Canada's Identity THEN (Grade 7) and NOW (Grade 6): It is how we and others perceive our traditions, culture, history, politics, language and symbols.
My culture's History in Canada: Serbia
Struggle: I couldn't find any info on Serbian Canadian struggles in today's Canada.
Symbols: A symbol of Serbian culture in Canada is the Serbian Orthodox church. It is important to me because the church is where we go when a loved one dies and we light a candle for them and we light candles for our living family to stay healthy and live a long life. One of the most famous characteristic of Serbian Orthodox is "slava"- a day when families celebrate a certain saint, chosen by ancestors to be the protector of the family.
People: Serbians are a Slavic group that come from the Southeastern area in Europe. One of the most famous Serbian Canadians is Milos Raonic. Milos is a tennis player who has won 2 grand slams and has started a foundation. The foundation supports kids from disadvantaged backgrounds remove barriers that could prevent them from becoming healthy members of society.
Choose any Third World Country in Canada: Afghanistan
People: The Afghan community in Canada is relatively new. Most Afghans migrated to Canada after the pro-Soviet military coup in 1978 led by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and the subsequent Soviet invasion of the country in 1979. Prior to 1978, there were about 1,000 Afghans in Canada. However, between 1981 and 1995, around 10,000 Afghans arrived as refugees and asylum seekers. A total of 37,265 Afghans have arrived in Canada since 1991. Almost all Afghan Canadians live in large metropolitan cities such as Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. According to the latest Statistics Canada Census (2016), more than 83,995 Afghans are living in Canada. Canada is home to several prominent Afghan singers. Wahid Qasemi, Hangama, Ustad Ulfat Ahang, Qamar Gul and many others were established singers in Afghanistan before they immigrated to Canada, while a new generation of Afghan-Canadian musicians and singers, such as Qais Ulfat, Muzhda Jamalzada (Mozdah Jamalzadah) and many others, who were either born or have grown up in Canada, have become famous in Afghanistan.
Symbols:Afghans in Canada come from diverse ethnic, religious, class and political backgrounds. Therefore, the Afghan-Canadian community reflects that diversity. The Mosque is the center of religious life. Sunnis, Shias and Ismaili-Shias each have their own mosques and religious centers.
Chinese History in Canada
People: There are around 1.8 million Chinese people living in Canada, and they are all proud of their culture and heritage and proud of showing it to others.
Raymond Chan was a Chinese Canadian who joined the liberal party of Canada after he was elected as inaugural president of the Vancouver Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movement in China. The Democratic Movement of China refers to poorly organized democratic movements in the People's Republic of China against the continued one-party rule by the Communist Party of China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ht4mWqnBOg
Symbols: One of the most famous Chinese symbols in Canada is a Chinatown. The oldest Chinatown was built in Victoria, British Colombia in 1858 to attract Chinese immigrants, as being the ethnic neighborhood where Chinese immigrants settled. Today there are Chinatown's everywhere with the most amazing foods and traditions. There are several Chinatowns in Toronto, but the biggest and most famous is the on on Spadina Avenue.
Struggle: Today in 2020, Chinese people faces criticism and are scapegoated because "they were the cause of covid-19". People refused to go to Chinese stores, buy from them, or eat in their restaurants.
Black History in Canada
Symbols: In Canada, one of the most powerful symbols of black history is the Black awareness month, February. Black history month shows us some of the struggles that African Canadians went through.
Struggle: For a very long time African Canadians have faced racism for no reason. Many of them went through very hard times because of it. According to Ontario province's Human Rights Commission, black people are 20 times more likely to be shot dead by the police in Toronto than white people. Just very recently a black woman Regis Korchinski-Paquethas died under unknown circumstances by falling from 24th floor after the police was called and been with her in the appartment, an without any other witnesses. At the same time, in USA, George Floyd was brutally killed by a cop who held a knee on his throat for almost 9 minutes.
People: Winnie Harlow is a famous Canadian model. She was diagnosed with vitiligo, a long-term skin condition characterized by patches of the skin losing their pigment, at age 4.Throughout her youth she was bullied and tormented for her differences. As she bacame world-famous, Winnie has championed in the arrival of alternative forms of beauty for a more diverse fashion landscape. Today, she is a public spokesperson for vitiligo and a promoter for inclusion and diversity.
Mennonite History in Canada
People: Mennonites are people in a Christian group belonging to churches where Anabaptist Christians go. Mennonites first settled in Canada in the late 18th century, specifically southern Ontario. The 2001 census recorded 191,000 Mennonites in Canada. More than half of all Mennonites live in cities and the shift from traditional rural communities to urban living has mirrored that of the general population. In 2010, the largest concentration of urban Mennonites was located in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Kitchener-Waterloo, each fed by large Mennonite rural communities. Winnipeg has one of the largest urban Mennonite populations in the world with more than 20,000 Mennonites and 45 Mennonite churches.
Sandra Birdsell is a Mennonite/Canadian poet who makes short stories about the Metis peoples and Mennonites. Some of her famous novels are, Night Travellers (1982) Turnstone Press
Ladies of the House (1984) Turnstone Press
The Two-Headed Calf (1997)
Symbols: The most important in Mennonite religion is a dove carrying a olive tree branch. It is a symbol of peace from the bible. The symbol was suiting for the Mennonites because it represents one of their main beliefs- peace.
Japanese History in Canada
Symbols: In Toronto, a significant symbol of Japanese culture is the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), founded in 1963. The The JCCC offers a broad spectrum of Japanese traditional and contemporary cultural programs, martial arts, festivals, performances, film screenings, art exhibitions and other experiences for its thousands of members and hundreds of thousands of annual visitors.
People:The younger generation of Japanese-Canadians born in the late 20th century are mostly Yonsei, fourth generation. Many Yonsei are of mixed racial descent. According to Statistics Canada's 2001 census of population information, out of the 25,100 couples in Canada in 2001 which had one Japanese person, only 30% had two partners of Japanese descent and 70% included one non-Japanese partner. As of 2001, 65% of Canada's Japanese population was born in Canada. One of the prominent Japanese Canadian is Joy Nozomi Kogawa, poet and novelist. In 1986, Kogawa was made a Member of the Order of Canada; in 2006, she was made a Member of the Order of British Columbia.
In 2010, the Japanese government honored Kogawa with the Order of the Rising Sun "for her contribution to the understanding and preservation of Japanese Canadian history."Kogawa has been awarded several honorary doctorates. The most recent was by the University of Victoria, on June 12, 2017
Struggle: During and a few years after WW2, Japanese people in Canada went through a difficult period. They were sent to internment camps, their properties were confiscated and they were even deported in the early fifties.On 22 September 1988, Mulroney rose in the House of Commons to acknowledge the wartime wrongs and to announce compensation of:
-$21,000 for each individual Japanese Canadian who had been either expelled from the coast in 1942 or was alive in Canada before 1 April 1949 and remained alive at the time of the signing of the agreement;
-a community fund of $12 million to rebuild the infrastructure of the destroyed communities;
-pardons for those wrongfully convicted of disobeying orders -under the War Measures Act;
acknowledgement of the Canadian citizenship of those wrongfully deported to Japan and their descendants; and
-funding of $24 million for a Canadian Race Relations Foundation. civil rights projects, programs and conferences.
In 2012, the government of British Columbia apologized to Japanese Canadians for its role in their internment and dispossession.
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Grade 7 Example
Symbols: Greeks were even the targets of the racism. The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA)—one of the largest Hellenic heritage groups in the world—was founded in 1922 in direct response to the racism and bigotry Greeks experienced in the U.S. On October 28, 1928, AHEPA Supreme President George Philies started the first Canadian Chapter of AHEPA in Toronto. 10 years after that date, AHEPA was coast to coast in Canada and serving the members, society, and leaving an incredible impression in each community in which we were engaged. Montreal, Ottawa, Belleville, Windsor, Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Victoria.
Struggles: Anti Greek Riots 1918: The riots would also permanently alter the face of the city, driving the Greek community out of the neighbourhood they had carved out near Yonge and, eventually, into an eastern corridor named Danforth Avenue. And by the time it was all over—after then-mayor Tommy Church invoked the Riot Act and called in the military police—hundreds would be injured, many would be arrested, and damage to Greek property would total more than $1 million by today’s values.
Grade 6 Example
People : Canadians of Greek origin continue to remain proud of their heritage, keeping the culture alive in their new country, recent immigrants from Greece are rare. While in 2000, 362 newcomers from Greece were counted, by 2009, that number dropped to 205.
Souvaliotis, the marketer behind the Green Rewards program, bestselling author (Misfit: Autistic, Gay, Immigrant, Changemaker) and prolific speaker Andreas Souvaliotis is a leading Canadian advocate for innovative approaches to address public health, climate change, diversity and citizenship.
Subtopic
Symbols: The Business Improvement Area voted to change the name to GreekTown on the Danforth in 1993. GreekTown on the Danforth is the largest Hellenic business community in North America and indeed is the third largest in the world after Greece and Melbourne, Australia.
