Ask most Canadians about Canadian identity and they'll say, between sips of Tim Horton's coffee and over the din of a hockey game, that there's no such thing.
But seriously, the identity of us as Canadians has always been a slippery, negotiated affair. After all, plenty of us put another word and a dash before the word Canadian. We're not Canadians, we're French-Canadians, Dutch-Canadians, Thai-Canadians, First Nations-Canadians. We might speak the official languages, but more than a tenth of Canadians commonly speak a language other than English or French at home.
Before I spent a long time outside of Canada, I didn't have any idea what it meant to be Canadian. I didn't even realize that I said the word "eh" with shocking frequency. It was only when I spent months in foreign countries that I realized, over plenty of beer, that we Canadians did have some things binding us together. It wasn't any one quality of "Canadianness," as far as I could tell, it was our sheer diversity and our acceptance of that same diversity. For many of us, being "Canadian," more often than not, means belonging to a population that is not homogeneous, not thoroughly assimilated, and proudly open to other cultures.
For my second column, I thought I'd write about this most important aspect of our "Canadianness" - our diversity. I decided to interview four recent immigrants to Canada (and North Battleford) about their time here and their experiences in Canada. I hope to be able to do this column for a number of immigrant communities in the Battlefords. If you'd like to share your experiences as a recent immigrant with me and have that interview published in the News Optimist, e-mail me at amcphail@newsoptimist.ca.
Arun, Sabu, Jubin and Jilju are four Indian immigrants from the state of Kerala. Arun, Jubin, and Jilju are in their mid-20s and Sabu is middle-aged. They are all trained as nurses in India (though some have received additional training in Canada), and all live in a house in North Battleford. They all came to Toronto on student visas and moved to Saskatchewan to find more work. All are in the process of becoming registered nurses. As they cannot yet work as nurses, they all work unskilled jobs in the meantime.
Alex: First a question that always interests me. We all have images in our heads of what certain countries are like, whether it's from the media or from movies, or just from the stories of people who have been there. Before you came to Canada, how did you and the people around you see Canada?
Arun: Because I've had relatives here for a long time, my overall picture of Canada was quite accurate. I saw a better quality of life, but also great compromise in terms of family relationships. I also saw that everyone here had to work to afford their standard of living.
Sabu: I think my personality matches with the values and mission of the country; I knew in advance that Canada was a just, straightforward, accepting country. I don't like the corruption that I experienced in India, so I thought I would move somewhere where there is justice and peace and acceptance and everything.
Jubin: Canada has a good living atmosphere and also equality - everyone has to work. In India, some people work, and others are getting rich from their work. In Canada it's not like that
Jilju: I thought Canada gave more opportunities and has a better quality of life for newcomers, and that's what I experienced. The only way we experience foreign culture is through the media or through movies, but what was described in the media and the movies was exactly what we got here.
Alex: Now that you're in Canada, how accurately, in your opinion, do people here see India?
Arun: Most people I talk to don't know a great deal about India. "Oh, you speak English!" - that's the main comment we hear from most people, because I think they think we don't speak English in India. But where we're from in India, very few schools teach in a language other than English. And to come to Canada, we have to pass international English exams.
But I don't blame anybody for these perceptions. If you look on TV, you only see slums in India. Poverty and corruption do exist, but it's not the full picture. We also have a diverse, multicultural society.
The best example is Slumdog Millionaire - it's a good movie. But the movie studio made a movie that would sell, without focusing on the good aspects of Indian society.
Jubin: People categorize India as a part of Asia, some people call me a Sri Lankan, some people call me a Pakistani. People characterize Indian people as all the same, but we're individuals as well.
Other people say, "Oh, you're coming from a 45 C country?" India has hot and cold parts as well.
Jilju: I am concerned that 75 per cent of people in Canada don't know much about our country. There are people that are very curious to know about Indian culture - our marriage, our culture, our climate, and so on. But most people don't have an accurate picture.
Alex: What are the biggest differences in day-to-day life and culture?
Sabu: We have deep family relationships back home, and I'm worried that they might be lost here. When people come to a restaurant here, the husband pays for himself and the wife pays for herself. They share their body, but they don't share their money. That gave me pause: what is their relationship? What does it mean? Is my son going to be the same way? There was some emptiness in the relationship that I could find.
Jilju: Adding to that, you might not be aware of your neighbours, but we are. That's the best example I can think of in terms of our relationships. That's what we maintain in our country. We know everyone in our community.
Sabu: Here, independence is emphasized, in India, family support is more emphasized. Canadians are actually taught from elementary school to be independent. Canada is not selfish, it's self-centered. Family and neighborhood relationships are more important in India. You have to compromise one or the other - either a good quality of life, or good family relationships.
Arun: The family life is more intact here than in Toronto, but it's still not as strong as in India. But in India, it's arguably too intense. The main difference is that we take care of our parents at home until they die. We do have old age homes now, but you can't find many people there.
My parents are now working for me - I never worked a part-time job while I was studying. When my father has such a relationship with me, I don't want him sent to an old age home or anywhere - I will take care of him until he dies.
In another way, the independence here is great. People learn more, they experience more. But when we visit old-age homes here with our church, they are almost too excited to talk to us. Even my grandmother lives at home in India right now.
The rest of the interview will be published in the Oct.26 News Optimist. If you are a new immigrant and would like to be interviewed for the paper, you can contact me at amcphail@newsoptimist.ca.
