1. Trinidadians in Canada

2. South Asians now biggest visible minority (in Canada) 

3  Canada has 200,000 Guyanese

4.  Indo Caribbeans: A forgotten diaspora By Eve Pearce

5.   Indo Caribbean Women Aim High   by Eve Pearce

TRINIDADIANS IN CANADA

http://www.multiculturalcanada.ca/ecp/content/trinidadians.html

Origins

Trinidadians in Canada trace their origins to a country known as Trinidad and Tobago, composed of two islands off the coast of Venezuela. The vast majority of immigrants are from Trinidad, which has a population of 1.1 million people living in an area of 4,660 square kilometres. Tobago has only 50,000 people on an island of 300 square kilometres. Trinidad and Tobago is among the most industrialized of British Caribbean countries and it boasts a rapidly developing economy with one of the region’s highest standards of living.

The discovery in 1498 of Trinidad during the third voyage of Christopher Columbus began nearly three centuries of Spanish colonial rule and a clash of two world views – the subsistence economy of the native Amerindian population versus the European desire for surplus production. In the course of this conflict, the indigenous Arawak and Carib peoples (an estimated 40,000 at the time of Columbus’s arrival) were gradually decimated by European diseases and harsh treatment so that by about the year 1800 they were virtually extinct.

With the decline and eventual disappearance of the indigenous population, the Spanish brought African slaves to Trinidad during the eighteenth century to work on the plantations. By 1797, when Spain surrendered Trinidad and Tobago to Britain, of the islands’ 17,600 inhabitants, as many as 10,000 were slaves. Under British rule, sugar plantations expanded in size and number, and, after the abolition of slavery in the 1830s, the plantations’ slave labour force was replaced by indentured servants. Between 1842 and 1917, over 170,000 Chinese, Portuguese, and most especially Asian Indian immigrants, in return for free passage to Trinidad, were expected to work for a fixed wage during a period of five years before being able to return home. They were joined during the last decades of the nineteenth century by nearly 70,000 former American slaves, who were lured by the rich soil of the Caribbean islands. As a result, Trinidad was transformed into a multi-ethnic and multiracial society whose population today is about 40 percent Asian Indian (See also INDO-CARIBBEANS), 39 percent African, and 21 percent European, Asian, and mixed race. The country’s religious make-up also reflects its diversity, with 29 percent Roman Catholic, 24 percent Hindu, 23 percent Protestant (about half of whom are Anglican), and 6 percent Muslim.

Trinidad’s social and cultural pluralism has also made possible the formation of separate social, cultural, and economic organizations based on race or ethnicity, and this has at times led to racial tension. When the period of indenture expired, most Asian Indians did not have the means to return home and so remained in the Trinidadian countryside. There they came to dominate commercial activity in villages and small towns. For their part, the blacks who left the plantations and worked as free farmers saw education as the best vehicle to improve their social and economic status. Subsequently, many educated blacks in particular entered the local civil service. By the second half of the twentieth century, Asian Indians began moving to the cities, and, as they entered the professions and civic life, competition with blacks for leadership positions increased.

Traditionally, the minority white and mixed-race groups dominated Trinidadian political and economic life. As a result, in the Trinidadian psyche, blackness came to be associated with inferior status and subordination, whiteness with power and privilege. In an effort to accommodate themselves to this social equation, Asian Indians emphasize their association with the age-old civilization of their homeland, which in prehistoric times was the wellspring of Indo-European peoples, while the black elite readily adopts European, in particular British, values and traits.

Such attitudes continue to survive in Trinidadian society despite the end of colonial rule. The first step towards political change came in 1947, when the British government set out to create a union of Caribbean lands known as the Federation of the West Indies. Finally formed in 1958, the federation collapsed three years later. This prompted Trinidad and Tobago to declare its independence in 1962. During its first two decades of independent existence, the country’s economy flourished because of the success of the oil industry, although a drop in world oil prices in the 1980s caused a serious economic depression which continues to plague much of Trinidad’s economy.

Migration, Arrival, and Settlement

A small number of Trinidadians migrated to Canada before World War I, but it was not until the 1920s that they entered Canada in appreciable numbers. During that decade a few hundred were imported to work in the mines of Nova Scotia and the shipyards of Collingwood in Ontario and Halifax or to serve as porters, labourers, and chefs in the expanding railway systems. Some Trinidadians came to Canada to enlist in the Canadian army in World War II as part of the Allied war effort, and at the end of the war they were allowed to remain in Canada as immigrants. Prior to 1967, however, Canadian immigration restrictions generally excluded nonwhite immigrants or severely limited their numbers. From 1955 to 1965 Canada admitted only about 100 domestic servants each year from Trinidad.

While Trinidadians wished to immigrate to Canada, they were allowed to do so only when there was an overwhelming demand for their services in the labour market. For example, the domestic-servant scheme was introduced to meet the need for household help in the wealthy residential areas of Rosedale in Toronto and Westmount in Montreal. Similarly, railway porters and miners were admitted to Canada to fill specific needs in the labour force. A few individuals from Trinidad’s educated elite found employment at universities in Montreal, Toronto, and Nova Scotia. There was also a small number of university students, especially at the University of Manitoba. Nevertheless, because of the lukewarm reception they experienced, most returned home after graduation. During the entire period from 1905 to 1965 fewer than 3,000 Trinidadians were permitted to enter Canada.

In 1967 Canada’s new immigration regulations for the first time placed non-whites on an equal footing with whites and instituted a non-discriminatory immigration policy. As a result, between 1967 and 1990 over 100,000 Trinidadians migrated to Canada. It is difficult to estimate the size of the Trinidadian population in Canada because of inaccurate census reporting and an absence of statistics on both return migration and illegal migration.

The 1991 census reported approximately 15,000 individuals of Trinidadian origin in Canada (8,935 single response, 6,340 multiple response). However, a more reasonable estimate of the number of people of Trinidadian background resident in Canada at the present time is 150,000. Because immigration statistics do not show the racial backgrounds of migrants, the racial composition of the Trinidadian-Canadian population is unclear. On the basis of the racial characteristics of the population of Trinidad, however, it can be estimated that 80 percent of the Trinidadian immigrants in Canada are of African or Asian Indian background, evenly distributed, while the rest are of white, Chinese, or mixed racial backgrounds.

On arrival in Canada, 65 percent of Trinidadian immigrants have settled in Ontario, and of these the majority have chosen the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) of Toronto as their place of residence. Other cities in Ontario that have attracted Trinidadians are Ottawa, Hamilton, and Windsor. Smaller numbers have also settled in the CMAs of Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton. The proportion of skilled and professional people among the immigrants from Trinidad is high. In the period 1967–90, 8 percent of the immigrants were classified in the managerial, professional, or technical category, 12 percent as clerical workers, 14 percent as skilled workers, and less than 10 percent as unskilled labourers. The selection process of Canada’s immigration program has favoured immigrants who are highly educated and well qualified, but unfortunately a number of variables, including racial discrimination and non-acceptance of out-of-country qualifications, have allowed the human resources of Trinidadian immigrants to remain largely untapped.

The present settlement pattern of Trinidadians in Canada’s major urban centres is related to the patterns of residential concentration established by Trinidadian immigrants in earlier periods. There are distinct Trinidadian and West-Indian neighbourhoods in the various boroughs of Metropolitan Toronto. For example, there are heavy concentrations of Trinidadians in the areas around Bloor and Bathurst, Pape and Eglinton, Jane and Finch, Lawrence and Victoria Park, and Keele and Shepherd. For Trinidadian professionals who have been established in Canada for a longer period, occupational mobility has also meant geographical mobility and residence in the more upscale suburban areas of Markham, Oakville, Scarborough, or Richmond Hill. In this regard, Trinidadians are mirroring the earlier settlement and dispersal patterns of white immigrant groups, who settled in working-class neighbourhoods in inner-city Toronto and after a period of time relocated to suburban neighbourhoods. From the perspective of assisting in the adaptation of Trinidadian immigrants to mainstream Canadian society, residential dispersion must be seen as a positive facet of Canadian society.

For many Trinidadians, the norm on arriving in Canada is to reside with friends or relatives for a short period, and then to move to a rented apartment in the next settlement phase. In the 1970s the majority of immigrants were in the independent category, but in the 1980s a larger number of the new arrivals were sponsored immigrants, who came to Canada as a result of the family-reunification program. The transition from home to host country has probably been smoother and less stressful for sponsored immigrants who have the assistance, social and financial, of family members. The presence of a large number of networks of various kinds within the Trinidadian communities in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver is another asset for immigrants who have arrived in the 1980s and after.

Economic and Community Life

Like most Caribbean migrants, Trinidadians have moved to Canada because of the possibility of improving their own economic prospects and especially those of their children. Because of discrimination, initially many fail to find jobs commensurate with their educational achievements. It is ironic that the qualifications needed to gain entry into Canada are subsequently not recognized in the job market.

Although most Trinidadians have suffered downward occupational mobility on their arrival in Canada, the majority have returned to their original status positions by their second decade in Canada, and many have achieved upward occupational mobility. Trinidadians can be found at every occupational level in the private and public sectors, and they have achieved success as doctors, lawyers, judges, civil servants, teachers, university professors, engineers, skilled technicians, and artisans. Today, second-generation Trinidadians continue to excel in academic and professional, and also cultural and athletic, careers.

As the vertical mosaic slowly turns into a more horizontal one, and as business opportunities expand, more Trinidadians are becoming owners of small businesses. Their entrepreneurial spirit can be seen in their operation of firms in the skilled trades, beauty salons, grocery stores, travel agencies, restaurants, insurance brokerages, real-estate companies, accounting offices, and countless other small business. The Trinidadian presence in the economic sphere can be seen most prominently in the business districts of inner-city Toronto and Montreal, as well as in the shopping centres and strip malls of North York and Scarborough.

Nevertheless, the unemployment rate among Trinidadians is higher than that for Canadian-born with similar educational and occupational backgrounds. This is in large part the result of the racial discrimination that Trinidadian immigrants face in Canadian society. For example, a 1983 study undertaken by the Urban Alliance on Race Relations has shown that Trinidadians are four times more likely to be refused interviews for jobs for which they are qualified than their white counterparts. Trinidadian women are doubly discriminated against, with both race and gender contributing to keep them in low-status positions.

In the 1970s newly arrived Trinidadians, faced with loneliness and overt attitudes of hostility and marginalized by mainstream Canadians, had no alternative but to turn to one another for social, psychological, and emotional support. As their numbers grew, they established formal and informal organizations and associations to meet the functional needs of their community. In some instances these organizations are political in nature, and their aim is to protest racism and social injustice. The majority of the organizations, however, are voluntary associations organized to provide opportunities for members of the group to mix and mingle, exchange ideas, and offer social support to each other.

The most popular associations are social and recreational clubs, followed by church groups, youth groups, and political and service associations. Their main role is to further the quality of life and social contacts of their members. Among the most active of these associations have been the Trinidad-Canada Association, the Caribana Association, the Indo-Caribbean Association, and the United Muslim Association, all of which were established in Toronto in the 1970s. Trinidadians are also members of, and have played a prominent role in, organizations that represent other Caribbean and black peoples, such as the National Black Coalition, the United Negro Improvement Association, the Black Heritage Association, the African Canadian Entrepreneurs Association, and the Caribbean Canadian Business and Professionals Association. Although the Caribana Association and the Indo-Caribbean Association are not exclusively Trinidadian, both organizations are dominated by Trinidadians, the former by Trinidadians of African heritage, the latter by those of South Asian heritage.

One of the problems facing Trinidadians in Canada is the inability of the community to unite and establish dynamic leadership. Plagued by schisms, jealousies, and petty infighting, the associations remain weak and are thus ineffective in communicating with the rest of Canadian society. Second-generation Trinidadian Canadians are less likely to rely on the pattern of informal associations and clubs which has been the norm for the first generation. They are more interested in developing formal associations similar to those of the host society.

Religious associations and church membership are highly valued by Trinidadian Canadians of all social and ethnic groups. Among Trinidadians who are not of Asian Indian origin, membership in a Christian church is the norm. Since Canadian churches have welcomed Trinidadian immigrants, they have not needed to establish their own churches. The Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches have attracted the largest memberships. Among the Asian Indian population, both Hindus and Muslims have allied themselves with others of their faiths to establish Hindu mandirs and Muslim mosques. In general, Canada’s tolerance for multifaith religious institutions has allowed for a comfortable adjustment in religious practices for Trinidadians.

Sports and recreational clubs are popular in the Trinidadian community. In every large city, particularly Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, cricket and soccer clubs organized by Trinidadians can be found. In most instances these clubs belong to West Indian cricket or soccer leagues, but in some cases, as in Ottawa, Windsor, and Hamilton, they are part of city-wide leagues. After-hours recreational clubs, where members congregate for dancing and socializing, are common in all the large cities of Canada. In addition, restaurants and taverns that cater to the wider Caribbean community usually have a large Trinidadian clientele.

Family and Kinship Patterns

In discussing Trinidadian family life in Canada, two major points must be made. First, family life in Trinidad differs according to social status and ethnic origin, and the kind of family life established in the homeland has a marked impact on the type of family relationship that an immigrant family develops in Canada. Second, the nuclear family is not the norm for the majority of working-class Trinidadians.

The typical working-class Trinidadian family is not based on the father/mother/child nucleus, but consists of a grandmother, her adult sons and daughters, and her daughters’ children. For lower-class blacks in Trinidad, European-style monogamy and legal marriage represented an ideal that, although recognized, was often unrealized. What was generally the norm was a common-law relationship, usually matrilineally based, and related to the economic reality of the post-emancipation society. The Canadian norm of a legally sanctioned marriage and a nuclear-family relationship is also the norm for upper- and middle-class Trinidadians, whose income and status dictate that they adopt European family values. For the Asian Indian group, in the early colonial period, marriages were arranged, monogamous, and celebrated with a religious ceremony. With the advent of modernism, the extended family has largely given way to the nuclear family, and a civil marriage now accompanies the religious ceremony. Legal divorce is now accepted in the Asian Indian community, and romantic love is more and more the justification for marriage.

There are many changes from traditional family life for Trinidadian immigrants in Canada. The extended family is almost non-existent because it is mainly young adults who have migrated. Also, migration to Canada is associated with improved social status, and, even for those in lower socio-economic positions, legal marriage is more likely to be the norm. Research suggests that those who have been resident in Canada longer, who have children residing with them, and who are in their forties are more likely to be legally married and to live in family relationships that conform to the Canadian norm. For others, the trend has been to continue to live in a common-law relationship, although legalization of the marriage after a period of years is becoming common. Interestingly, according to the latest census statistics, the Canadian norm of the nuclear family is increasingly being replaced by alternative marriage patterns, with common-law relationships becoming more popular in Canadian society: 30 percent of Canadians were living in non-nuclear family relationships in 1991.

Within the Trinidadian-Canadian black community, the strength of the consanguineous kinship link is stronger among lower-class than in middle- and upper-class families, and matrilineal kinship ties remain strong among recent adult migrants. In Trinidad, for some lower-class black families the father-child bond is often tenuous. The migration and resettlement process, however, seems to have engendered an awareness of the role of the father in the wider Canadian society, and, as a result, many Trinidadian-Canadian fathers are reinterpreting their role in relation to their children in the context of local patterns.

Culture

No activity delineates the cultural heritage of Trinidadians in Canada more clearly than the annual Caribana festivals. Caribana was originally held only in Toronto (the first being in 1967), but now similar festivals are a major highlight of summer activities in most of the major cities of Canada. The lengthy parade of elaborately costumed masqueraders, accompanied by steel bands, has its origins in the pre-Lenten carnival celebrations of Trinidad. Carnival festivals take place in all the islands of the Caribbean, and today the Caribana committees in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Windsor have become Caribbean in flavour rather than exclusively Trinidadian. The hundreds of thousands of participants, white and non-white, who take to the streets to celebrate with dance and the music of the steel drum and the calypso represent one of the best examples of cultural pluralism at work in Canada.

The persistence of Trinidadian culture in Canada is also seen in the upsurge in literature and theatre and dance performances. Trinidadians such as Neil Bissoondath, Ramabai Espinet, Frank Birbalsingh, and Samuel Selvon, in literature, and Jeff Henry, in dance and theatre, have successfully imprinted the cultural values of Trinidad on the Canadian psyche. The Caribbean Theatre Workshop, founded in Toronto in 1971, has been successful in bringing celebrated Trinidadian and Caribbean theatre and dance troupes to Canada. Through federal and provincial grants, it has also assisted young Trinidadians interested in careers in the theatre arts to write and stage plays and dance theatre. Calypso and steel-band music, which originated in Trinidad, has become known all around the world, and it is increasingly popular in the night clubs of Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa.

In the major Canadian cities the airwaves are filled with the music of Trinidadians. Lately, Indo-Trinidadian music has become very popular, particularly in Toronto, and it is heard on weekly programs on ethnic radio stations. In the 1990s Trinidadian musicians performing calypso and steel-band music are also seen regularly on television programs in Toronto, and to a lesser extent in other large cities.

To date, no Trinidadian-Canadian press has been established. In the 1970s and early 1980s the West Indian newspaper ContrastContrast’s columnists were from Trinidad, and the problems and issues of Trinidadians at home and abroad were widely discussed. Today, at least five newspapers, including Share, Indo-Caribbean World, Caribbean Camera, Metro World,Pride, serve the Trinidadian and wider Caribbean community. These weekly newspapers, all published in Toronto, were started in the 1980s, and are distributed without charge in large Canadian cities. They not only provide a forum for commentary on social, cultural, and political issues affecting Trinidadians and other West Indians in Canada, but they also report on the state of affairs in the Caribbean home countries. Indo-Caribbean World, the first newspaper catering to the special problems of Asian Indian immigrants from Trinidad and Guyana, is widely distributed across Canada. (Toronto, 1969–85) had wide distribution among immigrants from all the former British West Indies, including Trinidadian Canadians. Many of and the magazine-format

It is clear that the amalgam known as Trinidadian culture, stitched together from the cloth of a dozen racial groups, with its special artistic, literary, musical, dance, theatrical, and culinary forms, has flourished in the Canadian mosaic. Cultural leadership has developed within the Trinidadian-Canadian community, and cultural organizations, as well as recreational and sports clubs, have an active core of support. The special achievement of the cultural leaders of the community is their ability not only to create opportunities for the maintenance of Trinidadian culture within the community, but also to introduce the culture to the host society.

Intergroup Relations and Group Maintenance

Although the majority of Trinidadian immigrants in the 1970s and 1980s at first experienced downward occupational mobility, most eventually regained their original status, and some attained upward occupational mobility. Since there is a direct correlation between an improvement in one’s status and satisfaction with the migratory experience, the majority of Trinidadian immigrants rate their adaptation to Canada as successful. The Canadian experience has also been positive for those whose expectations of the educational system have been fulfilled.

In addition, Trinidadians view their socio-economic status and standard of living in Canada positively in comparison to life in the home country. Variables that contribute to this positive assessment include better health, education, social services, and pension benefits. Status dislocations and discrimination, while discouraging, are seen as obstacles that can be overcome. The key variables in successful adaptation to life in Canada would appear to be length of residence in Canada and occupational status. Professional, technical, and skilled workers are more likely to express satisfaction with their migration experience, to suffer less from discrimination, and to be pleased with their new lifestyle.

Trinidadian immigrants generally become Canadian citizens and see their migration as permanent. As members of a unique cultural group, they have adapted well to multicultural Canada. Their community is large enough to be institutionally complete in the cultural sphere, and yet at the same time it is part of the wider Caribbean community. It is this broader Caribbean community that acts as an umbrella group for cultural events such as Caribana, as well as in social and political lobbying in the wider Canadian society.

One of the issues facing the Trinidadian community in Canada is the creation and nurturing of a Trinidadian identity, over and above their African or South Asian ancestral origins. On a superficial level, at work and in membership in associations such as sports clubs, the two groups interact as a common entity. In terms of friendship networks and associational ties, however, ethnic background often takes precedence over national origin. While community leaders understand that ethnic insularity has a negative impact on the creation of a Trinidadian-Canadian identity, the task of developing this group identity remains daunting.

Asian Indians from Trinidad seem to have developed close associational and religious ties with other Asian Indians from Guyana and the Indian subcontinent, while African Trinidadians have close personal and associational ties with other immigrants from the British Caribbean who are of African descent. This schismatic structure is the dilemma of all multicultural societies, and Trinidad itself presents a classic example of this problem.

A Trinidadian identity is being passed on to second-generation Trinidadian Canadians who are born in Canada, but it is a selective identity, reinforcing those parts of the national culture with which the parents identify. The clear exceptions to this trend are in the areas of music and cuisine, where a national consensus and acceptance have overcome the racial divide.

The Trinidadian-Canadian community has made positive strides in integrating with and adapting to their host society. Given the multicultural structure of Canadian society, and the similar culturally pluralistic background that Trinidadians bring with them to Canada, becoming part of the Canadian mosaic, while challenging, would appear to be an attainable goal.

Further Reading

For histories of Trinidad and Tobago, readers might consult E. Williams, History of the Peoples of Trinidad and Tobago (Port of Spain, 1962); S. MacDonald, Trinidad and Tobago: Democracy and Development in the Caribbean (New York, 1986); and F. Augier, The Making of the West Indies (London, 1961). Descriptive analysis of the major racial groups in Trinidad are provided in Kevin A. Yelvington, ed., Trinidad Ethnicity (Knoxville, Tenn., 1993); M. Klass, East Indians in Trinidad (New York, 1961); and J. LaGuerre, ed., Calcutta to Caroni (Port of Spain, 1974).

For an analysis of the history and sociology of Trinidadians in Canada, some of the best sources are James Walker, The West Indians in Canada (Ottawa, 1984); W. Anderson, Caribbean Immigrants: A Socio-Demographic Profile (Toronto, 1990); Subhas Ramcharan, Racism: Non-Whites in Canada (Toronto, 1982); R. Chodos, The Caribbean Connection (Toronto, 1977); and Robin Winks The Blacks in Canada (Montreal, 1971).

In terms of the social, economic, and cultural organization of Trinidadians, the earliest study was Subhas Ramcharan, The Adaptation of West Indians in Canada (Toronto, 1974). Other works include Wilson Head, The Black Presence in the Canadian Mosaic (Toronto, 1975); Francis Henry, The Colour of DemocracyThe Caribbean Diaspora in TorontoImmigrant Settlement and Integration in Canada (Toronto, 1990), and Anthony Richmond, Caribbean Immigrants (Ottawa, 1989), provide important analyses of social and economic adaptation issues. Anthony Richmond and A. Mendoza, “Education and Qualifications of Caribbean Migrants and their Children,” in R. Palmer, ed., In Search of a Better Life: Perspectives on Migration from the Caribbean (New York, 1990), provide an in-depth analysis of the educational issues confronting the Trinidadian community. The role and status of Indo-Trinidadians in Canada are discussed in Milton Israel, In the Further Soil. A Social History of Indo-Canadians in Ontario (Toronto, 1994); F. Birbalsingh, Indenture and Exile (Toronto, 1989); and G. Kurian and R. Srivastava, Overseas Indians. A Study in Adaptation (New Delhi, 1983). (Toronto, 1994); and idem., (Toronto, 1994). Clifford Jansen and Anthony Richmond,

Weekly newspapers provide much information about the Trinidadian community. Throughout the 1970s and continuing until 1985, the black and West Indian community newspaper Contrast was the major source of information for news and events about the Trinidadian community in Toronto and Canada, as well as providing news about events in the homeland. Since the late 1980s Caribbean Camera, Pride, and Share have recorded Trinidadian community and cultural events in Toronto. The newspaper Indo-Caribbean World (Toronto) began is a major source of social and cultural information for Trinidadians of South Asian background in Canada. As well, the journal Indo-Caribbean Review (Toronto) provides a multidisciplinary analysis of Indo-Trinidadian issues in Canada.

As a source of information on the socio-demographic profile of the Trinidadian population in Canada, Statistics Canada’s Immigration Statistics (Ottawa, 1994) is invaluable. It provides an excellent demographic profile of the migrant on arrival, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic status of the group in Canada.

SUBHAS RAMCHARAN

South Asians now biggest visible minority

By Roop Misir, PhD

Data from the recent census suggest that immigrants are coming to Canada in record numbers. An article in the Globe and Mail indicates that the number of visible minorities has reached five million. This represents 16.2 per cent of Canada’s total population (data released April 02 2008). Now for the first time ever, South Asians form Canada's largest visible minority group, surpassing citizens of Chinese origin. Included among South Asians are Indo-Caribbean peoples.
     “Visible minority” is the term to describe persons who are not of the majority race in a given population. In March 2007, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described this term as racist, since it singles out a specific group. Despite this, Canadians have grown accustomed to its use. To us, “visible minorities” refers to “persons (other than Aboriginals) who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in color”. Statistics Canada uses it as a demographic category to reflect our country's multiculturalism. Visible minorities are designated as a protected group under the Canadian Employment Equity Act.
     In Canada, the term “South Asian” refers to any person whose ethnicity is associated with the southern part of Asia, or one who self-identifies with the South Asian visible minority group. This definition encompasses people from a great diversity of ethnic backgrounds-Afghanistan, Bangladeshi, Bengali, Goan, Gujarati, Hindu, Ismaili, Kashmiri, Nepali, Pakistani, Punjabi, Sikh, Sinhalese, Sri Lankan and Tamil ancestry. South Asians may have been born in Canada, on the Indian sub-continent, as well as in Africa, Great Britain, the Caribbean (Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago), or elsewhere.
    The growth in the visible minority population was driven largely by immigration (as opposed to natural birth). Between 2001 and 2006, it soared 26.2 per cent, five times faster than the 5.4 per cent increase for the population as a whole. South Asians are now Canada's largest visible minority.lion people—a 38% increase. The next largest visible minority group comprises Canadians who self-identified as Chinese increased 18.2% to 1.2 million. Indo-Guyanese arrivals showed a 4.2%, and Trinidad & Tobago (2.5%).
    Over the past 25 years Canada's visible minority population has grown steadily. In 1981,  the estimated 1.1 million represented 4.7 per cent of Canada's total population. Today, this figure stands at five million. If current immigration trends continue, visible minorities will account for about one-fifth of Canada's population by 2017.
  Traditionally, the vast majority of visible minority (nearly 96 per cent) resides in metropolitan areas, mainly in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. In recent year however, other cities like Abbotsford BC, and Calgary AB are also attracting large numbers.
         Competing for Immigrants
For most countries, it is established that a vibrant economy requires a large population. Like Canada, other developed countries also experience similar declines in their natural population growth, and they wish to maintain their already high standards of living. The fear is that their economic prosperity will be compromised unless they have a large resident population to produce goods and services for domestic use and also for overseas markets. Thus, the campaign is on to attract skilled immigrants.
             Immigrants as “Enrichment”
As far as the European Union (EU) is concerned, opinion polls suggest that citizens believe immigrants make a meaningful contribution to the economy and society. Speaking at a conference in Lisbon recently, EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini informed his audience that European governments should regard immigration not a threat but as an “enrichment". He pointed out that while the US was getting 55% of all skilled migrants, Europe was able to attract a mere 5%. He noted that skills shortages were already noticeable in a number of sectors, and that this trend was not going to improve any time soon. He then called for an overhaul of the immigration system to attract more skilled immigrants.
        Ways Canada Attracts Immigrants

The following can be considered the dream of every qualified prospective immigrant. Are peoples from the Caribbean taking note?

        Reduced Application Fee

A Permanent Residence fee of $975 per person was imposed in 1995. This was later reduced to $490. Of course, many people argue that the fee should be eliminated altogether.
        Trained Student Ambassadors

Foreign students on visa can study and work concurrently if they choose to do so. Upon graduation, they can apply for immigrant status. However, even if some choose to return to their home countries, their work experience and fond memories will make them ambassadors of Canadian businesses and technology. In this way the rest of the world can get a better picture of the wonderful country of Canada—a vast land rich in culture and valuable resources (lumber, minerals, petroleum). Only recently, Prime Minister Steven Harper described Canada as an “energy superpower”; but equally important is the manufacturing sector (aerospace, automobiles, high technology, shipbuilding). Indeed Canada’s cutting edge technology makes it more than a just an agricultural country (producing wheat, canola, dairy and meat). This latter distinction has earned the Canadian Prairie Provinces the reputation as being the “bread basket of the world”. So foreign students trained at Canadian universities and colleges are in the best position to advertise our country to the outside world, making it more attractive to prospective immigrants.

     Secular Education System

The type of broad-based education available in Canada is the envy of the world. And even if new immigrants fail to find their dram jobs upon arrival, at least they can take comfort that their children are going to get the best type of education. Here students are taught tolerance and open-mindedness in non-segregated schools. They learn modern ways of looking at old problems. In the process, they develop mutual respect and embrace technological innovation. And living in multicultural Canada gives them to appreciate the big cultural picture. It makes them better citizens of the world—one where eventually the question of one’s race, belief system and ethnicity is less important than their contribution to society.

          Temporary Workers  

In 2005, there were there were some 95,000 temporary workers to cover a wide range of jobs. Many found employment in the agriculture sector, and in the booming housing sector. But since then, economic activity has temporarily slowed.
    On the larger question of immigration to Canada, can a Temporary Foreign Worker Program be part of the solution? No doubt, some of them may choose to become immigrants in due course; but many apparently prefer to be migrant workers. Under this arrangement, they can live in their home countries, and choose to work for part of the year in Canada. If this seems like having the best of both worlds, then perhaps it is. However, large numbers of temporary workers tend to highlight the need to publishing information on the specific categories of skilled immigrants needed in Canada. This is to ensure that those who come here have meaningful jobs, and are not part of a greater problem.
 
And what about “illegal” workers? Are they going to play a greater role in the Canadian economy in the years ahead? Will they acquire legal immigration status at some time in the future?

         Implications for Canada

The number of visible minorities in Canada has cracked the five million mark for the first time in history. Over the years, many people from Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago came as immigrants to settle here. Canada is demonstrating to the world that when faced with a declining birth rate, an enlightened immigration policy can meet population targets and skills requirements to facilitate continued economic prosperity. In this respect, Canada may be emulating what South Asian countries have done for millennia. For example India offered home for peoples from all over the world. While a great many came as marauders, plunderers and conquerors, collectively their presence did have positive outcomes. Today, as India and other South Asian countries reclaim their rightful place on the world stage, Canada is also demonstrating that by attracting people from diverse backgrounds to our shores, that the peoples of the world can be one family.

[Dr. Roop Misir is an Indo-Canadian Teacher with the Toronto District School Board. Please send your comments to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it ]

Canada has 200,000 Guyanese

(From Toward developing Guyana)

BY PREM MISIR
Guyana Chronicle article aug 25, 2007


An important consequence of globalization is the constant migration of skilled professionals from Guyana into mainly developed nations; it is a phenomenon that affects all developing economies. Today, I want to present the usefulness of the Guyanese Diaspora, Guyanese living abroad, to development in this country. 
The Government of Guyana cannot coerce its people to return as remigrants; but through its National Competitiveness Strategy, the Government may be able to tap into the Diaspora resources for this country’s development. And why not?
A report that 86% of Guyana's graduates are emigrants has become an important pastime and exudes considerable excitement for some. 
The brain drain phenomenon has been a recurring decimal throughout the 20th century in different parts of the globe. In fact, the 20th century is the century of refugees; the century of migration.
The rate of Guyanese emigration has consistently increased since the early 1950s. Official statistics show that 32,000 persons emigrated between 1960 and 1970; and about 10,000 persons per year emigrated within the 1975-79 period. Between 1969 and 1976, 48,639 Guyanese migrated overseas, with 40.8% to the U.S., 30.7% to Canada, and 11.3% to the United Kingdom.
Today, the Guyanese Diaspora is huge, as depicted in this table.

United Kingdom 85,000 
United States 400,000 
Canada  200,000  
Suriname 40,000  
Venezuela 50,000
Brazil 10,000 
Caribbean Islands  150,000
Other 25,000 
Total  960,000
Source: The Guyana Consulate, Toronto, Canada, 2007

The emigration rates of skilled workers of Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, and Haiti were in excess of 80% in 2000; the Philippines, India, and China have 1,260,879, 1,012,613, and 906,337, respectively; the largest pool of overseas talent, huge diasporas.

The Global Economic Prospects 2006, a World Bank publication, indicates that about 200 million people live outside of their home countries; their remittances totalling about US$225 billion in 2005; a tremendous booster for poverty alleviation.
Anyway, it’s good that we have Balasubramanyam and Wei of the University of Lancaster, bearers of good tidings, amid the shocking news of 86% of graduates fleeing Guyana and the rest of CARICOM; they propose that the rate of return to a unit of investment by the diaspora may be greater than that of the traditional foreign direct investment (FDI) from non-diasporans. Balasubramanyam and Wei noted that the diaspora is more than a source of funds; the diaspora also is a source of skills and expertise.
Therefore, we now have to locate the Non-Resident Guyanese (NRGs), especially those in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom, if we are to economically transform Guyana. India and China thrive on their diasporas. Why can’t Guyana? How can NRGs help?
NRGs can make technology and know-how available to Guyana; in the same way that Indian software firms outsource with diaspora firms in the U.S.; local Guyanese companies could strive to effect business arrangements with Guyanese diaspora firms.
NRGs can make direct investments to Guyana; again, some diaspora packaging investments already have arrived and have been activated; perhaps, Guyana may now see the beginnings of diaspora joint ventures or acquisitions.
NRGs’ involvement in Guyana may be guided not only by the profit motive, but by a genuine desire for establishing and sustaining a base in their country of origin, that could be of mutual benefit to both groups of stakeholders. NRGs through a sustained engagement in their country of origin may in the end reduce permanent migration.
But NRGs have to be mobilized, so that professionally-skilled people that emigrate are not completely lost to the sending country. Some policy is necessary to intensify the creation of brain circulation networks; and eliminate this constant brooding over brain drain. And, indeed, greater tapping of the Guyanese diaspora resources will bolster macroeconomic stability.

Indo Caribbean: A Forgotten Diaspora

By Eve Pearce

History is full of mass migrations, from the original exodus and diaspora of the Israelites in the bible, to the countless Africans taken across the Atlantic as slaves. However, one group of people, who found themselves thousands of miles from their original homeland, is not as well known.

The Indo Caribbeans are a product of the abolition of slavery. The Caribbean islands were once under the colonial control of Britain and France. Prized for their plantations, these islands provided large incomes for the British and French colonial Empires. However, when slavery was abolished throughout Britain and Europe, the colonial powers needed to find a cheap solution because the former slaves were unwilling to work for low wages and their former masters unwilling to employ the newly freed slaves.

Indentured workers

While the British and French tried unsuccessfully to import labor from other areas of the world, it was from the British Raj of India that they found their solution. Over half a million Indians, mainly from the poorer states of Utter Pradesh and Bihar, became indentured workers. These were workers not classified as slaves due to being paid. However, their wages were very low, and they were forced to except the terms offered by the British, namely to work for a minimum of five years, after which they would be allowed to return home. However, it didn’t work out that way.

These days, with cheap travel and regular around the world flights, it is hard to imagine just what it was like to for these indentured workers to be transported all the way from India to the Caribbean. Today, where travel is quick and comfortable, when we have travel insurance, low cost flights and cheap hotel accommodation, traveling to the Caribbean is considered a luxury. A modern airline traveling from Calcutta to the Caribbean takes about 36 hours, with at least one stop off. However, from 1838 to 1917, when these indentured workers were transported to the colonial islands, the only form of transportation was by ship and it could take anything from three to five months to get there. Many of the workers traveling abroad this way, had families left at home and many would never get to see them again. In addition, passengers often had to endure terrible conditions. While many of us may find it uncomfortable on a long haul flight when traveling abroad in economy class and may not think much of the airline food, think just how the indentured workers felt. These people were trapped for five months on a ship, often in steerage, with very little room to walk around and had to exist on very poor quality food.

Indo Caribbean culture

When they arrived, the work was extremely tough and arduous, with their new masters treating them no better than they did the slave workers before them. Cruelty and abuse was common, and while may of these indentured workers were promised their passage home after finishing their service, rarely was this the case. Workers were often forced to sign new contracts, and few indentured workers ever returned home. Instead, they became a sub culture in the Caribbean communities in which they found themselves.

Having come from a culture far removed from the islands they now found themselves in, the Indo Caribbean people bought with them many of their culture and traditions, which helped influence the evolution of the islands, making them what they are today. Traditional Indian festivals such as Diwali are still celebrated on islands such as Trinidad and Tobago, and you'll find Hindu temples on many of the Caribbean islands.

Today's Indo Caribbean community

Today, over 2.5 million people in the Caribbean are of Indian origin, and many Indo Caribbean's have since emigrated around the world. Canada, in particular, has a very large Indo Caribbean community. Living mainly in Southern Ontario, with smaller communities in Hamilton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Montreal, Halifax, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver, over 250,000 Indo Caribbeans now live in Canada. In fact, the country has been home to Indo Caribbeans for over a century, since Dr Kenneth Mahabir arrived from Trinidad and M.N. Santoo from Guyana in 1908. Nearly two thirds of Canada's Indo Caribbean population come from Guyana. Most are permanently settled residents and include notable figures such as Canadian CBC news anchor and broadcaster Ian Hanomansing, Hedy Fry, eminent Member of the Canadian Parliament, and Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Melanie Fiona.

Other notable Indo Caribbeans around the world include: American actress and R&B singer Tatyana Marisol Ali, famous for playing Ashley in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; former West Indies cricket captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was the first Indo-Caribbean to play 100 Tests for the team; and Sir V. S. Naipaul, British Indo Caribbean author who won both the Nobel Prize in Literature and the Man Booker Prize.

Indo-Caribbean Women Aim High

 By Eve Pearce

As the world becomes more educated and politically correct, there has been a massive change in the prominence of women in Indo-Caribbean culture. From Nicki Minaj, who has become a world renowned pop star, to Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the recently elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, perceptions of Indo-Caribbean women are changing for the better.

Onika Tanya Maraj

Onika Tanya Maraj, more famously known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, was born and initially raised in Saint James in Trinidad, the home of recent Indo-Caribbean feminism. Although she moved to New York when she was five years old, it was her roots which drove her to succeed both as a representative of women and as an individual. Her initial role model was her mother, also a successful Indo-Caribbean woman, who held several job titles including accountant, gospel singer and foreign exchange teller. This inherent drive for knowledge and education, change and improvement, was undoubtedly important in shaping Onika’s own ambitions, and it is becoming a clear characteristic of Indo-Caribbean women worldwide.

An intelligent and well-educated girl, Onika is now a successful songwriter, singer, rapper and television personality, as well as inventing an artistic portrayal of her character, with alter egos and varied accents; the diversity of talents seem to stem from an equally diverse and culturally rich upbringing. Onika shared her mother's drive to succeed and expand her knowledge, attending Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210 and later graduating from LaGuardia High School, which specialised in music and the arts. As a teen she loved to read educational books and play the clarinet, initially dreaming of becoming an actress. When this career path led to various dead ends, Onika changed her career plans towards music and was initially signed by Dirty Money Entertainment after posting some of her songs on her MySpace. She has since released three albums and four mixtapes, including several number one singles and a number one album. Due to her ambition and her success, she is a role model to many young girls worldwide. 

Kamla Persad-Bissessar

The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar is the current Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, making her another ideal example of a strong, independent Indo-Caribbean woman. She was sworn in on the 26th of May 2010 and was the first female PM in the Republic's history. She is the party leader of the United National Congress, and was also the first woman to ever act as Attorney General, or acting Prime Minister, as she did in 1995 and 2001. 

Kamla, as she is known throughout the country, grew up in a rural district of Trinidad and Tobago, and like Onika, her mother was the driving figure behind her education and higher education, which was completed at Norwood Technical College in the United Kingdom at a time when the social and cultural norms of the Republic confined women and girls very much to the home and marriage. Although Kamla worked as a social worker in London during her education, she was a scholar at heart, and she returned to the Republic on its completion and began to teach at the University of the West Indies. She had strong forward-thinking beliefs that everyone should be treated equally, including women and ethnic minorities, and continued her education as an adult, eventually graduating from the Hugh Wooding Law School and becoming a full time attorney-at-law. Kamla never lost the drive to learn, and as recently as 2006 she graduated again, this time with a Masters in Business Administration from the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business in Trinidad. 

According to her official website:

'Persad-Bissessar began her political career in local government as an Alderwoman. Subsequently, Persad-Bissessar contested and lost her first parliamentary elections at a time when the parliamentary benches were dominated by men. But she says, "The acute disappointment I felt did not deter me." It was her remarkable persistence and forward thinking that enabled her to achieve greater heights in the political world.'

Again, this persistence and drive was something inherent that seems to stem from her Indo-Caribbean roots and her culturally diverse upbringing. Kamla is also an example of a massive role model for young Indo-Caribbean women living today, as the world continues to change and become more socially accepting and educated. Indeed, in the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies, run by the University of the West Indies, Kamla is actually described as the 'apex of Indo-Caribbean feminism'.

Indo-Caribbean Women's Literature

Prominent writers in the field of Indo-Caribbean women's literature include Shani Mootoo, who was born in Ireland to Trinidadian parents, and Lakshmi Persaud, a lifelong native of Trinidad and Tobago. Just last year, a book of critical essays was published, Critical Perspectives on Indo-Caribbean Women’s Literature, by Joy Mahabir. This is the first critical book on Indo-Caribbean women's writing and  it analyses the literature in great depth from a number of interesting perspectives, such as feminism, post-colonialism and also Caribbean cultural theories. This book and other relevant texts, such as Diasporic Dis (Locations) Indo-Caribbean Women Writers Negotiate the "Kala Pani" are available from Valore Books. This really raises awareness that Indo-Caribbean women's literature is a newly-formed, constantly developing and expanding field in the world of cultural written works. As well as giving a cultural insight into the lives of Indo-Caribbean women, literature is an important tool for gaining knowledge in a relevant field. Both Nicki Minaj and Kamla Persad-Bissessar used reading as a way to increase their knowledge, intelligence and ultimately their power as women.

To conclude, the world is changing and with it the status of Indo-American women is evolving. From prominent role models such as Onika Miraj and Kamla Persad-Bissessar, to a whole new category of critically acclaimed writing, Indo-Caribbean women are only now finding their voice on the worldwide stage.