VOLUME 8 | ISSUE 27
DISCRIMINATION AND DENIAL: RACISM IN CANADA
SECONDARY RESOURCES
NOTE TO EDUCATORS 

e following activities are designed to
stimulate a current events discussion.
Generative in nature, these questions can
be a launching point for additional
assignments or research projects.
Teachers are encouraged to adapt these
activities to meet the contextual needs of
their classroom.
Segregated drinking fountains became symbolic of the Civil Rights Movement.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
• ere were thousands of slaves in Canada—
predominantly Africans and Aboriginals—
before slavery was abolished by the British
government in all its colonies in 1834.
• From the 1780s to 1860, people in the
United States who opposed slavery helped
African slaves in the U.S. escape to Canada.
is came to be known as the Underground
Railroad. e exact number of slaves who
came to Canada has been estimated to be as
high as 30,000.
• Sir John A. MacDonald—Canada’s first
Prime Minister—believed Canada should be
an “Aryan nation” where only white
Europeans should have rights.
• Nellie McClung was a member of the
“Famous Five”—Canadian women who
fought for women’s equality in the early
20th Century. Although she supported
women’s rights, she did not support rights
for racial minorities.
• During the 1880s, 15,000 Chinese workers
were brought to Canada to help build the
Canadian Pacific Railway. ey were paid
half as much as white railway workers. But
when the railway was finished, people from
China continued to immigrate to Canada. In
an effort to stop them, the Canadian
government put a tax on every Chinese
immigrant—the Chinese Head Tax. e
Government of Canada apologized for the
Head Tax in 2006.
• In the 1950s, Hugh Burnett started a civil
rights organization—the National Unity
Association. Because of his work, the
Ontario government passed a law in 1954
banning segregation.
• Canada had no national law prohibiting
segregation or racial discrimination until the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.
In some cases, reading the article with
students may be appropriate, coupled with
reviewing the information sheet to further
explore the concepts and contexts being
discussed. From here, teachers can select
from the questions provided below. e
activity is structured to introduce students
to the issues, then allow them to explore
and apply their learnings. Students are
encouraged to further reflect on the issues.
KEY TERMS
Racial segregation—Keeping people of
different races separate. Providing different
access to services based on race.
Discrimination—Giving unfair treatment
to a person or group because of their race,
gender, sexual orientation, or other
characteristics.
Racial profiling—When police, or other law
enforcement or security personnel, use race
as a reason to target a person for
investigation.
AN INITIATIVE OF
01
THEMES AND COURSE CONNECTIONS
• emes: Human Rights, Inspirational Figures, Values and Ethics,
Local Issues
• Course Connections: Canadian and World Studies, English, Social
Sciences and the Humanities
MATERIALS
• Copies of the Global Voices column
• Cue cards and writing utensils
SPECIFIC EXPECTATIONS AND LEARNING GOALS
Students will:
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Develop and express responses to issues and problems.
Reassess their responses to issues on the basis of new information.
Participate in active group work and class discussions.
Communicate effectively in writing, orally or visually.
Demonstrate the ability to think critically.
Develop, express and defend a position on an issue.
DISCUSS
1. Have you heard of the historical examples of racism in the
column? Where? Briefly explain the Underground Railroad,
racial segregation, the Chinese head tax, and aboriginal
residential schools.
2. Who was Rosa Parks? Why is her story important for us to
compare with Hugh Burnett’s?
3. When reading the article, were you surprised to learn the
extent of Canada’s history of racial segregation and
discrimination?
4. Wally Fowler and Rubin Coward allege there to be racism in
today’s Canadian Armed Forces. Why do you think
government authorities have refused to investigate the
complaints?
5. e column highlights several other examples of racism in
contemporary Canadian life: from hiring practices and
unequal salaries to “racial profiling” by the police and
“discriminatory behaviour and prejudicial attitudes” in
Canada’s penal system. Were any of these examples
shocking to you? Why or why not?
6. Do you think the incidents of racism described in the
column are isolated incidents or part of a larger trend?
Ask students to re-read the column: this time highlighting 15 to 20
words, phrases, or quotations that are particularly interesting or
meaningful. ey then record the words and phrases on separate cue
cards. Found poems only use words that have been collected from the
original text. erefore, students may need to return to the column to
collect additional language.
Using the theme of racism and discrimination, have students think
about how the words flow poetically and arrange their cue cards in
whatever order they want to compose their poems. ey can move the
cue cards around until they are satisfied with their poem.
Once their poems are completed, invite students to read them aloud to
the class. Engage in a class discussion about what their poems reveal
about their theme. Ask: what strikes you about the poems? What do they
have in common? How are they different? Wrap up the class by
brainstorming ideas on how we, as a society, can better address racial
discrimination in Canada.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Photo Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel/E+/Getty Images
DIVE DEEPER
Inform students that they will use the Global Voices column to compose
a Found Poem. Found poetry takes texts that are decidedly not poetic
and finds poetry in them. By carefully selecting and organizing words
and phrases from the existing text, students will review and reflect on
what they learned about racism in Canada.
AN INITIATIVE OF
02