Although the first Immigration Act was not issued until two years after Confederation, it was from 1867 onwards that the movement of people to Canada could be described as immigration and no longer just as colonization, explains Steven Schwinghamer, a researcher and historian at the Canadian Museum of Immigration. He says that “the process of colonization, which is ongoing,” continues to affect the reality of Indigenous peoples and informs the country’s migration policies. Under the various treaties that regulate the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the federal and provincial governments, they theoretically have a say, “but in reality, they don’t,” Schwinghamer says. In it, the federal authorities are called upon to provide more information to newcomers about “the diversity of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, including treaties and residential school history,” as well as to amend the citizenship oath. These calls to action were partially heeded, and also raise questions about the role that immigrants can play in the long march towards reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

Source: CBC News December 30, 2022 22:09 UTC