Canada
Pierre Elliot Trudeau was a French Canadian who attended the London School of Economics, a liberal institution which has considerably influenced the liberal thinking in the world. He brought about the multicultural policies of Canada in 1967 which shifted the migration pattern of Canada from the predominantly European to Asian countries. Canada’s predominant immigration which was predominantly white before, is now mostly from the non white countries including India and China.
Justin Trudeau, now the prime minister of Canada since 2015, is the son of the former Prime Minister, Pierre Elliot Trudeau. He shines a beacon of light at the helm of a country that illustrates the model of future of nations with racial and religious tolerance and multiculralism as the guiding principle in a democratic state. He appointed in his cabinet Harjid Sajja, a Sikh as a Minister of Defense, and Jody Wilson-Raybould, of the indigenous population as the Minister of Defence. These are unprecedented steps is a western country which hopes to strive for a Just Society status in the post colonial modern world. In a letter to the writer and responding the summary of this novel, he states that ‘we should strive to reflect our diversity at every level of the society, including our work place.’ Canada is poised to set an example of the new world of equality that truly marks the end of the Empire which created the colour coding of people.
Komagata Maru incident took place in the period of the beginning of the First War of 1914. At the height of the Empire period Canada was settled by Europeans and they created the one journey rule to prevent Asiatic people from settling in white Canada. This rule required the ship to have only one stop to Canada which could be done only by Europeans from Europe. Komagata Maru was a ship hired by Indians, including Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims, who were inspired by the British Empire as one family, reached Victoria harbor legitimately under one journey rule, but were brutally denied entry into by the Canadian forces and were driven back to India where many were killed in Calcutta which at that time was still controlled by the British. On 18th May, 2016, House of Commons will pass a resolution to apologize for this incident.
Indigenous populations of Canada is about 4.3 % of the total population of Canada and is comprised of Metis who are of mixed blood predominantly of French and native decent which resulted from the early settlement of Canada by the Europeans as it happened with Anglo-Indians in India. The indigenous population of the very north of the country are known as Eskimos in the outside world and Innuit in Canada. Now the province of Nnavut is a self governing province with the State of Canada. About half of the indigenous people still live in segregated reserves under the Indian Act with treaties with the Federal Government and the other half struggling as other minorities for recognition in the mainstream Canadian life. They live in extreme conditions of poverty in reserved areas under the Indian Act which governs their lives. Chief Justice Murray Sinclair, himself from the indigenous community, called the treatment of Native populations a ‘Cultural Genocide’. Although the native population is now about 4.3 % of the total Canadian population, it is grossly overrepresented in the prisons of Canada. About 25 % of male prison population of Canada and 40 % of female prison population is comprised of indigenous people which results from the demoralization of people during colonial period. A large number of teenagers commit mass suicides seeing no future for themselves in the reserves and don not have medical and school facilities to compete in the job market in the mainstream urban society. A significant number of native women go missing or are found dead who disproportionate tragedy goes unnoticed by the legal institutions.