Identités et échanges
English · Première générale · BO : B1+ ; visée B2 vers C1
Sailing ships at anchor in a bay with hills behind. On the rocky shore in the foreground, Loyalist families in 18th-century clothes land from small boats: gentlemen in tricorn hats, ladies in long dresses, children, and men carrying bundles and trunks up the rocks.
Henry Sandham (1842 to 1910), The Coming of the Loyalists, about 1880 to 1910: Loyalists landing in New Brunswick around 1783. Reproduced in the set Canadian Historical Paintings (Toronto and Edinburgh, Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1925). Library and Archives Canada, C-000168. Public domain. Image via Wikimedia Commons, not cropped or retouched.

Dys version

Dys version

This is the same sequence, in shorter steps. The key words are in bold. You can listen to each text.

The big question: Has Canada kept its promise of welcome, and what have newcomers and their host country given each other?

Recap: what do you remember?
  1. What is an immigrant?
  2. Name one country where many people move to.
Answer key
  1. A person who arrives to live in a new country.
  2. For example Canada.

S1 · Why Leave?

People leave because of push factors (war, poverty, loss of land) and come because of pull factors (jobs, safety, family). In 2021, 23.0% of people in Canada were immigrants: almost one in four.

Task: Find two push factors and two pull factors.
Answer

Push: war, poverty, loss of land. Pull: jobs, safety, family.

S2 · Black Loyalists

More than 3,500 Black Loyalists came to the Maritimes in the 1780s. They were promised land. The promises were broken. In 1792, 1,196 people sailed to Sierra Leone.

Task: Complete: “They were promised ___.”
Answer

land

S3 · The Last Best West

Clifford Sifton wanted farmers for the Prairies. He wrote about “a stalwart peasant in a sheep-skin coat”. He chose some newcomers and refused others.

Task: Who did Sifton want?
Answer

Farmers with big families.

S4 · Closed Doors

From 1885, Chinese newcomers paid a Head Tax ($500 in 1903). In 1914, the Komagata Maru came with 376 passengers; only about twenty could land. Canada apologised in 2006 and 2016.

Task: What did Canada do in 2006 and 2016?
Answer

It apologised.

S5 · Pier 21

Pier 21 in Halifax was open from 1928 to 1971. Nearly one million newcomers arrived there: immigrants, refugees and war brides.

Task: Who were the war brides?
Answer

Women who married Canadian soldiers during the war.

S6 · No Official Culture

In 1971, Pierre Trudeau said: “there are two official languages, there is no official culture”. This is multiculturalism.

Task: How many official languages does Canada have?
Answer

Two: English and French.

S7 · Refugees Today

Canadian citizens can sponsor refugees. In 1986, the “People of Canada” received the Nansen Medal. For 2027, Canada plans to admit 380,000 permanent residents.

Task: Who received the Nansen Medal in 1986?
Answer

The People of Canada.

Final task in steps

1 Choose one painting from the sequence.
2 Choose one moment of welcome (S5, S6 or S7) and one moment of exclusion (S2, S3 or S4).
3 Write one sentence for each: what happened, when, who.
4 Answer the big question in two sentences.
Sentence starters

This painting shows…

In (year), Canada welcomed…

But in (year), Canada refused…

I think that Canada…

Expanding your vocabulary

WordMeaningExample
immigranta person who arrives to live in a new countryRaphael was an immigrant.
welcometo receive someone kindlyCanada welcomed refugees.
to refuseto say noCanada refused the passengers.
a promisesomething you say you will doThey were promised land.
an apologya formal sorryCanada made an apology in 2016.
Homework
  1. Learn the five words above.
  2. Prepare your final task with the four steps.