of Justice was critical of this move. He believed that immigrants

relied on ethnic presses because they could not read in English or French. Rather than rob ethnic

immigrants of war news, he suggested that the Canadian govemment provide the presses with war

n e w s . 1 9 ~ ~ 1942, the goveniment had re-opened the presses and began supplying editors with

"Canadian" war news items? Considering that the war was aimed at fighting totalitarianism, it is

ironic the Canadian govenunent chose to take this course.

n i e BPI was also in charge of govemment propaganda publications. Watson Kirkconnell,

of McMaster University, was hired to write pamphlets promoting the 'permanent unification of al1

our groups into one strong resolute nati~n."~'In his Canadians AU, Kirkconneil urged

t8 Julia F'obd, "Propaganda for Democracy: John Grienon and Adult Educaîion During the Second World War," in Knowledge for the M e : The S-e for A M t Learning in Englhh S-g Canada 1828-1973. MichaeI R Weiton, ed. (Toronto: OISE Press, 1987) 129-150. t9 N.F. Dre~ger,4-7. 'O h l i e A Pd, 4 16. '' Wawn Kikconneil. (kmcüam AU. i.

~ u r o p e a n ~ immigrants not to transplant old antagonimis ffom Europe into Canada's national Me.

He wrote that the war had accelerated Canada's national unity as it forced Canadians to stand

together against the enemy. However, to protect that unity Canadians needed '90 cultivate the

consciousness that we are all anad di ans...'" In Euro~ean Elements in Canadian Life, Kirkconnell

wrote that the school system had been the chief influence in coping with the "inherited forces of

dininity." Kirkcomeu was refeming to "alien ideologies" brought fiom Europe and the persistence

of old languages and traditions amongst ethnic g r ~ u ~ s . * ~ T h e BPI pamphlets were heavily

distributed d u ~ g the war. Whde Kirkconneil arguecl in favour of tolerance and divers& the

dominant argument in his pamphlets was that disunity was the result of immigrants' "different7'

cultural and political identities. The cultivation of a Canadiau consciousness seems to have

depended on the adoption of the dominant language and culture by non-Anglo-saxon Canadians.

It is worth noting that Kirkcomeu was considered an acknowiedged authority on the subject of

Canadian unity?

Kirkconnell's work was supported by the BPI but the national unity movement could not

have succeeded without a boost ftom powerful ministers. By 1940, the stage to build such a

bureaucratie for national unity was set because several key cabinet members and senior civil

servants had become aware of the treatment of Canada's non-Anglo Canadians. For example, J.G.

Gardiner, Minister of the Depaxtment of National War Senices, felt that during the First World

War, Canada had h e d Canadians of European descent by discriminating a g a k t their

enlistment. He hoped that the creation of a new branch within his department might help make

"these people feel that we welcome thern as loyal citizens of this The department had

employed Tracy Phillips to lecture through Canada in favour of the war effort and to write a

report outlining the politics of Canada's minorities and their relationship to Canadian society at

large. Phillips' report supported Gardiner's idea. He wrote that national UNty might be achieved

by the creation of a unit cailed the Canadian Council for Education-in-Citizemhip. The creation of

such a council would uphold Phillips' idea that in the process of transplanthg immigrants to

Canada the "old soil" must not be excluded. The old soi1 of their old virtues and arts should be

blended as the basis of the transition to Canadianism. The unit wouid foster a partnership behveen

22 European was used to c k c r i i immigrants £iom the continent and did not include immigrants from the UK. Waîmn Kikamnell, Cana- 12-1 3, 19.

'"atson Kirkconneiî, Emaran Elemenîs in Canadian Life, 8-1 I . " Watson Ki&conne& Eunneaa Elements in Canadian Life. 20. xi N.F. M g e r . 9 .

Canadians and mimigrants and spread among old Canadians and appreciation of the contributions

made by the newcomersn

While Phillips lobbied for the creation of this council, the Associate Deputy Minister of the

Department of National Wa. Senices, Thomas C. Davis, dso lobbied Gardiner arguuig for the

creation of good feelings among the foreign-born in Canada and getting them behind the war

effort. Davis' strategy was to call a meeting of representatives nom the RCMP, BPI, W c e of the

Custodian of Enemy Property, and Extenial Affairs, plus Robert England, of the Department of

National Mence and a specialist on the settiement of the Prairies. Davis asked the participants to

make recommendations for the establishment of a new unit but plans were delayed when Gardiner

was replaced by J.T. Thorson. Davis quickly informeci Thorson of the project. Davis believed that

a unit dealing with immigrants wculd work to 'keave these people into the fhric of our Canadian

nation." In late June and early July of 1942 Thorson began considering who would head the new

section and chose George Simpson, a bistory professor at the University of Saskatchewan, and

Tracy Phillips as his advisor. The unit, named the Nationalities Branch (NB) wodd be aided by an

advisoxy cornmittee, the Cornmittee on Cooperation in Canadian Citizemhip (cccc).~' In chapter one I wrote that elites do not see themselves as perpetrators of racism, but as

moral leaders. Gardiner, Davis Phillips, MacNeill, Robertson and many others disapproved of

DOCR and foresaw the benefits of a united nation in peacetime. They believed in the need to build

a branch of goverment which wodd rely on education rather than coercion to buiid a united

Canada. However, their vision of wty was fixed on the idea that "European" immigrants were

themselves to blame for the disunity. Consequentiy, ideologies of exclusion/ïmcIusion were

imbedded in the NB and CCCC. For example, these they argued in favour of c r e h g good

feelings and reassuring rninority Canadians that they were welcome yet they insisted that

c c ~ g r a n t s " be woven into the fabric of '"ouf' Canadian nation or that in the process of

transplanting immigrants into Canada their old soii be b l e d with the Canadian soil. People are

neither plants nor threads in a blanket but these analogies helped their speakers illustrate how they

envisioned Canada, its "foundations7' and future direction. These politicians stood out because

they recognized the aliemtion of minority Canadians and argued for their acceptance as equai

members of Canadian society. However, membership still depended on presenhg the dominant

cultural norrns.

N.F. Dreisziger, 10-16 " N.F. Dreisziger. 13-20.

In November of 1942, the NB and the CCCC were in operation. Their objective was to

keep the government informeci on the points of view of ethnic Canadians so as to build a solid

Canadian &ont in the war and continued cooperation between Canadians in peacetime."~ore

importantly, thW objective was not to encourage the preservation of group ciifferences, but to

encourage ethnic immigrants to identa as closely as possible with the rest of the Canadian

comm~nity.~~The NB and CCCC worked closely with the BPI in monitoring and advising the

foreign-language presses and preparing and distributhg news items. However, before the

branches were able to expand any M e r Simpson resigned due to di health, T.C. Davis left his

position and recomrnended that the NB be abolished, several high-ranking bureaumats d e d for

Phillips' resignation, and adequate h d s and staff were denied when Phillips requested

them." The NB and CCCC feil into obscurity for a year but in 1943 the new Minister of the

Department of National War Services, General LaFleche, asked the CCCC to meet and advise

him as to the future direction of the NB. The cornmittee agreed that the best course would be to

seek the professional advise of Robert England in order to reorganize the b m c h and prepare it

for the m i o n fiom war to peacetirne adVities. '* Robert Engiand's 1944 Report of the Reorganization of the Nationalities Branch,

Daartment of National War services3; laid the foundation for the citizenship act and citizensbip

training. In his autobiography, England wrote that since the length of the war was uncertain 'qt

was a masure of wisdom to attach them (ethnic Canadians) closely to Canadian ideals and

aspirations in the interest of their peace of mind and the h r e welfkre of their ~hildren.'~~The

report was critical of the NB. England stressed that the articles supplied to the ethnic presses

needed to be focused on helping immigrants adjust to the Canadian scene and encourage them to

adopt Canadian attitudes. In addition, the dominant group needed to be reminded of the

contributions that ethnic immigrants had made to the war. Fighting racial prejudice mi& be

bolstered with a celebration of the meaning of citizenship. New citizens, he felt, needed to acquire

' 9 ~ , 416. w ~ . ~ . Dreisnger,20. 31 N.F. DreisPger,20 and Pal, 4 17.. 32Pal, 418. 3 3 ~ n g h d ' s report is or@ availaùfe at the National Archives of Canada. National Archives of Canada. Roba EngIand, Rebort of the Reorpiini7ation of the Nationaiities Brancb Demutment of National War Senices. (12 June, 1944). 3.1 Robert England L M ~ P . Learnine. Remernberïng (Vancouver: Centre for Continuhg Education UBC. 1980). I f 1.

- - a knowledge of our institutions and way of life3SEngland recommended the creation of a

Citizenship Division within the Department of the Secretary of State in place of the NB. Of the

eight-teen recommendations for the establisLiment of the Citizenship Division, the most important

was that within the Secretary of State? there be the development of a naturalization branch, the

preparation of Citizenship Act, and the inauguration of a program of citizenship training foUowed

by a citizenship ceremony. England asked Frank Foulds to head the Citizenship Division., which in

1945 was transfmed fkom the Department of National War Services to the Department of the

Secretary of tat te.^^ England was not a hguist or an expert of civics education. He had been hired by the

fderal governent to find a way to fix an agency whose nation-building agenda had been

approved but which did not fbnction in any practical way. England was not concerneci with

providing ethnic Canadians and immigrants with educatiod tools. Rather? he was interested in

establishing a government branch dedicated to uniting Canadians. In the years to corne,

descriptions of Basic ESUCitizenship programs would echo England's vision of citizenship

education: the classes were aimed at helping Immigrants to adjust, adopt Canadian attitudes, and

provide them with howledge of our institutions and way of Me. His report limited post-war

nation-building and citizenship education to the perpetuation of the dominant cul- n o m and

values. Unity was also defmed in these terms. General LaReche approved the report and

presented it to the House of Commons with the request that funds for the department be increased

fiom 6 18, 347 to $46, 3 67 for the corning year. The outcome of the debate was that Paul Martin,

Secretaq of State, proceeded with the recommendations for a Citizenship Act, the Act went into

effect on Januq 1, 1947 and Basic ESUCitizemhip instruction became an essential element of

Cauadian nation-building .

Bureaumats worked behind the scenes to establish the political inhsûucture for the

promotion of national mity and post-war nation-building. In the public forum of the H o w of

Cornmous, MPs aiso influenced the shape of pst-war nation building. Their politicai discourse

lent credence to the idea of national unity and nation-building. Within the first year of hostiiities,

thae were question as to what Canada would look Wte afier the war, and how national unity

mi@ be achieved. Lie the bureaucrats working behind the scenes, MPs continued to iden*

Canada as the preserve of British customs, noms and values. Before the war, political eiites used

overt racist arguments to M e r d a t e Canadians dong racial and cultural lines. hûuig the war,

the rnovement for national mity in w h e precluded overt rang references to ethnic minority

Canadians. The result was a shift to covert racist discoune. On one han& MPs supported post-

war nation-building. On the other hanci, they promoted the continued application of racist

practices in nation-building policies. The Citizenship Act produced the image of a united post-war

nation, while citizenship training provided the means to reproduce the dominant cultural noms.

The debate on post-war nation-building culminated in 1944 when General LaFleche requested

$46, 367 for the reorganization of the NB and CCCC. Citizenship training was supponed in the

House of Comrnons as a tool for nation-building beûuise it was conceived as an educational tool

for the Canadiankation of immigrants.

The three major concerns for post-war nation-builduig were: first, what measures the

governent would take to maintain the lwel of national unity that had been achieved during the

war, secondly; what national unity would look me; and thirdly, the resumption of immigration.

Van Dijk's system for identifying covert racist discourse is instnimental to uncove~g how

political elites envisioned pst-war Canada and how they discursively lepitimized that vision.

Covert racist rhetoric worked to camouflage the contlliued application of racist ideologies in

nation-building policies. Here again are van Dijk's seven argumentative strategies:

1. Positive Sa-PreSeatation: Nationdistic Rhetoric 2. Disclaimers and the Deriial of RaCi.sm 3. Negative Mer-Presentation 4. Fhn, but Fair 5. For Their Own Good 6. Vox Populi or White Racism as Threat 7. TheNumbersGame

What foUows is my analysis of the talk of ME% in the House of Cornons debates fiom 1939 to

1945.

As early as 1939, MPs expressed concem over the kind of nation that would arise after the

war. The outbreak of hostilities had afkcted immigration to Canada, limiting emigration fiom

Britain and increasing the number of refùgees âom other countries. In addition, there were

questions as to the loyalty of ethnic Canadiam. Canada imposed DOCR to deal with national

security, but what of immigrants entering Canada d u ~ g the war? In looking at the national weli-

being of Canada, one Mr. Reid confessai that he was alanneci at the drop in British immigration

to Canada. He said that he was not against bringing people from other lands but he wondered

what the political outlook of the peoples of Canada wouid be twenty-five to thirty years hence.

His suggestion was that rather than dowing a large number of refùgees to enter Canada, we give

greater encouragement to people f?om Britain to come and settie herem3' The implication here was

that refiigees corn other parts of the world brought with them different political ideas (negative

other presentation) and that these ideas would in the firture affect the estabiished political

ideologies of Canada. Mr. H.A M c K d e concurred. He stated that of a l i the immigrants in

1938, only 3,389 came &om the British Empire and the rest from central Europe (numbers game).

While many of them made good citizens, he thought the govemment should adopt a policy of

more selective ~nmigration.'~

By 1940, the governent decided to take steps toward unithg aü Canadians behind the

war effort. On July 8, 1940, the Prime minister announced that establishment of the Department

of National War Services for the purpose of mobiüzing and guiding patriotic activities. Amongst

its varied duties, the department was responsible for coordinathg govemment information and

publicity seMces comected with the war to ensure that Canadians were weil-informed on all

aspects of the war effort. The idea was to enlist maximum support for the cause. The department

would help Canadians help Canada in the effective prosecution of the national effort3'Thorson

was appointed Minister of the department. He felt that Canadians needed to be conscious of the

stniggles of war. More importmtlyy he was of the opinion that Canada should embark on a

program of national reform which wouid iay the foundation for a strong post-war anad da.^ Thonon was proud of the work of the BPI because he felt that it had succeeded in

bringing "the war effort of Canada as close to the people, and the people as close to the war

effort, as possible."" For example, Kirkcomell's "Canadians Ali" had been re-edited for radio

broadcast. Thorson explaineci that the main theme in the broadcasts was to emphasize the

importance of national unity and to educate Canadians of every racial group conceming the

contributions to our natural culture and weKare being made by other g r ~ u ~ s . ~ ~ ~ o w e v e r , some

MPs were not so supportive of the BPI. Mr. Church, for instance, was in favour of national uni@*

but advocated a unity which did not distub the dominant status of British-Canadians. He declared

" House of Comwns Debatts (-28, 1939), 338303384. =House of Commons Debates (May 2, 1939),3194-3495. 3 9 ~ o n s e OfComrnons Debates ( J d y 8, 1940), 1398-1399. JO House of Commons r)ebates (November 13, 1 %O), 75. '' House of Gommons Debates (November 5,1941). 4104. " ~ouse of Commons Debates (U- 11. 1 942), 24 1 7.

that Tanadians AU" had hurt the country because it encouraged "separatism" and the idea that

Canada did not belong to the British Empire. He calleci Tanadians AU" a piece of political

propaganda which glodïed the foreign born at the expense of the British-bom and unity. Disunity

was the r e d t of pitting one group against another, as when Kirkco~efl wrote that the Japanese

in Canada had the lowest crime rate of any group. Church insisted that this was a misstatement of

facts and challengeci it (negative other presentation). He went on to say that ''almost" all our

foreign-bom people made good citizens and were welcome in this country (positive self-

presentation) but the book was an insuit to the ~ritish-bom." Church did not go as far as saying

that Canada was an extension of Britain and that true Canadians were those of Anglo-saxon

descent, yet his words implied it.

The Department of National War Services wntinued its work despite detractors nich as

Chwch and in the process gained several endorsements. Mr. John Diefenbaker had this to say

about national unity: 'The challenge to us to-day as Canadians, without regard to race or creed, is

to unite in a common dedication to our way of Me, and Our national life itself." Diefenbaker

believed that Canadians were too prone to i d e n m g themselves as hyphenated Canadians. Unity

might be better achieved if Canadians adopted the assimilationkt policy of the United States.

Diefenbaker was convinceci that out of the war, would ernerge a united ~anada"Mr. Angus

MacInnis agreed. The need to defeat the Axis powen had united nations throughout the world.

However, he felt that the Canadian government had fded to explain to Canadians why we were in

the war, why and how we entered of our own fiee will, and what we expected to achieve. This7

Macinnis asserted was essential to b ~ g i n g about unity during the war.?'he work of the BPI

was aimed at addressing the same issues raised by MacInnis. In addition, the CCCC held the same

view of national unity as Diefenbaker. Finally, the creation of the Citizenship Division in 1944

would have suited Mr. J.W. Noseworthy. He believed that the debate over conscription was the

result of disunity which in tum had been caused by the fdure of the educational syaem to teach

the me-g of unified citizenship. Noseworthy foresaw the usefulness of citizenship education for

national UNty and so did the heads of the Department of National War Services.

The NB and the CCCC fell into oblivion for about two years until the new Minister of the

Department of National War Services brought up the issue of national unity and post-war nation-

" House of Co~~l~llons Debates -- 18,1942). 2537-2538. " House of Cornmors Debata Sune 15. 1942). 3 334-3 335. " Hause of Co1nmo11~ Debates lune 15. L 942),3343.

building again in 1944. General LaReche reniinded MPs that the aim of the branch was to help

newcomers to Canadian citizemhip become better Caoadian citizens7 but reorganization of the

branch required additional fimds." The House of Cornons was divided into two camps on this

issue. Those MPs opposed to a reorgaNzation of the staais quo used a combination of overt and

covert racist arguments to oppose the govement's the post-war nation-building strategy. Those

MPs who supported citizenship training for post-war nation-building used covert racist arguments

to perpetuate a racist vision of Canada. In either case7 the underlying ideology was that Canada

must rernain British in character and English-speaking.

Opposition to the reorgarization of the NB and CCCC was rationaiized on two major

grounds. Con- over immigration was rai.4 by those who supported the continuation of

selective immigration and the myth of Canada's British foundations was used to legitimize the

perpetuation of dominant cultural n o m . The speeches made by Mr. Reid and Mr. Wood are fine

examples of how this worked. Mr. Reid maintained that unlike those immigrants fkom European

c o d e s , British immigrants were not new Canadians. When he left Scotland in 1909, he felt he

was coming to another part of his country because his way of He and language were understood

here. His cornplaint was that in the past too many (numbers game) people had corne to Canada

who insisted on ' C ~ ~ [ i g ] on as they did in the country they lefk," speakùig their languages and

living in separate communities. This had b e n detrimentai to national unity. However, rather than

advocating citizenship education, Reid recommended a swinuig system for immigration. He said

Y for one would not permit any large number of people (numbers game) to take up permanent

residence in this country if they wuid not be assimilated."'Mr. Wood also urged selective

immigration. Canada had been too lenient with immigration and many had not accepted Canadian

ideals. The result, he presumed, was that these immigrants must be unhappy. He suggested that in

the interest of C a u a h and immigrants (for their own good) immigrants should be selected

more carefdy7 with speciai regard to their willingness to assunilate. In addition, Wood believed

that those i-gants who advocated foreign philosophies of Life did not contribute to Canadian

citizenship. A certain standard of Canadian ciîizenship needed to be maintained. In his opinion,

immigrants shouid accept Canadian ideals or "get out of the ~ountry . '~

a 4

Mr. Church express4 opposition to the CCCC and declared it a waste of money. His

rationaiization was that there was no need for it when the war was nearly over (how he ever

guessed we will never know). Church asserted that citizenship meant different things to different

people. Some who came to Canada accepted all of the privileges but did nothing to defend the

countq in t h e of war (negative other presentation). Besides he did not understand why "these

people" were admitted to the country unless they knew ai l about citizenship and nich matters

(negative other presentation)."

Other MPs did not see selective immigration as the solution to the problem of national

unity. As Mr. Hlynka said '%et us7 therefore, properly tackie the problem which we ofien cal1 the

'problem of unhy.' Weli, you can tackle it only studying it.. .'750 Some MPs observecl that the

problem of natiod unity was attributable to the smugness of some Canadians. Mr. Burton

believed that citizemhip education might be beneficiai to both new Canadians and old.*' Mr. Ross

approved of the new agency as long as operateci '?he nght way." He noted that some immigrants

d e r e d racial and reiigious prejudice. Unity would corne fiom ironing out those prqudices and

working in cooperation with educational institutions. However, Ross also iasisted that unity

depended on teaching the best, and not the worst of our history, and the end of 'lmping" on old

g r i ~ a n c e s . ~ ~ ~ l d couflicts and ideas, stated Mrs. Nielsen, worked against national unity?

These MPs supporteci the new Citizenship Division as long as citizenship training was

limited to the acdturalïzation of immigrants into the British-Canadian mold. The speech of Mr.

Roebuck, shows most cleady how covert racist discourse worked to promote citizenship

education whiie also promoting a racia concephialization of Canada. Roebuck told the House of

Commons that Canada did not have a dominant religion, dominant race, or nationaiity. Canada

has many motherlands and tolerance has been part of Our hiaory (positive self presentation). In

working for unity Canadians shouid refrain fiom bringing up divisions from the old land. He

welcomed the new division and ended with assurances that Canada would be a great nation when

we finally united into a homogenous people.54

49 House of Commons ïkbtcs April27, 1944), 2398-2399. 50 House of Commons Debates (April27. 1944).2400. 51 House of Commons Debates (April27, l944),îW-2;U) 1. " House of Cummons Debates (April27. 1944),2409. 53 House of Commons Debates (-27, I944+),24 1 O. " House of Comrnons Debates (-27. 19U).2Kll.

According to van Dijk, elites do not see themselves as perpetrators of racism, but as moral

leaderss5 On May 27, 1942, Thorson stxbmitted to the House the names and qualifications of the

members of the CCCC: Professor of History George Simpson, chair, foreign diplomat Tracy

Phillips advisor, Professor H.F. Angus; HonourabIe C.H. Blakeney, Minister of Education of

New Brunswick; Major J.S.A Bois; Professor Jean Bruchesi, author and educationalist; Mr. D.

Cameroq Director of Extension Work at the University of Alberta; Mr. Robert England; Mr. J.

Murray Gibbon, author; Professor Watson KirkconneIl; and Mrs. O.D. Skelton, author and

educationalistMThese elites worked to b d d the post-war nation-building infrastnichire and

succeeded. In 1944, Frank Fodds of the Citizenship Division declared: 'Through constant contact

with ethnic groups and their organizations, it has been possible to discourage them [ethnic

Canadians] fkom quarreling amongst themselves over European issues and to persuade them that

their main objective shouid be to further their establishment in canada.'"'Van Dijk dso writes

that ifthe social mind is forrned by public discourse, and if public discourse is largely controUed

by elite groups, than it warrants searching for some of the roots of racism among elite

groups.58 MPS manufactured consent for the Citizenship Act and citizensbip training through their

public discourse. Both these groups of eiites saw post-war nation-building in t e m of the

reproduction of the status quo and this influenced the shape of Basic ESYCitizenship instruction.

ESL and Post- War Nation-Buildi~tg

The first experiment in citizenship training took place in 1946 in Welland and Kikland

Lake. The discoune which had been used by political elites to describe the aims of citizemhip

education were echoed in the annual reports of the Ontario Department of Education. In

nibsequent years the department wrote that the citizenship program was a "conscious united

effort toward producing better citi~ens,"~~designed to give immigrants "essential information

about Canada and our way of life,'%nd in preparation for the citize11shi~.~' A handbook for

immigrants urged them to leam one of the otficial languages as soon as possible. This book told

"van~ijk, 9. 56 House of Commons Debntes (May 27. l!M2), 28%. '' Pd, 423. "van~ i jk 11. Sg Ontario Dept. of Education DeDL of Echication Report of the Minister. 1947 (Toronto: Onlano Govemment. 1947), 1s. 60 Detff of Education, Report of the Minister- 1949 (Toronto: Ontario Govemment, 1949). 35. 61 m. of Emicaiion, Rewrt of the Minister. 1949.3 1,

3 1

its readers that language and ciazenship classes taught such aspects of Canada as its customs,

histov, geography and govemment.62~owever the Canadian Citizenship Council (CCC), a

branch of govermnent, wamed that different immigrant groups faced different integration

problems. Their ability to integrate irrto Canada society depended on their CO- of ~ r i ~ i n . ~ ~

What did immigrants to Canada l e m in Basic ESL/Citizenship classes? Making ESL a

strategy for nation-building required that ESL be reduced to little more than cultural iiteracy.

Consequently, ESL was limited to the perpetuation of the dominant culture, values and way of

Me. In addition, the history of Canada that immigrants were taught ornitted the codicts and

stmggles that went into building the nation while simdtaneously creating a racist vision of

Canada. There is no question that Basic ESYCitkenship instruction was a tool for the

"Canadianization" of immigrants. Canada would be united as long as immigrants had been molded

into the dominant cultural n o m and spoke basic Enghsh.

The introduction of federally-fùnded Basic ESUCitizenship insüuction was meant to

concur with a new Canadian myth: one is which Canada was perceived and Canadians perceived

themselves as united and growing. Canada did grow, as did the non-English speaking segment of

the population. ESL programs could not keep up with the demand and despite the passage of

t h e , the policy of federally-fuoded ESL has remaineci relatively the same. ESL continues to be

limited to the basic level as preparation for citizenship. In the 1990s ESL is as much a tool for

nation-building as it was when it was fmt introduced. In addition, political elites continue to use

covm racist rhetoric to perpetuate a racist vision of Canada.

Canada Canadian Citizenship Branch, Handbook for Newcomen (Ottawa: Queen's Rinter and ControiIer of Staîiomy, 1957), j0.

" Canada, Canadian CitLmship Couacil. From I ~ ~ ~ I I Z X I N to Citizen: 1919 (Ottawa: Canadian Citizenship Corncil, 1949), 23.

Chmter Four

ESL and Nation-Builrft'np in the 1990s

This thesis began as a study of the federally-fùnded ESL programs introduced in 1992

under the Muironey govemment. Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) and Labour

Market Language Training (LMLT) were denounced by ESL pratitioners, grass roots

organizations, and 0th- involved in the field of ESL as inadequate in regards to levels of

instruction and stnicturally inaccessible. They claimed that the prognuns did not help immigrants

meet thek economic ne&. Clearly inadequate and inaccessible ESL contributes to the

rnargmaiization of immigrants in the lowest sectors of the labour market of Canada. Fluency in

ESL is often used as a condition for employment. Critics responded to the problems in LENC and

LMLT by offering the govemment problem-solving solutions. This approach worked to address

practical problems but it could not explain why ESL programs were stmctured they way they

were: why ESL was i i i ted to basic ESL in preparation for citizenship and focused on providig

immigrants with knowledge of "ouf" culture, values and way of We. In other words, critics

wanted to deaI with the symptoms of ESL p r o g r d g but neglected their roots in policy and

ideology. In the process of investigating the Mulroney govemment's ESL policy 1 found that ESL

was closely connected to immigration policy and to the preservation of Canada as white and

Anglo-saxon. This is how 1 came to associate ESL with nation-building. More irnportantly, I

found that federal policy papers used wvert racist arguments to defend ESL and immigration

policy. In this chapter, 1 examine LINC and LMLT in order to argue that ESL remains a strategy

for nation-building.

FedetaUv-Funded ESL in the 1990s

The Conservative govemment of Brian Mulroney was fint elected in 1984 and re-elected in

1988. In 1990, Barbara McDougall took over as Minister for Ernployment and Immigration and under

her direction Canada introduced the fkst ever long-tem immigration plan This plan made provisions

for the creation of Federal Integmtion Strategy which included a new ESL policy. In 1993, a notice

f?om the Department of Ckkship and Immigration dedared thaî "The new policy on immigrant

language training ensures that more immigrants have access to the best possile tmbhg."' LMLT

provided s p e d k d or advanced language aaioing oriented to labour market needs: haking needed to

acquire skills or to use existing skiUs which are in demand in the local labour market.'L,ML~ was

limited in availability. On the other hand, LINC provided basic communications skiUs and included an

emphasis on "orienting newcomers to Canadian society and to the nghts and responsib'ies inherent in

memberdip in our society."' LINC supplied ESL in preparation for LMLT and was more widely

available.

The state's enthusiasm for LINC and LMLT was insufficient to allay the largely negative

reception the prognuns received. F i ESL teachers aSSOciations, wmmdy groups, grass roots

organizations and others clairned that they were taken by surprise when the programs were introduced.

They resented that they had not been given the opportunity to participate in the c u d t a t i o ~ process

leading to the implementation of the programs. For example, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving

Immigrants (0, an umbrela organization representkg other agencies serving immigrants,

resented that it and its memben had not been invited by the government to discuss the problems in

ESL programming.' Secondly, they argued that the problems in previous federally-funded ESL

programs had not been addressed with LINC and LMLT.

LXNC did Me to deviate some of the problems plaguing ESL programs of the past. For

instance, there were still time limits on immigrants' eligibility to ESL. LINC was limited to the first few

years after arrival in Canada This affkted immigrants who postponed their ESL instruction for family

or financial reasons. Immigrants who acquired citizenship were also dissualified fiom attending

LING? In its own defence, the government argued that LINC was an immigrant integration program

and that by the time immigrants become dtizens they bad a working knowledge of English and no

longer needed to be oriented to Canada through LINC.~ The training allowances which had existed

prior to 1992 were abolished in LINC. This raised questions as to the affordabllity of second language

training for immigrants7 but the government responded by claiming that immigrants must rely on their

Canada Employment and kamigraton, innomions in Training (OPawa: Fedaal Government 1993). 'Canada, Employment a d Immigration, Anrmal Remrt to Parliamm: Immigmtion Pian for 1991-1995 (Ottawa: F & d Gfxmmea 1990). 4. 'Canada ~~ and Immigration The Fodoal Tmmip3aot -on Stratem in 1993: A Proms Report (- Federal Government. 1993). 3.

Ontario Cauncil of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI). "LINC: A Comrmmiry Response." July 1992.2. ~;lmara ~aderson and M ~ohrmy a Bernard ~ a l m March 20.1992.

'Canada Employmemt and Immigration Ouesticms and Amwas on the New Illlllljm Langllapc hlicv (Ottawa: Federal - Gatenunent 1993). 1

Canadian Council for RefQpx "CCR Cmdemns 27 Million Dollar Cut in Training Allowances."

spo~lsors fbr financiai support miring th& ESL instruction rather than the state.' The new assessment

test ( A - L N ) also came under attack because it was believed to be cubaüy biasedgThe

geographicai location of test centres became a major pmblem for immigrants, as weil because the

centres were not easily accesslile by public traosit.'O A group of mothers deplored the fàct that th&

day-care had been reduceù fiom fidl day down to two and a hatf hours per day." The t h e of ESL

h c t i o n was also considerably cut. The 600 hour or 24 week lirnit on LINC instnictio~ was

insdiicierit for immigrants to learn the English language wel enough to either continue shidylig at a

higher Ievel or obtain welLpaying jobs. '' There were problems with LMLT as well. LMLT was meant to be preceded by LINC traimng.

However, there was a wide educationai gap betweni the two programsrograms ConsequentIy completion of

LINC did not prepare leamers for the assessment test leadhg to LMLT." LMLT was also restricted to

immigrants who had ocaipationa1 slàlls, or the p o t d to acquire ocaipatioaal skius tbat were needed

in the local labour market. l4 This provision discrirninated agaiast those Who were judged otherwise. In

particular, it discrimlliated agakt women who possess skills which may not be in demand but who are

nevertheles strivjng to enter the labour force..15 Unlike immigrants enrolled in LINC, inmigrants

registered in LMLT did receive an dowance. However, the chances of bebg accepted into LMLî and

securing a subsidy were sudi . LMLT received 2û% of ail the federd fùnds ddcated to language

training and as such the nibsidies were limited. F ' i y , W T provided even less houn of naimng than

L M ; 12 weeks or 300 hours. Imriii&rarrts accepted h o LMLT d d only be enroiled in one of the

three levels of instruction l6

The fk&s of LINC and LMLT prompted ESL practitioners, grassoots organizatiom, and

others to suggest to the govemment ways to irnprove upon the programs. For instance, a group of

govarmian representatives, ESL professional, and non-govenment orgamzations (NGû's) worked

together to design an alternate test to the A-LINC assessment test."This new test was recommended

for adoption by the federal goverment. OCASI aiso made an eftbrt to correct the deficiencies of

8CanadaEmploymentandImmigrati~qOuesb~aad~onIheNewImmi~Lan~Pa~n: 3. OCAS& W C : A Co- Rwponse" (JI& 1992). 7.

'OOCASL " ~ i s a i s s i o n ~ ~ ~ n s < r o e ( i c m ~ ~ r ~ e w # , m e r ~ t o ~ ~ l992,3. ~ 1 ~ w o m e p ~ ~ m d m q ~ ~ a n d m a b e r s o f m e s h ù i e q ' ~ t r e a ~ . ~ . m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . July 26,1993. "~oan~ar i l to AW, ~eb. 11, 1992. l 3 ûgihie, O g h e and Compam.. 1993-94 LINC Survev Resuhs MQo T o m (Jammy 4.1994). 2. "Canada hljlil~tly af~npioymenî and Immigration, Ammal Raan to Fhdhmmt hxnniwon Pkn for 1991-1995.5. "Marcy Cohen andNavin Rirekh IO BernardValanxt, March 23.1992. "JbnBad, A d d t E i i e l i s h a c a ~ a d ~ i n ~ o ~ B q ~ ConfederationCollege, 1993). 35. " BA 26.

W L

LINC and LMLT by preseriting the Manager of the W C Delivery Unit in Metro Toronto with a

report outlirBng ways to improve the programs. A plea for tiiture c o ~ o n s between the state and

stake holders made the top of OCASPs iist of recommendati~ns.'~Tiiis problem-solving approach

typified the generai response of ESL professionals, academks, and N W s to previous programs. In

chapter two, 1 mentioned that in 1981 TESL Canada had submitted to the govemrnent a report

descri'bing sorne of the major pmblems in ESL and listing solutions. The problems raised and the

solutions recornmended by TESL Canada were echoed by OCASI a decade later. The problem with

this approach is that patchwork solutions provide only temporary relief to problems More a new

program is irrtroduced. By ody seelang problern-sohririg solutions, ESL critics neglected the policy

belimd the pmgrams. In addition, the problem-sohq approach fails to take into account the

ùnercoIMeCtion betweai ESL and the idea of nation-building.

LINC and LMLT were part of a oation-buiIding str;itegy for the 1990s because they

coastituted the last stage in the p~ocess of making Canadian citizens. The plans for the implementation

of LINC and LMLT began in 1989 d e n the Department of He& and Welfiire reportai on the

economic and danographic needs of the nation This department found that Canada's population was

at below-replacement levels. Wrthout cohued immigration the population would grow and reach a

peak of 28 niillion in 201 1. Thereafier a slow deche would eosue so that by 2086 Canada's population

would be 25 niillion, the same as in 1986.19The report concludecl by stresshg the economic

contribution of immigrants to Canada The average incorne of immigrants was above the national

average and so was their educational leveLm Canada needed more immigrants.

In 1990, Barbara McDougall introduced the Five Year Immigration P h in response to Health

and Welfare report. The shifi fiom shon to long-term immigration planimig was descriibed by

McDougall as a way to balance the needs of Canada with those of immigrants. The consultations

leadug up to the five-year plan had an impact on her. She wrote that Canadiaas supported m e r

immigration under certain oonditions. As a McDougaU would mcrease immigration but aiso

a w r e that unmigration lwels did not srceed Canada's a b i to accommodate immigrants. She also

felt that the Cariadian govennnent rmist make greater efforts to support the intepiion of immigrants

l8 OCASI, L M : A Commimitt- ReslxrnJe, L

l g canala Health and W e h q C h d g Canada's Future: A Reoort of the -c Review (Ottawa: FederaI 1989), 1-2.

anad da, Heatth anci W e k e , Chartineg Canada's Fume: A ReDort of the m c Review. 35-37.

h o Canadian ~ociety.~' Integraiion was defined as "...hding a place in Canadian society, about a sense

of belonging, and about assuroing the rights and respo~l~l'bilities of being anad di an'^ The Federal Iotegration Straîegy was brought in soon after the 1990 Employment and

Immigration report. The strategy provided for a new ESL policy wfiich prornised to grant a range of

mom flexible options to a greater nimber of learners, regardles of their labour market ~naitions.~ The

Federal Integration Strategy would improve ESL by instmiting f ie changes: increasing the mrmba of

language trainuig opportunities aMilable to immigrants; providing more flexible traslmg options;

improve assessment and re fds ; ensuring more timely assistance; making language training available

to a bmader range ofunaiigran~s; and incrasing the number of inmigranis reoaviog laquage aaimng

fiom 28 per cent to 45 per cent in 1995, the final year of the five year plan24

The inad- of the leweis of Uistniction and the f'ailure of the programs to meet the above

goals caused the backlash aga& LINC and LMLT. For example, OCASI wrote that one of the long-

term implicatons of the new ESL p o k y was the "ghettoiz;ition of immigrants in low paying and

vuinerable sectors of the economy.'" However, LINC and LMLT were not geared to providing

mnnigrants with the Iùiguistic tools to meet th& econornic needs. The Federal Integration Strategy

stated clearly that its goal was to "promote the n11l participation of mimigrants in all aspects of

Canadian ~ae,'" and 'nelping newcomers adapt to and understand the values and aistoms of th&

adopted society.'"h addition, the 1990 report of the Department of Employment and Immigration

stated that C- expected immigrants to adopt the pimciples, d e s and traditions wtiich define

our id- as a nation* In essence, the govemnent was not interested in providing ùrmiigrants with

fluency in ESL but wah tfieir accullairalizaon.

Critics of LINC and LMLT did not view of problems in the programs as stemmhg fkom a

policy of nation-building because they did not examine the Iinks between ESL, the Federai Integration

" canada, Minisûy of Employment and Immigration, Annd Remrt to Parlament: Immigraiion PLna for 199 1- 1995, (Onawa: The Guvernmenî, 1990). 1. " anad da, M h k ü y of Empioyment and Immigration, AMual Remnt m Pariiammt Inrmigmiioa P b for 199 1-1995. Odober 1990,13-14. 23 riUrrida Employmenî and Immigration, New Immierant Lanpnilpe Training PoIicv (Ottawa. Federal Gclvemment, 1993) ,1-2. "canada ~inisoyuf~~~~aiploymem;mdImmigration, ~arna l~aan tohdbmtmt Immi~onPianfor 1991-1995,7.

OCASI, L M : A Commanitv Remonse, 13. %ma& Mbisîry of Emplo_vment and I m m i ~ o n , Annuai RaMl CO Parliammt Jinmimtion Pkn for 1991-1995. Odober 1990, (OtEawa: F e d d Gommen& lm), 13.

Canada, Employment and Immigration, The Fedemi unmimant Intemation Stratew in 1993: A Roe;ress k m r t (Otrawa: The Guveniment, 1993). 1. "Canada, Department of Employment and Immigration Annuai Remrt ro Parliament: Immimtion Plan for 1991-1995, 15.

Straiegy and the Five Year Immigration P h F i such an approach would have forced d c s to look

beyond problem-solving sohmons to the ideological basis of federaliy-hded ESL. ESL is about

idgdity and the reproduction of the donmiaiit laoguage and culture. Secondly7 this approach wouid

have caused aitics to examine the historid relationship between the education and immigration of the

"othef' in Canadian nation-bdding- SdemVe immigration policies have been used for the exclusion of

undesirable immigrants and the inclusion of those who are assilailable. Education has been used for the

presemtion and reproduction of the dominant ailhae and language. cbildren were subjecîed

to assunilatonkt plicies in schools. For exampie, education piayed a major role in the

"'CanadiariiZation'' of Native and imnigmt children. Fededy-bded ESL has been vital to the c . . ' G d m m t i o n " of ad& "others." Thîrdîy, critics would have beai prornpted to question the

rhetoricai arguments used by political &es to legitiinue these iniercoxmectïons.

Cbvett Racr'st Discourse in the 1990s

Nations are Wmagmed because m the min& of its peoples lives the image of their

c o ~ o n , " ~ e w Canadians cordinue to see Canada as a dominion of Britaiq but they are bound

togetha in the belief that they and th& governent are open to imnïgration, generous and tolerant.

The role of political elites has been to papetuate national myths through th& discursive pIaCtices.

Governrnent documents descn'bmg the Fwe Year Immigration Plan and the F e d d Megration

Strategy portrayed Canada as a tolerant nation willing to rnake changes in policy in order to

accommodate the needs of immigrants. However, a close look at this political t d t a l k revealed that

covert racist discourse was used to camodage the conhueci application of racist policies in nation-

building. Let us apply Van Dijk's system for ident@mg and analyiing covert racist arguments to

politid discourse in the 1990s.

Posiiive &&Yresenmranon:

The F i e Year Immigration Plan was the first long-term immigration plan in the history

Canada. As a remit the govenunent needed to assure Canadians tbat nothing wodd change in the way

that immigration was managed. Barbara McDougaiI wrote: 'Wah this fie-year plan, Canada wiil

contirme to have one of the most open and generous immigration policies in the world. It maintains

- -

Canada's tradgion of compassion and wncan fbr those who look to Canada for a better Two

years later, the rarmstry declared that " o d opexmess was sornething Caoadians could point to with

pride3' because no other nation accepted more immigrants than canadaî2 canada was a land of great

opport~nity.~~The use of positive seif-presaaation Li references to Canadas mythicai history of

opmess worked to mate an image for the presem Canada The purpose of this image is to act as a

corner-argument aga* potential accusations of discrimination in immigration policy.

DischÏrners ami Denials ofRacim:

The govemment ciaimed that enforcing deportations was difEcult."Caaada is open and

generous in regards to immigration but ''Canadians will not tolerate those who would abuse our

openness and gaierosty.''5 This disamive strategy portrayed Canada as baievolent and as a vichm

The implication is that the state has no choice but to take discipiinary action against abusers. It is not

that Canada is racist, rather it must protect itselfand its irttegrity by deporthg Mgrants.

Negolfw ûtkr Pre-on:

Of aü the immigrarrt classes, refiigees were moa ofien depicted negatively in govemment

policy papas. The government claimeci that @en the v o h e of refûgee claims, it was essentid that

the system be proteaed against multiple refùgee clairns and rnuItiple weifàre applications. To prove this

point, the govennnent pointai to an individual who was found to be receiving 17 welfare cheques at

the same tirne." Canada also had a responsi"bdity to protect &self against those who violated "ouf' trust

by engaghg in criminal actity.j7 Society is ttireatened by "potential criminals, spies, terrorists, and

The governent could only cite one example of weifàre abuse, but this was enough to

spread panic in a society that aIready has nomialized the exclusion of reIiigees and immigrants of

colour.

F i m bur Fair:

The "problem7' of refùgees was aiso manipulated to legitirnize a reduction of other immigrant

classeslasses The departmeni ciaimed that changes in the nmiily class were necessary to ciirtail srcesive

growth in view of the additional number of refÙgees Canada would reca~e . '~ The government stated

that to be fair to Canada and immigrants aiike, Canada must d c e a balance between our desire to

respond generously to immigrants and our ab- to respond to their needs &&elYY"~ahess was

a h facilitateci by the introchidon of designated and general occupational anplopent lists used for

the selection of immigrants to f i l job gaps." This paternalistic strategy plays on the notions of fàjmess.

However, as Van Dijk says in these cases it is b e s s , and not mess, that is sought. These

discursive practices are aimed to legitimize exclusions. n u e is no evidence that the cut backs to the

W y cias were compensaîed with increases in the refbgee ciass. Hence both categories of immigrants

were restncted.

vox Populi:

In this situation the govemment pretends to speak on behalfof Canadians. It was reporteci that

"Caoadians are conmed about the growing costs of immigration, and about increased procesSng

delays for those who want to corne to canada'" Van Dijk claims that th m e g y maely mates the

image of a government 1isterOng to the people and that reserrtment, or in this case concm over

immigration, arises &om consemative elites rather than fiom the grass-rwts level. This snategy is

effective because it creates a state of mind among "the people." That is Canadians cannot be concerneci

about the costs of immigration until they are told that they should be.

me N m k s Game:

Reference was ftequentiy made to the international problern of refÙgees." Apparently, the

costs of nuuimg immigration programs had risen beause programs were not designeci to handle the

volumes of people applyhg to canadaa Some estimates suggested that there were 80 d i o n people - three times the size of Canada's population - moving fiom one country to another at any *en

- -

t i ~ n e - ~ ~ By providing immigration figures in this way, the state succeeded in depicting the immigration

and rmee sitution as out of control. This then lends credaice to the govenmierrt's agenda of

restricting immigration into Canada.

What is interesting about the Five Year hmigration P h is that so many of the fietorid

practices for the exclusion of immigranrs were much the same as those used in the past. For example,

Prime Minisfer MacKemie King argued for the limmng immigration accordmg to the absorptive

capacity of the nation A sinrilar argument was made in the 1990s when the Mimstry of Emp10yment

and Immigration suggested that immigration leveis were derived at by baiancing the ne& of the

country with those of immigrants- In each case, the objective is to nnd gromds for the exclusion of

ïmigmts. This wouid lead to beliwe that the formula for don-building bas not changed and that

covert racist discourse continues play a role in inunigdon policy-making. In addition, the Federai

Inkgration Strategy has Camed on with the iradition of providing immigrants with Basic

ESUCitizenship instruction and acmkmha . .

on.

This thesis attempts to trace the ongins of federaüy-hded ESL in Canada. It aiso argues that

political discourse played a definitive role in the introduction of the classes as part of a pst-war d o n -

building strategy. Nation-bdding continues today and is dependent on immigration and ESL policies

for the perpetuaàon of the Canadian national myth. These plicies work together to control and

exclude. Immigration policy reguiates who wii enter the country and wvert racist strate@ are used

to l e g i h k the exdusion of others fkom Canadian society. ESL policy also controls and excludes.

F i la& of ESL regulates the lives of immigrants because it coritro1s where they wiii work, live, go to

school and so on. Secondly, Ï t reguiates th& identities by "oth&g'' th& eqaiences as immigrants to

Cariada.

Concltlsion

This thesis argues that federally-hded ESL in Canada was introduced in 1947 in response to a

movement to promote national unity durmg the Second Worid War and in the pst-war period. The

question of how to unite Caoadians was raised by political elites Who insisted that Canada must protect

itself Eom manies withh the counfr~. These enemies were non-Angio-Saxon Canadians who had in

the past been exchrded 60m Canada and r n a q p h d . .

in Canadian society. These were the outsiders

d o s e homelands happened to be at war with Canada The ciah that non-Anglo immigrants were

dïsioyal to Canada justined the government's sûategies for national i,aihr. On one han4 DOCR was

introduced as a means to deal with potential acts of treaxm On the other hand, the government gave

the Department of National War Services a licence to employ public education and propaganda in an

effort to rnobdh d C d , and in parti& those of non-Aaglo ongin, behind the war.

Bureaucrats worked bebind the scenes to build an hfiastmcture supporthg nationai m t y via the

Citmmbp Act and BasidESL C i i p instruction In the public arena of the House of Cornons,

ME% debated the shape of CaoadÜui Citizenship and the shape of postwar Canada. On either Sde of the

polincal stage, political elites argueci for a particdar view of Canada. niqr conceiveci Basic

ESLICitizenship instruction as the tool for the incuication of the dominant language and culture. The

theory of ESL for nation-building necessitated searchtog for the roots of the prognims. It required that

1 look beyond political discourses of national umty to the rassi intent and meanhg behind them It also

demandesi an exaniuiantion of the fihgs of dominant theories of ESL.

Today, political eiites corninue to view ESL the same way as did politicai eldes fifty yean ago.

They continue to use the same covert racist arguments to legitirmze the exciusion of r a d i z d

immigrants and the poor state of ESL instruction In this sense the systern for nation-buil- dong

racial and cultural hes continues undisturbed. 1 can only expIain the contradiction between political

rheioric and the reality of racism by rrfiisirig to take the rhetoric at fàce value. When elites speak of

ESUCitizenship classes as a means to eosure the fiill participation of immigrants m Canadian society 1

h o w that they do not mean that immigrants wiU receive critical &cation in the emancipatory power

of fhiency in ESL. When elites speak of Canadians not wanting certain immigrants in Canada I know

that they do not speak on my behalf.

This îhesis amis to draw out the hûtoricai mots of federaliy-fbnded ESL, but it is also a cal1 to

d c a l analysis of Canadian society and nation-builduig. We cannot pretend to Iive in a democratic

Society when new citizais of Canada do not receive adequate ESL, and when those who speak Engilsh

are marginalized because of their colour, gender' accent, foreign degrees and so on We ofien dismiss

kequalities as the result of individual f k h g s and LIS bemme conspirators in the process of

rnarginaliang "others." We mua question how Caoadian Society is structureci dong class, r a d and

gender lines, m t to mention other forms of cLothering." What might Canadian society and nation-

building look me if those at the margins re/ga.ied thar voices? What might critical ESL pedagogy

look ke? If it borrowed from the theory of d c a i pedagogy' t would d o w immigrants to set th&

own curricuhmi, speak with thar voies, and rdwnte th& own bistones. The question is are

Canadians wüling to accept tliis? Would Canadian Society stand up to the challenge of re-ordering iîs

"reality."

When 1 ask rnyself how ESL instruction contriutes to don-builcimg in the classoom, the

questions corne to mind. F i how do ESL instnrctors use covert racist discourse to teach immigrants

the vahies, n o m and culture of the dominant cultural group in Canada, are they aware of th&

&cursive practices? Secon@, do ESL instructors receive adeqmte aaining in anti-racist education?

Thirdiy, why is the education of children considered a ri& but not the ESL &cation of adult

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