The term multiculturalism first came to be used in the 1960's. It was used to counter the term "Biculturalism". Multiculturalism basically adressed the rights of the French-speaking people and English-speaking people. Multiculturalism has a huge effect on Canada, and without it we probably wouldn't be here..
All throught the 1900's the immigrants weren't getting fair rights and the French speaking Canadians were extremly frustrated. The Natives and the French speaking Canadians were being ignored and the British and English speaking people were controlling Canada. This caused the split of lower and upper Canada. People started complaining that they werent getting paid the same amount or treated the same way as the other Canadians.In 1967 the racial and ethnic barriers started being removed. And finally to restore peace in 1971(after Canada was independant), Canada became the first country in the world to adopt the multicultural policy. It challenged all Canadians to accept cutural pluralism while encouraging them to participate fully and equally in Canadian Society. Canadians were accepted as a mosaic of people, meaning people from all different nations were equal. The US however used a melting pot technique, people arent allowed to keep thier own nationalities but rather give them up and become Americans.(www.canada.cio-bic.gc.ca)
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