Thunder Bay Multicultural Association Interesting Tid-bits

DID YOU KNOW...

·        TBMA began with the initiative of a group of university students who detected the need for services in languages other than English by a large ethnic community;

·        The students opened the doors of Thunder Bay's first immigrant serving centre, the Ethnic Referral Centre, on May 23, 1972; services provided included: information, referral, advocacy, translation, interpretive and escort services; funding was provided by Opportunities for Youth (OFY) grant, a 4 month project;

·        In an effort to extend the centre's services, the students turned to the Secretary of State and the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services for funding and for sponsors, approached the ethnic community; this initiated the process that lead to the formation of the Thunder Bay Council of Ethnic Organizations (TBCEO);

·        The Thunder Bay Council of Ethnic Organizations was incorporated in 1976 and took on the new name of the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association (TBMA);

·        TBMA has organized the annual Thunder Bay Folklore Festival for the past 35 years;

·        In 1978, the Ethnic Referral Centre was renamed the Immigration Information Centre, to reflect changes in service;

·        The Thunder Bay Multicultural Association implemented the Immigrant Women’s Program in 1979; the program lead to the creation of the Thunder Bay Immigrant and Visible Minority Women’s Organization;

·        The TBMA was also instrumental in establishing MANWO – the Multicultural Association of North-western Ontario – 1980;

·        On January 24, 1989, opening ceremonies were held in celebrate TBMA’s permanent home at 17 N. Court St. (the old Court Street Fire hall) from where it continues to serve immigrants and refugees and promote and publicize the ideals of Multiculturalism.

DID YOU ALSO KNOW...

·        Before the Canadian Citizenship Act of 1947 (amended in 1976), Canadians were either British subjects or 'aliens';

·        A major problem for immigrants involves recognition of skills and professional qualifications. Immigration recruits well-educated immigrants whose skills are in short supply or who can add to the economy but some Canadian employers will only hire immigrants with Canadian experience.

AND THAT...

·        Canadian Immigration Laws were once racist; "the Canadian Immigration Act of 1910 gave Cabinet power to reject immigrants on racial grounds; not until 1978 did a new immigration policy remove this power

-         Asians were denied entry from 1923-1956; farm labourers, domestics and Canadian males’ Asian wives and children under 18 were exempted;

-         The Chinese Head Tax was enforced under the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885  the head tax rose increasingly until it reached $500.00 in 1903;

-         Canada discriminated against Jews; Canada's Immigration Department was determined to keep out Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, the Holocaust and its aftermath via abuse of its powers; only 5,000 Jews were accepted between 1935 and 1945 (most, around 1939);

-         Canadian-born citizens of Japanese descent were subject to deportation under the authority of the War Measures Act – 1942; if natural-born British subjects of Japanese race, 16 years of age or over and a resident of Canada requested repatriation, his wife and children could be deported with him regardless if they wanted to leave;

·        With the Immigration Act of 1976, the Convention definition of refugees was incorporated into Law; the Act also noted the need to protect the Health, Safety, Security and good order of Canadian Society without discrimination based on race, nationality or ethnic origin, colour, religion or sex;

·        In 1971, Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau implemented the Policy of Multiculturalism which was partly considered to be a long-time solution to the integration of immigrants; however, the policy was never maximized in terms of funding and programs; a lack of coordination between short-term immigration services and long-term ethnic programmes – the separation of the deferral Immigration portfolio and Multiculturalism under the Secretary of State hindered Multiculturalism;

·        Bilingualism became official in the Constitution in 1982, but Quebec refused to sign;

·        Due to the racist backlash from increasing ethnic diversification of the Canadian population, the recession and high unemployment, there was a shift in emphasis form language and heritage maintenance programs to those dealing with racism and promoting better community relations.