This
article was written for and first published in
Captive Canada:
Renditions of the Peaceable Kingdom at War,
from Narratives of WWI and the Red Scare to the Mass Internment of Civilians
Issue #68 of
Press for Conversion (Spring 2016),
pp.27.
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Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade
(COAT).
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Here is the pdf version of this
article as it appears in Press for Conversion!
Liberal
Advances in Canada’s Racist Gatekeeping
By Richard Sanders, Coordinator,
Coalition to
Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)
In 1911, Interior Minister Minister Frank Oliver bragged in
Parliament that “The immigration policy of Canada”—for which he was
responsible—was more “restricted, exclusive, and selective” than during any
prior Conservative government.1
Under Oliver’s leadership, Canada restricted
immigration from eastern Europe and barred almost all Asians and Blacks from
entering the country’s gates.
His 1910 Immigration Act allowed authorities to
stop
“the landing in Canada of immigrants belonging to any
race deemed unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada, or of immigrants
of any specified class, occupation or character.”2
Oliver’s blatant racism also made him a good choice to serve as
the Liberal government’s Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs (1905-1911).
In the 1880s, Oliver had used his influence as founder, editor and owner of the
daily Edmonton Bulletin, to force the starving Papaschase First Nation
off their reserve in what is now south Edmonton.3
Oliver argued that “the land was needed for better
men.” The Papachase Nation are still trying to get a fair settlement from
Canada to repair this injustice.4
References