Canada

Background

Geographically, Canada has the second-largest land area of all the world's nations. It is made up of 10 provinces: in Western Canada, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia; in Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec; and in Eastern Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The three territories are the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.

The Confederation of Canada came about on July 1, 1867, through the British North American Act. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, which has Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. As a federal system of parliamentary government, there are three levels of government: federal, provincial, and municipal.

The Charter Groups played an important role in establishing the political, social, and economic institutions of the country. The founding of Canada was based on the colonization of its Indigenous Peoples, the exploitation of immigrant labor, and the reality that the White settlers of Canada held privileged political, social, and economic power in the country. Historically, Canada's past includes policies and practices that overtly discriminated against the Chinese Canadians, South Asian Canadians, Japanese Canadians, Blacks, Jewish émigrés, and Ukrainians.

For instance, the 1910 Immigration Act determined which immigrants were and were not allowed into Canada. People were rejected on the assumption that some groups would not fit into Canada due to the climate and their educational and social standing. Such selection criteria gave immigration officials the ability to discriminate on the basis of race, national or ethnic origin, and creed. In addition, the government established a list of preferred and nonpreferred countries from which to receive immigrants. The preferred countries were the United Kingdom and United States, followed by northern and western Europe. People from Greece, Syria, and Turkey, along with European Jews, needed a special permit class to be able to emigrate.

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