ARCHIVED – Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act 2007-2008
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Foreword by the Minister
A few days before Remembrance Day last year, I spoke at a citizenship ceremony at the Canadian War Museum. Fifty men and women from 28 countries took their oath of citizenship and became Canadian citizens.
One thing I noticed immediately was that all of these new Canadians were wearing the Remembrance Day poppy. In fact, I think I saw more poppies in that room than I saw outside on the streets of Ottawa that day. Through the simple act of wearing a poppy while they were being sworn in as citizens, these new Canadians were demonstrating their gratitude and patriotism and their love of this country.
In pledging themselves to Canada’s future, they were also honouring our past. They were paying tribute to the Canadians who came before them and sacrificed so they might stand here, today, and join our bright future. They were announcing that our past is now their past. Our traditions, their traditions. Our country, their country.
The oath that citizens take to Canada’s Queen commits them to a tradition that stretches back to the Bill of Rights (1960), the British North America Act (1867), the Quebec Act (1774), the Royal Proclamation (1763), and further still to Magna Carta (1215) – reaffirmed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. By means of the oath, they join a millennium old civic tradition, one that we inherited from our founders and ancestors, and will pass on to our descendants.
Canada’s successful model of multiculturalism and pluralism is no accident. Prudent decisions by our 18th and 19th century founders prior to Confederation created a constitutional framework for Aboriginal rights, minority language rights, and religious freedom that it is our responsibility to maintain.
Immigrants to Canada know from experience how hard won, how rare in history, and how precious our freedoms are. Their commitment should make us even more determined to pass this legacy of freedom on to future generations – stronger and more secure than ever. Their pride should make us more proud, and their gratitude should make us more grateful, to be Canadian. For our government, that is what it means to be inclusive. Not just to welcome new Canadians and to celebrate the heritage they bring with them. But also to include them in the Canadian story. To invite them to write the next chapter.
This past year marked an important development in Government policy, when the Prime Minister decided to link Multiculturalism policy and programs with those at Citizenship and Immigration Canada and make me the new Minister responsible for all of these areas.
This brings all the key policy and program elements together and allows for greater coordination between the Government’s settlement programs for newcomers and its programs to promote further inclusion, participation and shared citizenship for all Canadians.
The 2007-2008 Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act marks two decades since the Act became law, and the 20th time this report has been submitted to Parliament.
The Annual Report demonstrates how the Government continues to respond to Canada’s increasing diversity by taking important steps to encourage integration. This is why the report is subtitled “Promoting Integration.”
The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
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